tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201362682024-03-12T22:16:49.269-04:00JOHN BROWN TODAYA Biographer's BlogLouis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.comBlogger733125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-78592422120059887702023-12-04T10:03:00.004-05:002023-12-04T10:04:27.038-05:00My Latest--John Brown's Expert: Boyd B. Stutler & His Unfinished Biography of John Brown<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GBLYsUrsTVUak9rwQNhdfXsD8u6PITHJM-O55YPizY7rAQIw7wuIsG-jFVDXbyTa7f2H5Mgt0aq-8JLdbc5Y8fNY2o1udrZGrXYBnExXb96bqVwikzPPWhSh0NPcbMc12dhfeSj4sNgHpSCmsPoEO_-NbLB2c0EJ_yf-QKNMmJYYC5AUj1iH/s2610/Cover%20sample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2610" data-original-width="1556" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GBLYsUrsTVUak9rwQNhdfXsD8u6PITHJM-O55YPizY7rAQIw7wuIsG-jFVDXbyTa7f2H5Mgt0aq-8JLdbc5Y8fNY2o1udrZGrXYBnExXb96bqVwikzPPWhSh0NPcbMc12dhfeSj4sNgHpSCmsPoEO_-NbLB2c0EJ_yf-QKNMmJYYC5AUj1iH/w239-h400/Cover%20sample.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>Early in my study of John Brown, I spent a delightfully rigorous few days working in the wonderful archive of the Hudson Library and Historical Society in Hudson, Ohio. Hudson, you may recall, was John Brown's hometown after his family moved there in 1805 from Torrington, Connecticut. Today it hosts a wonderful historical society that has, among its treasures, the papers of the Reverend Clarence S. Gee. Gee was one of two leading John Brown researchers in the twentieth century. His friend and corresponded, Boyd B. Stutler, carried on a wonderful correspondence for half a century and shared from their extensive collecting. Stutler was a journalist and editor of <i>The American Legion Magazine</i>, and Gee was a clergyman with the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. Gee's interest began as an interest in the Brown family genealogy and Owen Brown, father of our man Brown. Stutler began as a collector of old books and articles, Brown being part of his native West Virginia history. However, both men grew intensely interested in John Brown over the years, and without their contributions, our research would be considerably less than it has been.<p></p><p>In the early 1950s Stutler took on a biographical project under a publisher's contract. He never finished the work, and the only material surviving from the biography is six chapters and an outline that he shared with Gee (the original subsequently turned up in West Virginia too, but for many years it was not apparently known by archivists and historians there).</p><p>In 2000, when I was researching Gee's papers, I copied that unfinished manuscript and used it as a source for my first book on our subject, <i>Fire from the Midst of You: A Religious Life of John Brown</i> (NYU Press). Over the years, however, I so frequently relied upon Stutler's materials and revisited many of his research ventures, that I became more conscious of his life and contributions and thought it an obligation to bring the manuscript to publication someday. </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtW7Brv6dxbDHHihb9qjkfXXB6rLUflEc09JRAoKSi-gyPUcplDdgWhRBnPTLr-ySIBlzdWVoY4bB9Z9b-U4JOUyz_Bum5OPgsXlGPAS3-j4qWd4M8ogbhbAIpCn7h2ftUaWsQWnkfduf0XY7pl6g-VGlQ1z_pQaQY7TmDFdGdoW1qcekKDs-/s1225/191312%20copy%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtW7Brv6dxbDHHihb9qjkfXXB6rLUflEc09JRAoKSi-gyPUcplDdgWhRBnPTLr-ySIBlzdWVoY4bB9Z9b-U4JOUyz_Bum5OPgsXlGPAS3-j4qWd4M8ogbhbAIpCn7h2ftUaWsQWnkfduf0XY7pl6g-VGlQ1z_pQaQY7TmDFdGdoW1qcekKDs-/s320/191312%20copy%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boyd B. Stutler (<i>West Virginia State Archives</i>)<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Over the past several years, in fits and starts, not only transcribed the unfinished manuscript but hunted down Stutler's own source material whenever possible to provide annotation (the manuscript has no citations), adding my own research for sources as well. I also edited the work and added several preliminary chapters about Stutler's life and activities, as well as his work with Brown biographers, from Oswald Villard to Stephen Oates. There is also a chapter about Stutler's approach to black people, the Civil Rights movement, and the Left. The book includes photos I obtained from the West Virginia History Collection. As a hybrid work, then, John Brown's Expert features an extended biographical sketch of Stutler as well as a thoroughly annotated version of his unfinished biography, as well as some flanking material from his typewriter in later life.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>John Brown's Expert</i> can be ordered from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/John-Browns-Expert-Unfinished-Biography/dp/B0CN24SPZ1/ref=sr_1_19?crid=16VHH8XNVLQC5&keywords=louis+a+decaro&qid=1701701457&sprefix=louis+a+decaro%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-19" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144370157?ean=9781329867819" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, or directly from <a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/louis-a-decaro-jr/john-browns-expert/paperback/product-rp4qde.html?q=john+brown%27s+expert&page=1&pageSize=4" target="_blank">Lulu Publishing</a>.</span></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b>Endorsements for John Brown’s Expert </b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">DeCaro has brought us another gem! Veering slightly from his own John Brown biographies, DeCaro critically explores the life and work of Boyd Stutler, a passionate, conservative mid-twentieth-century editor and zealous chronicler of Brown’s immensely important life. Like a detective, DeCaro follows Stutler’s steps through decades of work, piecing together the man’s long journey scouring libraries, archives, museums, and private collections to compose, but ultimately never finish his much-anticipated Brown biography. DeCaro has done it for him. Rich and pleasurable, a must-read! </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> Kate Clifford Larson, author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Walk-Me-Biography-Fannie-Hamer/dp/0190096845/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2IXOP0TI9Y0BR&keywords=kate+clifford+larson&qid=1701701921&sprefix=kate+clifford+larson%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bound-Promised-Land-Portrait-American/dp/0345456289/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IXOP0TI9Y0BR&keywords=kate+clifford+larson&qid=1701701950&sprefix=kate+clifford+larson%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Bound For the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero</a></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">***</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> Louis A. DeCaro, Jr., one of the all-time top authorities on the antislavery warrior John Brown, has performed a great service by issuing the unfinished biography of John Brown by the late Boyd Stutler (1889-1970), another all-time top authority. To date, scholars have known Boyd Stutler through the West Virginia Memory Project, the finest online resource for primary materials on Brown. In John Brown’s Expert, DeCaro provides us not only with Stutler’s previously unpublished narrative of Brown’s pre-Kansas years but also with a richly detailed account of Stutler’s own life, including his fascinating exchanges with publishers, scholars, and general Brown aficionados. Anyone seriously interested in the history of abolitionism will want to read John Brown’s Expert. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">David S. Reynolds, author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/John-Brown-Abolitionist-Slavery-Sparked/dp/0375726152/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1K5HLOMEAXW62&keywords=david+s+reynolds&qid=1701702034&sprefix=david+s+reynolds%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-3" target="_blank">John Brown, Abolitionist</a>,</i> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Abe-Abraham-Lincoln-His-Times/dp/0143110764/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1K5HLOMEAXW62&keywords=david+s+reynolds&qid=1701702011&sprefix=david+s+reynolds%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times</i> </a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">***</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In John Brown’s Expert, author Louis DeCaro has ably raised from obscurity the pre-eminent researcher into the life of the famed abolitionist. Stutler comes across as an old-fashioned just-the-facts newspaperman loath to take sides in the debate over Brown’s rightful place in history. He never completed his intended Brown biography, but his legacy lives on in the massive amount of research he left behind and in DeCaro's important book. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Eugene L. Meyer, author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Five-Freedom-African-American-Soldiers/dp/1613735715/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QAQ13Q13UNM0&keywords=five+for+freedom&qid=1701702076&sprefix=five+for+freedom%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Five for Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army</a></i></span></p><p><br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-77219598737809820802023-04-19T21:17:00.000-04:002023-04-19T21:17:10.074-04:00"Why Was Brown Silent on the Conditions of Free Labor in the 19th Century?": A John Brown Scholar Responds<p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">In response to an article on this blog, <a href="https://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2022/10/why-was-brown-silent-on-conditions-of.html" target="_blank">"Why Was Brown Silent on the Conditions of Free Labor in the 19th Century?" (Oct. 31, 2022)</a>, another reader, Christian Chiakulus, has responded to Len Bussanich, who originally posed the question. Initially, Len wrote:</span></span></p><p></p><blockquote><p>John Brown lived and worked in Springfield, MA. He must have known or heard about the conditions in the factories. I guess my question now is, why is there no examination of Brown's actions in the context of the industrializing North? Why would he-or the abolitionists-remain silent to the same oppressive conditions wracking the labor force in the North and not question, challenge or even confront the same capital dynamics that shaped the South as well as the North[?]</p></blockquote><p>Last month, I noted that Christian, who is doing graduate work on John Brown, responded to Len quite insightfully, and rather than append his response to the original post, I thought it was worth presenting here. His response to Len is substantial and is reproduced completely as follows:</p><p></p><blockquote><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8oxkvLv_PxIYk5lqAOiiz4cmt7BR-kNVKTKL1iIXXzkOYuSRugS8AhGBjYvUSE0NGxqNt3Malf3BLIttg_yG-mzIfUqVqFrT0qMsaoTUx4glEy_75WUIdNy-tJ2ORksxyWsOh06tMUrv0s71h9sHtV-vyjV2tgh1U1iA-pf-wPoY2vzuow/s512/74f81ca5-bf15-433d-b3ab-5bf3af6c43c1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8oxkvLv_PxIYk5lqAOiiz4cmt7BR-kNVKTKL1iIXXzkOYuSRugS8AhGBjYvUSE0NGxqNt3Malf3BLIttg_yG-mzIfUqVqFrT0qMsaoTUx4glEy_75WUIdNy-tJ2ORksxyWsOh06tMUrv0s71h9sHtV-vyjV2tgh1U1iA-pf-wPoY2vzuow/s320/74f81ca5-bf15-433d-b3ab-5bf3af6c43c1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>John Brown and the Working Man (AI art)</i> </span></td></tr></tbody></table>Thanks for these comments, this is a great discussion to have. Len, for what it's worth, Brown frequently did lament the state of "the poor" generally in America, not only that of slaves. In an 1855 letter from Ohio (so not a slave state), he wrote "I believe there is ten times the suffering amongst the poor in this State that ever existed before... Should God send famine, pestilence, and war upon this guilty hypocritical nation to destroy it, we need not be surprised."* Mr. DeCaro's point about Brown's agrarianism is the most pertinent, in my opinion; Brown seems to have been almost Jeffersonian in his lionization of agrarianism as the best way of life. He also didn't live to see the industrial revolution really take hold in the US, so while of course he would've been aware of factory conditions in New England, they had not yet reached the appalling heights of exploitation and prevalence that they would a few decades after his death. To add to LD's point about the racism among the white working class in the antebellum era, DuBois in Black Reconstruction outlines the extent to which the nascent socialist movement in the US capitulated to anti-black attitudes generally and even to the Slave Power itself to a degree. Socialist leaders here were well to the right of Marx and Engels on the issue. </blockquote><blockquote><p></p><p></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p></blockquote><blockquote><p></p>While I also would love it if John Brown had come out strongly and openly against capitalism, I think he still did enough to earn the title of a hero to the working-class. His broad concern for the poor, advocacy for small wool growers, and Biblical belief in holding all property in common (see for example the Provisional Constitution) are solid evidence that, at least towards the end of the life, he was moving in that direction. [CK]</blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><p></p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><p></p></blockquote><p>Christian's succinct and substantial response is appreciated.--LD</p><p>---------</p><p></p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; margin: 20px 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: xx-small;"><span> </span>*Christian quotes from John Brown to Henry & Ruth Brown Thompson, Jan. 23, 1855, in Chicago History Museum Collection.</span></span></h3>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-16515100653026813322023-04-19T17:30:00.004-04:002023-04-19T17:30:44.848-04:00John Brown Invited to "The Cookout" by Journalist Touré<p>So, the journalist Touré writes in <a href="https://thegrio.com/2023/04/19/13-white-folks-who-are-worthy-of-an-invitation-to-the-cookout/?fbclid=IwAR24l-tPwk3eXG5yKoyfI6v52JoLZLOfNDLpBJtgbmvLACe1BaqsjtW_1_c" target="_blank"><i>The Grio</i> (Apr. 19) that John Brown is one of thirteen "white folks" who get invited to "The Cookout."</a> Why he chose thirteen is unclear, except perhaps he could not get his list narrowed down to the conventional ten names. At any rate, Touré even places the Old Man as No. 1 on the invitation list. That's the upside.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeFVVTGl_T7DrYN6cCmL8xRgL8c-IfrBbJZifh9VWDw0p-Ck8HSe83KNWRJvJ7qavOoWvrabRpfCjZUjTsx4W2oLoc_NBQMp8qi3rCHquG_LNcL4OE14wijuH7qRdYV14ay_LPstGZcpAtFc2Mdv0oTaBuauJKzzS1SJI8i4SNKl6z3QF-Q/s1568/dream_TradingCard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeFVVTGl_T7DrYN6cCmL8xRgL8c-IfrBbJZifh9VWDw0p-Ck8HSe83KNWRJvJ7qavOoWvrabRpfCjZUjTsx4W2oLoc_NBQMp8qi3rCHquG_LNcL4OE14wijuH7qRdYV14ay_LPstGZcpAtFc2Mdv0oTaBuauJKzzS1SJI8i4SNKl6z3QF-Q/s320/dream_TradingCard.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>The downside is that John Brown is on a list with coaches, musicians, Prince Harry, and Bill Clinton. Really, Touré, is that the best you could do?<p></p><p>So, how would I parse this story?</p><p>Well, on one hand, it's kind of sad that a short list of so-called whites that might be invited to the quintessential African American "Cookout" is more cultural and contemporary than historically substantive. To his credit, I suppose Touré is only greasing the palm that feeds him because he knows that his readership is more geared to the contemporary, and so he's playing that game. But imagine if, in a couple hundred years, someone were to read this list and take it as a real social and political gauge of what it meant to be a good "ally" in the struggle for justice--well, it leaves a lot to be desired.</p><p>On the other hand, I'm impressed that even in a generation that tends to forget the past and revel in celebrity culture, John Brown still manages to get noticed and get his invitation in the mail. I must be honest: it's even a bit surprising to me because the cues as of late have been quite otherwise. The black history calendar by Ebony Magazine, which has notations for every day of the year, completely overlooked the Old Man, acknowledging neither his birthday (May 9) or his date of execution (Dec. 2)--two dates that African Americans in previous generations would never have overlooked. I just figured that's the process of time and change and that Brown is now a dusty figure in the attic of black memory. But I guess I was being pessimistic. </p><p>So, Captain Brown (as black people in the 19th century referred to him), have a great time at "The Cookout." You're still one in a million.<br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-76424119921861089982022-12-28T16:30:00.006-05:002022-12-28T16:35:11.906-05:00A Response to Mark Tapscott's Anti-Brown Screed<p></p>Recently, <a href="https://muckrack.com/mtapscott">an investigative journalist named Mark Tapscott</a> published a critical piece in response to my Christianity Today (CT) article earlier this year (<a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/june-web-only/john-brown-bible-quote-evangelical-faith.html">"Why White Evangelicals Should Claim John Brown," Jun. 22, 2022</a>), in which I present Brown as an authentic Christian figure who merits reconsideration on the part of his community in this era because of his commitment to racial justice. Tapscott is an accomplished editor, and a journalist with a commitment to promoting Christian faith among politicians in this nation’s capitol, something that I (nor probably John Brown) would not oppose. However, in earlier days, Tapscott worked for President Ronald Reagan as communications director at the Republican National Committee and as Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and his political involvement with the right-wing also dates back to working for the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1980. To no surprise, then, Tapscott's complaint against my article, which is entitled, <a href="https://pjmedia.com/culture/marktapscott/2022/12/26/canonizing-john-brown-would-mark-the-end-of-a-scripturally-faithful-american-evangelicalism-n1656369">"</a><a href="https://pjmedia.com/culture/marktapscott/2022/12/26/canonizing-john-brown-would-mark-the-end-of-a-scripturally-faithful-american-evangelicalism-n1656369">Canonizing John Brown Would Mark the End of a Scripturally Faithful American Evangelicalism"</a> (Dec. 26), amounts to little more than a screed. It appears on PJ Media.com, a self-proclaimed “center-right” publication, a subsidiary of the conservative Salem Media. Conservatives typically hate John Brown and their objections tend to follow along similar lines, so there's nothing really new here.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo3y9z3svRnD3dVFzv6GLOKtGTJb9ZEIT02DFnjcyGwKCuFE9udAiz3QvvsdlKAnP20ATtVLMgc5dROe4YxCVlydkWwa-2bcBSczerCrmovr3zo5LfGQpacInnaYxeyq4kEtAPo3GxgoRZnFeraD2e7mbIs1lfj8kpU3YGvTeaV-59Vp1Xg/s806/Screenshot%202022-12-28%20at%204.27.16%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="774" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHo3y9z3svRnD3dVFzv6GLOKtGTJb9ZEIT02DFnjcyGwKCuFE9udAiz3QvvsdlKAnP20ATtVLMgc5dROe4YxCVlydkWwa-2bcBSczerCrmovr3zo5LfGQpacInnaYxeyq4kEtAPo3GxgoRZnFeraD2e7mbIs1lfj8kpU3YGvTeaV-59Vp1Xg/w192-h200/Screenshot%202022-12-28%20at%204.27.16%20PM.png" width="192" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mr. Tapscott</span></td></tr></tbody></table>It is no surprise, of course, that Tapscott should take a polemical stance toward my effort in <i>CT, </i>which actually was somewhat pared down by the editor, and might have been less vulnerable to attack had my argument on behalf of Brown’s legacy been published. Still, it is important to point out that Tapscott represents a perspective that has has defined conservative Christianity in this nation for many years, and it is one that I know well because of my own upbringing. On one hand, conservatives stand for traditional moral and social values; on the other hand, conservatives are devotees of the status quo and have always been opposed to progress in matters relating to racial justice going back to the days of slavery. The instinctive reaction to Brown among conservatives was critical in his own day, and has been ever since. There are exceptions, of course, but hatred of Brown is typically overt among writers and activists with strong commitments to right wing political interests. As I have noted in another post (<a href="https://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2019/09/back-by-popular-demand-fool-as.html" target="_blank">"The Fool As Biographer," Sept. 18, 2019</a>), perhaps the most hostile and malignant work on Brown in the later twentieth century was done by Otto Scott, a journalist and historian who served the interests of industry and the right-wing. Tapscott seems more authentic in his Christian beliefs than Scott, but his inclinations are the same as a watchdog for conservatives. To no surprise, my piece on John Brown as an evangelical was more than he could take. Of course, the title of his piece is very telling. Tapscott presumes to speak for "scripturally faithful American evangelicalism." Well, so did the evangelical slaveholders and apologists for slavery in Brown's time. So did likewise the evangelical defenders of Jim Crow segregation and opponents of the Civil Rights movement. And so did the evangelical conservatives who supported apartheid in South Africa in the Reagan era. This is Tapscott's social and political DNA, so we should not be surprised that he sees himself defending "scripturally faithful American evangelicalism." It is a trait of people like him to believe themselves the guardians of what is "scripturally faithful" even though they are at best selective moralists.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Whose Evangelicalism?