, 1860-02-17

there to Liberty, at which place they were
shipped for Ashtabua county, Ohio, where
they remained till brought to Chambers.
burg, Penn, and from there transported to
a house in Washington county, Md, which
Capt. Brown had rented for six months,
and which was situated about FIVE from IL
Ferry. 1t was the intention of Capt B. to
sell bis teams in Springdnle, and with the
proceeds to go on with the rest of the COM
pany to some place in Ashtabula county,
Ohio, where we were to have a good mill
tary instructor during the winter but be
was disappointed in the SALE As be could
not get cash for the teams, it was decided
we should remain in the neighborhood Of
SpriDgdale, and that our instructor, Col.
Ii. Forbes, should be sent on. We stop
ped in Pedee, Iowa, over winter, at Mr..
MaxOn's, where we pursued course Of
military studies Col Ii. Forbes and Capt.
Brown had some words, and he (Col. F. J
did not come on consequently, A d. Ste
phens was our drill master The people Of
the neighborhood did not know of our pur-
pose We remained at Pedee till about
the middle Of April, when we left for Chat
ham, Canada, via Chicago and Detroit
We staid about two weeks in Chatham
some Of the party staid six or seven weeks
We left Chatham for Cleveland, and re-
remained there until late in June In the
meantime, Capt. Brown went East on bust.
ness, but previous to his departure he had
learned that Col. Forbes had betrayed his
plans to some extent. This, together with
the scantiness of bis funds, induced him to
delay the commencement of his work, and
as the means, for the time being, of dis
banding the party. He had also received
some information which called for his i'm.
mediate attention In Kansas / wished to
go with him, but be said | was too well
known there, and requested me aud some
others to go to Harper's Ferry, Va, to see
how things were there, and to gain informa-
ton. While we were at Chatham he called
convention, the purpose of which to make
complete and thorough organization. He
issued . written circular, which he sent to
various persons in the United States and
in Canada. The circular, as near as can
recoIlect, read as follows:
CHATHAM, May, 1858.
Dear Strive have issued call for q
very qIiet convention at this place, to which
we shall be happy TO see any true friends
Of freedom, and to which you are most
earnestly invited to give your attendance.
Yours, respectfully,
ro-a a JOHN BRowN.
As the names were left blank, do not
know to whom they were sent, though l
wrote several Of them. / learned, how
ever, that one was sent to Frederick Dong
las, and think Gerritt Smith also received
one. Who the others were sent to do
not know. Neither Douglas nor Smith at
tended the convention. l suppose some rs
or 80 Of these circulars were sent, but as
they were directed by Capt Brown or j.
H. Kagi, l do not know the names of the
parties to whom they were addressed. l
do know, however, that they were sent to
none save those whom Capt. Brown knew
to be radical abeltionists think it was
about ten days from the time they were
sent that the convention met, The place
Of meeting was in one of the negro churches
in Chatham. The convention, | think, was
called to order by ]. H. Kagi The object
was then stated-which was to complete
thorough organization and the formation
Of constitution. The first business was
to elect President and Secretary. Elder
Monroe, a colored minister, was elected
President, and ]. H. Kagi, Secretary
The next business was to form q eonstitu-
tion. Capt Brown had already drawn up
one, which, on motion, was read by the
Secretary. On motion it was ordered that
each article Of the constitution be taken up
and separately amended and passed, which
was done. On motion, the constitution
was then adopted as a whole. The next
business was to nominate Commander-in-
Chief, Secretary Of War, and Secretary Of
State. Capt John Brown was unanimous
Iy elected Commander-in- Chief; ]. H. Kagi,
Secretary Of War, and Richard Realf, Sec
rotary. Of State. Elder Monroe was to act
as President until another was chosen. A.
NJ Chapman, think, was to act as Vice
President. Doctor NJ. K. Delaney was
one Of the Corresponding Secretaries Of the
organization. There we're some others
from the United States, whose names do
not now remember Most Of the delegates
to the convention were from Canada. AZ
ter the constitution was adopted the mem
bers took their oaths to support it. 1t
was then signed by all present During
the interval between the call fer the eon.
vention and its assembling, regular meet.
ings were held at Barbour's Hotel, where
we were stopping, by those who were known
to be true TO the cause; at which meeting,
plans were laid and discussed. There were
no white men at the convention, save the
members Of our company. Men and money
had both been promised from Chatham
and other parts of Canada. When the
convention broke up, news was received
that H. Forbes, who had joined in thu
movement, had given Information to thu
government This, Of course, delayed tht
time of attack. A day or two afterwards
most of our party took the boat to CleVe