Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-05
JOHN BROWNS RAID.
The Atrocious Proposition 10 Erect q
Monument TO the OUTLAW.
HISTORY OF HIS CRIMES.
Tho Part Bornc by Generals Leo and Stuart
In His Cspturc-Hiis Trial
and Execution.
written for the Dispatch.)


have seen that proposal has been
made at the North to erect monument
at Harper's Ferry to the outlaw John
Brown. and that even some OF the citi-
zens OF Harpers Ferry favored the move
ment. II seems that many Of the people
OF Virginia and other Southern states have
forgotten the issues OF the war, or at
least the tragic incident OF the John
Brown raid that preceded II and partly
precipitated the conflict. 1t has been for
gotten that Brown was a murderer, a
thief. and an outlaw-and wss so officially
reported by United States sarmy officers
In Kansas-even by those who took the
northern side OF the civil war: that he
was hanged at Charlestown as an assas-
sin, a savage incendary. and diabollcal
Anarchist ana that all the best classes Of
the northern people at that time sustained
the justice OF his condemnation and exc
cution. But now the Springfield Republic
can says, In regard 20 the proposition to
erect at Harper's Ferry an honorary
monument to his memory. that
Nothing more appropriate could be
done than this. That John Brown, the
Puritan. in whom the very spirit of Crcm-
wells Ironsldes was incarnate--the head
Of enmity for slavery Of the human race,
as Cromwell was the destroyer of divine
prerogatlve-s should be commemorated In
this way on the spot where he attacked
slavery in its most venerable domain, the
State of George Washington and Thomas
jefferson, both of whom abhorred the in
stitution and desired its death-this is in
deed a most significant and important
marker of the progress OF q generation.
Virginia should welcome IL, for it indi-
Gates emphatically her new life OF free
dom for all. 1t Is only proposed 10 rear
a granite shaft, at a cost OF $4,000 or
$1,000, and the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road Company has granted the commit
tee the land on which to place 1t. and
enclosed by the railroad property, say the
committee. it will be secured against
vandalism But it is not probable that
vandalism will attack such a monument"
AN ATROCIOUS PROPOSITION.
This we can only regard as An atrocious
proposition. against which we owe II TO
ourselves, 10 the memory of our fathers.
to the gallant Confederate soldiers. living
and dead, TO protest in n manner that
cannot be mistaken. To assist In this. as
we'll as 10 preserve a complete and accu-
rate knowledge OF n memorable trans1c-
ton. / have prepared the following con-
nected narrative OF the raid-a full and
accurate account OF the whole transact
tion-hGving / believe. never yet been
published. This narrative IS carefully
compiled, with view to complete ac-
curacy. from official records and other
authentic sources and from Information
obtained by the writer Immediately after
the raid directly from Stuart himself
and other participants in the affair:
Among those who took conspicuous
part In the Kansas troubles was Johr
Brown alias Ossawatomie Brown. He
was a native Of Connecticut but he after
wards removed to Ohio. He posses
great physical strength. and in height
and size was considerably above the ave
rage. He has been described by hi,
friends as coarse and rude: as having q
strong will, great energy and courage
a sangulne. fanatical temperament. witt
but little wisdom, and an ambition
irrtated by labor and privation. He pro
fessed to believe that he was commits
stoned by God. and that he welded The
sword OF the Lord and of Gideon. or his
nineteen children four OF his sons. q!
pioneers were among the first emigrint'
! 10 Kansas, and the others followed, ac
COMMANDED bv Brown himself a. soon as
| he was furnished with money from th'
abolition societies. But instead of settling
down 20 labor in the fertile fields Of Z
new country. he proceeded. with his cons
| as a nucleus to form a band of bri
| gands of about thirty young men, Tn
contents of tho boxes marked "agricul
| tural implements" sent him by the M0ssa
| chusetts Emgrant Aid Society. being foun'
| TO have been converted by some deyilisi
| contraip sleight' into weapons of war
| fare. Brown then went out upon IN
warpath against shareholders and thei
| sympathzers. He and his band showed
| no mercy, but committed without hesita
| ton the greatest atrocities, and thci
name soon became a terror throughoJ
| the territory Brown was deciaro! 81
outlaw by Colonel Philip St. Gaor5'
| Cooke. the commander 81 lha lnii,S
| States troops stationed in The Territory
| and was so reported to the War DEPART
| ment in Washington"
DETERMINED TO RE-ALIATE.
AT last the shareholders determined Il
retalate his cruelties with equal ferocits
and in a single battle Brown had thirteel
| the slain. and a third son, who was cap
| tured. was rendered insane from oruc
| treatment This broke up his band. Bu
| irritated by the disaster, and the treat
ment of his son, Brown decided L
| leave Kansas and wreak vengeance or
| all slave holders upon larger scalr. III
| went first to Rochester. y. Y, wher
| he resided for time with FTedericE
| Douglass, a noted free negro OF that city
| Under his guidance Brown opened cor
respondence with prominent Abolitionist'
| in Boston and other places, and one San
| born afterwards Browns biographeD wa!
| sent to meet him at the house Of Gerrit
| Smith. a well-known Abolitlonist, in Pc
| terboro'. y. Y. This Sanborn had beer
agent for the Massachusetts, Emigrant
| Aid Society. for sending supplies and arms
| TO the Free-Soilers OF Kansas.
BROWNS PLAN UNFOLDED.
To Gerritt Smith and Sanborn, Brown
unfolded his plan, which was 10 rails,
| the standard OF revolt and liberation o
| the slaves in the mountains of Virginia
where, he said, h would he Joined by
| fugitive slaves, with their families. from
| Virginia, North Carolina. South Carolina
| and Georgia. The bar> mention Of sucl
| n scheme TO a man Of sense should Il
| seems, nave ItNfdifI 10 db0AlAitHs
| slaves with their families could marcl
| unobstructed from South Carolina an,
! G orgia to the mountains Of Northern
! Virginia, what was there TO prevent th'
| slaves of the border slave-States from
| going the much shorter distance L
Canada, through the free States Of the
| North. But the fanaticism and ignorance
of Brown and his associates preventej
| them from seeing the manifest folly al
his scheme The most ignorant negro II
the South had more practical sense on TIL.
| subject than either Brown. Sanhorn, o'
| Gerritt Smith. Brown said he had %
Sharps rifles and 90 revolvers with
which to arm his white followers. and
that he would arm the negroes and their
women and children with nikes. He had
he said twelve recruits drilling in Iowa
and a blacksmith in Connecticut was
making him 1.O0l pixies. Brown and San
born DON QuiXote and SanchD PanZa'
now went 10 Boston. whore further ar
rangoments were made. To all objections
Brown replied: "If Cod be for u.s. who
can be against us" zone man in thu
right and ready 20 de can chase n thou
sand" ''r WELD the sword OF the Lord
and Of Gideon" ~ few men in the
right. and. knowing they are right. can
overturn n king" Give a slave q nike
ard YOU make a man of him" "Fifty
r,an we'll organized and armed con shake