Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-11-30
Tho Confession of Cook

Ho,r En, Dr. H9,rc and The Northern AboNionisis
trere Lapicafcd-Mc Reason II Bromn's Htsic,,-
ing Me .iHach the 1rmory.
The confession of John f.. Cook. ono Of John
frnwn's nccbmplices. under son 'cnre Of
death, hns been published. II does not d,scpsc
nny new fact Of Importance, nor imp plicnte any
l,crsons whose names have not already been mon,
toned in connection with the llnrper's Ferry nf-
fair la regard to tho more prominent citizens Mt
the North. no discluims ali knowledge which
could implirnte them llc has apparently no
documents or notes relating to the scheme cx-
crpt few brel business biiet- from John Brow
or nnonym"us, stating from time to time, very in
definitely, that ae work was going on &c. Nc
The confession begins as follows
Il became acquainted with Captain John
Brown. in his cnmp" On Middle Creek, Kansas
territory. Just after the batta # Black Jack, and
with him in snd camp until il was hrok"n
u? and his company disbnnlcd hy Col. Sumner
Of the l>t cavalry 4. : A. ] nnxt saw him mt
the con1 entI"n mt Topeka, which WAS on the i'h
ui July, 1856. | next met him some davs ni,er-
ward in Lawrence. d. MT sce him again until
the fall Of lS11. when met him nt the hous" of
+. g. Whitnan. about iour mlrs from Lawrence.
X. T., whirh, think. was ntout the lst of NJ
ycmbcr follow inr. vas told thnt he intended to
organize II company Tor the uurpo.e Of rut,ns
stop to the ngtslrsNihus Of the pro-slavcry men.
| agreed To JOIN him. and was asked if know Of
any other young men, who were perfectly relia-
lle. who thought would join also. | recunmen.
dcd Richard ReaiI, l.. +. Par@ns nnl X. J. Hin.
ton. l received note the next Sunday NOR
ming. while at breakfast in the Whitney House,
from Captain Brown, requesting mo to mp
that day. and to bring Realf, Parsons nn linton
with me- Realf and Hinton not in town.
and therefore could not extend Ia thcm the in
vitation. Parsons and myself went and hal II
long talk with Captain Brown"
A few days after Brown took Cook and his
friends expedition eastward
Our party" Cook says. snow consisted Of
Captain John Brawn. Owen Brown. A. j. Ste.
phens, Charles Motfet, G. p. TidL. Richard X r
ert-on, Colonel Richard Realf l.. +. Parsona,
Wm. Leemau and myself Ws stopped some
days at Tabor, making preparations to start -
Here we found that Captain Browns ultimate
do .tination WAS tho state OF Nirginia. Some
wirm words passed between him and myself in
regard tn The plan, which had supposed to
10 con6ne entirely to Kansas and Missouri -
Reali and Parsons were Of the same opinion With
me. After good deal Of wrangling we consent,
ell to go on, as we had means to return, mud
the rest Of the party were 80 anxious that we
should % with ihcm."
The story of their journey across the country
with supply If Sharpe's rifles aud ammunition,
halling here and there. and finally settling at
lIarper's Ferry is related, but dcvclapes nothing
new nf Importance The outsiders who had any
kuDwlcdge Of Browns operations we're a few rali-
"
Cook thinks, Gcrrit Smith All that Cook says
apparently duplicating them is rs follows:
lie Brown came to lfarper's Ferry about the
last Of June, though did not him till lato in
July or the early part os August, when we met
on ShenaEdouh street, iIarper's Ferry, opposite
Tearney's store. do not know who were his
aidcrs or abettors. but have heard him mention in
conncction with it the names Of Gcrrt Smith OF
New York. aud Howe of Bus,on, and Sanl,orn
aud Thnddcns IIyntt uf New York CITY, What
connection and how far connected Will, his plum
! d., not know, but know he wrote q letter a few
weeks previous to hi- attack to some gentlemen
in B 'ston, which read, near as | con rccollect,
as follows:
"DArE
Gentlemen: have got nearly all my machan,s -
on. and shall he ready to start them in few days
u, less prevented by special Providence Every
thing is working well. | shall want all the tumis
you promised me in II few days. ..
Yours truly,
CALM & SrILL."
'In the meantime the men who had engaged to
20 with him had most OF them arrived Al Cham
bersburg. Pa, and becn sent ~ the place hich
he had rented in Washington county, Nd, about
Ave miles from Harper's Ferry. The greater part
Of the men kept out Of sight during the day, Tor
fear of attracting attention The arms, munitions,
&c. we're carried from Chambersburg to his rem
devious. The spear heads and guards came in
strong boxes, and the shafts passed for fork han
dies They were put together BY our own men,
at the house where most ofthem were found. Let
ters Of Importance came to tho Chambersburg
P.stofhoe and were sent by SOME of our own par
ty to headquarters. The letters Of minor impor-
tance came to the Ferry to J. Smith Sons. All
illusions to our business were made in such
| blind way that they would MT have been under
stood ry any outside parties, even should they
have been miscarricd. The attack was made soon