The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-02
LAST JOHN BROWN JUROR
TELLS OF THE FAMOUS TRIAL

never droamt that other people would
ed by so many.
He was ii desperate man, who UNDER
took to do murder In ~ most desperate
manner. and who did XIII number OF
peaceful citizens. lie was n dcspcrndo
who ought to have been executed. But
have received hundreds of letters.
probably. from all over the country. de-
nouncing me for having voted TO con-
vict Brown. These were very frequent
some years ago, but the only one /
have received in recent years was from
h lady from Zip North somewhere, who
wanted TO know whether 1 was able
to sleep soundly; whether the recol-
lection OF John Bron did not cause
me TO lie awake at night. I wrote her
/ ate three square meals day, made II
liting for my old woman and myself
and slept eight or ten hours out Of
every twenty-four.
II was born In Bedford county, Pa,
What! Born in Pennsylvania" I
interrupted.
yes, sir" and the old gentleman
olrclsled. And / was not in the Con-
lfederate army, either. though they
fought all around me. 7 moved to JEFF
ferson county. Va, with my mother
when | was about ten years of age
We had some property--not much. I
was tnusht the trade of n wheelwright.
ana have worked at 1t about all my
lite. have always been a very tenn
perate man, smoking a good deal. but
not enough to hurt me. though the old
woman"
Tell me about the John Brown
trial" 1 interrupted again. for I saw
tho old man was about to wander far
aield.
About the Trial.
About the trial?' and l was sure I
detected note of superiority in his
words ana chuckle. well, I don't
Know as there Is anything J can tell
you about the trial that you don't
ALREADY Know. / was not on the In
side at all. I Just heard tho newt
morning about Brown and his man
having terrified Harper's Ferry and
klIied several people, and fortified
themselves In the engine-ho
You Know all about Colonel Leo and
'ep stuart coming down from Wash
iiStoh win the marines and storminp
'Hc ehSihe-house and capturing Brown
ana such of his men as want dead
There was lot of excitement. toll
YOU and many people were afraid the
negroes We're going to rise up and
I murder every white man and woman
ana child. The papers were full OF nc
counts OF the raid, but they didn't print
| as much about 1t as they have been
printing about the Thaw case; not as
much as the Virginia papers have pub
| lished about the Strother case over
| at Culpeper.
Il did not get much excited, and kept
on at work. But I happened to get up
about the courthouse on the day of the
trial. or. Jnavha. the dav bnfnre, and
ran into Sheriff Campbell, and he sum-
moned me to serve on the jury. I hated
1T awful bad. but there wasn't any
/ getting out of it.
so l showed up in the courthouse
or the 26th day of October. 1859
There was great crowd in town
Soldiers from Richmond and winches-
ter and fredericksburg, and 1 do not
know where else, guarded the court
house. You see, Governor Henry A
Wise was afraid there might be more
to Browns raid than could be seen
He was afraid that an attempt nigh
be made from the North to rescue him
and he wouldn't take any chances.
remember seeing cannon planted II
the courthouse square. The court
room was crowded when I went in. ]
didn't see Brown till got in the box
Twenty-four jurors were accepted af-