The age-herald., 1897-09-26
JOHN BROWNS PISTOL.
History of Weapon in thePOsseSsOu of aDealer
 in Curos in This City.

From the New York Sun.
 In the window of curiosity shop in Third avenue is exhibited ths pistol which John Brown used at Harper's Ferry. It is a -barrelled, short-gifp 3ftcalibre revolver of the "Chicopee" make, and all but one of it's seven cham
 bfrs contain loadted cartridges. That one chamber holds an exploded shell, and from it was undoubtedly fired the leaders last shot before he was over- powered by the marines in the engin=s house at Harper's Ferry. The weapon is just as it was when in 1859 Browns raiders were defeated and killed or cap tured in thsir first encounter.
 Arms had been sent to Brown while he was in Kansas fighting the Border Ruffiians and maturing his plans for freeing the slaves. These arms were mostly bikes, but some rifles and revol- VETS were sant by friends in Massachus- etts through the agency of MT. Br CT, and this pistol was in consignment from that source. After the first at tack at Harpers Ferry, Browns men retired to the engine house, taking with them number of prisoners, among them Capt. Dangerfield of Virginia, paymaster of the United States army, who was Browns first captive. At that time Brown was armsd with rifle and the Chicopse revolver. Captain, af- lerWard Major Dangerfisld, had known Brown slightly, and became much bet ter acquainted with him during the brief period when he was a prisoner He has written the most accurate account extant of the charge of the marines un- ger Col. Robert E. Lee, the breaking in of the engine house door, and the cap ture of Brown after he had fallen with a dozen bayonet wounds in his ch=st and arms.
 At Browns request, the pistol found on him was presented to Capt. Danger field as. memento. It remained In his possesdon uninterruptedly until 1884, when Thomas Hovenden, tn. artist, who was killed few years ago at railroad crossing in New Jersey while trying to rescue child, was at work on his paint ing Last Moments of John Brown" At that time the pistol was sent to MT. Ho- venden, who, however, could make, no use Of 1t in the picture, so it was re- turned to its owner. Subsequently at came into the possesion of a relative of his, and was by him transferred to the dealer in curios in part payment of a debt. Not long after the weapon came into the dealers possession his shop was visited by Edward G.. Brewer, son of tfle-man who had bought the arms for John Brown. The dealer mentioned the fact that he had John Browns pistol.
 .'Show it to me-" said MT. Brewer eff it is genuine 1t should be a Chicopee win a handsomely figured cylinder"
 The curio dealer produced the revolv- eT} which his visitor examined with grsat interest.
 'T'hat is the pistol, without doubt" said MT. Brewer. T can identify 1t pos- itively."
 Some time ago William H. Schieffe- lin offered s100 for the pistol, but the offer was declined. The dealer values it at $500. A Chicago collector and deal CT once wrote to him to send the pistol for inspection, saying that he would probably buy it at the owners price. but the owner replied that the weapon could be seen at his shop and nowhere else.
 Tt is too easy to initiate such a weap on," says the dealer. "He might have kept the original and sent me back a fac-simile. That was done, as I happen to know, in the case of one of the most famous shooting cases in the history of this city. The weapon came into the possession of a certain person who qui- etly substituted another, and the person who now congratulatss himself on the possession of the pistol that killed So and So simply owns a bogus article"