The record-union., 1897-12-27
JOHN BROWNS RAID.
THE SURVIVING JUROR RE.
TELLS THE STORY.

Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Of That
Prelude Of the Civil
War.
October 10th was the anniversary OIL
the famous raid of John Brown. just
thirty-eight years have passed since
that strange, mad project TO nDerd.e
slaves was put into executlon-an event
which reused the people throughout the
entire South to a high pitch or excite
ment and indignation. AS is Wen
known, the plan proved a complete
failure and Brown and six OF has asso-
ciates were tried, convicted ana hanseo.
Here in the beautiful valley OF the
Shenandoah can still be found Ie"
of those who witnessed the stirring
events Of the raid, but OF the tweiVe
good men and true" on whose decision
hung the fate of John Brown, there re-
mains living to-day but one-George
w. Boyer, the youngest OF the Jurors'
q we'll preserved old man of 30 years.
When seen at his comfortable little
cottage in the valley, few miles west
very willing to talk of his experience,
recalling the incidents of that famous
raid and trial as though they were
events of but a few weeks ago. On
Browns conviction, and his services as
juror ended, Mr.. Boyer Joined the COM
pany of militia that guarded the jail
in Charlestown in which Brown and
his associates We're confined. These
iaI Rroy n
scaffold on the morning of his eXecu-
tion, Mr.. Boyer being close to the
wagon in which Brown was carried.
The service Of the militia were consld-
cred necessary as much through fear
of his possible lynching as because 1t
was thought that the friends of the
condemned man would make an effort
to rescue him from the gallows. While
such steps were never carried into Ell
feet, several friends of Brown We're
known to have declared their intention
of shooting on sight the men who con-
victed him, and therefore, after the
execution, Mr.. Boyer-as he drolly re-
marked-found it very convenient to
visit friends a. little further south.
Every one is familiar with the brief
story of John Browns raid, but a fuller
account of the raid and later trial of
the insurgents told by Mr.. Boyer in the
quaint drawl peculiar to those of the
South, is interesting to those unfamil-
lar with any but the mere facts re-
lated in history. Being in Maryland
on the night of October 10th, Mr.. Boyer
knew nothing of the raid until his re-
turn home the following evening, when
fighting had already begun between the
insurgents and citizens, and his knoWl-
edge of the events was gained from
what he then witnessed and from the
account of the earlier stage of the raid
brought out in Browns trial. In de-
scribing the scenes he witnessed, the
fire which flashed from his keen blue
eyes and the occasional sharp rap of
his hand on the table beside him, gave
evidence of the indignation the men,
ory of those events can still arouse.
AS early as the spring of 1859 Brown
began preparations for his final des-
perate effort to free the slaves. In
June of that year he made arrange
ments with a young man named Cook,
who had been teaching school on the
nights OF Maryland, opposite Harper's
Ferry, to use his place for the storing
of arms and ammunition with which
TO arm the negroes and others who
might join him. Boxes of rifles, pistols
and pixies were, during the summer
hidden in and around the schoolhouse.
On Sunday night, October 10th, every
thing being in readiness and the night
dark and gloomy, Brown and his small
following of twenty-five men, six of
whom We're colored, cautiously proceed
ed from the schoolhouse, guided by
Cook, to enter Harpers Ferry. Reach
ing the bridge which spans the river
at the entrance to the ferry, the first
offense of the insurgents was committed
in the killing of the negro Haywood.
"A strange beginning" commented the
old juror, ''in men whose aim was the
freedom of the negro race" 1t appears
that the negro-a Slave-seeing the ap-
proach of the little band, and becom-
ang alarmed at the CLEAN of the rifles,
had started to run, presumably to
alarm the town, when he was shot and
killed. This killing of one of their
own race at the very beginning of. to
1hem, SO hopeful a project had, it was
nfterward confessed, quite an alarming
effect on the superstitious half dozen
of negroes accompanying Brown; and
for q while it looked as though Brown
might lose a few of his followers AS
Dne of the negroes later remarked,
while in jail, "The minute seen a mig
ger done been killed, somethin' tol' me
10 stop right thar-we was lost"
Quiet being restored, the insurgents
entered the ferry. broke into and took
possession of the United States ar1nory.
Brown and few others then proceeded
down the valley. making prisoners of
several citizens-slave owners-to hold
us hostages. Among those taken was
Colonel Washington living at Hall
town, a few miles from Harpers Fer
Ty-a gentleman at whose home Cook,
who still guided Browns party. had
often been entertained, having dined