</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X5QYxkYcLk81bKKNC67eqA7wbQ1SvD1bVekgTkZjXiKTdvzdp_0sQN5l356KwhzTYhttokaVMRwDpxh5ouFYttv74lJkvFTcrd3s6xntxsHJuvKTTPFzpSrcquwemgN_t5hJEBgkrmixUycls6zGNd9j3gdYyJSVU2AiUB8wh4QCO6XOYA/s1568/dream_TradingCard%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X5QYxkYcLk81bKKNC67eqA7wbQ1SvD1bVekgTkZjXiKTdvzdp_0sQN5l356KwhzTYhttokaVMRwDpxh5ouFYttv74lJkvFTcrd3s6xntxsHJuvKTTPFzpSrcquwemgN_t5hJEBgkrmixUycls6zGNd9j3gdYyJSVU2AiUB8wh4QCO6XOYA/w245-h400/dream_TradingCard%20(1).jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">white evangelicals<br />(<i>made on dream.ai</i>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Before going forward, a word must be offered with regard to <i>evangelical</i> as well. Conventionally, we have used terms like <i>fundamentalist</i> and <i>evangelical </i>with strong social associations, even though they are essentially theological. This is especially the case with evangelical, where it stands theologically as a category in juxtaposition with other theological brands like "liberal," "neo-orthodox," and "post-liberal." In fact, in theological terms, one can be an evangelical and left-leaning in politics. For <br />instance, one may be a socially conservative evangelical and hold to Democratic Socialism in many respects. European evangelicals are not necessarily right-wing in the way that "American" evangelicals invariably posture themselves. One example of this is found in the book by British historian Carl F. Trueman, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Republocrat-Confessions-Conservative-Carl-Trueman/dp/1596381833" target="_blank">Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative.</a></i> In 19th century terms, Brown was a left-of-center evangelical--which is to say that his theology was very conservative while his politics were "radical" compared to proslavery conservatives. In contrast, Mark Tapscott represents a tradition that, in Brown's time, counseled in favor of the legal rights of slaveholders, subordination of black people's human concerns to white people's preeminence, and harshly rejected any demand for immediate emancipation as "radical." So the question for Mark Tapscott is, "whose evangelicalism is really scripturally faithful?" <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">So, given that <i>evangelical</i> has become associated with politics in the USA, it has increasingly become entangled with the right-wing so that the term has been all but ruined for theological discussions. The wedding and bedding of <i>evangelical</i> by the rightwing whites have thus rendered it increasingly reactionary and hostile toward anything that challenges the status quo <i>as they see it</i>, the culmination of which was the rise of Trump, which some would say has brought utter ruin to the party of Lincoln. Certainly, the fixed intent of conservative evangelical watchdogs like Tapscott is to protect the top-down narrative of US history--a narrative that has treated slavery more as an unpleasant (parenthesis) and made powerful white men the basis of its claims. </p><p style="text-align: left;">This is why Tapscott has sounded the alarm of complaint about my article. It clearly galls him that another Christian, writing in an evangelical publication, should suggest that John Brown should be understood any differently than as a fanatic and killer. </p><br />An Authority on the Subject?<br /><br />Tapscott’s claim to making an authoritative reading of Brown is based on “a great deal of time” spent in the 1970s, when he says he carefully read the scholarship on Brown. In other words—and this is important—Tapscott’s reading of the literature on Brown is out of date at best. What Tapscott read in those days is unclear, but even so, he's running on the fumes of his own past. I wonder, has Tapscott read my religious life of John Brown? Has he read the epic cultural biography by David S. Reynolds? Probably not.<br /><br />Tapscott also stakes his authoritative voice on having read “the coverage and commentary” on the 1859 Harper’s Ferry raid in “the nation’s top newspapers of that day.” Indeed, Tapscott continues, he had intended to do a doctoral dissertation on John Brown, although clearly (and thankfully) he changed course and went on to other things. Tapscott reveals, in fact, that he set aside his doctoral work in its third draft because he was called higher up—that is, he was summoned to serve in two of Reagan's presidential campaigns and other services to the actor-turned-president. Tapscott even provides the unseemly title of his unfinished opus: “John Brown and Gnostic Millenarianism in the American Political Regime.” Gnostic millennarianism? <br /><br />I have never admired Ronald Reagan. I am old enough to remember his presidency and I know about his reputation as a governor before that, and I believe his record on race and racial justice exemplify the larger problem of conservativism in the US. So if this is the man to whom he devoted his youthful energies, it is really no surprise that Tapscott has taken issue with my piece in <i>CT.</i> Still, I am at least grateful to Reagan that he so prevailed upon a young Tapscott that he was obliged to abandon that travesty of a dissertation project, and left poor John Brown alone. Unfortunately, he has now found occasion in my article to take up his attack once again.<p style="text-align: justify;">A Thankfully Unfinished Work</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDONy1To8xjORGkVwJJrvgZtdc5Ni8oKn5IFtND3yxUSyRmjgv-B-xmjQl4h07bQLMxp5KIaUDPVFni-D-XqlEBxKbserKwli3UW513Mnh77p-1ClmApbZEL0YeR1ZWYBuFxTIEctFYbNrA6amliOVVPZk4VSHWFjlCSGeJZLJZ1I858QgA/s1568/dream_TradingCard.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXDONy1To8xjORGkVwJJrvgZtdc5Ni8oKn5IFtND3yxUSyRmjgv-B-xmjQl4h07bQLMxp5KIaUDPVFni-D-XqlEBxKbserKwli3UW513Mnh77p-1ClmApbZEL0YeR1ZWYBuFxTIEctFYbNrA6amliOVVPZk4VSHWFjlCSGeJZLJZ1I858QgA/w197-h320/dream_TradingCard.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>"</i>a fabrication of <br />his own mind<i>"<br />(made on dream.ai)</i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">As to what is suggested by Tapscott's title, whatever “gnostic millenarianism in the American political regime” means, it certainly would be a fabrication of his own mind. Brown was neither gnostic nor millenarian. He was a practical Calvinist, a Protestant Biblicist with a common sense approach to life, and a child of both the Congregationalist Reformed heritage and the American Revolution. There is no evidence that Brown was a fanatic caught up in millennial delusions. Now, I write this humbly but honestly: no one alive <i>has studied John Brown and written about him more than I have at this point in history</i>. While this doesn’t make my opinions sacrosanct, I can at least write that no in-depth scholarship on Brown would draw such a ridiculous conclusion as suggested by the title of Tapscott’s forsaken manuscript. </div><p></p><p></p>Unqualified Critic<p></p>Thus, Tapscott would fancy himself the man to answer my article by presenting himself as a de facto authority on John Brown. In fact, as far as Brown is concerned, Tapscott never finished his work, did not prove his point (such as it was), and probably read the newspaper coverage of the Harper’s Ferry raid without sufficiently weighing the political and social agendas that shaped them. I would suggest to Tapscott that he read my extensive treatment of Brown’s last days, in my book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Dawn-Last-Brown-Virginia/dp/1442236728">Freedom’s Dawn</a> (2015), in which I show that only journalists from papers sympathetic to the South were allowed to cover the immediate aftermath of the raid as well as John Brown’s last days. I have shown that newspapers like the NY <i>Herald</i> especially dominated as a news source for most papers, especially in the weeks between Brown’s trial and execution. The <i>Herald</i>, like Virginia’s press, presented Brown in a certain light, as did local papers in Jefferson County, where he was incarcerated. The only exception is the <i>NY Daily Tribune</i>, which had to send a man undercover to smuggle reports back on Brown. I have documented all of this in my book, but I doubt that a younger Tapscott was so discerning or careful. His reading of newspaper coverage in 1859 was probably of the ham-handed, delicatessen style—you know, pick something here, pick something there, without considering what was going on in the press in John Brown’s case. <div><br /></div><div> If I have not made my point clear enough: Tapscott is no authority on Brown. He is a half-read anti-Brown snob whose conception of the abolitionist is quite likely more the concoction of his own thinking, his own conjuring of mind, rather than the man who lived. Anything he writes in protest of my article, then, must be taken for what it is: prejudiced, reactionary, and politically motivated rhetoric that is intended to buttress his yellowing historical bigotry. Certainly, he overestimates himself in this case.<p>Underestimation Too </p>Furthermore, in overestimating his own knowledge of the topic, Tapscott also underestimates me when he writes: “I know aspects of John Brown’s life that apparently escaped Professor DeCaro and which render as absurd and dangerous his encouragement that evangelicals adopt as a hero. (I should note here that Tapscott consistently misspells my name throughout his screed, which suggests how little he did his homework.) Perhaps, then, had he actually considered my work on Brown, he would not suggest that “aspects of John Brown’s life” have “apparently” escaped my attention. Quite to the contrary, the problem for Tapscott is that he has not sufficiently studied either the Pottawatomie episode of 1856 or the Harper’s Ferry raid of 1859. In fact, it appears that Tapscott’s understanding of Brown’s actions in Kansas and Virginia is skewed and misinformed by selective reading and biased presupposition—something quite typical of anti-Brown conservatives. Tapscott, like others, simply does not know <i>what he does not know,</i> yet he presumes his conclusions are all that there is to say about the subject. I think this is called hubris.<p style="text-align: justify;">Pottawatomie, Again</p>Along these lines, then, Tapscott then charges that I have obscured the record of Brown, who was a “vicious killer and a political radical with a seething desire for dictatorial power.” Of course, Tapscott is twice wrong here. Brown was not a vicious killer and the circumstances of Pottawatomie attest that his response to the proslavery terrorism that threatened his family in 1856 was harsh but tactical and delimited. As I have consistently argued, Brown and his family were literally living under the threat of imminent, murderous assault and were without appeal to protection from either territorial or federal constabularies. His harsh action in killing five pro-slavery thugs was essentially preemptive and did function to save his family in the immediate sense (his son Frederick was afterward murdered, in the summer of that same year, at the onset of a surprise proslavery invasion upon Osawatomie.) The fact that Brown and his family were alive and able to depart the Kansas territory in late 1856 is in large part due to the Pottawatomie strike. Furthermore, apart from this special incident, I would ask Tapscott where Brown figures in the record as a “vicious killer.” <p>"Seething Desire"?</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoswbdrk8ELjlC-FIiP5GvqtVKoimEzL-oyHBJvgxtN9hYFi3w2zSrPYFsALaWP76Cy8DThSEMITUTqSS2Ylx3-TbqqwfiukPPap9osW-Kx6Ik8Fe8q_g5dkP5CgAC-ydPd8u-7_FZ8P6wk-CDwZLG5iu2fxRdqpTtBtwwuP5phwrMWe3Y7w/s512/9a764aec-f2fb-4f43-aa81-01220bccf415.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoswbdrk8ELjlC-FIiP5GvqtVKoimEzL-oyHBJvgxtN9hYFi3w2zSrPYFsALaWP76Cy8DThSEMITUTqSS2Ylx3-TbqqwfiukPPap9osW-Kx6Ik8Fe8q_g5dkP5CgAC-ydPd8u-7_FZ8P6wk-CDwZLG5iu2fxRdqpTtBtwwuP5phwrMWe3Y7w/s320/9a764aec-f2fb-4f43-aa81-01220bccf415.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">made on dream.ai</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>Secondly, contrary to Tapscott, Brown had no “seething desire” except when it came to the ending of slavery. Yet this is probably something Tapscott cannot appreciate because, at the bottom line of his historical narrative, slavery is a tolerable problem for him, while it is John Brown who must be rooted out of history and destroyed. This is the nature of conservative Christians in this country. They are invariably given to the hypocritical inclination, in the words of Christ, to strain out gnats and swallow camels. For even if John Brown is unsightly to the piety of conservatives, he is but a gnat in their view of things. Yet Tapscott’s tone suggests he is not so incensed by what was done to millions of Africans in this nation. He sees no need to address even the legitimacy of Brown's grievances against slavery. All that matters is his perception of Brown as a murderous, fanatical, and self-centered demagogue--the image of whom he has constructed in his own, using bits and pieces of the record to argue his point.<p>The Real John Brown </p>To be sure, Brown was personally (and by his own admission) at times given toward imperiousness. But Tapscott is subverting biography in his claims, presuming in particular that it is lust for power and wealth that drove Brown to Harper's Ferry. But this is something that no capable biographer has ever argued. Were Tapscott at least fair, he would have pointed out that abundance of evidence that John Brown was also a humane, devoted man. This lack of balance is everywhere present in Tapscott's screed. He concedes nothing, even in fairness, and insists that his 1970s thesis is all we need to accept. <br /><br />Quite to the contrary, had Brown successfully operated a regime of fugitives in the Allegheny mountains, he would not have proven a “seething dictator” as Tapscott says, but rather as a brave and self-sacrificing leader. His devotion to the rule of law, and the values of the US. republic and the principles of his forebears would also have been significant to his leadership, even as they were throughout his efforts in Kansas and Virginia. But Tapscott ignores all of this because he is intent only on impugning Brown and making a mockery of my argument as a biographer.<p>Misreading Brown Reading Scripture</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsh4fE9XoMtO-0xob_X0tpbZHRUSDszcFp2qmQ1tph2eTLhvTFOMCCcA8FQPwIrN7IQA5pc2QfIEcrAv7PAGnoyl492EEXnyJqGzHQFhdd7LFaWeUVSPNuENSuDeFPgleHzVG4E76O1lrK6RiEydUkkmdthvvsTNOIv_xGbidhxBAbx2i17g/s1460/Screenshot%202022-12-28%20at%204.11.19%20PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="792" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsh4fE9XoMtO-0xob_X0tpbZHRUSDszcFp2qmQ1tph2eTLhvTFOMCCcA8FQPwIrN7IQA5pc2QfIEcrAv7PAGnoyl492EEXnyJqGzHQFhdd7LFaWeUVSPNuENSuDeFPgleHzVG4E76O1lrK6RiEydUkkmdthvvsTNOIv_xGbidhxBAbx2i17g/w347-h640/Screenshot%202022-12-28%20at%204.11.19%20PM.png" width="347" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Title page of Brown's Prison Bible<br />(<i>Chicago History Museum</i>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Tapscott shows his own misreading of history by arguing that Brown “tragically” misunderstood the words of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews 9:22, which reads: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Authorized or King James Version, which Brown read). Of course, the original intent of Hebrews was to point out that in the Old Covenant or Hebrew text, sins could only be atoned for through the shedding of the blood of sacrificial animals. Sacrificial bloodshed for atonement was the basis of Hebrew priestly religion (quite in contrast, I should add, to pagan religions, where animals were routinely slaughtered to appease deities, read fortunes, etc.) In the Christian Testament, the author of Hebrews thus argues that the sacrifice of the crucified Jesus on the cross is a superior and once-for-all blood sacrifice that availed all people who would trust in him. Hebrews also argues that the sacrifice of Christ necessarily renders the older Hebrew sacrificial system obsolete. As Tapscott himself knows, Christians do not believe in animal sacrifice, not because they eschew the value of blood atonement, but because they believe the sacrifice of Jesus the Son of God supersedes and abrogates animal sacrifice forever. Yet this does not negate the grounding principle, as the Bible teaches, that there is no remission for sins without bloodshed. In other words, Christianity sees the idea of sin, judgment, and bloodshed as inseparable. So did John Brown.<br /><br />Prescient and Prophetic<br /><br />Now, whether one agrees with this theological shop talk or not (and I do not assume that all my readers do), I only point this out because Tapscott says Brown tragically misunderstood this text. He claims this is so based upon Brown's famous last written words, where he says that he believed that “the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” These are indeed Brown’s last written words, for he believed slavery was an immense and wicked sin that had overcome the nation. As a result, Brown held that a vast measure of slavery’s crimes was so extensive that, absent repentance on the part of slaveholders, divine justice would require judgment upon the US. Accordingly, he believed that justice would require the shedding of blood. This position was not unique, and the specter of God's judgment had haunted the nation since the early days of the nation. Perhaps the most famous evidence of this is found in the words of the slaveholder president, Thomas Jefferson, who famously wrote: "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever. . . ." Many abolitionists in Brown's time apprehended that God's justice might be heaped upon the nation with the result of bloodshed. So why Tapscott makes so much of this indicates the desperation of his effort. Furthermore, Brown's only point in his last written words was that, in attempting to subvert slavery without engaging in full-scale insurrection, he had failed. It would now take far more bloodshed, Brown concluded, to end slavery. John Brown was right, for it would take a civil war and a national bloodletting for slavery to end. Certainly, Tapscott is wrong in his reading of Brown's words.<br /><br />Wrong, Wrong, Wrong<br /><br />In fact, it is quite amazing that Tapscott is so blind to the prescient even prophetic vision of John Brown. The abolitionist understood that slavery was so wicked that it would result in bloodshed on a wide national scale. But this was not simply a political reading of the signs of the times, but also a theologically-grounded survey of the country, which Brown rightly referred to as a "slave nation" in his last days. Brown recognized that the nation was heading toward civil war and that the South would rather perish than surrender its slave power and stolen black labor. Again, Brown was right and Tapscott is wrong.<br /><br />And Tapscott is wrong on all accounts. His charge that Brown was a “radical ideologue” is an implicit admission that he sides with the conservative slaveholders, his forebears. Apparently, Tapscott does not see that those Christians who were opposed to black liberation all along have been the real radical, ideological demagogues, and that it is they who have brought shame upon the evangelical heritage.<br /><br /><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_Hkfz_iirkM2R7OrhuNDUqCctYL0s3tCXNPjY-2I6PRSVpP3fPFeyFmLraNm0zpxfC-hL62pucJ6qekAr2cDrA-651UHMZgL4S3qAnyCg_uih-hBRbSOf2W_E6AGHxWe5SmN6ViU2HCDsDGrD0TaSgB9Vtee2b7RKzfsI2m_xJMN_VPe3A/s1258/Dream%207.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="780" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_Hkfz_iirkM2R7OrhuNDUqCctYL0s3tCXNPjY-2I6PRSVpP3fPFeyFmLraNm0zpxfC-hL62pucJ6qekAr2cDrA-651UHMZgL4S3qAnyCg_uih-hBRbSOf2W_E6AGHxWe5SmN6ViU2HCDsDGrD0TaSgB9Vtee2b7RKzfsI2m_xJMN_VPe3A/w248-h400/Dream%207.png" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">made on dream.ai</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>Tapscott finally finishes his peculiar screed by pointing out that Brown’s role in the <i><a href="https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/provisional-constitution-and-ordinances-for-the-people-of-the-united-states-written-by-john-brown" target="_blank">Provisional Constitution</a></i> that he wrote in 1858 would entail that he would have control over the military and the treasury had his south-wide plan been successfully launched. Tapscott concludes by charging Brown with being hungry for “the power and the money.”<br /><br />Of all the ham-handed, misinformed charges against Brown by Tapscott, this is probably the most contemptible because it is essentially accusatory and judgmental while ignoring the principles and history of the man. Brown practiced reparations when liberating enslaved people and he believed that enslaved people deserved more than freedom. He believed they deserved to receive wages for their stolen labor and the injustice heaped upon them. That Tapscott should charge that Brown had an eye on wealth and power for their own sake is completely antithetical to the biographical record and to the man. It is a baseless accusation against a man long dead in spite of the evidence. It is a false witness.<br /><br />Tapscott's Failure<br /><br />Mark Tapscott’s reactionary screed against Brown is fraught with errors, baseless charges, and half-read history. He presents his article as an expert rejoinder, but he is a ham-handed historian who reads the record through skewed lenses. His old homework on Brown from the 1970s, unfinished and questionable, does not make him competent to address Brown, so his vituperation should not be taken any more seriously than his selective reading of the evidence. <p></p>A careful reading of John Brown’s life will not find him without flaws. Contrary to Tapscott's article, I nowhere have called for Brown to be canonized. I have called for him to be included in the church because he was a devout believer, no less than "Stonewall" Jackson, his pious Calvinist counterpart in the South. After all, no man is above criticism and no man is without fault. The premise of my piece in <i>CT</i> is one that I continue to defend: <i>John Brown deserves to hold a place in his own Christian society and context</i>. If racists like Whitefield, Edwards, Dabney, and others are to be uncritically assessed and embraced by evangelicals, then John Brown should have a place in the history of the evangelical movement too. Tapscott hates John Brown viscerally and so he barks at any notion that the abolitionist was a Christian, let alone someone who might teach us a lesson about how we treat our fellow man. As Brown might say, Tapscott is "besotted" by the fallacies of his own historical rhetoric. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, long after this journalist is dead and forgotten, people will still be reading about John Brown and will be inspired by his heroic commitment to human liberation and equality. At the very least, Brown is going nowhere in the national memory because he is a folk hero. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/opinion/trump-losing-support-2024.html?searchResultPosition=2" target="_blank">As Charles M. Blow has written recently, "[t]he folk hero is transcendent. He defies convention and defies gravity."</a> At best, I would argue, John Brown is here to stay because of his Christian witness, which even men like Tapscott cannot naysay.<p style="text-align: justify;">My argument, that white Christians should open their eyes to Brown's Christian witness, is not going away. The time may yet come when evangelicals of goodwill may turn their eyes back to history to find a devout Christian who made a difference in matters of racial justice. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And John Brown will be there.</p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-12619853478562197402022-12-17T16:42:00.005-05:002022-12-17T16:52:51.585-05:00Prompting John Brown: Some Experiments in AI ArtThe other day I was playing around with a couple of online sites that generate art from prompts--written descriptions--using artificial intelligence (AI). A friend of mine sent me an informative video about AI art. You can view it here:<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SVcsDDABEkM" width="320" youtube-src-id="SVcsDDABEkM"></iframe></div><p>At any rate, I tried putting in various phrases about "John Brown the abolitionist." Interestingly, however, as long as I used "John Brown the abolitionist" I kept getting renderings of Brown as a black man. Here are some of the generated black John Brown images:
