Chapter 12: So Let It Be Done!
“It was a”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 24, 1859, citing interview by
Spirit of Jefferson
(Charlestown).
“I have been”: John Brown to Rev. H. L. Vaill, Nov. 15, 1859, in Louis Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
143–44.
“I cannot believe”: ibid.
“His raid”: William Lloyd Garrison to Oliver Johnson, Nov. 1, 1859, in Walter Merrill,
The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971), 661.
“wading in blood”: Rev. Heman Humphrey to John Brown, Nov. 20, 1859, in Sanborn,
The Life and Letters of John Brown,
602.
“poor erring servant” and “He shall begin”: John Brown to Rev. Heman Humphrey, Nov. 25, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
157–58.
“strengthen me just once more”: Judges 16:30.
“For many years”: John Brown to Heman Humphrey, Nov. 25, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
157.
“without any bloodshed”: John Brown to Andrew Hunter, Nov. 22, 1859, in Sanborn,
The Life and Letters,
584. On Brown’s men and what they thought, see, for instance, the confession of John Copeland, who stated he thought there would be a similar attack “in Kentucky about the same time” (
New York Herald,
Nov. 5, 1859). Also, see the testimony of Richard Realf, who said Brown believed “slaves would immediately rise” and join him as he worked diagonally south through the mountains from Maryland to Alabama, expanding his provisional state. Mason Report, A096–98.
“Captain Brown was all”: Osborne Anderson, “A Voice from Harper’s Ferry,” 36.
“Some of the boys begged”: statement of Annie Brown Adams, Chicago Historical Society.
“I sometimes feel”: ibid.
“most of all”: “Conversation with Tidd,” Feb. 10, 1860, BPL.
“I said to”: interview with Salmon Brown, OGV.
“Father’s idea”: ibid.
“strike terror”: Richard Hinton, “An Interview with John Brown and Kagi,” in Hinton,
John Brown and His Men,
673.
“to alarm the”: ibid., 675.
“of no account”: testimony of William Arny, Mason Report, A088.
“relinquish”: William A. Phillips, “Three Interviews with Old John Brown,”
Atlantic Monthly,
Dec. 1879, quoted in Hinton,
John Brown and His Men
, 681.
“I expect”: John Brown to Franklin Sanborn, Feb. 24, 1858, in Sanborn,
The Life and Letters,
444.
“in the
worst
”: “John Brown to Rev. H. L. Vaill, Nov. 15, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
143–44.
“Declaration of Liberty” and “Nature is mourning”: Hinton,
John Brown and His Men,
637, 643.
“It struck me at the time”: testimony of Andrew Hunter, Mason Report, A060.
“
If you are assailed”
and other advice: Hinton,
John Brown and His Men,
585–88.
“My present”: John Brown to D. R. Tilden, Nov. 28, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
162.
“I have asked”: John Brown to Mary Stearns, Nov. 29, 1859, RWL.
“what is probably”: John Brown to family, Nov. 30, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
164–66.
“You have nursed”: Mary Brown to John Brown, Nov. 13, 1859, OGV.
“minister to your”: ibid.
“I do not”: ibid.
“tall, large” and other descriptions of Mary: interview by Theodore Tilton in the
Independent
(New York), Nov. 17, 1859, extracted in
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 1, 1859.
“He is always cool”: ibid.
“I do not ask”: Mary Brown to Governor Wise, Nov. 21, 1859, HSP.
“I will rattle”: W. Hicks to Governor Wise, Nov. 19, 1859, Governor Henry Wise Executive Papers, State Library of Virginia. See also, Dr. Bickle to Gov. Wise, Nov. 1859, HSP.
“We desire”: Dr. A. E. Peticolas to Andrew Hunter, Nov. 1, 1859, HLHS.
“The Court”: Gov. Wise to Andrew Hunter, Nov. 2, 1859, HLHS.
“Madam”: Gov. Wise to Mary Brown, Nov. 26, 1859, HSP.
“from all mutilation”: Gov. Wise to Major-Gen. Taliaferro, Nov. 26, 1859, HSP.
“entirely willing”: John Brown to Mary Brown, Nov. 26, 1859, in Ruchames,
A John Brown Reader,
159–60.
“I want you”: W. P. Smith to A. P. Shutt, Nov. 20, 1859,
Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
.
“excursionists”: Josiah Perham to President/Superintendent of B&O, Nov. 7, 1859,
Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
.
“Under cover”: Andrew Hunter to B&O President, Nov. 25, 1859,
Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
.
“for the use”:
New York Herald,
Nov. 30, 1859.
