The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-05-28
Reoolleetions of an old Settler.

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Having read the Biography of John
Brown, by one Redpath, and believing
it to be false, will now give your
readers few facts coming under my
own personal knowledge.
John Brown was born May 9Th,
1900, and came with his father into
Hudson township in 1906. became
acquainted with him when mere boy
and knew him for 40 years or more.
l have often worked for his father in
having and harvesting during that
time. John was married to a young
lady by the name of Lusk, in 1921,
and came into Franklin township in
1885. He bought 80 acres of land and
surveyed it out into lots, expecting to
build up city right away. This land
was purchased of Frederick Hayma-
ker, and afterwards known as Porter
Halls estate, upon a part of which
the car shops of the A. & 6. w. Il. X.
are built in Kent. ] worked for John
building turnpike foadstto the amount
of $500. He borrowed all the money
he could of different parties and then,
in 1910 failed in business and a large
amount of these debts are still unpaid.
One of my neighbors sold him yoke
of cattle for $50, taking Johns note
for them, This note was still unpaid
at the time John was hung at Harpers
Ferry. Va. John owned 80 acres of
land in the northeast corner lot Ill
Hudson township, man by the name
of Daniel Gaylord holding = mortgage
upon it. The mortgage was fore
closed and the land sold at Sheriffs
sale, and was bought by Amos Cham
berlain. John refusing to give pos
session, armed himself and two sons,
taking possession of the log house as
a fort, cutting portfolios through be-
tween the logs, being determined to
hold possession at all hazards. Cham
berlain would. turn his stock on the
farm to pasture and John would sally
forth and drive them off. This, of
course, brought on q war of words
and John sued Chamberlain for tres
pass. In a letter written to him in
June. IS41, John says; 81 am making
preparations for a long and vigorous
prosecution of tedious, distressing,
wasting and long pretracted war;
After several lawsuits, Chamberlain
obtained an officer and some men and
went to arrest John and take posses
sion of his property. John refused
to give bonds to keep the peace and
was put into Jail until next morning,
and, no one appearing against him he
was released. Just previous to Johns
arrest, Chamberlain went to the farm
to talk with him. They conversed
together outside of Johns fort, when
harsh words and feelings ran high.
John turned to one of his sons inside
and ordered him to shoot Chamber
lain, but the bOy refused. In the year
1912, John went to work for Captain
Oyiatt, in Richfield township, in a
tannery, Oviatt thinking in this way
to get from him an account which
John had been owing him in the store
for a long time. But he found the
longer he kept John the more he owed
him. John went from here to Akron
to work for Simon Perkins, who
owned large focks of sheep, and EN-
ployed John to look after them and
superintend the shearing, sorting and
marketing the wool. John proving
to be rather a shrewd fellow. Perkins
sent him to Westfield, Mass, and put
him into large wool depot. He was
not as successful here as was expected
so Perkins sent him to Europe with
about 100000 pounds of wool to sell.
He landed in London and disposed OF
part of it. He then went to Belgium,
selling some more, but not finding a
very good market he brought part OF
it back with him. Perkins said John
sunk him about $4,000 in this opera
ton. Iknew John good many years
and never knew him to succeed in
anything he undertook, in a business
point of view,
Now for few incidents to show
what he would do to accomplish his
purposes. Johns mother died in 1868,
and in 1910 his father married again
to Miss Root, of Aurora, who was
afterwards the mother of three sons.
half brothers to John. He never liked
his step mother, and often had trouble
with her. So he laid the following
plan to have revenge, He and his
younger brother. Salmon, obtained
a half pound of powder and put it in
the clubhouse under the seat. They
then took piece of rotten wood, OF
punk, and tied string to it and sus.
! pended it from the seat in such a way
| that any person sitting down would
! loosen and drop it into the powder
| Knowing about the time she would be
there, they set the rotten wood on fire
and went away. A hired man named
Loomis seeing the boys there, thought
there was something going on, wen
and looked, and spoiled their plan
Having failed in this John now began
! to study up the following plan to &C.
complish his purposes His father
had built new barn, and John no
ticed that his step-mOther was in the
habit or going up on the scaffold tc
gather eggs, lie thought he would
experiment again. So he took out tho
long boards and put in short pieces
with the ends coming between the
joists. and covered them over will
straw. This proved successful, fol
she was thrown to the floor, some l.
| feet, with the short boards falling on
her. Johns oldest sister heard thG
noise and going to the barn found hel
lying insensible aud badly hurt. She
was taken to the house. When Johns
father came home and saw how mat.
ters stood, he took John into another
room and questioned him. Being sat.
isfied who the guilty one was, he sem
him to bed and told him he would
settle with him in the morning. John
knew pretty well what was coming
so in the night he got up quietly and
went down to a tannery about 30 rods
from the house and took a tanned
! sheepskin and fitted itaround his per.
son nicely, put on his clothes and re.
turned to bed all Tight. After break,
fast his father obtained cowhide and
took him to the barn and began to ap'
ply the rod of correction in earnest
John would jump at every blow
and howl like panther. After al
was over he took off the sheepskir
and his own hide was unhurt. The
old man found it would never do tC
keep the boys together, so he sen
Salmon, the younger brother to Pitts
burgh, where he was educated as 1
lawyer. He went to New Orleans
and died soon afterwards.
1t appears that when John was In
England he fell in company with some
Abolitionists who took him to the
battle field where the Duke of Wei
/ wa .E-Me..