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLECCU-zE-yrUzB7WmlHqUpPfnQm6IKTdAhjfIHbpDJdtiaxOnLOXqQUv_vy9jFmZlqmMSrZYPlGhfQhOYbKm9qnz8MmGvEsIX26QEUvKUkQ8kiVtf5gVK6sVre4fhR2crHybBJCHhjwr005fF7wJn5aMSdYFAwBIMTMOx5Vv8mt6Steye4w/s512/IMG_1542.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLECCU-zE-yrUzB7WmlHqUpPfnQm6IKTdAhjfIHbpDJdtiaxOnLOXqQUv_vy9jFmZlqmMSrZYPlGhfQhOYbKm9qnz8MmGvEsIX26QEUvKUkQ8kiVtf5gVK6sVre4fhR2crHybBJCHhjwr005fF7wJn5aMSdYFAwBIMTMOx5Vv8mt6Steye4w/s320/IMG_1542.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-_kvO3VjPcMPMUmPw8UTuEZKe2tFD-iIlWJH0VwJf9wIfZLXW0McWZX0zKUVoXAbbweraOwMFAKsU3hKIDXEUzruQfHk96hDh_DzUIhvmgZcOucN1k3P5Q_V6e6dkgI1Ch_GiCv3rRDmYijK5BtVxJu1Eos9p9E3fuyOzoox7Rz37QRUGQ/s512/6631de8d-a185-4b68-9554-6da638d0f621.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-_kvO3VjPcMPMUmPw8UTuEZKe2tFD-iIlWJH0VwJf9wIfZLXW0McWZX0zKUVoXAbbweraOwMFAKsU3hKIDXEUzruQfHk96hDh_DzUIhvmgZcOucN1k3P5Q_V6e6dkgI1Ch_GiCv3rRDmYijK5BtVxJu1Eos9p9E3fuyOzoox7Rz37QRUGQ/s320/6631de8d-a185-4b68-9554-6da638d0f621.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQAHSbfXRWoxmFQb6AIYN36orzqCvku6Um-n4Jn8yAdLiRpoOA4ofxU8QyITwpIST3lj4GBHbBzJ6JnXlOh7ZIO5IwBAtq_CGveoCyU9sqSrtsv6oEh7FxiHtpzPzoioBRl5-h_9MXoj6xTCpikhs9cWBgEAsUH7y2wVT8mFo7zQPaYxC0g/s512/Num1.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQAHSbfXRWoxmFQb6AIYN36orzqCvku6Um-n4Jn8yAdLiRpoOA4ofxU8QyITwpIST3lj4GBHbBzJ6JnXlOh7ZIO5IwBAtq_CGveoCyU9sqSrtsv6oEh7FxiHtpzPzoioBRl5-h_9MXoj6xTCpikhs9cWBgEAsUH7y2wVT8mFo7zQPaYxC0g/s320/Num1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF_FIEaMR_2CJcPZ-QgN4SFFtgNC__MfM6VStKmMfaTpIufb7GmBSnoDgLdCB1NQyN_ZfG7VHdgoj3eRxqpoNIaIDMuJ7C9FXLQtATinrVDCFXbjXCYbfZ3NuOiW43q9KTP6xQFFunzZC5-8_SRmHJuiUSoxtPxlg84hjdazLF772yJvoKQ/s1242/another%20black%20JB.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="762" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF_FIEaMR_2CJcPZ-QgN4SFFtgNC__MfM6VStKmMfaTpIufb7GmBSnoDgLdCB1NQyN_ZfG7VHdgoj3eRxqpoNIaIDMuJ7C9FXLQtATinrVDCFXbjXCYbfZ3NuOiW43q9KTP6xQFFunzZC5-8_SRmHJuiUSoxtPxlg84hjdazLF772yJvoKQ/s320/another%20black%20JB.png" /></a>Keep in mind, that AI images are not copies of known images but sort of reinventions based on the written prompts, based on what the AI gleans from what has been posted online. An article I read described it (and this is my best effort, so forgive me if I'm wrong) analogously as grinding down a tree into saw dust and then using the sawdust to construct a chair based on the available descriptions of a chair. There are also different AI generators using different styles, including imitating famous artists, etc. One thing is for sure, every rendering is unique and you can regenerate images endlessly from the same prompt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If you're interested in playing around with prompt-to-image AI art, it appears that <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/" target="_blank">Dall-e</a> is one of the best. But access to it is limited and then you have to pay to keep playing around on it. One with open access is <a href="https://dream.ai/create" target="_blank">Dream</a> by Wombo. You can enter your prompt and use different generators that produce different kinds of images, and you can repeatedly generate different images from the same prompt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">AI and Bias: Kissing the Black Baby?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">At the same time, I do wonder whether AI reflects certain biases that are embedded in the culture since AI can only work with what has been put online. For instance, the first inclination to portray John Brown as a black man may suggest that many people, who are largely ignorant, believe Brown had to have been a black man because he is associated with black people in their minds. This bias would apply to both blacks and whites who simply do not know enough about history--something not surprising in the USA. The video above shows that AI is biased toward the west, and I suspect biased more toward the USA, which is far more ignorant of history as a culture than are European peoples generally speaking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I encountered this again using Dall-e, one of the leading AI text-to-image sites. I repeatedly and repeatedly tried entering prompts about "John Brown kissing a black baby on his way to execution." Whenever I did, I kept getting images generated of John Brown as a black man kissing a black baby. It was experientially like AI refused to follow the prompt. Was this a fluke?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I thought I'd try one more thing by entering Hovendon, along with the prompt about John Brown kissing the black baby, etc. This is a clear reference to a very famous painting, "The Last Moments of John Brown" (1884), by Thomas Hovendon, which is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_05kPJ7dJxp9OsHwyw21EZxZuiRF6Mh0sT4rvKPCG7d0dh7zA_HfBD_e2yOqTmqTINBbiMw9ZUrItt0B73f4yylpOwEPH7G6lckY1lTJEFkwBMQV_41wca_LBmzJOa9770yPN6UIWmMMpk03Ig3YrB_Wx-uREPEPbv5m7lZ1UOWuiCRVFA/s1076/Screenshot%202022-12-17%20at%203.14.10%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="902" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_05kPJ7dJxp9OsHwyw21EZxZuiRF6Mh0sT4rvKPCG7d0dh7zA_HfBD_e2yOqTmqTINBbiMw9ZUrItt0B73f4yylpOwEPH7G6lckY1lTJEFkwBMQV_41wca_LBmzJOa9770yPN6UIWmMMpk03Ig3YrB_Wx-uREPEPbv5m7lZ1UOWuiCRVFA/w335-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-17%20at%203.14.10%20PM.png" title="Hovendon's "Last Moments of John Brown"" width="335" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Hovendon's "The Last Moments of John Brown" </i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Certainly," I said to myself, "the AI will pick up on this prompt and give me a rendering akin to the Hovendon painting." But I was wrong. The baby might change variously from black to white, but the AI John Brown remained black--and I tried this over and over again. Here are several examples of what the Dall-e AI kept producing with the prompt, "Hovendon's painting of John Brown the abolitionist kissing a black baby":</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEh1jE6i5_pbownNsTTeqHHmzf9besFW45OyKmVXoOs8Jt_qOnuMlBrMiEpUsdBrs2MsvMEzbnyaJNE4PLAM3aYPIlNm5FknrpMldN91aefRj-muiYY1mviKuPOQdeTgtlS0GlMGv52JWjFUe3L_IrUQ3tFaux1xz9XEu0i9B5u9jJbvyjZw/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.26.56%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20on%20his%20way%20to%20execution.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEh1jE6i5_pbownNsTTeqHHmzf9besFW45OyKmVXoOs8Jt_qOnuMlBrMiEpUsdBrs2MsvMEzbnyaJNE4PLAM3aYPIlNm5FknrpMldN91aefRj-muiYY1mviKuPOQdeTgtlS0GlMGv52JWjFUe3L_IrUQ3tFaux1xz9XEu0i9B5u9jJbvyjZw/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.26.56%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20on%20his%20way%20to%20execution.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJISLfIKfWK5MGTHb1aC6bOc7gTb6ViwuucvF8cydNQGRwzOGBIvEzyBxANCo5IOV-XE3S4e1Y7_mJf5jxM7dXla42pXVDk4Yb02zdbgrrJTOapJqU5gBHfIY-6sBeHnQhxP_9vRdvw3TsgDsDusEOiSOuzdzwJwVt0Jq-FJqvwmoELs9Kw/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.27.06%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20on%20his%20way%20to%20execution.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJISLfIKfWK5MGTHb1aC6bOc7gTb6ViwuucvF8cydNQGRwzOGBIvEzyBxANCo5IOV-XE3S4e1Y7_mJf5jxM7dXla42pXVDk4Yb02zdbgrrJTOapJqU5gBHfIY-6sBeHnQhxP_9vRdvw3TsgDsDusEOiSOuzdzwJwVt0Jq-FJqvwmoELs9Kw/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.27.06%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20on%20his%20way%20to%20execution.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHtxkSK7ZbXrHu7qW1p99myyfqJY7tNMSZQH2huhz7L8iJ_KR0IHUUEh0Ic2KBtlEyDFWAuj1CJ47EZKWC08N5nZ9cSdBia56ApYhufHrT9iJJvJI6qzUfa6FeSsgNYRSO2HFPFs51vZOtLPLXDPtoZOmY7vMvu7cOb5YrlLbDO0h7RYPTw/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.36%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHtxkSK7ZbXrHu7qW1p99myyfqJY7tNMSZQH2huhz7L8iJ_KR0IHUUEh0Ic2KBtlEyDFWAuj1CJ47EZKWC08N5nZ9cSdBia56ApYhufHrT9iJJvJI6qzUfa6FeSsgNYRSO2HFPFs51vZOtLPLXDPtoZOmY7vMvu7cOb5YrlLbDO0h7RYPTw/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.36%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCyHCLuksDtuAo-lKbRdC59bWDDSw-vUpgb7b0mwU-U-hk2PKs1eQkXMyGG-a68mXHB429vLpWsAi34GVO273DOBDXsw9xCFP-UPNvqqbnyKVY3Podin8aqRUh9hcNQ_-EwtHDgsaDMBr3kYVpqiLh6PFyXAvB-Q5oNzK3zMFGfIa-N66zQ/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.49%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCyHCLuksDtuAo-lKbRdC59bWDDSw-vUpgb7b0mwU-U-hk2PKs1eQkXMyGG-a68mXHB429vLpWsAi34GVO273DOBDXsw9xCFP-UPNvqqbnyKVY3Podin8aqRUh9hcNQ_-EwtHDgsaDMBr3kYVpqiLh6PFyXAvB-Q5oNzK3zMFGfIa-N66zQ/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.49%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzsJ0_-0xYdloHc6f2pSb6LHYyJzdpDUYwHy3pERQko4WToVt4PzndutcW6FUAd_jzgOgh8Sa2YmC771t33cYVrUJycjT-0oeT_6rzNRyGyl8nVlL-XPSNIv0HthQGoaQRQnZ_aZJ0PqVLHLBbM3EbFVRyBQItLSjXdJo1EcRZMychje6WQ/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.21.37%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzsJ0_-0xYdloHc6f2pSb6LHYyJzdpDUYwHy3pERQko4WToVt4PzndutcW6FUAd_jzgOgh8Sa2YmC771t33cYVrUJycjT-0oeT_6rzNRyGyl8nVlL-XPSNIv0HthQGoaQRQnZ_aZJ0PqVLHLBbM3EbFVRyBQItLSjXdJo1EcRZMychje6WQ/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.21.37%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpQc9dPREhSKiAH47RNKmi9mpIOvP_RBYiQ5MyqTPofSMZHXZjeWdiYj6z_K1XKeOE9S4KHIjZE5nRXT6zcM6klzweg-WMFF0K1TmSrxlW3skf2xYE31racOZwnqcmeOEI9x2Jyry48v8O7t9SF5RduV1ElM_YRKgC0pCMegK547Odr3LeA/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.18%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpQc9dPREhSKiAH47RNKmi9mpIOvP_RBYiQ5MyqTPofSMZHXZjeWdiYj6z_K1XKeOE9S4KHIjZE5nRXT6zcM6klzweg-WMFF0K1TmSrxlW3skf2xYE31racOZwnqcmeOEI9x2Jyry48v8O7t9SF5RduV1ElM_YRKgC0pCMegK547Odr3LeA/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-17%2015.07.18%20-%20Hovendon's%20painting%20of%20John%20Brown%20the%20abolitionist%20kissing%20a%20black%20baby%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I also did a whole series of these on Dall-e using the same prompt but variously trying to add artistic flavors like Dali, da Vinci, and even impressionism. They were all very nice, but they <i>invariably</i> made John Brown a black man and mostly made the baby black too. Maybe someone who knows about AI can explain this to me, and while I'd like to think that I'm missing something technical here, my tendency is to believe AI reflects a cultural bias rooted in deep racism, or at least, <i>racialism</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>AI's <i>White</i> John Brown</div><div><br /></div><div>Although my initial efforts to generate pictures of John Brown produced black versions, I did variously produce images of Brown by adding qualifiers like "white abolitionist" or "bearded white abolitionist."</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57OWmyVavI5AmgCp90CcSeHFJdbEhfmahGNi5A7Z1HL7s4gKY1PmC1627C6Q-tQnzEtc7gQs9jxWEUJ7FkKCPNP7JXDR5rmnEjEZ1oTUqiwHDyIAw2lGNtwyxAFCAn4b1FbH3G-iowm2Uh3XEBvk7xiNNUbu_RfTziBs0ziTiZmIfwoYnrg/s512/1e3e008e-0bc5-464f-acf8-1d8d2025f674.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57OWmyVavI5AmgCp90CcSeHFJdbEhfmahGNi5A7Z1HL7s4gKY1PmC1627C6Q-tQnzEtc7gQs9jxWEUJ7FkKCPNP7JXDR5rmnEjEZ1oTUqiwHDyIAw2lGNtwyxAFCAn4b1FbH3G-iowm2Uh3XEBvk7xiNNUbu_RfTziBs0ziTiZmIfwoYnrg/s320/1e3e008e-0bc5-464f-acf8-1d8d2025f674.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZS6cI6xHxT6l2skpEge8wzkLEmZkoD_Fpn7FuOkOCjibJsKKyEMyqKuWg_MfYK_pLgG5J4cgK9g5ZubGsR-u8PjsabqChPwI4jIdm5Tek9-Q2sGUL1ILhBJn3IfOdmI4jPxiQqNLysipyCCR-IRUofHV5v_M47iI58nuVuOKH9YkXvNhnQ/s512/ceeed2f4-62f6-4d8e-a462-ac40b7d4a963.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZS6cI6xHxT6l2skpEge8wzkLEmZkoD_Fpn7FuOkOCjibJsKKyEMyqKuWg_MfYK_pLgG5J4cgK9g5ZubGsR-u8PjsabqChPwI4jIdm5Tek9-Q2sGUL1ILhBJn3IfOdmI4jPxiQqNLysipyCCR-IRUofHV5v_M47iI58nuVuOKH9YkXvNhnQ/s320/ceeed2f4-62f6-4d8e-a462-ac40b7d4a963.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwuHaR1DljhN8ceuyKP-Mnjwy2M7UFOLDJeiEpvBFGMlncplTVL7Uc9b96PDc5aKPJ7Pyogu7QfXnkm47nx0XM1gcKO3P1-zVa3cuHQOxGNMq7MYkWhlGK5Me4nMkXuMsAoRaVV6UlTAfZJQSfbfCEbU27CQKk2o0dTsS7n78lJD9Pk1wCQ/s512/Num5B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwuHaR1DljhN8ceuyKP-Mnjwy2M7UFOLDJeiEpvBFGMlncplTVL7Uc9b96PDc5aKPJ7Pyogu7QfXnkm47nx0XM1gcKO3P1-zVa3cuHQOxGNMq7MYkWhlGK5Me4nMkXuMsAoRaVV6UlTAfZJQSfbfCEbU27CQKk2o0dTsS7n78lJD9Pk1wCQ/s320/Num5B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pw06gVHoGoRtIvfJ9DmjOV90RS-aeE2mpsjdtWp_jWmWV8OEKk8RkYd79_6qOcu3eD13-g4vzkrVXSX4ZUfsV3jvkgJdxZMwsX1Uggdbv68QDqtXcPJ4yN16CSoz7OMqBtm5WkV0T1zbyXiIh6-MAYXbZd7JaErJPPmeG-qSzgBWYm23yQ/s512/output.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pw06gVHoGoRtIvfJ9DmjOV90RS-aeE2mpsjdtWp_jWmWV8OEKk8RkYd79_6qOcu3eD13-g4vzkrVXSX4ZUfsV3jvkgJdxZMwsX1Uggdbv68QDqtXcPJ4yN16CSoz7OMqBtm5WkV0T1zbyXiIh6-MAYXbZd7JaErJPPmeG-qSzgBWYm23yQ/s320/output.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I should stress that these were made on maybe two or three different AI sites, but this will give you an idea of what AI will generate. The prompts here were brief and simple, always saying Brown was a white abolitionist in the 1850s or antebellum era.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trying to Recreate a Lost Image</div><div><br /></div><div>Since Dall-e is among the most sophisticated AI image generators, I then tried to recreate a lost daguerreotype that exists only by descriptions in a number of sources. The image was made about 1848 by the black Daguerreian, Augustus Washington. Washington's two surviving daguerreotypes of John Brown (below) have survived and are familiar to Brown enthusiasts. The lost image is said to have pictured Brown posing with his black friend and associate, Thomas Thomas, from Springfield, Mass. Jean Libby has documented the surviving daguerreotypes from this photographic session among the other John Brown images in her wonderful book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/John-Brown-Photo-Chronology-Exhibition/dp/0977363872/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PPQ1I6U7U2HK&keywords=john+brown+photo+chronology&qid=1671310201&sprefix=john+brown+photo%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1" target="_blank">John Brown Photo Chronology</a><i> </i>The most famous of the two images shows Brown with his hand uplifted as if making a vow, and holding a small banner said to have been emblazoned with "SPW," for "Subterranean PassWay," which was apparently what John Brown called the underground railroad--a term that perhaps preceded the advent of railroads in the 1830s and '40s. The lost image is said to have pictured Brown with his hand uplifted and his other hand on Thomas's shoulder. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMajSC6s-IkZQHSHarfPvAqwJDGIL2eAVzy3wrCi9LJnVDAx5upbofwzbz4pcnkFlEnuEdI4EyZ9Zbbn6VrCrZ2AH5z0VauvNP4b5ywpGr-_7fEdr5NKQU67tyrQmjFdd9OCJ_QsVJni0ZVvwWvNy9MbN-iz3P7JhHdU1zXEg1f7eP-bWfw/s474/Washington%20dag-Smithsonian.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMajSC6s-IkZQHSHarfPvAqwJDGIL2eAVzy3wrCi9LJnVDAx5upbofwzbz4pcnkFlEnuEdI4EyZ9Zbbn6VrCrZ2AH5z0VauvNP4b5ywpGr-_7fEdr5NKQU67tyrQmjFdd9OCJ_QsVJni0ZVvwWvNy9MbN-iz3P7JhHdU1zXEg1f7eP-bWfw/w295-h400/Washington%20dag-Smithsonian.jpg" width="295" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<i>National Portrait Gallery</i>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hczsQyp51tRWgM0ALJMBevByHMCqwtS1lSr8aALLcXWZbiVebkyCqx6W7D58wzS3-EotN7Oe4nm592cD4pyC3moei7p4RWT5jC9Fn3H7Ld4Gltapft1s-jNnFAL5dnVgDHfz7-Twe7bo3Nx2SqnUKCTtFq_9Q_yzcW7623FhL01QVlJqHw/s7174/Scan.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7174" data-original-width="5702" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hczsQyp51tRWgM0ALJMBevByHMCqwtS1lSr8aALLcXWZbiVebkyCqx6W7D58wzS3-EotN7Oe4nm592cD4pyC3moei7p4RWT5jC9Fn3H7Ld4Gltapft1s-jNnFAL5dnVgDHfz7-Twe7bo3Nx2SqnUKCTtFq_9Q_yzcW7623FhL01QVlJqHw/w318-h400/Scan.jpeg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(Nelson Atkins Museum of Art)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">So, I began to use prompts that stated something like "John Brown the white abolitionist, posing with hand uplifted as if making a vow and his other hand on the shoulder of a black friend," or various efforts at this idea. I omitted the fact that Thomas held the small "SPW" banner because I thought it was too much. This was one of the better images rendered, although it is hardly what I expected:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxEG06yAxd_iZXl5-IjMwszERLUOpQroLTxZI5jMhQecaWbNY0VctjRE8dM4xWzCjbe6SnzaK5ZfCDC5g6LhANKGRuX-yAKacleGehyYCk6WXvOgjkRrTRVv3-YjoEtggMW-UQxSOT3SLRJ3l9sTrQjrGW1ERo2ISmg2ft48WstuNl3nzDw/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-16%2021.14.03%20-%20an%20oil%20painting%20of%20the%20clean-shaven%20white%20abolitionist%20john%20brown%20posing%20for%20a%20daguerreotype%20with%20his%20one%20hand%20upraised,%20as%20if%20making%20a%20vow,%20and%20his%20o.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxEG06yAxd_iZXl5-IjMwszERLUOpQroLTxZI5jMhQecaWbNY0VctjRE8dM4xWzCjbe6SnzaK5ZfCDC5g6LhANKGRuX-yAKacleGehyYCk6WXvOgjkRrTRVv3-YjoEtggMW-UQxSOT3SLRJ3l9sTrQjrGW1ERo2ISmg2ft48WstuNl3nzDw/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202022-12-16%2021.14.03%20-%20an%20oil%20painting%20of%20the%20clean-shaven%20white%20abolitionist%20john%20brown%20posing%20for%20a%20daguerreotype%20with%20his%20one%20hand%20upraised,%20as%20if%20making%20a%20vow,%20and%20his%20o.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Somewhat frustrated, I switched to the Dream AI generator and put in a simple prompt: "white John Brown making vow while placing hand on shoulder of a black man." In my simplicity, I figured I could possibly lead AI to get closer to the idea of the lost daguerreotype. Instead, I got these interesting images based on my stilted prompt:<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ilgbBJACn495NjeoDmdRQLVW7sumdMeThRVBAwlqpiQRt-vhcaEA8ueTr7M6uc-__xAxC0mPQ8_as40d9xyowijbfpnrSO1zMC2qy0zET7P8-JoldftPCXkhEk1EdeH7-YojHV4MUYj9LvdP6PUv5axXPdZ-6JwbYJJpPZfdsqIdlYtaBQ/s1920/Dream_TradingCard%20(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ilgbBJACn495NjeoDmdRQLVW7sumdMeThRVBAwlqpiQRt-vhcaEA8ueTr7M6uc-__xAxC0mPQ8_as40d9xyowijbfpnrSO1zMC2qy0zET7P8-JoldftPCXkhEk1EdeH7-YojHV4MUYj9LvdP6PUv5axXPdZ-6JwbYJJpPZfdsqIdlYtaBQ/w360-h640/Dream_TradingCard%20(5).jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWcVW73SvC0zTvynhYFbktVLS842EFEtdHoFg8Tc4Zwa4SzvKxtKa2rxsMVl9OpWxxBoVp8idSTqJv70YBxtAJUT9gsKIJ5T1lBgfusRP3sd9W6yzKoPTBW33s3lu4K3C06NlZwgUMwRGX6zaueHMfDBSsnTl3MhTRNmjM67lrLzJ6KTFVg/s1920/Dream_TradingCard%20(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWcVW73SvC0zTvynhYFbktVLS842EFEtdHoFg8Tc4Zwa4SzvKxtKa2rxsMVl9OpWxxBoVp8idSTqJv70YBxtAJUT9gsKIJ5T1lBgfusRP3sd9W6yzKoPTBW33s3lu4K3C06NlZwgUMwRGX6zaueHMfDBSsnTl3MhTRNmjM67lrLzJ6KTFVg/w360-h640/Dream_TradingCard%20(4).jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpsdJ-BnPVf5p2SuyEp8fGF4Usm6mB2j6GEa3hHgaS8lXWmG603sMW8PJSPPVFyEqodAcEZ-i5kUQ7Kxpb1VAoaiiDYHDkj8qtDLz5wAdQ0Z8I7mGU9KSwvCskzKRqh2hRood1tgKlpJrsgfZ2l-2mLcieMKdiFKUXRgofwgmS4Hk0oNgQw/s1920/Dream_TradingCard2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpsdJ-BnPVf5p2SuyEp8fGF4Usm6mB2j6GEa3hHgaS8lXWmG603sMW8PJSPPVFyEqodAcEZ-i5kUQ7Kxpb1VAoaiiDYHDkj8qtDLz5wAdQ0Z8I7mGU9KSwvCskzKRqh2hRood1tgKlpJrsgfZ2l-2mLcieMKdiFKUXRgofwgmS4Hk0oNgQw/w360-h640/Dream_TradingCard2.jpeg" width="360" /></a></div><br /> While these AI images are all interesting, none of them came close to what I was hoping to get, although it is no surprise. My prompt was simplistic and perhaps I was asking too much. Like other AI images, there's a weirdness to these images although in some sense they do capture Brown's devotion and the pathos of his bond with black people.</div><div><br /></div><div>From Kansas to Harper's Ferry</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm closing this post with a couple of AI images based on simple prompts that went something like, "John Brown the white abolitionist" fighting pro-slavery forces in the Kansas territory," and "John Brown the white abolitionist" attacking Harper's Ferry with a group of white and black men. Here is the Kansas image:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdc4dcsI7JzXsar1yAhdoQfjtgSAPvsChPWFkFeMDVIHp7DNuq3oblpna8Z4e_jJll9MflGnOW9rcUFiqNjHq9OyrckS0bcs-m6hHize3Tc_2zSqBDTkf2AYIO4OO1nBc3amwB6PBBgDCtMGkd00e-TkWsA0bWvewggmaMJTGBjb2F1Uuf_A/s512/Num2.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdc4dcsI7JzXsar1yAhdoQfjtgSAPvsChPWFkFeMDVIHp7DNuq3oblpna8Z4e_jJll9MflGnOW9rcUFiqNjHq9OyrckS0bcs-m6hHize3Tc_2zSqBDTkf2AYIO4OO1nBc3amwB6PBBgDCtMGkd00e-TkWsA0bWvewggmaMJTGBjb2F1Uuf_A/w640-h640/Num2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Quite weird, <i>this</i> John Brown in Kansas. The face, the hat, the uniform, and the way his hand melts into the suggestion of a weapon. Nearby, a be-capped, bearded black man holds a weapon and turns as if looking to hear a word from Old Brown. Behind Brown are some strange-looking allies that suggest Star Wars more than antebellum Kansas. AI is wonderful and weird.