Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-12-08

look. a firm. un,haken step, andan nblahched
eve. Not an exhibition Of fear was gwen
There was no evidence Of a consciousness OF the
terrible tragic scene which was about to take
! place. and in-which he WAS -tobe the ACTOR
As soon as he reached the platform, the mill
! tary which accompanied him fled to the right
and left, and took The positions which had been
previously assigned them. Brown looked a,
The crowd, then glanced at the scaffold. The
Deputy Sheriff extended his hand and took
I that OF Brown. and shaking it. babe him fare
welk
No ministers were present, owing to the fact
frat Brown had refused their offices. sThe
Sheriff approached him. shook his hand. and
babe him good bye. Browa, stepped forward,
when the Deputy Sheriff tied his legs, while
the Sheriff drew the white cap over his head,
and placed the fatal rope about his neck. AS
soon as thisdwas done, Brown remarked to the
Sheriff, rYou will have to guide me from this
out" Captain Brown, have you anything to
saw" To which he replied, "Nothine."
Sheriff."Will you take a hankerchief. and
use it rs a signal, letting it fall when you are
Captain Brown-"No sir, l am always ready
Do not keep me unnecessarily long,"
The Sheriff then stepped aside while the
doomed man engaged in prayer. Ia a few
minutes he stepped softly from the scaffold, and,
on leaving ii, the Deputy Sheriff sprung the trap,
and John Brown was suspended between the
heavens and the earth. i9 ero5
Not a sound was heard except the ereaking
of the timbers of the scaffold. and the whipping
sound of the wind, as it played with the naked
branches of the trees.
After be had hung for twenty minutes. Drs.
Girard. E.. d. Mason, JohR8A. Straith and II.
P. Cook, assembled the platform, and, after feel
ing his pulse, holding their ears to his chest,
pronounced him dead. Ten physicians attach
ed to the different military corps, then visited
him. each one of them felt his pulse, and pro-
nounced him dead. Thus ended the tragic
scene which commenced in violence and muir
der. and closed in shame and death.
INCIDENTS.
On the road TO the scaffold, Brown re-
marked to the undertaken, who was in the
wagon with him, on observing the military
in the field: "They have excluded all citi7
zens." "Yes," was the reply. Captain
Brown said: "Gentlemen, you are very
calm and collected-much more SO than l
am; and yet your condition is much more
critical. / am COOL" said he; 81 have suf-
fered much more from modesty in my life
han l have from fear. For thirty years
I have been educated to look on fear as a
myth, and now l do not know what it is"
After riding some distance further, and be-
ing beyond the limits of the town, he said,
addressing the same gentlemen: "What a
beautiful country you have; l had no idea
of its beauties and the excellence of its
soil. This is the first time I have had
the pleasure of seeing it," No other con-
versation took place and he quietly pro-
ceeded to his death. ~
Just previous to starting for the execu-
tion, Brown wrote the following and hand
ed it to Mr.. Hiram O'Bannon:
81 am now convinced that the great mi
guilty which hangs over this country can
not be purged without immense bloodshed.
When l first came to this State, l thought
differently, but AN now convinced that l
was mistaken"
He requested Mr.. O'Bannon not to give
publicity to the above. -
After the body of Brown had hung for
thirty-eight minutes, it was cut down and
placed in the coffin. The rope with which
he was hung was taken in charge by an
officer, and afterwards cut up into pieces
and distributed to those who were anxious
to have it. Parties cut the timbers of the
gallows, and carried away the pieces, while
others secured a lock of his hair. When
the body was placed in the coffin it was
conveyed to town and placed in Jail. Ma
ny persons desired to visi: the jail for the
purpose of seeing it, but their curiosity was
not satisfied. A special train was ordered
from the Ferry, and at half past six o'clock,
under a strong military escort, the coffin
was removed from the Jail and taken t. the
cars, where it was placedin a special one,
and an escort getting in, the train proceed
ed to the Ferry, where it arrived at half
past seven O'Clock.
Not more than two hundred citizens
witnessed the execution. Many more would
have been present, but the officers of the
day, in placing sentinels on the avenues
leading to the town, had selected men
from the military corpse from a distance,
and they, not being able to recognize citi-
zens of the country, they were excluded
from town lest they might be rescuers.-
Much Indignation was felt and expressed
on account of this arrangement, and clamor
became so great that the commanding Off
Ger was compelled to remove those who
were on sentinel duty, and place members
fthe county military companies on guard.
Immediately after the execution a heavy
smoke was observed to the southeast of the
town, a report was in circulation that it
was occasioned by the Burning of the barn
of the late Geo. Turner, who was killed
at Harper's Ferry. A squad of cavalry
we're immediately dispatched 10 examine
into the cause, who returned and stated
that it was owing to the burning of brush
on a clearing. On Thursday, however four
of the horses belonging to Mr.. Turner died
of poison, while several others were suffer-
ing from the effects of the same.
Charlestown is very quiet; the people
are not excited, and have never been. The
only excitement which has existed has been
occasioned by the military. The troops
will remain. Some few will be granted fur
lougbs, but they will be present on the
10th inst.
JOHN BROWNS WILL.
C~HARLEsrowN, Jefferson Co., Va.
Nov.1S, 1859.
l give to my son John Brown, Jr., my
surveyors compass. and other surveyors