Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-05-03
THEODORE TILTON's VERSION VERY
LARGELY IMAGINATIVE.
Burial Was Not Secret. the Body be-
ing Delivered to Mrs. Brown,
With an Order for Safe Con-
duct to North Elbn,
New York.

striking characters he recently shetCiieu
for the Capital, of this city, was Iheodore
Tilton In this sketch the foliowlis s'ate-
ments occur, and as they are misleading. so
far as Mr.. Tilton's representations are con-
cerned, it seems to me that the true s'o's
of the execution and burial of John brown
will be of interest. The article says:
Mr.. Tilton was the only man IN New
York who dared to receive John Brown
body after the hanging. Brown was hoI
popular in New York in these days. Mr..
Tilton however, was strong aoolltlohist'
and learning the body was coming there' ne
arranged to receive it. He went 10 lrleho
engaged in the undertaking business ana
asked him if he could receive body. is
If the body of John Brown" inquired the
undertaken. 1T is" Il will handle IT,
replied the other.
Together they met it at the train ana
the undertaken prepared it properly for
burial Mr.. Tilton then secretly removed
the remains to the country ana purieo
them. When he received the BODY the moose
with which Brown was hung was about
the neck, and this Mr.. Tilton removed. He
still has it.
Now as to the facts: Brown ana MS
band of twenty-five men left his rendeZ-
vous on the Kennedy farm, situated on the
Potomac river a few miles below harper
Ferry, at o'clock on Sunday, OCTOBER ID,
1859. They captured the arsenal at Harper
Ferry on Monday morning, and Brown ana
those who remained alive of his band, after
fighting the military all day on MONDAY
were captured on Tuesday morning. Aller
hasty trials, in which many legal forms
were ignored, Brown and the SIX surviving
members of his band were condemned 10
be hanged on December 2.
without stopping to give the interesting
A,;,l hn
of Brown. who had to be carried on a bed
into the court room, and his long confine-
ment in chains up to the day of his eXecu-
ton. we will give summary of the incl
dents connected with the execution and MS
burial. to show that Mr.. Tilton drew upon
his imagination for the rope which ne
claims was around Browns neck when the
remains arrived in New York, and also MS
very grave mistake regarding the secret
burial
Mrs. Brown arrived at Harper's Ferry
from Baltimore under an escort of friends,
who intended to accompany her on to
Charlestown, where Brown and his compan-
ions were in Jail She brought passport
from Governor WISE of Virginia, which
had been sent her at Philadelphia. The
closing paragraph of the order of Govern
or Wise reads: Inclosed is an order 10
Major General w. B. Taliaferro in COM
mand at Charlestown, Va, to deliver to
your order the mortal remains OF your
husband when all shall be over. to be de-
iyered to your agent at HarperS Ferry,
and, if you attend the reception in person,
to guard you sacredly in your solemn mis-
sion' In the order to General Taliaferro.
Governor Wise instructed him to place the
remains of John Brown in a plain, decent
coffin and under strict guard protect them
from mutilation. The friends of Mrs.
Brown were not permitted to accompany
her to Charlestown. Mrs. Brown was es-
corted from Harpe-'s Ferry to Charles
town by battalion of cavalry known as
the Black Horse Rangers.
and his wife lasted nearly four hours and
was most affecting in character. Among
other things, Brown requested his wife
sons and also the bodies of the Thompson
brothers be burned and the ashes carried
to their home in North Eiba os,, for ourial. sd
expressing the belief that the authorities
would not permit it. She received his let,
tiers he had prepared for for friends ,ha,T his Tiii
and parted. His last words to her were:
| Mary. 1 hope you will always live In
ESSEX county and also abIrpn hope you VII
| and impress the incubation OF the right
| principles to each succeeding generation.
Good-by Good,by. God Die bless ~, you; H., 80.
| for the execution of the liberators. was a
| fair and springlike day. After Brown had
|
were in Jail with him, and who were to be
| hung from the same gallows, and hidden
all an affeCtionate farewell. he was con-
| veyed to the gallowsa "a amidst great military
| pomp and display. This display consisted
| of 5000 infantry, cavalry and artillery. The
| gallows were erected in the center of Il
forty acre field and none but the military
We're permitted within the enclosure. Dur
! ing his trial and the trying times preced-
| ing execution, Brown never wavered in his
| faith, always dignitied and courteous, his
l Low frnn nr an
| ity, he impressed all with his Puritan
heroism Some called him a fanatic, 9TH
| ers a mailman, Il few martyr for 4 de-
| Spised race.
| Mrs Brown remained in the hotel at
| Charlestown, awaiting the execution, suf-
| fering greatest agony, giving way to con-
| vulsive sobbing when n friend assured her
| that all was over. The physicians of the
| city of Charlestown and the military sur
geons present at the execution examined
| the trap fell. and pronounced him dead.
| The body was then placed in plain coffin
| as directed by Governor Wise, and under
| military escort taken 10 Harpers Ferry
| and there delivered to Mrs. Brown and
| her friends. The party at once proceeded
| 10 Philadelphia on the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad. arriving about noon on Saturday,
| December 3. They We're met at the depot
| by great multitude of people. The fun
eral party left almost Immediately for
| New York, arriving on Saturday night,
| where Browns body was put in the hands
| of an undertaken and remained in his
| n,
Early Monday morning. Mrs. Brown. ac-
| companied by Wendell Phillips and other
! friends. started with the body for North
| Elba. Essex county, n. y. They reached
| house to rest. as Brown himself had re-
| quested should be done. At 4 p. m. the
| party left Troy, reaching Rutland. VI, at
| 10 n. M. where they remained until , Il. m.
| Tuesday. the 9Th. From this point they
crossed Lake Champlain to near Westport,
| and from there went to Elizabethtown the
county seat of Essex county. Here the body
| of Brown rested in the court house during
izens From this place to North Elba, his
| home it was twenty-five miles. The next
day Wednesday, the 1th. the party con-
tinued the tiresome journey along the
| Elba at dark. Here. midst the beautiful
scenery of the Adirondack mountains near
| Lake Placid. beside. u great mountain
boulder on his farm. the body of John
| human slavery. who had aroused the con-
| science of the North and greatly frightened
the entire South, was buried. The cere-
monies at the grave consisted of singing
| and an address by Mr. ]. Miller McKim
| The principal Grafton was delivered by the
| great and gifted Wendell Phillips, who
| was sublimely eloquent on this occasion
| reau and Victor Hugo sent their wreaths
| of immortal words dedicated to the mem
| ory of the dead hero Phillips in his ora
| ton, among many peauutul and prophetic
| utteranceS, said:
| History will date Virginian emancipa.
ton from Harper's Ferry. True. the slave
| is still there. So, when the tempest up.
| roots pine on our hills 1t looks green for
months year or two. Still it is timber
| not a tree. Thus has John Brown loosened
the roots of the slave system. Surely such
| a life is not a failure. How vast the
change in mems hearts! Insurrection was