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Then, there's John Brown attacking Harper's Ferry. This is what I got:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd91_bRMnyFc_K79UqnoAc0NPcmCPN5NqrdyH0zmcaE5vjY03FVr11yZcbcflyQlK_beCqt_FDrzLEaJbCdK5VITZvdRShgcNOiUH14OSwPlKnJEVgKqcS7AmG-nhop0BHQNhiRZKlkb9MVyZUKDW-6OMFNUmd-AdN8M14uOVRu2U9Igx5Ng/s512/cc3e6625-a2f7-4e79-b327-29c193e1a64b.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd91_bRMnyFc_K79UqnoAc0NPcmCPN5NqrdyH0zmcaE5vjY03FVr11yZcbcflyQlK_beCqt_FDrzLEaJbCdK5VITZvdRShgcNOiUH14OSwPlKnJEVgKqcS7AmG-nhop0BHQNhiRZKlkb9MVyZUKDW-6OMFNUmd-AdN8M14uOVRu2U9Igx5Ng/w400-h400/cc3e6625-a2f7-4e79-b327-29c193e1a64b.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKMP1ZniT9iFSgnzWyPeAK9TdH8AYw9AWaF_nowH4PDY4fGSF06IB52ny0JuKcQ_wDS5jV5fMrY0KuI65v4lP_Kj4SSvmQMXwh8M6kqB0dCC2pr70zCaheCP2zLpoi4JkvaNAghfyXmXQfU20ofOk8zi-7LpHF3aPN8Tc2pv0pwd1GkyHZg/s512/Num3.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKMP1ZniT9iFSgnzWyPeAK9TdH8AYw9AWaF_nowH4PDY4fGSF06IB52ny0JuKcQ_wDS5jV5fMrY0KuI65v4lP_Kj4SSvmQMXwh8M6kqB0dCC2pr70zCaheCP2zLpoi4JkvaNAghfyXmXQfU20ofOk8zi-7LpHF3aPN8Tc2pv0pwd1GkyHZg/w640-h640/Num3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What the *&#. Go figure. Both of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The first one shows John Brown brandishing some kind of rail in the air, with what looks like tall silos or buildings in the background. I guess that's some kind of an attack. The other is a bizarre, surreal rendering that strongly suggests conflict, and Brown seems to be the be-capped figure at the far right standing tall. There are sharp angles, movement, arms groping and extending, and the suggestion of fire or light breaking into the room. I guess it's the Harper's Ferry engine house and Brown's last stand at the marine breakthrough.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This was definitely not a trip through history. It was not even a computer-generated survey-and-selection of available John Brown images. It was like dreaming with artificial intelligence, the bits and pieces of images and words, scrambled and rehashed, yet strangely discernible in a sense.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Maybe you'll want to play around with AI now that you've seen the weird fun it offers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Postscript, Post-image</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Oh, yes, before I close, I could not resist being a little silly. So I tried one more thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I thought it might be fun to take a figure that is very familiar in western culture and then put him into an episode of pop culture television that most folks over forty will also recall, and therefore which might also be discernible to AI--the first interracial kiss broadcast on national television, with a little twist. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And I was right. AI had no problem whatsoever getting the prompt. Go figure.<></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgPar82M88lYeUFDNZCSRw-HyEyHXeCDfZRzs-agGCpMTeuNLcem8uKmr8R5Tf2p5pqBh5lxf1sppZi1sYpOu-usZp0h5xlhmkf3SUwaVy2Daj6EFdFvVSrNXFPYPRKeJprR1dgzBX2pIhnvALXZxqJn1DeEs-vxSwSPNSukcuRw0MZz_uw/s1920/Lincoln%20&%20Uhura.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgPar82M88lYeUFDNZCSRw-HyEyHXeCDfZRzs-agGCpMTeuNLcem8uKmr8R5Tf2p5pqBh5lxf1sppZi1sYpOu-usZp0h5xlhmkf3SUwaVy2Daj6EFdFvVSrNXFPYPRKeJprR1dgzBX2pIhnvALXZxqJn1DeEs-vxSwSPNSukcuRw0MZz_uw/w360-h640/Lincoln%20&%20Uhura.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>
<p></p></div></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-18227057215647388852022-10-31T20:58:00.006-04:002023-04-19T20:54:11.727-04:00Why Was Brown Silent on the Conditions of Free Labor in the 19th Century? Responding to a Thoughtful Reader <p>A thoughtful listener of my <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/website/background/edit" target="_blank">John Brown Today</a> podcast named Len Bussanich has previously submitted his reflections on Old Brown, prompting a <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/10880785-why-john-brown-a-biographer-s-reflections-in-response-to-a-thoughtful-critic.mp3?download=true" target="_blank">response</a> on that platform that I hope was useful. Now, once again, I am pleased to receive a comment from Len on this platform following the last entry. Partly because my response is too long to fit into the comment section, and partly because I think he raised a good question worthy of posting, I thought it best to copy Len's note to me below, followed by my response. I hope that blog readers will find it useful.</p><p>Len writes:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>I've always been interested in the "dichotomy" between slave labor in the South and industrial/mill labor in the North. The Industrial Revolution essentially began in this country in Massachusetts, also the hotbed of abolitionism. Some of your wealthiest capitalists were also abolitionists. These same abolitionists and their followers were calling for the destruction of slavery in the South but said virtually nothing about the dehumanizing conditions farmer girls turned factory workers endured in the mill factories in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England. John Brown lived and worked in Springfield, MA. He must have known or heard about the conditions in the factories. I guess my question now is, why is there no examination of Brown's actions in the context of the industrializing North? Why would he-or the abolitionists-remain silent to the same oppressive conditions wracking the labor force in the North and not question, challenge or even confront the same capital dynamics that shaped the South as well as the North. Cotton as we know drove agricultural expansion in the South and industrial expansion in the North.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaz4cYSzQN8fRXM80UrD3I4-wHF7P8Z5lOO-eNLnCzhKojBMhPJRtQK4OA1Ode1UnrQFaHH18dhawximghzIm29Fmoo9fTLSyfaNvY4P_VynXDzCUOuAkxkgoA90kWNccddov_jk86Mj7ZIXfen7775AzKLr-hXjKX8jaaY2W9cragsmeuA/s2880/64cd1ee56881e0d53e1223ccdfbd001e.jpg" referrerpolicy="origin" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2880" data-original-width="2625" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaz4cYSzQN8fRXM80UrD3I4-wHF7P8Z5lOO-eNLnCzhKojBMhPJRtQK4OA1Ode1UnrQFaHH18dhawximghzIm29Fmoo9fTLSyfaNvY4P_VynXDzCUOuAkxkgoA90kWNccddov_jk86Mj7ZIXfen7775AzKLr-hXjKX8jaaY2W9cragsmeuA/w183-h200/64cd1ee56881e0d53e1223ccdfbd001e.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Orestes Brownson</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>There was a man however in the North named Brownson who was examining and writing about the brutal conditions in the North, <a href="https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/brownson/" target="_blank">Orestes Brownson</a> and his piece, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Laboring_Classes/C5KcumWV4aYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=brownson+the+laboring+class&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank"><i>The Laboring Classes</i></a>.<p></p><p> Perhaps I am asking too much of John Brown, but he detested slavery and yet he essentially remained silent on the dehumanizing nature of industrial labor and wage slavery.<></p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Hi Len,</p><p>Thank you for writing and for sharing your continued thinking and reflections on John Brown. Your question, as to why Brown seems to have been silent regarding the plight of exploited free laborers is interesting, to be sure.</p><p> In my study of his letters, I have never seen any expression of concern over the struggles of free laborers in the factories of the North. I'm not even sure I can recall an incident where his family or biographers recount such concerns. </p><p> The closest that Brown comes to fighting for free white labor in the North is his involvement in the wool business on behalf of the wool-growing farmers of Ohio, western Virginia, and Pennsylvania, expressed in his desire to open a wool commission operation in New England that would push back against the abuses of the manufacturers by protecting the interests of the growers. This was a cause that gripped him in the 1840s, although he lost that battle by trying to create a solution. The farmers were not ready to "unionize" (it took another half century before they actually did), the manufacturers were too powerful (and dishonest), and were able to undermine his efforts. Earlier in his life, in northwestern Pennsylvania, Brown interceded on behalf of settlers who were fighting the encroachments of a powerful Philadelphia land company. He felt they were unjustly being treated and tried to stir up a movement against this company. Although his efforts apparently came to naught, he did ruffle the feathers of the company's agent. I unpack these earlier episodes of his struggle for justice in my little book, <i>John Brown--The Cost of Freedom</i> (2007).</p><p> In light of this, I can only offer a couple of thoughts. First, Brown was an agrarian by nature and orientation and this shaped the arc of his life and activities. His most urban experience was in Springfield, Mass., 1846-49, and by then he was primarily caught up in resisting the expansive power of the slaveholders, especially after the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. I think that despite his forward-looking ways, Brown was more a product of agrarian society, and that was where his treasure was: fighting for settlers against a powerful company, or fighting manufacturers for farmers, and all the while moving steadily toward militant opposition to slavery.</p><p>Second, although it may be that Brown did not spend any energy on behalf of the struggling and exploited laborers of the North, I suspect he knew about their plight and sympathized. He was likewise sympathetic to the concerns of women. But if he did not come out in favor of the laborers or of women, it may be because he felt that the problem of slavery was far worse, more politically apocalyptic for the nation.</p><p>Perhaps too, he not only felt the concerns of free white labor and women, in general, were secondary to the black struggle, but he was put off by evidence of racism among free white laborers in the North. So, while he was aware of their struggles, perhaps Brown felt he had to prioritize the interest of the black struggle despite the inequities of the North. I know the antebellum apologists of the South often referred to the exploitation of the Northern laboring class, but perhaps in Brown's mind, he felt it was a category error to compare immigrant and poor white laborers in the North to enslaved Africans. The former were greatly exploited but they were free in some sense, whether or not they were despised for reasons of class or ethnicity. Still, this wasn't the same as the wholesale racist treatment of blacks, whether in southern slavery or northern "freedom." (A good book here is the modern classic by Leon Litwack, <i>North of Slavery</i>).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwxBPKhf5Ih5PG3w0SxhjZRJKBKL73mrZploaC5KsCVwexANOQSkC0mi2XISCwREzimMdnu8R8P8cwGfzX9G_RfPPxazLPmXigeabWuCE5UueptVQfLY1V5vYTB24crahgclPoB6CFCNxl7Pppx1ezy1rHjDL9eQRZjq9434Vqt6SRnZczg/s835/Douglass%20Green%20Brown%20sketch.png" referrerpolicy="origin" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="835" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwxBPKhf5Ih5PG3w0SxhjZRJKBKL73mrZploaC5KsCVwexANOQSkC0mi2XISCwREzimMdnu8R8P8cwGfzX9G_RfPPxazLPmXigeabWuCE5UueptVQfLY1V5vYTB24crahgclPoB6CFCNxl7Pppx1ezy1rHjDL9eQRZjq9434Vqt6SRnZczg/s320/Douglass%20Green%20Brown%20sketch.png" width="320" /></a></div>Although the following words are from Frederick Douglass, and not John Brown, it might be a helpful reference point for the question before us, as to Brown's apparent lack of concern for the struggles of poor white laborers in the North. In 1850, Douglass gave a speech in Rochester, New York, in which he reflected upon the plight of struggling Irishmen in Great Britain. I think the parallel here is quite useful:<p></p><p></p><blockquote>Far be it from me to underrate the sufferings of the Irish people. They have been long oppressed; and the same heart that prompts me to plead the cause of the American bondsman, makes it impossible for me not to sympathize with the oppressed of all lands. Yet I must say that there is no analogy between the two cases. The Irishman is poor, but he is not a slave. He may be in rags, but he is not a slave. He is still the master of his own body . . . . He can write, and speak, and cooperate for the attainment of his rights and the redress of his wrongs." (Dec. 1, 1850)</blockquote><p></p><p>I do not think I'm stretching it to suggest that if Douglass felt this way about the poor Irishmen living under the British empire, he felt the same about poor white factory workers in New England. They were victims, but only the racist chattel slave system was, in Douglass's words, the "grand aggregation of human horrors." I suspect that this would have been John Brown's sentiments and those of his black and white counterparts within the abolitionist movement.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw7cRbLeUDmIHHhPc9Jo35uIwGNTNyLx56OP9uYyiE_6xObtgIPqByBEG219DKZRYCOeBmXubnd2RdP3mSEskvpU42KFf0q_ykCSOxNtvrzHkQ2J1LaC2YBnBgHhkw0d69EwstRK4ABAahVHmbnaS3eGnQyrG7JlK49hwlp8iDZDQaxvNxg/s575/A%20Washington%20Dag-%20large.jpg" referrerpolicy="origin" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="432" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw7cRbLeUDmIHHhPc9Jo35uIwGNTNyLx56OP9uYyiE_6xObtgIPqByBEG219DKZRYCOeBmXubnd2RdP3mSEskvpU42KFf0q_ykCSOxNtvrzHkQ2J1LaC2YBnBgHhkw0d69EwstRK4ABAahVHmbnaS3eGnQyrG7JlK49hwlp8iDZDQaxvNxg/w150-h200/A%20Washington%20Dag-%20large.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Brown was a sensitive human being and I believe that he knew about the oppression of northern laborers, but I just don't think he saw their struggle as<i> the</i> "hill to die on." Indeed, by the late 1850s, it was the destruction of the Union and the possibility that four million slaves would be carried into an independent slave nation that caused him consternation. That was the crisis of his generation, <i>not</i> the struggles of poor white laborers. History suggests, in fact, that slavery had to be dealt with before other issues of social justice were brought to the main attention. At the same time, in later years, it seemed all too easy for this nation to turn its back on the concerns of the emancipated community. Perhaps had he lived long enough, John Brown might have undertaken on their behalf, just as did some of his associates who lived into the later 19th century. But Brown lived and died under the shadow of slavery, and it was the end of slavery that determined the boundaries of his life and death. Throughout the 1840s and '50s, John Brown's vision was steadily and intensively focused on slavery, and by the time he was in his late fifties, especially after the trauma of the Kansas territory, I just don't think he could focus his efforts on anything else. <p></p><p>Thank you for your note, Len. I hope this is useful in your continued study and reflection.--LD</p><div><br /></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-25773884090537850892022-09-17T12:07:00.001-04:002022-09-17T12:07:23.822-04:00Don Pedro, John Brown, and Black Enslavemen<div class="m8h3af8h l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The sketch below is of the "big daddy" of the sheep world in the 19th century United States, Don Pedro. Don Pedro was brought to the US by a Frenchman, E. I. DuPont de Nemours, who initially settled in New York in 1801. </span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhYcn_Y30gg6MxSYJ4tuRbL5uf2qwF81745nK0Ith9CjjohX01UUnZ9FP4qiFfxFKeirA_lS4M9uyTBRe5GkaCv7JD1aWV5XVX8XXwpuHt1KUOW_gUzfVG05ZktbexjwSlfdtZzUwBtwQLxLsOhO0mgL2qZxsaFhF-AAFjHmZh_3uFpDd1Q/s449/drawing_Don_Pedro.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="449" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhYcn_Y30gg6MxSYJ4tuRbL5uf2qwF81745nK0Ith9CjjohX01UUnZ9FP4qiFfxFKeirA_lS4M9uyTBRe5GkaCv7JD1aWV5XVX8XXwpuHt1KUOW_gUzfVG05ZktbexjwSlfdtZzUwBtwQLxLsOhO0mgL2qZxsaFhF-AAFjHmZh_3uFpDd1Q/s320/drawing_Don_Pedro.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Don Pedro Hagley Museum and Library</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Once in New York, Du Pont arranged to have Don Pedro “tupped” (copulate with) nine ewes, and thereafter became a major influence in sheep breeding. At the time, there was a kind of "craze" among sheep farmers in the <a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a>U.S. over acquiring Merino sheep, a breed (or group of breeds) that include Saxony and Rambouillet, and others. Even the slaveholder President Thomas Jefferson wanted some Merinos for his flocks in Virginia.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After a lot of breeding and even selling off of the feisty Don Pedro, DuPont reacquired him and moved the busy sheep to a new farm in Delaware, near Wilmington. To preserve and propagate the breed, he even offered Don Pedro to neighboring farmers for free, although initially few farmers valued the offer enough to use him. Eventually, however, farmers caught the Merino "fever" and Don Pedro was at it again.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">At ten years old, Don Pedro was described as “very strong and active,” “stout, short, and wooly,” with large, spiraled horns, short legs, and a weight of 138 pounds, with fine fleece, 1 3/4 long, thick, and close to his body. Don Pedro died in 1811, but his pedigree lived on, well into the time when an abolitionist named John Brown was pursuing excellence in the fine sheep and wool trade.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iAt1h8Vpq4JdHtiOn6ZogyfLYI0bUGoVufrdE1fBEgm06M6WBr9gX79qeapTZpXNuHcNIS0Ch1c8vuMMVOUNRx7ShfJCcy4e-oDGbZTDotyiBAyoDAXgb76FkvvyuhAz_Z66dWNsYh1sEZXWbh3T42Ep3nquHiB6Jlci5x84-KLOW5Kk_g/s575/A%20Washington%20Dag-%20large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iAt1h8Vpq4JdHtiOn6ZogyfLYI0bUGoVufrdE1fBEgm06M6WBr9gX79qeapTZpXNuHcNIS0Ch1c8vuMMVOUNRx7ShfJCcy4e-oDGbZTDotyiBAyoDAXgb76FkvvyuhAz_Z66dWNsYh1sEZXWbh3T42Ep3nquHiB6Jlci5x84-KLOW5Kk_g/w240-h320/A%20Washington%20Dag-%20large.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In his 1839 sheep-buying sojourn, Brown thus purchased some of the sires of Don Pedro and mentions it in his memorandum book (I), held by the Boston Public Library (also shown).</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Now, as historical detail goes, this is perhaps no more than interesting trivia, but it adds color to the John Brown story, getting beyond the standard "drive-by" biographies offered.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu5VEdhqUWcAe14FLcrIhNCx3Ph15EjK7GKCFoTm4VtUr8bS1bhbKy42b_iUNy1lJhClGofqAb_hG04f3dax3s-j4d270eNlOQOanQJj1VuWrbh_o6YMIdksUBwiD03pr_DeRg4D7EXjk2iVhazPGiVOO0ccGRc_gWWLitz5zamG4vtpxbw/s648/JB-Memorandum-Vol1-p20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu5VEdhqUWcAe14FLcrIhNCx3Ph15EjK7GKCFoTm4VtUr8bS1bhbKy42b_iUNy1lJhClGofqAb_hG04f3dax3s-j4d270eNlOQOanQJj1VuWrbh_o6YMIdksUBwiD03pr_DeRg4D7EXjk2iVhazPGiVOO0ccGRc_gWWLitz5zamG4vtpxbw/w250-h400/JB-Memorandum-Vol1-p20.jpg" width="250" /></a></div></span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">MORE IMPORTANTLY</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">, let us not forget that while John Brown was buying Don Pedro's kids from farms in Connecticut in 1839, African children were being sold away like livestock in the South, African people were in general treated like living property (our nation practiced "chattel slavery," not just slavery), African men were used to "breed," African women were routinely reduced to breeders as well as raped by white masters and their family members, and black children were sexually molested and violently abused. </span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCO76m565hhLMX9l-W5GW4L6w6fyGujJoPWFkO1Qg9GPmG_T676lc275SlCivJULf-xpfJSnGM2FBd1od1b8Js4TcQZtXkVDSgrj74jOxFE7XTIOp8bEXby54aDLoKNGj7YtQ7FIt0CVkfZfpugS6h2nesKnweyr5mJtbB33uyjJbGOLMqw/s495/16mag-slaveauction-archival-02-master495.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="495" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCO76m565hhLMX9l-W5GW4L6w6fyGujJoPWFkO1Qg9GPmG_T676lc275SlCivJULf-xpfJSnGM2FBd1od1b8Js4TcQZtXkVDSgrj74jOxFE7XTIOp8bEXby54aDLoKNGj7YtQ7FIt0CVkfZfpugS6h2nesKnweyr5mJtbB33uyjJbGOLMqw/s320/16mag-slaveauction-archival-02-master495.png" width="320" /></a></div>It's not an exaggeration to say that many African men and women, boys and girls, were treated with far less kindness than Don Pedro was treated in his busy "ovis aries" existence.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">White society then, and largely today, went on with its daily business with little regard to the vast and horrible nature of black enslavement in this nation, and today many white people do not want to talk about the realities of slavery, do not want to talk about what this nation owes the descendants of African slavery in this nation, and do not want to admit that their ancestors were slaveholding thieves of stolen black labor and stolen black bodies.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Say what you want about the Germans, but they've done far better in facing the atrocities of their history than have white folks in this nation, especially the ones whose forebears benefitted from black enslavement, and even more especially among the white evangelicals with slaveholder and "Confederate" pedigrees.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLii9O1sOndozHvMBuy0VLfovze4IZr2sYWq-TstqKQ-e-m_wWHOclDotcTrDmIL0ZV38PmZDaY3-VKLc7ZlKhY6Y4ZxLno4K0HVcRZaIJ3bgTnd90e9h1_Hk2P2Tykw8e3qW2DCPRObdb2JOSlYuHIPaGPcIi3irRHqweOipb-8mp4sjqg/s733/A%20Hunt%20portrait-American%20Magazine-Oct1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="583" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLii9O1sOndozHvMBuy0VLfovze4IZr2sYWq-TstqKQ-e-m_wWHOclDotcTrDmIL0ZV38PmZDaY3-VKLc7ZlKhY6Y4ZxLno4K0HVcRZaIJ3bgTnd90e9h1_Hk2P2Tykw8e3qW2DCPRObdb2JOSlYuHIPaGPcIi3irRHqweOipb-8mp4sjqg/s320/A%20Hunt%20portrait-American%20Magazine-Oct1909.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As for John Brown, I'm glad that his successes as a specialist in fine sheep and wool in the 1840s are only a biographical subtext, and that, when the South was on the edge of striking out on its own as a slave republic, he made a desperate, radical effort to liberate the oppressed. And although he failed, his example and his words put a light on the true spirit of the South, and his spirit forced a minimalist Republican effort to maintain slavery into a war to end slavery, despite Lincoln's slow-minded and slow-hearted intentions in 1860.</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As he waited to hang in his Virginia jail cell in 1859, I wonder if John Brown thought about the long trail that led him from Don Pedro sheep in 1839 to Harper's Ferry twenty years later, especially when he took his quill pen and marked off Revelation 18:13 in his Bible:</span></div></div><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><blockquote>"And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men."</blockquote></i></span></div></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-20411070477202302062022-08-24T13:37:00.029-04:002022-09-10T22:02:00.942-04:00A Douglass Descendant, W.E.B. DuBois, and the John Brown Memorial Association<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65qDEaTQOs0gsYhoQjH_fCYgeEzQN-Eg9qnnnvXRo0q9X0IYGLt8jN7u0Xm7W9BuPnWhh5Uhq7IoazQEv4O-qWWDqtlX4svNmqmrg0yz0jR717fX_tqPub3Q-QiWv5kvoWQxtNAdFoPnORE1sxVZAwWovMgteGRuxM6q6SuRY3va2voz9WQ/s2202/JBMA.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="2202" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65qDEaTQOs0gsYhoQjH_fCYgeEzQN-Eg9qnnnvXRo0q9X0IYGLt8jN7u0Xm7W9BuPnWhh5Uhq7IoazQEv4O-qWWDqtlX4svNmqmrg0yz0jR717fX_tqPub3Q-QiWv5kvoWQxtNAdFoPnORE1sxVZAwWovMgteGRuxM6q6SuRY3va2voz9WQ/w557-h301/JBMA.jpg" width="557" /></a> </p><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left;"><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"> </span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">This is taken from a letter written on stationary used by Fredericka D. Perry, a granddaughter of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, dated March 31, 1930. The letter was written to W.E.B. DuBois and can be found in the DuBois Papers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. </span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
