Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-11
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

// TOHN BROWNS body lies
80 a-moldering in the grave"
Mrs. Thomas King, 1910
- Massachusetts avenue, lifted
the old pistol reverently from
the desk drawer, wiped of a speck OF
dust with her handkerchief and point
ed to the wooden ramrod attached un-
derneath the barrel.
II see by the papers" she said,
that the last of John Browns men
died here in Washington the other day.
II was such a little girl, not more
than s years DID, back there in the
Fall of 1859. when it all happened, that
I don't remember very distinctly. But
/ know there was a lot of excitement
in Harpers Ferry, particularly when
the Marines came up from Washing
ton and attacked the arsenal.
My father. Talbot $. Duke. was
lawyer there then and also clerk to
the chief armorer in the gun factory
He was one of those shut up inside the
factory when Brown captured it. The
militia were firing on the building al
day, and Oliver Brown. the old mans
son. was hit. They brought him into
my fathers office and he did his best
to make him comfortable.
"John Brown came in to 500 the
younger man. There was nothing he
could do for him.
" Die like man, son, was all he
said.
1.-THE old man was grateful to my
father. He knew then that he was
going TO be captured and that his
weapons would do him no good. So
he took this pistol from his pocket.
This was my private pocket COM
panion through all the Kansas wars.
he told my father as he handed it to
him.
$50 we have kept this pistol in the
fahily ever since and think a great
deal of it."
Mrs. King, who has lived in Wash
ington nearly all her life since the
Civil War, is one of the few now living
who recall from personal observation
that cloudy October day in 1859 when
the fierce. gray-bcardcd fanatic and
his handful Of younger followers
swooped down out Of the Maryland
mountains into that picturesque and
desperate struggle which was TO fur
nish no small part OF the emotional
inspiration for the Civil War
or the Harpers Ferry Of Mrs. Kings
childhood. little remains but the seen
cry and the chostlv legends The
thriving industrial town at the june.
ton of the Potomac and the Shenan-
doah vanished with the Civil War. and
left In its place the quaint old village
now clustered at the feet Of the noun.
tains. Through its more prosperous
days il knew a rich and varied history
the climax Of which came with this
raid Of the reckless abolitionists which
was like the lighting of a slow fuse
burning steadily toward the dynamite
explosion of 81.
THE story of John Brown is in
every school history text book.
Many of the intimate details of that
day, however. remain in the memory
of old residents of Harpers Ferry. such
as Mrs. King. Among her treasures is
an account OF the raid written in 1870
by one eyewitness, Joseph Barry-a
paper-covered book published for home
Town readers. only few copies Of
which now are in existence.
Early in the Summer of 80 we fol
low Barry-a party OF strange men APP
neared at Sandy Hook, the Maryland
village across the Potomac from Har-
pars Ferry. With them was an old
man OF venerable appearance and aus
tere demeanor who called himself
Smith. They represented themselves
rs gold pro$peCtoTs plausible story,
for everybody in Harpers Ferry was