The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-11-20
OLD JOHN BROWNS BOY.
The Son of Libertys Martyr n Grape
Grower on n Lake Erie IsIand-CoIOnel
Burr Finds him in his VINEYARD.

The Son of Liberty's Martyr n Grape
Grower on n Lake Erie IsIand-CoIOneI
Burr Finds him in his Vineyard.
PUT-IN-BAY, Nov. 7th.-'Yes this is
Mr.. Brown" said strangely picturesque
gathered fruit which he was making
ready for market 81 am the son of
John Brown of Ossawattomie, and the
only one of the race living this side of
the Rocky Mountains"
The speaker is an old man with white
hair and whiskers; but his eyeis so clear,
his step SO elastic, and his speech so full
of vigor, after all his years and wonder
full experiences, that wonder at him.
81 live on and enjoy these acres and
| the products they bear" he continued.
I'm my retirement l look back upon the
events of the past with which my family
name is connected with mingled feel
ing of pride and sorrow. Ny fathers
life and history is reverence to us all.
There are seven of us left-fOur women
and three men. All of them live in Cali
fornia except myself. l have dwelt on
this island almost ever since the tragedy
at Harper's Ferry, and expect to as long
as | live"
What strange experience have had
this afternoon on the island of Putin
Bay, in Lake Erie, the largest and most
important, believe, of those specks of
land in its blue waters, which are found
between Sandusky and Detroit. The
fruit season is just closing and the tints
and habits of fall have turned the leaves
Of the trees and of the vineyards a
strange yellow color. The very last of
the fall fruit is being gathered as l come
by accident upon one of the oldest of the
sons of John Brown, and the one who
bears his fathers name. He is most
intelligent man and stands by his family
record with a dignity that makes one
feel an interest in it and him, no matter
what may be his views of the past
FOUGHT AND SLEEP SIDE BY SIDE.
81 am more than content with the
Judgment the country has made up of
the events of 1859. They demanded
much of life and death, but both were
made without hesitation by those who
were called upon to act. Look at the
evidence of these facts. My fathers
grave at North Elba, in the interior of
New York, is visited yearly by thousands
of people who believe that in his at
tempt to destroy slavery he did to the
full of his duty as he saw it. No man
does great things without great sacri-
fees, and my parent was no exception to
the rule. His family shared his ambi-
tons and are proud of his record.
Brother Watson, who was killed with
him at Harper's Ferry, or rather mortally
wounded, is, you know, buried by his
side, and there is a touching story con-
nected with my recovery of his RENAL IS.
They were spirited away from the place
xtyhn ha A.a1 nnl IiCnn,rnroI
for some years afterward. One day |
received letter from a doctor in Mar
tinsville, Ind, informing me that thev
were in medical school at Jefferson
vile in that State.
81 went down, found the identified
ton complete, and the officers of the
school surrendered the body to me with
out question. They were well preserved
and were being used as an anatomical
specimen for the education of young
doctors. | brought them North and
buried them beside my father, because |
thought it fitting that the two men of
our family who fell at the inception of
the war which destroyed slavery should
rest side by side"
A NOBLE LETTER.
SIT is good many years since these
events at Harper's Ferry, and have had
many queer experiences in relation to
them. Only few Yeas ago | received
a letter from Confederate soldier who
was in or about the combat my father
had in Virginia. His letter was very
frank and generous. preserved it care
fully among many missives which | have
received since the war. My reply to that
letter will indicate its spirit, for | have
not the message at hand this moment.
Here it is:
PUT.IN-BAY, LAKE ERIE,
Ottawa County, o., June 18th, 1879.
DEAR SIR:-"One touch of nature
makes the whole world kin" Those
words expressed my thoughts as | read
your letter of the 18th inst, giving some
of your own recollections of my father
and Brother Watson at the close of the
assault at Harper's Ferry. "You aided
my father to rise at he stumbled forward
out of the engine house" You ''im-
provised couch out of bench with
pair of overalls for pillow for my dying
brother, and you gave him cup OF
water to quench his thirst, which won
you his thanks His thanks were,
know, sincere, for his was a soul of sim
cerity. Will you not with equal faith
accept mine and his, too, not only on
my own, but on behalf of all my fathers
family?
Though you are South Carolinian
and took part on the side of the South in
the late war, this is no barrier to our
sympathy and respect for you as man
who was faithful to his convictions. My
father, brothers and comrades who fell
at Harper's Ferry did not hate the peO-
pie of the South. Twas only toward
her slavery that they cherished sacred
animosity.
1t may seem to Southern people para
doxical, and yet l know that the South
never had truer friends than those she
then considered her direst foes. When
that day comes, as come it will, in which
the white people of the late seeded
States shall fully recognize and freely
grant to everyone, without distinction
of color, race or previous condition, the
rights they claim for themselves, and
which are inherent in humanity, they
will then appreciate the hearts of the
men at Harper's Ferry, who would have
risked all for them had the situation
been reversed.
Waiting with some interest the publ,
cation OF your "reminiscences, and hop
ing sometimes to offer a fraternal hand
to you who gave cup of water to my
dying brother, when you deemed him an
enemy. l remain yours for the rights
of all. JOHN BROWN, JR.
AWAY FROM THE HAUNTs OF MEN.
"As you may imagine, it was touch
ing letter that brought out this reply
from me. for it was such an evidence of
how the animosities of the war have
II II