There are various points of interest presented here.
The first point is the John Brown Memorial Association (JBMA), an African American group that was founded in 1922 by members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Starting in 1922, the JBMA had begun to conduct annual pilgrimages to Brown’s gravesite at North Elba, near Lake Placid, New York, to celebrate the abolitionist's birthday on May 9. The founder and leading spirits of the JBMA were J. Max Barber, a leader in the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, who had led the first pilgrimage to Brown’s grave in 1922. Other leaders were T. Spotuas Burwell and William Lloyd Imes. The latter, a clergyman, was still advancing the JBMA well into the 1960s. According to a note in the papers of the late Edwin N. Cotter, Jr., a supervisor of the John Brown Farm and gravesite, the JBMA continued until about 1981.</span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
Secondly, Fredericka Perry is shown here as the "organizer of Chapters [of the JBMA] in the Western and Southwestern parts of the United States." This is not only interesting in showing that there was interest in the black community sufficiently to have chapters in other parts of the country besides New York and Pennsylvania, but also because the woman advancing the JBMA was a direct descendant of Frederick Douglass.
Interestingly, only months before the JBMA's 1930 pilgrimage, a letter from Perry to W.E.B. DuBois, editor of the NAACP's publication, <i>The Crisis</i>, was published. Perry informed DuBois that she had finally obtained a copy of his 1909 biography of John Brown and had read it with much interest.
</span></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">Its eloquent tribute to John Brown transcends anything on the subject I have thus far read--and I have been fortunate in securing much good material. The interpretation of the Soul of John Brown--the thought behind the act--could come only from a man of the race with real understanding.</span></span></div></div></blockquote><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
Perry further opined:
<br /></span></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div style="color: #050505; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">I have for some time been convinced, Dr. DuBois, that the Negro has not done justice to the memory of John Brown and whatever his excuses may have been in the past, they can no longer remain in the face of his boasted intellectual and cultural advancement. (see letters in <i>The Crisis</i>, May 1930, p. 160)</span></span></div></div></blockquote><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span></span><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">These are rigorous words, especially coming from one who might more easily have given herself to the memorializing of her own great forebear, Frederick Douglass. It also suggests that well into the first half of the twentieth century, many African Americans sustained a robust appreciation of Brown, something that is born out in the work of certain contemporary writers, poets, artists, and scholars in that era. At any rate, Perry felt strongly about John Brown and her reading of DuBois' 1909 biography further steeled her conviction about the abolitionist. To no surprise, that May, she traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y., to join in the JBMA's annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of John Brown.
Interestingly, that same year of 1930, Boyd B. Stutler, the foremost John Brown aficionado, was invited to speak for the JBMA program at Lake Placid. The primary speaker for the event was A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black-led labor union. On his way home, traveling by train, Stutler later wrote that he had occasion to travel with Fredericka Perry. As Stutler recounted it, during the train ride home, Perry showed him a package that had been sent to her from Ethel Chamberlain, a granddaughter of John Brown (through Brown's son Salmon). She had evidently received the package at the John Brown Farm and opened it the first time during the train ride. When Perry opened the package, Stutler observed, she found a lock of John Brown’s hair and a piece of the scaffold upon which he was hanged. (Stutler to Fred Lockley, Jan. 9, 1938, p. 2, RP02-0156C, Stutler Papers)
The rich banner illustration on the JBMA stationary, featuring the heading, "Lest We Forget," portrays Brown's trial before a court of Virginia slaveholders and includes a portion of his spontaneous "statement to the court" at the time his guilty verdict was read. Brown is pictured as lying down, although he actually was tried while lying on a cot that was carried back and forth from his jail cell, Brown walking behind when entering and leaving the courthouse. The Virginians were in such haste to hang Brown and his men that they refused to grant adequate time for the preparation of their legal cases and likewise insisted that wounded men like Brown and his raider, Aaron Stevens, appear in court without the opportunity to recuperate from their wounds. The judge and the prosecutor would later write accounts of Brown's trial, portraying their conduct as fair. But it is evident that Brown was rushed through, as were his men, and was it not for their own State code restricting instant executions to the time of "insurrection," Brown would have been hanged almost immediately. Those with an interest in this phase of Brown's story should read Brian McGinty's <i>John Brown's Trial</i> and my book, <i>Freedom's Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia.</i></span></span></div><div style="color: #050505; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
Lastly, as noted, W.E.B. DuBois is remembered for his enduring and impacting biography, <i>John Brown</i>, published in 1909 and republished in 1962, the year before his death. I am not aware that DuBois ever spoke at the JBMA's annual event, although Oswald G. Villard, his associate in the NAACP was invited to speak. Villard, whose influential biography of Brown was published in 1910, was not kind toward DuBois' biography when it appeared, the year before his own book was published. Villard, who had ownership of influential publications in New York City, had his editor chasten DuBois because his book had many small factual errors and slips. DuBois was an academic and his biography of Brown was undertaken without great resources of time and money, so it is understandable that his reliance on older published sources would result in republishing errors. To be sure, Villard financed and published a great deal of important research on Brown in his biography, which won great praise in the papers while DuBois' biography was largely overlooked. However, a century-plus after the publication of his <i>John Brown</i>, DuBois' work has been reprinted and appreciated widely, despite its flaws in historical detail, yet for its profound reflection upon and interpretation of the abolitionist.
Quite in contrast, Villard's much-lauded book has rarely been republished and has served mainly as a reference work for scholars. His writing is dense, dry, and uninspired. Worse, his vision of Brown is conflicted, the product of rarefied liberalism--a blend of his own personal and ideological biases. Indeed, Villard's biography often has been more useful to Brown's enemies in the long run of history than it has been to the cause of justice. Even with its historical flaws in detail, it is rather DuBois' biography of Brown that has captured the minds and hearts of generations, especially for its grasp of the man himself:
</span></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">Was John Brown simply an episode, or was he an eternal truth?" DuBois writes. "And if a truth, how speaks that truth today? John Brown loved his neighbor as himself. He could not endure therefore to see his neighbor, poor, unfortunate or oppressed. . . . From this he concluded--and acted on that conclusion--that all men are created free and equal, and that the cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.</span></span></div></div></blockquote><div class="l7ghb35v kjdc1dyq kmwttqpk gh25dzvf jikcssrz n3t5jt4f" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span></span><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
DuBois first wrote these words in the midst of the ruthless tyranny of Jim Crow segregation and racist terrorism being perpetrated upon black people in the South, and at a time when de facto segregation also defined life in the North. By the time his biography of Brown was republished in 1962 by International Publishers in commemoration of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, it had only grown more precious--the fermentation of history having made his lyrical and insightful interpretation of the abolitionist all the more relevant for the Civil Rights era. So Fredericka Perry was quite correct in her 1930 assessment: "The interpretation of the Soul of John Brown--the thought behind the act--could come only from a man of the race with real understanding."</span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.75px;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression."</span></div></span></span></div></div><p></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-34114919119963770222022-08-14T12:26:00.014-04:002022-08-14T12:29:17.064-04:00Side Note: She Got Him Right--Prof. Stephanie Coontz's Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-08-14/stephanie-coontz-slavery-shame-american-history-abolition" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>The Los Angeles Times</i> (Aug. 14, 2022) features an op-ed by Prof. Stephanie Coontz entitled, "Op-Ed: American History is a Parade of Horrors — and Also Heroes."</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">Coontz, who is </span><span>professor emerita of history at Evergreen State College in Washington, makes this sound and robust assessment of Brown.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 22.5px;"></span></p><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRIyjKKF4LTB7YvniPd9eihE73qBLdi4Y3v9gY6SFYszDvybIl0NmQf1TtIZVzWf4b36rAZGhKDXaDyr4TSqUfcv0jQoImQWVkFEb9-Qm17xkFJ61yLxy4X_VmulVubq9NoQxiiA9UcIgZ9kxXrdr47mFroWTKxyZ_xCNNSdn2TggXPeIyA/s349/Jb4.BMP" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRIyjKKF4LTB7YvniPd9eihE73qBLdi4Y3v9gY6SFYszDvybIl0NmQf1TtIZVzWf4b36rAZGhKDXaDyr4TSqUfcv0jQoImQWVkFEb9-Qm17xkFJ61yLxy4X_VmulVubq9NoQxiiA9UcIgZ9kxXrdr47mFroWTKxyZ_xCNNSdn2TggXPeIyA/s320/Jb4.BMP" width="225" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And then, of course, there was John Brown, the devout Reformed Evangelical whose militia battled slavery proponents in the Kansas territory and who led an attack on a federal armory in Virginia in 1859 in an attempt to arm slaves for an uprising. He was tried for insurrection and hanged. Yet his stand against slavery inspired later Union troops to march into battle singing “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, but his soul goes marching on.”</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Of course, I take issue with the familiar but flawed claim that Brown raided the armory "to arm slaves," something contradicted by the evidence, including Brown's words and tactics while at Harper's Ferry. Still, I greatly appreciate Coontz identifying Brown as a "Reformed Evangelical," which is precise and all too rare when he is described, particularly as a radical religious reformer.--<i>LD</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 22.5px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 22.5px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 22.5px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 22.5px;"><br /></span></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-34480057852020417922022-07-23T13:38:00.007-04:002022-07-23T13:46:38.344-04:00To No Surprise, Sam Negus in The National Review Has Gotten John Brown All Wrong<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo49igN_PXIeVW1ec-2xSTL3LvwgSK99sMVU7zXECnjiY2LHZAjw67kINZ1QKCIcvTn8zXjpWv-T8R2j0HeBeX1czOj4m5MMvd-qot-Gbhpf8bFjJC0edhq3qrgOKx8GgOw--3VUQlj8PO08cW-KSGwzIMndGrxukfI3APqu_5geHDOyib3Q/s394/JB%20dag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo49igN_PXIeVW1ec-2xSTL3LvwgSK99sMVU7zXECnjiY2LHZAjw67kINZ1QKCIcvTn8zXjpWv-T8R2j0HeBeX1czOj4m5MMvd-qot-Gbhpf8bFjJC0edhq3qrgOKx8GgOw--3VUQlj8PO08cW-KSGwzIMndGrxukfI3APqu_5geHDOyib3Q/s320/JB%20dag.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>I'm glad that <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/june-web-only/john-brown-bible-quote-evangelical-faith.html" target="_blank">my piece in <i>Christianity Today</i> a few weeks ago,</a> arguing that John Brown is a model for white Christians, has upset Sam Negus, a contributor to <i>The National Review.</i> It was just called to my attention that Negus attempted to write a high-brow-top-down conservative response entitled,<a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/07/john-brown-is-no-model-for-christians/" target="_blank"> "John Brown is No Model For Christians," published in the <i>TNR</i> on July 3</a>. By the way, I'm also identified in <i>TNR</i> as "Luis" DeCaro. Of course, as a "Mediterranean Latino" (Italians are Latinate too), I'm fine with being "Luis." But I'm tempted to read that snafu between the lines, as I suspect Negus himself made that slip. I wonder if it suggests something--like I must be a Latino to have these very "subversive" ideas about "American" history? lol</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">(I don't have a subscription to that rightwing apparatus but the audio is available). At any rate, I will publish my short response here and on some other platforms, just for the record:</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">---</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Sam Negus has published a rejoinder in The National Review to my piece in Christianity Today, arguing that John Brown is a model for white Christians. Of course, he's preaching to the choir. Of course, also, Negus is greatly mistaken in both his argument and his assessment of Brown. Certainly, his argument is only theoretical as to what was accessible to Brown vis-a-vis the Constitution. In reality--contra Negus--the South was already contemplating secession and was not accepting of the so-called "middle course" that Negus suggests. Brown knew that if the Dems did not win the '60 election, they were going to secede and take 4 million victims with them and then expand slavery, which was their real agenda. The other problem is that Negus' reading of Pottawatomie is unsurprisingly flawed. The five men killed were aiding proslavery terrorists & the "bogus court" (historians agree it was foisted upon Kansas) was using the law and proslavery thugs to enforce it. The Browns, targeted and without protection as abolitionists, struck first. Negus’ ignorance of the real politics of Kansas, reliance upon hackneyed readings of Brown, and his glorification of antebellum Republican moderates are flawed. Negus salutes Fred. Douglass, and yet Douglass' own assessment of Brown contradicts his questionable reading. He clearly knew nothing of Negus' malign and mistaken assessment. And mirrored in Negus' treatment, too, is Douglass' own contention that Lincoln was primarily driven by white people's interests.--LD</div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-7517526139387644442021-09-07T00:55:00.006-04:002021-09-07T11:24:16.165-04:00On the Road in Kansas, July '21: Sharing Some Pictures<p> This summer I was able to make a long anticipated trip to Kansas to do some touring and finally get to the beautiful Kansas State Historical Society to do some serious research on the Old Man. Happily, I was able to meet up with my old friend, Ian Barford, an actor-scholar whom I've known for a good many years, and who shares a passion for John Brown with me. (Here's a <a href="https://bit.ly/ianbarford" target="_blank">link to Ian's page on the website of Steppenwolf Theater Company</a>.) We did as much touring as we could do in a day-and-a-half, and then spent the rest of the time researching in the archives. It was an ideal sojourn, fruitful and inspiring, and I wanted to share some pictures with my readers and podcast listeners. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Black Jack</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are some pictures from the site of the <a href="https://www.visitbaldwincity.com/listings/blackjack-battlefield/" target="_blank">Battle of Black Jack</a> (in present day Baldwin City, Kan.) which took place on June 2, 1856, when our man Brown faced off against the pompous editor-turned-soldier, Henry Clay Pate. Outnumbered and outgunned, <a href="http://freedomsfrontier.org/Visitors/Sites/Comments.aspx?id=30" target="_blank">Brown and his men nevertheless got the better of Pate and took him prisoner.</a> In 1859, after Brown was defeated and jailed in Virginia, Pate made sure to visit Brown in Charlestown jail and gloat. But Brown was not easily intimidated. Pate the loser went on to try to capitalize on the Brown story by publishing a little book about him and then tried to go on tour, but he was as successful an author as he was a military leader (see my book, <i>Freedom's Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia</i>, pp. 202-03).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUePCXlRfhhxbo-ZB_btLeX5a0VKy3Tu8nKDk6fcN6wDVk5eFf2netugknJtofzDfL82gq6kFExsSJCZbXnhtL2Zf_Tuz416uU-q9h2EKPleulRrFT-XjODqxp372JQBl1QjK/s2048/IMG_9869.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUePCXlRfhhxbo-ZB_btLeX5a0VKy3Tu8nKDk6fcN6wDVk5eFf2netugknJtofzDfL82gq6kFExsSJCZbXnhtL2Zf_Tuz416uU-q9h2EKPleulRrFT-XjODqxp372JQBl1QjK/w640-h480/IMG_9869.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><i>Below, left</i>, is our friend and guide at Black Jack, Kerry Altenbernd, who has devoted years, dollars, and devotion to preserving the Battle Jack grounds and the legacy of John Brown in Kansas. (<a href="https://johnbrownspeaks.com/" target="_blank">Click here to visit Kerry's website, "John Brown Speaks."</a>) <i>Below, right</i>, Ian Barford poses by marker #7, the site where Brown took Pate's surrender.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSZRsA8J-7rrmH3fm0Yh-kBebGWWxXatLJsa_1FaCaVptY-LfVfgydKOOGy64CB5c4tJazLpzs0r3tnzNUtSi2T2fePDlXy0l-j5bgONNeJ3jalzv83bzaOgRv51eTvGTH4MZ/s2048/IMG_9865.HEIC" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSZRsA8J-7rrmH3fm0Yh-kBebGWWxXatLJsa_1FaCaVptY-LfVfgydKOOGy64CB5c4tJazLpzs0r3tnzNUtSi2T2fePDlXy0l-j5bgONNeJ3jalzv83bzaOgRv51eTvGTH4MZ/w300-h400/IMG_9865.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kerry Altenbernd</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdERo-0HX7SOc_QyPW90izoFYgcuHHm2UtcUIaO2F-BRZKBJ9Wnad6vP7TelyWHXEBhNUdu2oMl2d0R9k0CKzs-EZnJCVssSW9KqzzbRgH4CfGblW1ecPtKiYcprypcLt0BuC/s2048/IMG_9871.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdERo-0HX7SOc_QyPW90izoFYgcuHHm2UtcUIaO2F-BRZKBJ9Wnad6vP7TelyWHXEBhNUdu2oMl2d0R9k0CKzs-EZnJCVssSW9KqzzbRgH4CfGblW1ecPtKiYcprypcLt0BuC/w300-h400/IMG_9871.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ian Barford</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: italic;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Osawatomie</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next we drove over to Osawatomie (OH-sawatomie) to see the Osawatomie Museum which houses the <a href="https://www.republic-online.com/adair-cabin-the-top-tourist-attraction/article_825beb7e-64f2-5f2b-8e47-e216dae4471e.html?TNNoMobile" target="_blank">Adair Cabin</a>, and is situated on site of the <a href="https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/battle-of-osawatomie/19722" target="_blank">Battle of Osawatomie</a>, which took place on August 30, 1856. Nearby also is the monument to the free state fallen (below), especially being the resting place of Brown's son, Frederick, murdered by the Rev. Martin White, who led the proslavery invasion, and the murders sparking the battle. (Reliable evidence states that Frederick's holster was still snapped, so he had no time to draw his gun before being gunned down by the murdering Baptist minister White. Another free state man named David Garrison was murdered at the same time, and is also interred at the same site.) As I recall from doing my research, a shotgun was put to his mouth by his proslavery killers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXik1wAGGzZJ4cc5_OYtIHuIEmw-YT0zlW6GOu3nGTU5GQDOpIBFxgDblAYdqmhKJXz0OKOCPiAjzq3yU8vxjP0AiBG9sW3-OUBZpTsVFcr-MM4dVBO3t1ydebhu5DR03DV0h/s2048/IMG_9849.