Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1898-01-18
INC John Brown Raid.
His Capture, Trial, Execution and Common
BY TILDEN GARRETT BAYLOR,
Charles Town, Jefferson County, w. Va.

prepared By our fellow townsman Mr..
Tilden Garnet Baylor. 1t is gotten up
with view to either its publication in
book form or use in the lecture field. and
in whichever way it may be brought be-
fore the public it cannot fail to prove ex-
ceedingly interesting, both to the older
and younger generations. In his in
PRODUCTION " Mr. Baylor says:
When, on the 18th of October, 1889,
the intelligence was flashed throughout
this broad land that an instruction had
occurred at Harper's Ferry, it produced
great CONSERVATION, and shook the fabric
of many of the States from centre to cir
conference and hastened on the greatest
civil war recorded in the annals of modern
history-the embers of which were light
ed in the Missouri Compromise and kept
burning until the great conflict of 1861
broke out, in which many of the flower of
the youth of the North and the South
went down in the forefront of battle, in
the cause of slavery"
John Browns idea of government is
first given by Mr.. Baylor in the constitu-
ton framed for his provisional govern
ment. He then gives an account of the
Brown raid, beginning with Browns
advent into this section, and his settle
ment on the Kennedy farm, in Maryland,
above Harper's Ferry, under the assumed
name of Smith. The tragic scenes of
that eventfu1 period are recited, and the
details given with an accuracy that shows
the most thorough labor and research
Statements of prominent participants and
others, taken at the time of the raid, are
given, as also the full official report of
Col. Robt w Baylor, commanding Vir-
ginia troops, to Gov. Henry A. Wise, to-
gether with full details of the trials, as
gathered from the court records and other
sources. Inhis conclusion the arthur says:
Times have changed and the scenes
with them The Brown Raid is almost
forgotten, the Civil war dead issue, the
emnity between the North and South
about wiped out, and the waste places
have been made to blossom as the rose. +"
The past thirty years have seen such pro-
gress as no country of modern history
records. To-day, the railroads, the great
arteries of the world-which, in 1850, ex-
tended only few hundred miles into the
wilds of the West have so reached
out that they connect the waters of the
stormy Atlantic with those of the placid
Pacific; and what then was months
journey is now pleasant one of few
days. As with the railroads, so it is with
all the great enterprises of the country
Our country is forging ahead, and new
scenes are being enacted every day, of
which the most farsighted thirty years
ago never dreamed. Harper's Ferry is
now a thriving town; has become de-
lightful summer resort for the residents
of Baltimore and Washington, who seek
rest and quiet from their tolls Its citi-
zens are no longer awakened by the bugle
call "to arms nor by the martial tread
of the countless thousands" of 1861 to
1865. The Armory is no more, the
Brown Fort has been removed from its
original location to the Murphy farm in
Bolivar-about one mile distant from
Harper's Ferry. During the Chicago
Exposition, (1S95,) the Brown Fort
was taken down, carried to Chicago and
erected in one of the prominent squares;
but the venture proved a failure, simply
because there was nothing which could
connect the Brown Fort with Chicago.
1t had lost its identity. So after a year
or it was brought to its sentresting
place, through the exertions of the late
Miss Kate Field. The Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad have constructed double
track railroad and a fine depot where
the old hotel and Fort" stood-but
there has been erected on the site of the
" Brown Fort simple stone shaft, and
on it is the inscription, 1.-The John Brown
Fort to mark the spot where twenty
two fanatical men, who, in the cause of
iberating four million slaves, were killed
or captured. Charles Town, which thir-
ty-eight years ago had about fifteen hun
bred inhabitants, is now thriving town
of thirty-fve hundred. The Court House,
in which John Brown and his followers
Seven in number) were tried, has been
remodeled. the Jail in which they were
incarcerated torn down and rebuilt; and
on the site OF the execution " is erected
fine mansion, the residence of Colonel
John Thomas Gibson, who was Colonel
of the 55th Regiment Virginia Militia at
that time, GS59,) and who was an active
participant in the capture of John Brown
and his followers. Most of those in the
county of Jefferson, who We're active par
Elephants in the Brown Raid, trial and ex-
ecution, have passed beyond the Vale
ofssTears." A few of the participants in
these stirring scenes are still living in the
county, and those whom 1 can now re-
call, are: Colonel John Thomas Gibson,
Colonel of the 55th Regiment Virginia
Militia,-a capitalist; w. W. B. Gala
her, Lieutenant Jefferson Guards, =
editor Free Press :" Colonel H. B.
Davenport, Lieut.. Jefferson Guards,
large landholder; George w. Boyer,
one of John Browns jurors,--a farmer:
DR.. ]. d. Starry.-an active participant;
Lewis Starry, who drove Brown to the
place of execution,-an undertaken; DR..
Gerard F. Mason-jail physician; Thos.
Allstadt, who was a prisoner with his
father in the Engine House, "a farmer;
and R. B. Washington, a farmer There
may be few others in the county whom
would like to mention, and would, if 1