The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-03-31
HE PAINTED JOHN BROWNS PoR
TRAIT.


ing on n the thrill Of Independence and
patriotism that sweeps over the nation
} whenever there i any great national
occasion Tor display Of such feeling
| has had written about him ali there was
10 say, perhaps. except the Cleveland
chapter Of his career. says the Cleveland
Leader. Old-time residents Of the north
ern part OF the state remember in a gen
! eral way that he was almost a Cleve-
| lander, bur even they 40 not know the
| history of John Browns portrait that
| hangs on the wall OF a photographer
| the Leader Office
The story OF the portrait is almost as
lraglcaliy romantic as that Of the grand
| ola patriot himself, so far as is possible
Ior the story OF picture 70 be tragic
| Pa1nted by the aged artist who sin
owns II, and who painted It on the very
shadoW or the galloWs, this old portrait
| IN Photographer J. NJ Greene's gallery
mas had an interesting history. Some
/ OF the work on the painting was done
| mere IN Cleveland and it has never left
| this city since it was finished In a
| nre that destroyed a Cleveland art store
Il came near being DESTROYED. Each time
! the negotiations for the sale OF the pic
lure were completed, in-fortune over
/ TOOK the prospective purchaser and Ii
| was not sold. Through all the years Mr.
/ greene the artist, now an old man and
one OF the best known old residents Of
the city, has kept the picture in his pos
session, ana Ior a generation past he
| has not tried 10 sell it.
John Brown was almost q Cleva-
/ lander IN the sense that residents Of the
/ nearby town Of Hudson are almost
| CleVelanders, and his splendid. erect
| figure, and his patent leather stock. were
/ al one time familiar in this city When
| John Brown was years old his father
settled in Hudson and that place became
| the family home from which the sons
/ went o. into the world John Brown
| early developed the spirit of the reform
er AS he grew TO manhood he develop
| ed q disposition TO rove. and for time
| PENNSYLVANIA was his home Later. En-
| 1913, he lived on a farm in New York
! state that he had bought. and from
| which he wandered about the country
| preaching the abolition of slavery III
/ was there that he and jeremiah Merritt
! Greene. the artist became friends The
friendship was renewed when John
| Brown came back 10 the vicinity Of
! Cleveland, where Greene had esta bltshed
| the photograph business he has carried
/ on ever since. Brown lived at Hudson
| and became one of the most daring. per-
S1stent and successful of OhiO's famous
| underground railroad operators Through
| his efforts many slaves who had escaped
| from the southern plantations made their
=
John Brown ruined himself for the
| negroes says his old friend Mr.
| Greene. His enthusiasm for abolition
! cost him all his money, all his property.
and his life. He was ready to give the
slaves anything he had I remember
one time that he came TO Cleveland with
| thirteen escaped slaves. He took them
10 the cellar under the Rouse block. on
the Public square. where Marshalls drug
store now is located. He came to me 10
have me photograph them They were
about to so to Canada. and Brown want
ed a picture of them. He was very bold
about it. and brought the whole thirteen
to my gallery to have Them photo
graphed.
There never lived a man more en-
titled to be called a hero than John
Brown. He never smoked or drank and
his whole life was bound up in the cause
of the slaves. He was a handsome man.
tall and straight and dignified he was
always good natured when | saw him
He wore patent leather stock, instead
Of a collar, around his neck, that being
fashion that was affected by a great
many in those days
Some Of the boys went to Kansas and
got mixed up in the troubles out there
and were murdered. and then John went
there
After his famous exploit at Harpers
.
of the state and the soldiers Of the
United States. when one Of his sons was
killed in the battle he fought with the
troops, ! did not see him again until
after he had been condemned to be hang
ed for treason. While ne was in Jail his
brother, who had acquired considerable
property in Kansas where he had
cattle ranch, gave me an order to paint
John Browns portrait. He wanted
fuli length picture. about life size ana he
wanted me to paint the portrait because
Of my friendship with his brother.
AT this time John had been convicted
Of treason and was in the jail awaiting
execution. succeeded in getting into
the prison where ne was confined await
ing execution and went to work on the
portrait He talked to me a great deal
as I worked, but there was no regret
and no bitterness in what he said. He
became very SAD when he spoke of The
killing of his son, but he was not. I am
sure, sorry for anything he had done. ]
believe that if he had known beforehand
that hanging for treason was TO be the
punishment he would have followed the
same course that he did. He believed
that it was his duty to give freedom %
the slaves. no matter what the cost or
the means required. He was almost all
ways cheerful in jail. although he knew
that he was to be hanged for treason. /
and he sat for me to paint his portrait
very patiently, talking about the old
times before he had become "a national
character and when we used TO be pretty
good friends.
Il did not have time 20 put the finish
ing touches to the picture. the lower
part of the figure etc. until after the
execution. and / came back TO Cleveland
TO do the work When IL was done. and
J notified the brother. he arranged f.
come TO Cleveland and get the picture