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXik1wAGGzZJ4cc5_OYtIHuIEmw-YT0zlW6GOu3nGTU5GQDOpIBFxgDblAYdqmhKJXz0OKOCPiAjzq3yU8vxjP0AiBG9sW3-OUBZpTsVFcr-MM4dVBO3t1ydebhu5DR03DV0h/s320/IMG_9849.HEIC" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9yayL7w1MSMUqx_145ydXXu9hRf4wwBmM9c2-vNwpRZhl8GdujWDXsxagqMZdRcLk9YDNgDqqBjE5r6zdnZ9I8reuisjxfSNSALzDiWluyvjxs6nno9-60dqZtvEZl2Zmkfr/s2048/IMG_9845.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9yayL7w1MSMUqx_145ydXXu9hRf4wwBmM9c2-vNwpRZhl8GdujWDXsxagqMZdRcLk9YDNgDqqBjE5r6zdnZ9I8reuisjxfSNSALzDiWluyvjxs6nno9-60dqZtvEZl2Zmkfr/s320/IMG_9845.HEIC" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Below is a display of the Battle of Osawatomie and my pan shot of the grounds taken from the entrance. To the upper left at the top of the hill is the museum which houses the Adair Cabin.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipi8ba2fFeQMyadOLBjfXENpv3Ljzc1E7oL6CxJaubTedfnljIJzMbZHBUpn8e5uJgcAWihdEpLzv0qryeVE0BakGMWs740yyV02WH1rhiCnbg5qSGM8SJ4zFxxKTiuc3HTnU5/s2048/IMG_9862.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipi8ba2fFeQMyadOLBjfXENpv3Ljzc1E7oL6CxJaubTedfnljIJzMbZHBUpn8e5uJgcAWihdEpLzv0qryeVE0BakGMWs740yyV02WH1rhiCnbg5qSGM8SJ4zFxxKTiuc3HTnU5/w640-h480/IMG_9862.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAybpuYcDDGYGnNH8k0VWjlxCC2EMZwTX5PRwrGp8kliEVAEH4sMAvr6mOc_Kj8lszPuT7R1sm4oMF6HdcwMDPBecmwtbRt7i80k_ucMLkrJ_k6FQwGDajlO5qMcuIrfPVO9O9/s3201/IMG_9861.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="3201" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAybpuYcDDGYGnNH8k0VWjlxCC2EMZwTX5PRwrGp8kliEVAEH4sMAvr6mOc_Kj8lszPuT7R1sm4oMF6HdcwMDPBecmwtbRt7i80k_ucMLkrJ_k6FQwGDajlO5qMcuIrfPVO9O9/w640-h196/IMG_9861.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Post-John Brown, Osawatomie has an interesting history as a memorial ground. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/an-inspiration-of-all-men.htm" target="_blank">In 1877, the "soldier's monument" above was dedicated </a>in remembrance of John Brown and those who fought in the Battle of Osawatomie, especially those who died that day in 1856. In 1910, the John Brown Park was dedicated on the site of the battle, and the ceremony was presided over by Theodore Roosevelt, by then former President of the USA. <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/history/jbexhibit/osawatomiestatue.html" target="_blank">In 1935, the statue of John Brown, sculpted in Paris by George Fite Waters, was dedicated</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Undoubtedly, <a href="https://www.republic-online.com/graphic-online/news/miami_county/john-brown-statue-turns-80-years-old/article_35a20941-3fc2-59dc-9892-8086c96da2c0.html" target="_blank">the John Brown statue by Waters </a>is one of the highlights of the Osawatomie grounds. It is strikingly lifelike, without any stylization or "larger than life" intention, as can be found in the other statues and paintings of Brown. Although Brown did not wear a beard in 1856, he was wearing a beard when he returned to the territory in 1858. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04sKtQ3IDgFNaXYS-n6byd5SS28CzJtiG8IraK2ItUQf_emfUkeKAZwsblt9itEp4C-Y0DiHCcUjBNV1v88voeO4hZPdOm4POF8iEZm1-BsCAwKcG7prwf3mDeinag6iZLmiB/s2048/IMG_9854.HEIC" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04sKtQ3IDgFNaXYS-n6byd5SS28CzJtiG8IraK2ItUQf_emfUkeKAZwsblt9itEp4C-Y0DiHCcUjBNV1v88voeO4hZPdOm4POF8iEZm1-BsCAwKcG7prwf3mDeinag6iZLmiB/w300-h400/IMG_9854.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /><br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0FZH8ncdN9xc3oRVPIIzy0oyxopLHsipoX4_foF_OYM_RsgXlH8LdkfVXtRAf-pEKco9DfjWTWVLIwRg_Y1KQQ7vbUBJaCXvGvAR5iJ0joFlNCipq_BSNBxJLvc9zUu89_4Y/s2048/IMG_9856.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0FZH8ncdN9xc3oRVPIIzy0oyxopLHsipoX4_foF_OYM_RsgXlH8LdkfVXtRAf-pEKco9DfjWTWVLIwRg_Y1KQQ7vbUBJaCXvGvAR5iJ0joFlNCipq_BSNBxJLvc9zUu89_4Y/w300-h400/IMG_9856.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGHGoTeJu3qxzr5dDzxjPKdSuvf0xyW9m5MTjUeT2Z5wR-mvOnrCsK3zs3u_ZxcdFqEw8LDaN7nc450s1JzgJRdh15aR05XEi1nzhkTgTNbSR0rvjuiMQctPU1aT7KfSqYcNS/s2048/IMG_9863.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGHGoTeJu3qxzr5dDzxjPKdSuvf0xyW9m5MTjUeT2Z5wR-mvOnrCsK3zs3u_ZxcdFqEw8LDaN7nc450s1JzgJRdh15aR05XEi1nzhkTgTNbSR0rvjuiMQctPU1aT7KfSqYcNS/w400-h300/IMG_9863.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. . . And the inevitable pose with the Old Man</span><br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by Ian Barford (2021)</span><br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table>We were happily hosted by Grady Atwater (below, right), the site administrator of the museum and John Brown aficionado, who gave us a walking tour of the battleground (below, left) and then the Adair Cabin, sometimes (mistakenly) known as the John Brown Cabin. Grady is a veteran researcher and historian and can talk extemporaneously on the subject of Brown in Kansas, so the tour was rich and is highly recommended. Grady is a community educator as well, and one aspect of his work is contributing incisive and informative articles to the local press to keep John Brown before the public--always in a clear and authoritative manner, something that Brown often has not received over the decades. In fact, not long after our visit, Grady published a great piece on the <a href="https://www.republic-online.com/opinion/columns/james-hanway-believed-the-pottawatomie-massacre-was-justified/article_604a5de6-e2a0-11eb-bb4d-dfc3e520e5c7.html" target="_blank">Pottawatomie killings of 1856 in <i>The Miami County Republic</i> online (17 July 2021)</a>, highly recommended.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36r9m2P0f1LlYvokrW7visFeZO3FMjBjWo1JQU0wdWXN5nPLcBn-Y-XGQnQnrdQktn2FbC8zR5epbNrcR1fhu3Pj9jpipEYM6DVjknD53_hfO6isF5sMkTIGjp6ctrPFfXZGJ/s2048/IMG_9923.HEIC" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36r9m2P0f1LlYvokrW7visFeZO3FMjBjWo1JQU0wdWXN5nPLcBn-Y-XGQnQnrdQktn2FbC8zR5epbNrcR1fhu3Pj9jpipEYM6DVjknD53_hfO6isF5sMkTIGjp6ctrPFfXZGJ/w300-h400/IMG_9923.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2Nd7RlNMqSecsI_4uhAoWQkezBNsU_FyCpQiUhl5SPVvfYlDeqRiiiE5q_yNgGnpQSp63ZaNFZFf_F4bppCTd4EICobx7aaE8i1EVP3QObwFQL2gAVQ4bYd_y2ZBV2rkKI-m/s2048/IMG_9902.HEIC" style="clear: right; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2Nd7RlNMqSecsI_4uhAoWQkezBNsU_FyCpQiUhl5SPVvfYlDeqRiiiE5q_yNgGnpQSp63ZaNFZFf_F4bppCTd4EICobx7aaE8i1EVP3QObwFQL2gAVQ4bYd_y2ZBV2rkKI-m/w300-h400/IMG_9902.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Samuel Adair was a Congregational minister and missionary who preceded John Brown's sons by moving to the Kansas territory. His wife, Florella Brown Adair, was John Brown's younger half-sister. When Brown arrived in the territory in late 1855, one of the construction projects he undertook was to install a loft in the cabin, which Atwater explains provided a measure of security for the Adair children since free state settlers were subject to attack by proslavery terrorists. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSelH8ApaoTiQ-Q0yn74iL9p6TWxFOwhNW5tASDhf8ld3RDl9mWhPhaIUXQWxc8LhZA23lRDqMY-oMZb9iQJ0otITGzF1soKu3ou5sFblktl4Ed7C1SRVCnFaiKHsd1myEfll/s2048/IMG_9918.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSelH8ApaoTiQ-Q0yn74iL9p6TWxFOwhNW5tASDhf8ld3RDl9mWhPhaIUXQWxc8LhZA23lRDqMY-oMZb9iQJ0otITGzF1soKu3ou5sFblktl4Ed7C1SRVCnFaiKHsd1myEfll/w400-h300/IMG_9918.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">These rough-hewn beams supporting<br />the loftbear the marks of Brown <br />and his sons' labor</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: italic;">Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over the years, the Osawatomie museum acquired a number of important items that belonged to Brown or directly relate to his life in Kansas and elsewhere. My favorite is his hat--something rarely portrayed in pictures, and a most unique. According to Atwater, the hat was made by the Native American free state ally, "Taway" Jones, who held property in Osawatomie and was a friend of the Adairs and Browns. The hat is worn and faded but still intact, and it doesn't take much imagination to picture it upon Brown's head, the brim just above his "meat-axe" shaped nose (as characterized by his sons). Frankly, it is no exaggeration to say that seeing this hat was one of the goals of my trip. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRwORjzkgcJivax2o09MR2OcedqggMUwS6HrPcgb_bGbslquG0M-QCFHYo81RkF47OpFQEJBiarjJpGamV6X-Dizkl7Y7lxE33PRZb5Sk-P93YW35BCLPRmTmVyFOFAIVMTm5/s2048/IMG_9884.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRwORjzkgcJivax2o09MR2OcedqggMUwS6HrPcgb_bGbslquG0M-QCFHYo81RkF47OpFQEJBiarjJpGamV6X-Dizkl7Y7lxE33PRZb5Sk-P93YW35BCLPRmTmVyFOFAIVMTm5/w300-h400/IMG_9884.HEIC" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">THE Harper's Ferry Hat</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most interestingly, this was the hat that Brown wore at Harper's Ferry, although he has often been portrayed wearing "cowboy" styled hats, he wore this unique style of hat against the cold night air of October 16, 1859. The hat apparently was restored to him after his defeat in the Harper's Ferry engine house and then given to his wife Mary in a small trunk with other items the day before his execution. It was eventually passed into the hands of the Kansas Historical Society, and finally found its way to the Adair Cabin museum. This appears to be the hat portrayed in the sketch below which shows Brown, riding his mule "Dolly," in an 1877 article by L. Witherell ("Old John Brown," <i>Weekly Gazette</i> [Davenport, Ia.], 21 Nov. 1877)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</i></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbE-IAVOFJ-D8fjvNLmThgXeHuRck0SxmUtTtl76rI_v6p3Qmk0qziepQtvqmz0XrwNCLosrYFTxpDPVAe_BMcBsqXFbjkCEHMChhJ4-7AARC6mi12alsKObf_FT_XCM0H1y/s1449/JB+Iowa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1449" data-original-width="1389" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbE-IAVOFJ-D8fjvNLmThgXeHuRck0SxmUtTtl76rI_v6p3Qmk0qziepQtvqmz0XrwNCLosrYFTxpDPVAe_BMcBsqXFbjkCEHMChhJ4-7AARC6mi12alsKObf_FT_XCM0H1y/w384-h400/JB+Iowa.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pottawatomie</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before heading for the archives in Topeka, Ian and I had one more important stop: Pottawatomie Creek, the site of Brown's bold and bloody strike in May 1856 that left five local proslavery men dead. We somewhat awkwardly found our way down to Pottawatomie Creek in Lane, Kansas, and drove down as close as we could to Mosquito Creek, where the Browns camped before making the strike. We walked down, across some railroad tracks and got a glimpse of the area where the Browns set out for their bloody raid on the night of May 24. Quite pleased with ourselves, we brandished our fists in solidarity, but were shortly driven away from the creek by a band of violent mosquitos. As Ian quipped, "Brown is probably smiling and saying, 'So you wanted to see Mosquito Creek, eh?'" Yep, bites for days.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsElt6M6Dn-l7dDHuk0D1HrDL8tfr6rhrkUrd5wxJTGq7Lxh7JSbQWJIAnTCOGoGEhPJJ6PW_LRmr_SRJKRkL-fr8eDrJU69Gd5WVC787YBHzo-dS572zlM9DGI9O4mvJAXA7I/s2048/IMG_9925.HEIC" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsElt6M6Dn-l7dDHuk0D1HrDL8tfr6rhrkUrd5wxJTGq7Lxh7JSbQWJIAnTCOGoGEhPJJ6PW_LRmr_SRJKRkL-fr8eDrJU69Gd5WVC787YBHzo-dS572zlM9DGI9O4mvJAXA7I/w240-h320/IMG_9925.HEIC" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo by L DeCaro, Jr. (2021)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Some are quick to point out that none of the men killed (three Doyles, Wilkinson, and Sherman) were not slaveholders. But Brown did not target them because they were slaveholders, or even because they were proslavery men. Rather, Brown and other free state men ascertained and confirmed that these men were acting local proslavery provocateurs and guides for an invading (and illegal) army of proslavery terrorists, and that they themselves had targeted the Browns for attack. In the absence of protection from law enforcement in the territory, Brown and his men agreed to take action by eliminating five terrorist enablers. For all of the noise that Brown's critics have made about this so-called "massacre," the reality is that it was a preemptive strike, that the men killed were prevented from very shortly doing the same thing to the Browns, and--really--the killings showed a lot of restraint and targeted discipline. Had Brown wished to rampage and kill (like the proslavery men had done and would do again and again in the territory), he could easily have killed many more proslavery men. But Pottawatomie was simply a decisive guerrilla strike that threw the enemy into confusion and probably bought the free side three more months before another attack was organized. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To put it another way, we feel no need to apologize on Brown's behalf in the retrospect of history. In fact, to turn a phrase from the late Boyd B. Stutler, the Pottawatomie five were more or less some "bad eggs in need of killing." At least two of us tend to agree.--<i>LD</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsYH72of6VmwzJEoloEeJQweyIl65lBV-q64c_eUXsEaVBrANPzU6lr4OSI9HNjYVYVWAxuYO83a77thTU-TJTaclee-Zn52HPa5teLSP1thqAbskwZu0TN22a7J4BAwDVRbF/s2048/IMG_9928.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsYH72of6VmwzJEoloEeJQweyIl65lBV-q64c_eUXsEaVBrANPzU6lr4OSI9HNjYVYVWAxuYO83a77thTU-TJTaclee-Zn52HPa5teLSP1thqAbskwZu0TN22a7J4BAwDVRbF/w400-h300/IMG_9928.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo by Ian Barford (2021)</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-23063741352156549712021-07-31T15:32:00.000-04:002021-07-31T15:32:03.556-04:00Special Submission: "Quest for Richard Parker" <p><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm very pleased to publish this special submission on Judge Richard Parker, who presided over the trial of John Brown and his raiders in 1859. In this particularly busy season, I am especially grateful to Trish Ridgeway for sharing her rich and expert research on this important figure in the John Brown story! --LD</span></i></p><p>-------</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span> began my quest for the story of Judge Richard Parker in a courtroom where he practiced. As a docent at the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum, located in the 1840 Frederick County (Virginia) Courthouse, I often faced the question, “Were there famous trials here?” </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYGZAKzK6oied-6e0bKbUozfOgyJCbSl2Y8i-f7FLGiHQVjHv9vixoMjUFUiyAVG6Ouymok-pETMkEGgzlaNAkQONPqe5U3UFIOTpHQJHSDXThg69G59c292UE_3600N4AS-a/s307/Parker+blog+article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="220" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYGZAKzK6oied-6e0bKbUozfOgyJCbSl2Y8i-f7FLGiHQVjHv9vixoMjUFUiyAVG6Ouymok-pETMkEGgzlaNAkQONPqe5U3UFIOTpHQJHSDXThg69G59c292UE_3600N4AS-a/w204-h285/Parker+blog+article.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Richard Parker (Wikipedia)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">I told them that there were no outstanding trials, but Judge Richard Parker held court here and explained that he was the judge in the 1859 trial of John Brown in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia). Fortunately, museum visitors did not ask for more details about Parker because I did not know much more about him.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Sources of Information about Parker</p><p style="text-align: left;">Noted John Brown collector Boyd B. Stutler (1889-1970) wrote the longest biography of Parker—a 1953 article in the <i>Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society</i>. Authors writing about the John Brown trial, who want to provide background information on Parker, cite this article. It is full of details about Parker’s life, drawn from his daily journals and other sources but provides no documentation. As a retired librarian and amateur genealogist, I was offended by this. Surely, I could locate more information.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Therefore, I began my search for primary sources relating to Parker. I discovered Stutler did not document his sources because he owned most of them. After Stutler’s death, the West Virginia State Archives acquired his massive John Brown holdings. In 1999, on the 140th Anniversary of Brown’s hanging, the Archives placed the majority of the John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection Database online, and it is a phenomenal resource. The University of Virginia, the Library of Congress, and the Chicago Historical Society also have important Parker documents, and there are minor holdings in other institutions. Parker’s wife, Evalina Moss Parker (1821-1887), preceded him in death, and they had no children. His estate went to two nieces, who sold everything, and what items were not destroyed, either by Parker or the nieces, were widely dispersed among collectors. It was just the kind of challenge a librarian enjoys.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Richard Parker Discoveries</p><p style="text-align: left;">What have I discovered about Judge Parker? I knew that his father and grandfather were also prominent lawyers. Until I put together a complete genealogy of Parker and his wife, I did not realize how enmeshed into Virginia aristocracy he was. His ancestors married into prominent families. His sisters married into the noteworthy Milson, McCormick, and Crenshaw families. When it came time for Richard Parker to marry, he married Evalina Moss. Her great-uncle, Hugh Holmes (1768-1825), was a notable Winchester judge. Evalina’s aunts on the Holmes side married into the McGuire, Conrad, and Boyd families—all leaders in the community. Her sisters also married into prominent families. When Parker presided at Brown’s trial, Virginia Governor Henry Wise, U.S. Senator James Murray Mason, and prosecuting attorney Andrew Hunter were his peers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Richard Parker, Harpers Ferry Paymaster—Some Shady Practices?</p><p style="text-align: left;">Rarely mentioned is that Parker served as paymaster and military storekeeper at the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry from 1838 to 1847. The job was a political appointment that brought many perks. According to Merritt Roe Smith’s work on the armory, many irregularities occurred in the administration of the paymaster’s office. Richard Parker was no different: </p><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">One of the most mischievous practices consisted of paying armorers with depreciated currency. . . While every incumbent from Lloyd Beall to Richard Parker practiced this ruse, it became especially prevalent during the 1830s. In November 1839, for instance, Parker exchanged two treasury drafts on New York banks for discounted bank notes and realized a profit of $1700. This sum exceeded his annual salary by more than four hundred dollars.1</blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Smith cites records of the Chief of Ordnance in the National Archives, which I have not had the opportunity to examine.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMIhUCZa71oEQpNkK8630NqVlNphoJoFH9ZyvTusKcqByFt2WzX9Hq3rQ6GpBEcbuvLQ8QYrAOYkNVrlPIxRTPPx7rvduCvwOcIUsMxPfbTqTVvV2DuTDNSvZUmtDue5w3evm/s617/RP+gilt+portrait+Shen.Valley+Battlefields+Foundation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="545" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMIhUCZa71oEQpNkK8630NqVlNphoJoFH9ZyvTusKcqByFt2WzX9Hq3rQ6GpBEcbuvLQ8QYrAOYkNVrlPIxRTPPx7rvduCvwOcIUsMxPfbTqTVvV2DuTDNSvZUmtDue5w3evm/s320/RP+gilt+portrait+Shen.Valley+Battlefields+Foundation.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Parker: Undated gilt portrait, <br />Shenandoah Valley <br />Battlefields Foundation</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">When Parker left the armory, he strongly recommended his paternal aunt’s son, John Richard Parker Daingerfield (1817-1889), for the post of paymaster. I have not found any research that notes that the men were cousins. Daingerfield was appointed paymaster. On his way to work on October 17, 1859, he was taken by John Brown’s men and held with the other hostages. Daingerfield was a witness in Brown’s trial. Current Virginia law does not require that a judge recuse himself when a cousin is involved in a trial. However, I think that today this relationship and Parker’s previous connection to the armory would lead a judge to recuse himself. In 1859, ruling-class members were tightly bound by family, political, and other ties. Therefore, Parker’s affiliations were probably of no concern.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">U.S. Congressman Richard Parker </p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker was active in politics during his time at the armory, attending Democratic Party conventions and coercing employees to vote for the party of the armory superintendent—another common practice. He practiced law for a time after leaving Harpers Ferry. In 1849, Parker won the nomination by the Democratic Party in Winchester for a seat in the U.S. Congress. It took sixteen ballots, but he was nominated, and subsequently won. </p><p style="text-align: left;">One item that survives from his Congressional term is a February 23, 1850, speech he delivered on whether California should be admitted to the Union as a free or slave-holding state. He staunchly defended the right of Southern states to own slaves and to retrieve slaves from the North and stated that the North had no right to exclude slavery from the territories. He warned, “should aggression be accumulated upon aggression, and wrong upon wrong—it is not for me to predict what line of conduct Virginia will pursue.”2 He gave the speech nine years before the John Brown raid.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Judge Richard Parker</p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker resigned from Congress in January 1851 when he was appointed to be a judge of the General Court and soon after was appointed to the Virginia 13th Circuit Court. Ironically, he was following in the footsteps of his father, Richard Elliott Parker (1783-1840), who resigned from the U.S. Senate when appointed in 1837 to what is now called the Virginia Supreme Court. