The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-12
WAS WITH JOHN BROWN
ERRAsD OF JOHN III. HOLMES, OF
KANSAS, TO NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Tells the story OF His Association
with Hero Of Hnrper's Ferry
A Missouri Raid.

Within the past month there arrived In
washington from Kansas a strange and
diminut.ve old man with cold, steel gray
eyes. denoting determination. who. with
out doubt, Is one Of the most remarkable
characters In the United States. To-day he
IS unknown and forgotten. but the day was
when he and chosen band OF men were
the center OF interest Of the entire North
American continent; men whose deeds pre-
ceded, II II did not lead to plunging the
country into one of the bloodiest wars in
the worlds history.
The name OF this strange. silent, thought
full man f. j. III. Holmes, who has the dis
finction OF having been the right-hand man
and ally of John Brown. of having COM
manded Browns company while the latter
went East to plan the Harper's Ferry raid,
OF firing the first shot at the battle of Os-
awatomie, where more than one hundred
shots were fired at him without effect. or
having conducted the first raid into Mis-
souri,. where with seven men. he captured
forty-eight men and ffty-nine horses. of
participating In the attempt Of April 20.
1861. to capture Cen Robert f Lee, and or
capturing the first Confederate flag OF the
civil war at Falls Church, Va All this he
has done, and more besides.
Holmes is strongly opposed to the move
ment 10 place John Browns statue in the
United States Capitol. as recently suggest
ed by Representative Lacey. of Iowa. And
why? Because there is another movement
on foot to place the statue of Robert p. Lee
IN the same place. and he feels that II
would be an insult to Americans TO place
the image OF Brown in the same building
with the great Confederate He would feel
as though the civil war had been fought
in vain. He Is satisfied that Americans do
D. a. I'll f-axr
should and he Is Immensely pleased over
the statement of an American foreign min
lister who told him that. in travelling
Brown oftener than he did that OF any
other American. Yet for all that Mr..
Holmes Is very sgEeeaole ana int b,,sas
and that we all do. so that none dare cast
the first stone Mr.. Holmes lives in Kansas
private business. and he related the follow
ing about John Brown and the troublous
days of 1s55-1S62.
ACQUAINTANCE WITH BROWN.
MY first meeting with the celebrated
Abolitionist was In July. 1856. I was born
IN Duchess county. New York. where
happened also to be living at the outbreak
OF the Kansas trouble. When that Terri
tory applied for admission the New Eng
land Abolition element was determined
that IL should come in as a free State,
while the South, eager and anxious to in
crease it's representation In the Senate,
wanted to make slave State out of 1t. To
accomplish this the South relied upon the
efforts of the Missourians. while the New
Englanders organized what was known as
and set about colonizing the Territory with
anti-slavery colonists. 1 happened to be
one OF the latter. To reach Kansas in
those days one had TO go TO st. Louis and
" frOu hers nm he I1ri
river to Fort Leavenworth. and the
Missouriabs were in the habit of holding
Free-soiierl the latter had TO travel either
IN large and strong parties or else be
smuggled through a few at a time. made
the trip with three other Abolitionists, and.
sure enough, when within a short distance
OF the Kansas line were boarded by a
party of armed Missourians. who instead
leaving took passage for the rest of the
trip. The pilot hid me in the texas and
escaped on dark night in the midst of a
worth.
sAs said before. met Brown and en-
listed In his company In July, 1856. at an
Abolition settlement called Ottawa Creek.
have been asked many times since then
what sort of a man he was. but that Is a
hard question to answer. He was a man
OF many sides. and about all / can say
Is that from first to last II was well known
that he had dedicated his life to the cause
OF Abolition. ignoring. abandoning and
one thing. He always told that he ex-
pected to lose his life in the prosecution OF
the cause. that he was quite prepared to do
90, etc. and that he had reckoned on the
same beforehand He planned the Harp
er's Ferry raid years before he came to
Kansas: 1 am satisfied of that. Before he
came West he lived at Carrot Smiths
slave colony at North Elba, ". Y. and, /
am satisfied. was planning raid on that
trouble began He told myself and others
that the emancipation of the slaves could
never be effected by peaceful and legisla-
tive means. that IL would take war TO
gain the desired end, and that the quicker
that war came on and was fought out the
better. He came TO Kansas hoping, no
doubt. that the struggle there would en-
gender war between the two sections, but
he was not there long before he realized
that In order to bring the Nation to its
senses he would have to strike a blow In
the East somewhere near the capital He
told me this as early July. 1856.
BROWN IN KANSAS.
while I'm Kansas he did more good for
the Abolition cause than any free-soiler in
the Territory. The Missourians were run
ming the elections. had framed a slave code
Of laws, and were busy breaking up and
burning down the Abolition settlements
= One day 400 of these borderers fell upon
= the town OF Osawatomie. where Brown was
stationed with his company and for about
an hour we had the hottest fight you ever
saw. / fired the first shot, but we were de-
feated. and to escape / swan my horse
over the river called the Marais des
Cygnes, while the bullets rained about me
on every hand. 1t was after that that the
Missourians began to threaten Brown and
order him TO leave the State, in reply &c
which he went one night TO a place called
Dutch Henry's Crossing. to the houses OF
0ve men who had been trying to drive him
out Of the State. and shot every one OF
them.
However. Brown did not attract national
attention until December. 1855 During the
middle OF the month we got word that two
farmers over In Batese county, Missouri
1oreseeing war, had shrewdly decided &c
sell their slaves. whom We determined 70
rescue Crossing in the night we fell upon
the unsuspecting Missourians while the
sale was In progress, and. securing the
slaves, eleven In all, returned to Kansas
One Of the owners tried to shoot Brown
but he was too quick and shot the Mis-
oourfan instead. This enterprise ATTRACTED
attention all over the country. President
buchanan offered reward of $3.50 and the
Governor OF Missouri 5000 for the capture
OF Brown. dead or alive, but despite these
enorts to capture him he succeeded In
sending the eleven slaves To Canada after
keeping them all winter at Springdale, Ia
The way he happened TO be in Iowa was
this: After remaining I'm Kansas durine
necessity for striking blow in the East
In October. 1856, therefore he went TO Bos-
ton. where he held consultation with the
leading AboIitionists. at which the Har-
pers Ferry enterprise was discussed ana
planned. To further he work T2rour,, ~,