“STRANGERS”:
Baltimore American,
Nov. 30, 1859.
“information from various quarters”: Gov. Wise to Pres. Buchanan, Nov. 25, 1859,
Governor’s Message and Reports of the Public Officers of the State.
“Necessity may”: Gov. Wise to the Governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Nov. 25, 1859,
Governor’s Message and Reports of the Public Officers of the State
.
“almost incredible”: Pres. Buchanan to Gov. Wise, Nov. 28, 1859,
Governor’s Message and Reports of the Public Officers of the State
.
“on the line”: Governor Wise’s order, Nov. 24, 1859, in Villard,
John Brown,
523.
“The town”:
New York Herald,
Nov. 29, 1859.
“There is no”: Major-General William B. Taliaferro to Gov. Wise, Dec. 2, 1859, in Villard,
John Brown,
527.
“the enemy”
: Robert E. Lee to his wife, Dec. 1, 1859, quoted in Francis Adams,
An Annotated Edition of the Personal Letters of Robert E. Lee,
551–52.
“It is a matter”: ibid.
“There seemed to be an evident”:
Baltimore American,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“stiff platitudes”:
New York Tribune,
Dec. 6, 1859.
“assured”: ibid.
“For some minutes”: ibid.
“they were”:
Evening Star
(Washington, D.C.), Dec. 2, 1859.
“Wife, I am”:
New York Tribune,
Dec. 6, 1859.
“was soon”:
Baltimore American,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“For my sake”:
New York Tribune,
Dec. 3, 1859. The December 4, 1859,
New York Herald
quotes an “official” who adds: “His sole object was to prevent inconvenience in their transportation, and avoid any disagreeable odor.”
“in consideration”: John Brown’s will, Dec. 1, 1859, is in HSP.
“as good”: ibid.
“simple jail fare”:
New York Tribune,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“showed a”: Andrew Hunter, “John Brown’s Raid,” 178.
Final exchange:
New York Herald,
Dec. 3, 1859, and
Evening Star
(Washington D.C.), Dec. 3, 1859.
“MY DEAR WIFE”: John Brown to Mary Brown, Dec. 2, 1859, in Villard,
John Brown,
553.
“John Brown”: John Brown note, headed “To be inscribed on the old family monument at North Elba,” HSP.
“only say”: John Brown to Jeremiah Brown, Dec. 1, 1859, BSC.
“something from”: Lora Case to John Brown, Nov. 28, 1859, in James Redpath,
Echoes of Harpers Ferry
(New York: Arno Press, 1969), 423–24.
“Your most”: John Brown to Lora Case, Dec. 2, 1859, in Clarence Gee, “John Brown’s Last Letter,”
Ohio History,
Sept. 1930, courtesy of Louis DeCaro. See also Lora Case, “Hudson of Long Ago,” HLHS.
“So I returned”: Ecclesiastes 4:1. For a complete list, see “J.B.’s Marked Texts from the Blessing Bible,” OGV.
“As soon”:
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 8, 1859.
“false statements” and “of their own accord”:
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 8, 1859.
“You know I opposed”: ibid.
“die like men” and “telling them”: ibid.
“I feel it in my soul”: ibid.
“Stand up like a man”: ibid.
“He that is
slow”
: John Brown to Aaron Stevens, Dec. 2, 1859, Gilder Lehrman Collection.
“a warm”: David Strother, unpublished account of execution, Virginia Historical Society.
“just like a May”: Louis Starry, quoted in J. Hampton Baumgartner, “Fifty Years After John Brown” (Baltimore: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., 1909), 8, HFNHP.
“a game man”:
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 8, 1859.
“This is a beautiful”:
New York Herald,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“so as”: “Recollections of Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Hunter,”
The Times-Democrat
(New Orleans), Sept. 6, 1887.
“Why this jealous”:
New York Tribune
, Dec. 3, 1859.
“carpet slippers”:
Evening Star,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“Gentlemen”:
Baltimore American,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“the same”:
Evening Star,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“You must”:
New York Herald,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“the same even”:
Evening Star,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“No”:
New York Herald,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“quietly”: David Strother, unpublished account of execution, Virginia Historical Society.
“upright as a soldier”: J.T.L. Preston, “The Execution of John Brown,”
The Southern Bivouac,
Aug. 1886, BSC.
“All ready”:
Evening Star,
Dec. 3, 1859.
“With the fall”: James I. Robertson, Jr.,
Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), 198–99.
“There was”:
New York Tribune,
Dec. 3, 1859.