The San Francisco call., 1896-06-21
THE CRAVE OF OLO
JOHN BROWNS son.
II Lies Above the San Ga
briel Valley and Over
looks Pasadena.
Owen and Jason Brown Lived
in the Mountains and Were
Guides to Tourists.
U ncle James Townsend, Venerable
Quaker, Knew Them Both Well
and Their Father

Oyerlooking and about 1000 feet above
the San Gabriel Valley, r. sting IN the
shadow of the Sierras, is an abrupt ana
conical-shaped hillock which history mas
made sacred ground. Here beneath
pine tree lies all that was mortal OF Owen
Brown, son OF "Ossawattomie john.
A few rods farther up the mountain
side, on another prominence, there stooo
until recently a little cabin which was
the home for several years of Owen Brown
and his brother Jason. Here in a quiet,
unassuming way, sometimes acting as
guides to mountain tourists, the brothers,
who in earlier days had been accustomed
to lives of great activity and exciting
scenes of bloodshed, passed several years
i'll comparative seclusion.
But few lives have been more full of
thrilling incidents than Owen Browns.
He was with his father in most of his
Southern expeditions which were under
taken for the rescue of slaves from bond
age; also in the Kansas and Missouri
raids, and was one of the survivors OF the
elimination at Harpers Ferry. To listen
to his recital of their escape was as thrill.
ing and much more interesting than
stories of the most daring OF fictitious
heroes.
Residents of Pasadena knew these BROTH
ers as men whose personal appearance
was unassuming in the extreme, ever
seeking to allay rather than perpetuate
the feelings engendered by the war. Their
generous, .forgiving spirits were exempll-
fed in many ways, notably at one time.
Pasadenans, desirous of showing their
esteem tor these illustrious mountain
dwellers, who, though SO rich in fame,
were yet in pecuniary embarrassment,
gave an entertainment for their benefit, as
a result of which 5000 was turned over to
their account, every cent of which, it was
afterward ascertaned, found its way to
the old slave stronghold of Charleston,
where hundreds of people were dying
and many had been rendered HON eless by
the great earthquake.
Uncle James Townsend, the old Quaker
who lives at 289 Los Robles avenue, Pasa-
dena, had a personal acquaintance with
John Brown.
"Yes. L was well acquainted with John
Brown" says Uncle James, land he and
his men often stopped with me when pass
ing through West Branch, Iowa. where in
those early times l kept The Travellers
Rest They made frequent expeditions
into Kansas and Missouri, carrying sup
plies to ala in the warfare being waged be-
tween freedom and slavery. One evening
he surprised Us by driving into the yard
with few teams, several of his men and
about fourteen colored people whom, he
informed u.s. he had rescued from slavery.
Teams were cared for and hurried supper
yUa fnrt 10 N hp
"The little Quaker community began
gathering in, ministers and elders coming
to expostulate with me for harboring such
warlike men and remaining to listen to
the story of their exploits.
although many relics have been parted
with, l have several letters from Browns
men, some written after their capture at
Harpers Ferry which occurred soon after
the events l have been relating. When
reports came of the attack there was great
excitement, and my wife, your aunt, fear
ing we should be implicated, destroyed
many letters and other articles which
would be valuable as relics now.'
Crossing the room, my uncle took from
his desk a package of yellow letters, which
proved very interesting. One from John
E. Cook, bearing the postmark Harpers
Ferry, dated August 10, 1859 (about two
months before the attack and subsequent
capture), is addressed to Messrs. Town
send, Lewis and families The Lewis, my
uncle explained, was his old neighbor and
the grandfather of Mrs. Walter Raymond
On the margin of the letter is the fol-
lowing arrangement of figures: u, IA, 49,
20, Is, Is, 15 %, 1, 6. 10, I. 10, is. 10 and 2,
10, 10, 90 15, 8, 20, 7, 10, Is, 10, 25 49, 7. IA,
%, 10, IA, Is, 6, %, 10, H. %, 10, IA, Is, 10,
15, L, 8, %, 23 IA, 6. 20, 6, L, s, g. 15, 49, Is,
81, IS, 8, 49, 10, 6, 8, 7, 20, 2, 8 7, g. r., T. 3D.
6, 8, II, Is, 2, TO- 10, 15, 1, which interpreted
reads Captain Brown is here and most
of the boys have arrived. We are only
waiting for our freight, which will come
soon." This was an alphabet used by
Brown and his men, the key to it being in
the possession of the landlords of under
ground railway stations.
Another interesting relic is a splinter
from one of the wagons in which the
slaves were brought from Missouri, the
wagon being now in the possession of the
Historical Society in Iowa City. Browns
ak, which my uncle once owned, he had
given to his son, DR.. ]. r. Townsend.
MARY Z. WRIGHT.