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSfUBOPHxshab81XF0JD2EpRGq-14bJYCplc5w0nUborb8dF03r6XZefDANZwoZuTQ1zkRXvYz1N3hKmf380s1KtyKDDu27XOs9Ifz4mgf7SMrgVBTPu1OkJz8TYcOGbtoIFh/s612/Parker+Montage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="612" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSfUBOPHxshab81XF0JD2EpRGq-14bJYCplc5w0nUborb8dF03r6XZefDANZwoZuTQ1zkRXvYz1N3hKmf380s1KtyKDDu27XOs9Ifz4mgf7SMrgVBTPu1OkJz8TYcOGbtoIFh/w395-h371/Parker+Montage.jpg" width="395" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">J<i>udge Richard Parker, the arraignment of Brown </i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>and his men, </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">and the Charlestown Court </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">House as portrayed in contemporary</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>illustrated newspapers (Nov. 1859)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">The district that Judge Parker served included Harpers Ferry. He was not selected to be the judge at the John Brown trial because of his political connections. By happenstance, Parker was the judge assigned to hear cases in the Jefferson County circuit court that opened at the county seat of Charles Town on October 20, 1859, two days after Brown and his men were captured. The November 2, 1859, <i>New York Weekly Tribune</i> described Parker at the trial:</p><p></p><p><span style="text-align: justify;">"On an elevated platform at the rear sat the Judge, comfortably reclining in his chair, his legs resting upon the table before him, amid the chaos of law-books, papers, and inkstands, and holding upon his knees a volume bigger than all the rest. Judge Parker is a man of middle age, short and stoutish, and with a countenance singularly stern, by reason of the sharp lines about the mouth. His manner is mild and quiet, and there is dignity in his presence, notwithstanding the aspiring legs."</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker’s handling of the John Brown trial is much debated. The trial proceeded at great speed, and Parker’s rulings have received much scrutiny; however, it is too full a topic to cover adequately here. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker, a Traitor to the Confederacy?</p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker kept a journal during the Civil War. He does mention the war, but the journal is more centered on personal matters and trips to visit relatives. I was surprised that he was able to travel during the war. He mentioned that on July 10, 1863, he had difficulty returning from Richmond to Winchester, a distance of about 136 miles, when, “Found all public means of conveyances taken up by Conf. Govt.” He had left Winchester on June 29, two weeks after the 2nd Battle of Winchester. The Battle of Gettysburg occurred in his absence. By July 10, every possible means of transport had been commandeered to evacuate the Confederate wounded. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqfYUicCwJoTkbJiwyKLo8bwBvgEv69Ana9pxXWMsdN_l6heJ29sj6O7NPRDTX1JyU_s31_BxQfwWQ1wBWcN5mSryXcfDGLgtUs625o3gcT9crxDaha7ZSctdcyINhVDp32Kg/s990/Parker+parole+of+honor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="990" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqfYUicCwJoTkbJiwyKLo8bwBvgEv69Ana9pxXWMsdN_l6heJ29sj6O7NPRDTX1JyU_s31_BxQfwWQ1wBWcN5mSryXcfDGLgtUs625o3gcT9crxDaha7ZSctdcyINhVDp32Kg/w400-h324/Parker+parole+of+honor.jpg" title="Parker's Parole of Honor, Nov. 2, 1864" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Parker's Parole of Honor, Nov. 2, 1864</i> (<i>see note 6</i>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">Incidentally, he notes in his journal that while in Richmond, he called upon Governor John Letcher, Secretary of War James Alexander Seddon, Auditor of Virginia Jonathan McCally Bennett, State Treasurer Major John Strother Calvert, and Secretary of the Commonwealth George Wythe Munford.3</p><p style="text-align: left;">Those wartime trips to Richmond did not work out well. When he returned from a trip to Richmond on April 22, 1864, he was stopped at a Confederate outpost. He told the outpost commander, Captain Thomas Davis, a Maryland native, that Davis must not know who he was. Davis replied that he did, and that is why they stopped Parker. The episode is recorded in detail in a six-page letter Parker sent several days later to General John Imboden, the commander of the troops at the outpost. There had been many questions about Parker’s loyalty during the war, and Captain Davis seemed to know all of them. Imboden’s troops at the outpost appeared to lose interest in the affair. However, Parker would not let the matter rest and brought supporters from Winchester. He interrogated them about his fealty to the cause in front of another officer and was sent through to Winchester two days after he was stopped. Winchester saw over fifty different occupations of the city during the war by the belligerents. Times were perilous for Winchester civilians since some supported the South and others, the North. Every action and word were scrutinized, and every previous wrong remembered.4</p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker after the War</p><p style="text-align: left;">Before the war, Parker was a friend of Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899). Pierpont was an enemy of Virginia during the conflict because he was governor of the loyal (the Union) portions of Virginia and was instrumental in the formation of the state of West Virginia. After the war, Pierpont went to Richmond to serve as governor of Virginia. He appointed Parker to reorganize the courts in Parker’s old circuit. Both Pierpont and Parker were removed from office when the government in Virginia came under military rule in 1867.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker then returned to private practice and also accepted a small number of students to his law school in Winchester. He had no public comment on the John Brown trial until he agreed to be interviewed for an article in the April 1888 <i>St. Louis Globe-Democrat</i>. The article described the 77-year-old Parker:</p><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">Judge Parker is not a large man. He is a little below the average height. He has a strong, compactly-built frame, a dignified bearing and a kindly manner. There is none of the tremor of age about him. His hair is thick, long and iron-gray. He combs it back over the crown. The stature, the massive head, the broad forehead, the square chin and the high complexion suggest in some degree portraits of Stephen A. Douglas. . . .</blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Parker stated that his main reason for allowing the interview was to set straight criticism of the trial, “that John Brown had a fair and impartial trial, just such as should be granted to all persons.” He made the assertion but provided little evidence.5</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3pRmsdhdbDmdEnGcdYxXyiBsaun74VTMJRIM577OCQRtz_sWnp_6hBxyPPIWgI7g45zavoFRCtSHDcvVWOizj3iGeCzjlSEIFIe8CiEnBN_xcgubROkETi48D9kWtAXCCx0z/s1185/parker+obits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1185" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3pRmsdhdbDmdEnGcdYxXyiBsaun74VTMJRIM577OCQRtz_sWnp_6hBxyPPIWgI7g45zavoFRCtSHDcvVWOizj3iGeCzjlSEIFIe8CiEnBN_xcgubROkETi48D9kWtAXCCx0z/w640-h370/parker+obits.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Parker obituary notices, 1893</span></i></div></i><p style="text-align: left;">In 1893, Parker died at his home in Winchester at the age of 84. I have located obituaries on Judge Parker from newspapers around the country. Except for local coverage, most of the stories were short and said in one way or another, “Judge Richard Parker, the man who tried John Brown, has died.”</p><p style="text-align: left;">My quest for Parker continues. I am working on a book that will discuss Parker’s life and reproduce primary documents about him. I hope it will become a reference work for those who seek information on Parker when writing about the John Brown trials.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">----------</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Author's Biographical Information</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdZH8d5GRQUJs8xuOhTpGmFV5STbQIKW0Vi5tWZwPsRXwsUQxANcdLZx-kx6GJA-JJULnQb2D2JEojlNvYy3WWe_hONE2WLd-gV2MFIlOw2c_ulBxtjlMK1eb-0cf65avPIy8/s236/Ridgeway+head+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="168" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdZH8d5GRQUJs8xuOhTpGmFV5STbQIKW0Vi5tWZwPsRXwsUQxANcdLZx-kx6GJA-JJULnQb2D2JEojlNvYy3WWe_hONE2WLd-gV2MFIlOw2c_ulBxtjlMK1eb-0cf65avPIy8/w143-h200/Ridgeway+head+shot.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Trish Ridgeway is a resident of Winchester, Virginia, although she has the good sense to winter in Florida. She retired in 2013 after twenty years as director of the Handley Regional Library that is headquartered in Winchester. She has written and spoken on many library and Civil War topics. Recently, she presented “Remember Me, Union Officer Graffiti from the Gettysburg Campaign” to several area Civil War roundtables. In 2001, with her husband, Harry, she helped establish a museum in Winchester, the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum. Her current projects include creating a library for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation and writing a book on Judge Parker. She is also working on an annotated copy of Boyd Stutler’s article about Parker, to be published in the <i>Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society</i> on the 70th anniversary of the article’s first appearance.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">----------</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Notes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> 1 Merritt Roe Smith, <i>Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology, the Challenge of Change</i> (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977), 265.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> 2 <a href="https://archive.org/details/speechofhonricha00park/page/n1/mode/2up" target="_blank"><i>Hon. Richard Parker of Virginia, President’s Message in Relation to California, Delivered in the House of Representative, Thursday, February 23, 1850</i> (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Globe Office, 1850)</a>, 8. <a href="https://bit.ly/honrichardparker"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(<a href="https://bit.ly/honrichardparker">https://bit.ly/honrichardparker</a>)</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> 3<span style="text-align: center;"> Trish Ridgeway, “Judge Richard Parker’s Civil War Diary, 1862-1864,” <i>Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, 29 </i>(2018), 24.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"> 4 </span>Trish Ridgeway, “Judge Richard Parker’s Loyalty, the Parker-Imboden Correspondence, Spring 1864,” <i>Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era, 3</i> (2010), 107-122.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> 5 <span style="text-align: center;">“John Browns Raid, Important Additions to the History of the Harper’s Ferry Affair. Judge Parker, of this City. who Sentenced the Liberators, Reveals Some Long Kept Secrets,” <i>St. Louis Globe Democrat</i>, April 8, 1888, 26-27</span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> 6 Richard Parker Parole of Honor, Nov. 2, 1864, to Brig. Gen. J.B. Imboden, Judge Richard Parker Papers. Richard Parker, 1810-1893, Folder 3. Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Ill.</div></div><br /><br /></div><p><br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-42462588730146401252021-06-17T16:19:00.002-04:002021-06-17T16:19:46.570-04:00The John Brown Portrait by Selden Woodman <div class="separator"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxduetZqlHLTVhWf4ojdWvkz69ueJQuArr29piXajQq1-WqMwiZCXUp5bEOZ100TLBkgcVoGmblkfruxml9ak7zvCCqw0PySYKKeC19wMFmxWanTuRKlkfMIvR47NeWfO2hnTR/s366/brownex1_half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxduetZqlHLTVhWf4ojdWvkz69ueJQuArr29piXajQq1-WqMwiZCXUp5bEOZ100TLBkgcVoGmblkfruxml9ak7zvCCqw0PySYKKeC19wMFmxWanTuRKlkfMIvR47NeWfO2hnTR/w291-h400/brownex1_half.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Woodman Portrait</td></tr></tbody></table>Sometime in early 1858, probably the week of February 28, John Brown was in New York City amidst a busy schedule of meetings, but took time to visit the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, which had opened a year in advance of the completion of this famous Manhattan structure (now the home of the <a href="https://cooper.edu/events-and-exhibitions" target="_blank">Cooper Union Institute,</a> near Astor Place in Greenwich Village's east side). Perhaps Brown was in attendance to hear an abolitionist or women's suffrage presentation. Regardless, his visit to the famous site would have been lost to history were it not for Selden J. Woodman, an artist who, as a young man, met Brown and enjoyed a "very animated conversation in the hallway" of the Cooper Union.</div><p></p>In the early 1880s, Woodman met A. G. Hawes, formerly a Kansas associate of Brown, who complained that none of the portraits he had seen were pleasing to his memory of the abolitionist. Afterward, Woodman stopped at the <a href="https://www.kshs.org/" target="_blank">Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS)</a>, in Topeka, and examined a number of images of Brown in that collection, none of which impressed him until his eyes fell upon "an old photograph." This image had been sent to the KSHS from Boston. <div><br /><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5pk9jnx2IfyBLMVe1eQjcKrS6MqpjzHnrnSeXk6vHXGoyg1GCnIJlwHKtBt6M2N9-f59tgzkt-MUlKo5yw076-Pdx3XHjpDmQAE5KNynQ_UsMCbrZ8WG1WKK7WxLCjQaaJOL/s266/JBrown.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5pk9jnx2IfyBLMVe1eQjcKrS6MqpjzHnrnSeXk6vHXGoyg1GCnIJlwHKtBt6M2N9-f59tgzkt-MUlKo5yw076-Pdx3XHjpDmQAE5KNynQ_UsMCbrZ8WG1WKK7WxLCjQaaJOL/w166-h200/JBrown.bmp" title="Winnie Tintype - Kansas State Historical Society" width="166" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Winnie Tintype <br /><i>Kansas State Historical Society</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>According to Francis Adams, then Secretary of the KSHS, the image had been sent along with a collection of materials compiled by Thomas H. Webb of Boston, formerly Secretary of the Kansas Emigrant Aid Company. Woodman later recalled that it was this image, along with his own memory of Brown from 1858 from which he made his portrait. According to John Brown documentary expert Jean Libby, the KSHS image from which Woodman worked is a "copy tintype" (attributed to Winnie of Topeka, Kansas)--one of three images that Brown had made while in Boston in January 1857. Based on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/John-Brown-Photo-Chronology-Exhibition/dp/0977363872" target="_blank">Libby's essential work on the John Brown images</a>, we know that Brown's associate James Redpath remembered these images being made, and that Brown had given one of them to Webb in Boston. Libby finds that all three images are attributed to Hawes (or John A. Whipple) in that city. </div><div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ-zTsps1pQ4MwwhktWdd0rwBODe1mkqNyWNj87FxD7vu683vmBFTT0ejBZYQ6nXOIDg71yshuqDEw_1LF0tNThCXsHx2Qc6RYAnPaCQEGTi6CBAXDDo8SahE8U5C0q6qlhR-/s250/690b1d95-57ae-4ce2-8a01-0db5dd7a8342.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ-zTsps1pQ4MwwhktWdd0rwBODe1mkqNyWNj87FxD7vu683vmBFTT0ejBZYQ6nXOIDg71yshuqDEw_1LF0tNThCXsHx2Qc6RYAnPaCQEGTi6CBAXDDo8SahE8U5C0q6qlhR-/s0/690b1d95-57ae-4ce2-8a01-0db5dd7a8342.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Cole Engraving of<br />Woodman's Portrait</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>When Woodman's illustration appeared on the cover of <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011953851&view=1up&seq=333" target="_blank"><i>The Century Magazine</i> in July 1883</a>, it was highly regarded—including by Brown's widow, <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011953851&view=1up&seq=489" target="_blank">Mary, who saw it in Kansas and afterward wrote that "the more I see it, the more I like it." </a> In more recent years, however, Alice Keesey Mecoy, a direct descendant of John Brown (through Anne Brown Adams), made an investigation, noting that what <i>The Century Magazine</i> actually featured was an engraving by Timothy Cole, a notable woodcut engraver at the time. As Alice has observed, we have mistakenly attributed the <i>Century </i>image of Brown to Woodman, but should distinguish the engraving in <i>Century</i> from the original portrait done by Woodman based on the tintype in KSHS. You may read Alice's extensive article about her analysis and conclusions on her blog, <b>John Brown Kin</b>. See <a href="https://johnbrownkin.com/2017/09/17/a-mystery-about-an-engraving-of-john-brown/" target="_blank">"A Mystery About an Engraving of John Brown," Sept. 17, 2017</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdCsNBT6EnPxjQTGM6WZRYXCSirqtzvnHnbPfzMN4Is0gYd91Z5AwQuFkRyGAYSerG8DZ0oZcyvHwhysQ0zspKtveQiUPpBxMJQJeU29Y3tsa1kuWEp9An_AW8JGqBufOVc_u/s250/690b1d95-57ae-4ce2-8a01-0db5dd7a8342.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><p></p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-34445093116846735152021-03-27T05:14:00.000-04:002021-03-27T05:14:18.162-04:00Responding to a "1619" critic who says, "Don't create resentment"<div>A letter to the editor appeared yesterday in the <i>Quad City Times</i>, published in Davenport, Iowa, under the title, <a href="https://qctimes.com/opinion/letters/letter-dont-create-resentment/article_4b63b79e-0495-5d56-b56a-02ea8324f780.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwAR3uSsEueyknl357zhAa111hHmXKrAT6iTcmFagRuLCPTaFQT9jGdjJJIoA" target="_blank">"Don't create resentment.</a>" It reveals the thinking of a conservative who considers truth-telling about racial injustice in US history as being unnecessarily divisive and "creating resentment." In particular, the writer is critical of the controversial <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i> "1619 Project."</a> I am quite aware that the 1619 Project has faced <a href="https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174140" target="_blank">some legitimate historical criticism, and that while many of these criticisms have been answered</a>, there remains disagreement among historians, some of the harshest criticism coming -- to no surprise -- from some historians who represent the "top-down" reading of US history, including the Lincoln priesthood.</div><div><br /></div><div>As Leslie Harris of Northwestern University has written in <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/06/1619-project-new-york-times-mistake-122248" target="_blank"><i>Politico</i> (6 Mar. 20),</a> the best-known of the scholarly critics of the 1619 Project actually "built their careers on an older style of American history—one that largely ignored the new currents that had begun to bubble up among their contemporaries." Harris acknowledges that one of the central claims of the Project is questionable--that the American Revolution was driven by proslavery interest. However, Harris is concerned that in challenging the errors of the 1619 Project, a flawed perspective will find opportunity to persist among historians "that consistently ignores and distorts the role of African Americans and race in our history." In other words, the fault-finding critics are still invested in presenting "white people as all powerful and solely in possession to the keys of equality, freedom and democracy." At least, "the corrective history" of the Project may be imperfect, Harris concludes, but it is moving in the right direction--a direction that its dignified opponents refuse to take.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a John Brown biographer, I cannot help but sympathize with the 1619 Project, even though it is apparently flawed in some of its notable claims. Like Harris, I have no problem scoring the journalists of the Project for their errors. As historians, we need criticism and critical evaluation if we are indeed interested in truth-telling about history. However, I have seen how some of these same critics of the 1619 Project have misrepresented and maligned John Brown, revealing to me that even dignified Princeton historians can be grossly incorrect, and even use their "gatekeeper" status in order to embed bias and error in the historical record. </div><div><br /></div><div>Worse, hostility toward the 1619 Project has become associated with the right-wing and reactionary MAGA mentality toward "American history." It is bad enough that critics in the academy cannot separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the Project, but as objections trickle down to the larger population, it further depreciates the important direction that the 1619 Project has taken in order to reinforce simplistic, rightwing notions of history that exist in the public, such as the following letter to the <i>Quad City</i> editor charging that the 1619 Project creates "resentment."</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>I am writing to voice concerns about treating the 1619 Project as "history." It is based on the premise that American prosperity was built on the back of slavery. The historical record states differently.</div><div><br /></div><div>Early in the formation of the United States, slavery was rejected by the northern states. For decades, Congress tried to maintain a delicate balance between free and slave states. The balance was so tight that a free state could not come into the union without a slave state. This is evidenced by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Mason-Dixon line divided these two ideologies. Bloody Kansas and John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry unraveled the political balancing act.</div><div><br /></div><div>What has this to do with the 1619 Project? By the start of the American Civil War the free North held overwhelming advantages in population, industrial capacity and railroads. Investment and immigration favored the North because there opportunity was to be found. The North used these advantages to march into the South and crush the Confederacy. With this advantage the North invaded the South with an edge in warships, cannon, logistics, troops, and the ability to move them. Had slavery been the foundation of American prosperity, these conditions would have been reversed.