page_title: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
section_title: Underground railroad / John Brown
hierarchical_section_title: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania / History / Civil War era / Underground railroad / John Brown
caption_attribution_description: English: My own photo of the 19th Century statue on the Diamond in Chambersburg, PA. Taken August, 2007. I releae this into the public domain. Note: The statue was installed in 1878 according to the "National Historic Landmarks &amp; National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania"
context_page_description: Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and 13 miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and 52 miles southwest of Harrisburg, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, Chambersburg's 2010 population was 20,268. When combined with the surrounding Greene, Hamilton, and Guilford Townships, the population of Greater Chambersburg is 52,273 people. The Chambersburg, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area includes surrounding Franklin County, and in 2010 included 149,618 people.
  According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Chambersburg Borough is the thirteenth largest municipality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the largest Borough, as measured by fiscal size. Chambersburg Borough is organized under the Pennsylvania Borough Code and is not a home-rule municipality.
  Chambersburg's settlement began in 1730 when water mills were built at the confluence of Conococheague Creek and Falling Spring Creek that now run through the center of the town.
context_section_description: By 1859, Chambersburg and its active community of free and enslaved blacks and sympathetic whites was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Several schools taught black children, although such activity was illegal in Virginia and other slave states further south. John Brown stayed in an upstairs room at Mary Ritner's boarding house between June and October, 1859 while preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry (then in Virginia). Several of his fellow raiders stayed in the house as well, and four of them escaped capture and briefly visited the house after the raid. The house still stands at 225 East King Street.  While in Chambersburg, Brown posed as Dr. Isaac Smith, an iron mine developer, and bought, shipped, and stored weapons under the guise of mining equipment.
  Brown (using the name John Smith) and John Henry Kagi met with Frederick Douglass and Shields Green at an abandoned quarry outside of town to discuss the raid on August 19.  According to Douglass's account, Brown described the planned raid in detail and Douglass advised him against it. Douglass also provided $10 from a supporter, and had helped Green – a future raider – locate Brown.
caption: Statue of a Union soldier on the main square.
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