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can enhance the history of Americans of color without fabrication. There are great heroes from before the Revolution to our astronaut corps today. Let’s add examples that we should all look up to rather than creating resentment and division.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The author of this letter probably thinks he is saying something of a corrective nature, but unfortunately he is reflecting how resistance to the 1619 Project is more than just a matter of historical criticism, but rather is reactionary and determined to sustain a view of US history that does not offend his sensibilities. This is what he means by saying, "don't create resentment." This is very typical of rightwing and conservative complaints, which accuse anyone who is critical of the political and social status quo as being divisive or as creating resentment. It does not seem to occur to such people that for many years, the narrative of history that they embraced has created a great deal of resentment for people of color and for any people wishing to tell the truth about the racist priorities of the US in historical terms.</div><div><br /></div><div>The writer's objection to the idea that the US was built upon slavery is an incredible denial. It is a matter of great historical consideration, for instance, that the US in the antebellum era was built upon the backs of slaves. As Eugene Dattel writes in <i>Cotton and Race in the Making of America</i>, cotton--picked by enslaved Africans from 1803 until the end of slavery, "stimulated economic growth more decisively than any other single industry or crop." Even setting aside the fact that the cheap, oppressed labor of black people after Reconstruction further enriched the US, the point is that cotton was the foundation of the industrial revolution. In other words, contrary to the letter writer, "American prosperity" was indeed built "on the back of slavery." The centrality of slavery in the building of the US is not a point missed by the 1619 Project, but it is a point that will not be widely appreciated if its opponents are given the final word.</div><div><br /></div><div>The letter-writer goes on, in retrospective Pollyanna, appreciating "the delicate balance" that existed between free and slave states, and then blames John Brown for "unraveling" the "political balancing act." This is a revealing statement. The writer seems to credit the compromise that prevailed in this nation, which kept four millions of Africans enslaved, as "delicate balance." Conversely, the writer is resentful of Old John Brown, for allegedly destroying that "delicate balance." The question is, what kind of mind would have such a retrospective view of the US, to speak of the hellish compromise of the antebellum era in such precious terms?</div><div><br /></div><div>The letter-writer clearly is dealing in a kind of self-serving naivete, writing about the contrasting economies of the North and South as if they were competing--the strong industrial North versus the inferior slave-based South. But this is simply not true. The truth is far more complicated and unpleasant because while the North was based on industrial growth, that growth was premised on cotton and other "slave crops." Northern factories produced cotton goods and northern banks and insurance companies grew prosperous on slaveholder wealth. The wealthy sons of the South came North for education and specialized training. In the antebellum era, the North had deep connections to the South, and when John Brown did strike, it was the business community and their workers who protested most loudly against him because they understood what this letter-writer does not. They understood that the economic condition of the North was bound to the operations of the South. Indeed, this was one of the features of northern conservatism before the Civil War.</div><div><br /></div><div>The letter-writer reflects an insular mentality, one that prefers to believe that US history is about "delicate balances" and "great heroes." To suggest anything else is to--as he concludes--"create resentment and division." But the division has been there all along--the division between white supremacy and its victims; the division between "top down" readings of US history and grassroots narratives that reveal a nation steeped in racism and injustice; the division between privileged white people and those who see this nation's history as anything but exceptional and "great."</div><div><br /></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-89912488349448521822021-02-02T21:41:00.009-05:002021-02-02T21:45:27.790-05:00The Biter is Bitten: A Ross Snaps Back<p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #3c4043;"><span style="background-color: white;">Well folks, the biter is bitten. I've been told off, exposed, and rebuked from an angry Canadian named Don Ross in response to my feature on Dr. Alexander Milton Ross (Jan. 12), <a href="https://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2021/01/alexander-milton-ross-1832-97-was.html" target="_blank">"Catch Him if You Can: The True Story of John Brown's Fraudulent 'Friend.'"</a> I appear to have done it this time, and it looks I've offended a descendant.</span></span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Today I found this message in my blog mail, and rather than simply publish it under the aforementioned article, I post it here for your reading interest:</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><blockquote>This attack on Dr. Alexander Milton Ross is scurrilous and unwarranted from an American pseudo-theologian, who really knows very little about the biography of AM ROSS, Dresden, Uncle Tom, Buxton or any other parts of Black History in Ontario.</blockquote><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Well, it is more than evident that Mr. Don Ross is angry at me for making what he calls a "scurrilous and unwarranted" "attack" upon the late A.M. Ross (AMR), whom I describe as a faker and fraud, at least in regard to his claim of being a friend and associate of John Brown. I said nothing about AMR's actual antislavery role in Canada, his professional attainments, or his life in Canada. </span><p></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Certainly, I would like to apologize to Don Ross for offending his family, as it appears he is a descendant of AMR. It really was not my intention to offend the living in criticizing the dead, and insofar as I have created offense, I do regret it as human feelings go. I once offended the descendant of a miscreant Southern murderer, but I cannot say that I had any sense of regret in interrogating the record of her murderous forebear. But I do not see AMR as an enemy of Brown's legacy and so I do not see him as an enemy. Still, insofar as John Brown is concerned, he was a fake and a liar, and I was not the first one to make this claim.</span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Don Ross responds vindictively with an <i>ad hominem</i>, calling me an "American pseudo-theologian." I forgive him this bite. Actually, I am a theologically trained historian and religious educator with two real earned masters degrees in theology and history, and a real earned Ph.D, but nowhere do I claim to be a <i>professional</i> theologian. As to Don Ross's second charge, that I know "very little" about the biography of AMR and any other aspect of black history in Ontario, it's probably fair to say that I know enough as has been of interest to me thus far, although there's always more to learn.</span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Finally, Don Ross, if you're going to lambast me, you must also lambast the late great Boyd B. Stutler, whose expertise on the John Brown theme, including his correspondence with Canadian historians in the mid-20th century, drew this conclusion about AMR long before I was born. As I shared, I found while doing my own subsequent research on the Ross-Brown correspondence that Stutler was correct in calling AMR a liar and a fake. If I thought otherwise were possible, I would have written that too. </span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043;">Of course, I would be happy to rescind my publication on Ross if you can prove me and Stutler wrong. Unlike AMR, I really do prefer the truth to deception and error. If you have historical evidence that proves both Stutler and me as being incorrect in our readings of the evidence concerning AMR and John Brown, then please do let me know and I will publish it with an apology besides. </span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #3c4043;"><span style="background-color: white;">Don Ross, I hope you will accept that I have no intention of wounding your feelings or family pride. But neither am I willing to alter my understanding of history because it is offensive to you or anyone else. My writing was neither an "attack" nor was it "unwarranted." It was perfectly warranted by the burden of historical research and the quest to understand the past, particularly as it relates to my study of John Brown.</span></span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #3c4043;"><span style="background-color: white;">I turn the other cheek here, Don Ross, but I wonder if you have any substantial evidence beyond insult and accusation. Otherwise, my response, borrowed from John Brown in Virginia, is simply this: <i>you have your opinion of me, and I have my opinion of you.</i> </span></span></p><p><span face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #3c4043;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let's leave it at that.--<i>LD</i></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-80382905055537067042021-01-22T11:30:00.002-05:002021-01-22T11:30:42.442-05:00John Brown's Bankruptcy Bookshelf<p> <span> </span>As a biographer of John Brown, I have found that often the portrayal of his business life by writers is simplistic, and over the years likewise it has been used to set him up as a kind of ne’er-do-well whose entry into antislavery zealotry was something of an attempt to redeem himself from a failed life. Even one of Brown’s better biographers in the twentieth century, Stephen Oates, tended toward caricature when he wrote: “He was lonely and restless, and when he left the agency in the evening, after a maddening day with his disorderly accounts, he changed roles from a much-maligned businessman to a lone crusading abolitionist.”1 Perhaps the worst example of this is found in the writing of the late Chester G. Hearn, whose treatment of Brown is malign, and fraught with the author’s malicious liberties and misinterpretations that regretfully approximate the work of a scoundrel. In the introduction of his anti-Brown screed, Hearn thus writes: “As Brown grew older, he became acutely aware of his failures, and thrusting them aside, he became a sleuth in search of his own destiny. He followed many trades without ever achieving a permanent measure of self-satisfaction or success.”2 This poisonous nonsense not only flattens the history of John Brown’s business life, but also suggests that the basis of his antislavery zeal was some sort of private quest to find redemption from what otherwise was a life of failure. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Biographically speaking, ad hominem slurs and dramatic sensationalism aside, Brown did not have an easy time of it in the late 1830s and well into the first half of the following decade. However, he did recover and even enjoyed a measure of success and notoriety as a specialist in fine sheep and wool—frankly something that none of Brown’s biographers have adequately focused on, probably because most biographers are too much in a hurry to get to “Bleeding Kansas” than to spend time looking at businessman Brown’s story in context. Be that as it may, it remains true that this period of business failure was the nadir of his first fifty years, and so a sketch of this chapter of his life should be better understood.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Like many others in the western states in the mid-1830s, John Brown could not have apprehended the downturn that was about to overtake him. In simple terms, what brought him down was a boom in land speculation, a reliance on credit, and a lack of financial backups, from business insurance to the limited liability corporation, instruments that are part of the modern businessman’s tool chest. Brown had none of these and he was out of his element, since his professional specializations were in livestock and farming. In fairness to him, however, it was not sheer ambition that caused him to abandon his primary expertise as much as it was desperation.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Brown had returned from Pennsylvania to his native northeastern Ohio in 1836 on the basis of an offer made to him by the wealthy Zenas Kent, a prominent figure in Franklin Mills (present day Kent, Ohio). Kent knew of Brown’s solid reputation and solicited him to become a business partner in his proposed tannery operation. Given the exciting canal developments in Ohio at the time, Brown quite reasonably saw greater chances for success back in his home state. However the partnership was rescinded before it had even begun, when Kent decided to rent out the facility to his own son instead.3 </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As a family man finding himself suddenly without work, Brown threw himself eagerly into land speculation and construction in Franklin Mills, primarily intent upon canal-related projects. Public transportation contracts were booming in Ohio and the west at this time, and private stock companies were formed to undertake these new ventures with state funds. For instance, a major project at this time was the linking of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal systems, and it is understandable why Brown began to talk up the possibilities of investing in related projects to his family and associates in Ohio. A number of sources suggest that he took some kind of construction contract on the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal system and that he was also looking to invest in projects funded by independent banks, such as an extension of the canal from Akron to Franklin Mills. Having borrowed a large sum of money, then, Brown also purchased a sizeable farm that he intended to parcel out for sale, as he had done with his own property before leaving Pennsylvania. He also bought land and erected office buildings in Franklin Mills that would turn a fine profit once the canal was operative.4</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Initially, Brown looked successful, but by 1838 he wrote to a Meadville associate that he had “made money rather too quickly” in the previous three years. Indeed, his wealth was essentially based on bank notes and credit, and with the Panic of 1837 (which Brown called “the change in the times”), his efforts were considerably stunted. Still, he pressed on, further and further into credit debt, anticipating a breakthrough in the economy and a harvest of wealth with the completion of his canal and construction projects. Ever the optimist, he wrote in mid-1838: “We in this country feel now in hope that another year will effectually relieve us,” he wrote in mid-1838.5</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Unfortunately, the financial situation only worsened, not just for John Brown but for many others caught up in the boom. As monies for projects dried up, other business ventures likewise followed, and shortly Brown was left with debt and lawsuits for unpaid notes, wages, and money due on accounts. At one point, he was the defendant, either by himself or with partners, in twenty-one different lawsuits. Meanwhile, he was looking and hoping for alternatives, such as the purchase of a mill. Throughout 1838, Brown went east to scour his native Connecticut for loans, since the eastern states recovered before the western states like Ohio. By the summer of 1839, however, things had only gotten worse. New England proved a disappointment, and he returned home empty-handed, with fading hope of obtaining money from eastern banks. “The prospect is rather dark however,” he wrote to a close associate. “I have made every exertion in my power to extricate ourselves from the difficulty we are in but have not yet been able to effect it.” Things were getting bad and he felt “rather more depressed than usual.”6 </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At this point, Brown’s story descends quickly. In 1839, beside overdue tax and business expenses, he had ten children to feed and clothe, including three adolescents and seven other children between newborn and ten years of age. He was desperate. In what proved to be an unhappy coincidence, it was at this time that Brown secured a role as purchasing agent for a New England firm, which entrusted him with a sizeable purse for the purchase of western cattle. Tempted in his own desperate mind, however, Brown convinced himself that he could use the firm’s money in order to pay pressing debts and taxes, and then promptly replace the money from a loan that he confidently expected from a bank in Boston. As if finding himself within a morale tale, when the loan was refused, John Brown found himself in hot water.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, I would argue that this episode—and not his later role in the Pottawatomie killings—was John Brown’s moral nadir in biographical terms. In appropriating his client’s money, he deliberately committed an unethical act, both breaking the law and violating his own keen sense of right and wrong. Whatever one may feel about his resort to violence in the Pottawatomie crisis of 1856, Brown’s ethical stance in that case actually is far more defensible than is this bloodless crime of desperation. Certainly, had he ended up in jail and his otherwise upright reputation soiled, Brown would have deserved it. Fortunately for him, when he owned up to his foolish manipulation, he was treated with leniency by his client, although he was not able to survive a host of lawsuits and never was able to fully repay the client, as much he tried to do so, and as much as it weighed upon him (Brown even directed some money to be sent to the client just before his hanging in Virginia in 1859). </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Besides the complexity—perhaps even the impossibility—of untangling John Brown’s many business issues from nearly two centuries ago, what makes this chapter of his life even more difficult is the fact that he continued to pursue any opportunity that might turn his condition around, from selling cattle sales to breeding race horses and silk worms. Overall, as I have argued, although Brown merits some responsibility for his business misfortunes in this period, historians typically have focused on his troubled story without considering the circumstances of which he was a part, and which certainly troubled many other of Brown’s contemporaries. Besides failing to consider that he was among many others facing the same difficulties, and that he did not have the safety nets that modern business people enjoy, historians likewise have failed to recognize that he was caught between a financial panic 1837 and an aftershock that took place in 1839, the latter actually proving to be the context for John Brown’s financial undoing. Even his most notable biographers have missed the Crisis of 1839, as did Stephen Oates, who simplistically wrote that the Panic of 1837 “shook the national economy,” concluding that Brown “should have expected the worst” in the 1830s because President Andrew Jackson had refused to renew the Bank of the United States, leaving the national economy “extremely unstable.” Lacking a fuller explanation of the downturns of the 1830s, however, Oates imputed greater blame to Brown than he deserves in retrospect.7</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In fact, the Panic of 1837 and the Crisis of 1839 were two very different downturns in Brown’s world, and there was no way for Brown to have anticipated. The Panic occurred as a result of domestic and foreign influences, and was largely felt in the eastern states, but especially in New York City and New Orleans, the major ports for the international cotton trade. While the Panic was felt throughout the nation, a decline in specie, loans and discounts, and deposits was much worse in the east than in the south and west. In nearly every aspect, it was more severe for northeastern banks than for western banks in 1837. Yet the Panic was quickly remedied by federal measures, and the economy made a comeback after 1837, which explains why Brown and many others continued to push their luck out in Ohio. Oates fails to realize that most people could not have foreseen a serious downturn on the horizon, which is why borrowing continued in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. As a result, the land boom was further bolstered by canal and railroad construction after 1837, which in turn engendered greater public confidence. But things took a shocking turn for the worst in 1839, and this was the real basis of John Brown’s undoing. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After dealing extensively in bonds, after 1837, many banks in Ohio and other western states began to find it difficult to redeem them because of the tightening of the market. As a result, they increasingly began to deal in credit, an economic pattern that filtered down into the business economy. John Brown’s own state of Ohio especially had borrowed heavily and now found itself with enormous debt. Unable to meet their obligations, banks in Ohio and other western states thus overreached and defaulted, resulting in a sharp decline in the money supply, and a loss of confidence in the banks. Without depositor confidence, western banks began to collapse while banks in the northeast were in a state of improvement. Under these circumstances, Ohio and other western states experienced heavy losses in specie holdings, loans and discounts, and deposits. Indeed, between January 1839 and January 1841, the national money supply had declined by 22-percent, and the brunt of this loss was felt in western and southern states.8 Contrary to the simplistic narrative, where John Brown was an incompetent, talentless businessman, it is clear that these national economic factors were largely responsible for bringing about his and other people’s ruin in the late 1830s. While he thrashed about for a few more years, ever hoping to find a way out, Brown finally was forced to surrender. As he described it later, this was a time of “poverty, trials, discredit, & sore afflictions.” Years later he wrote to his wife Mary, saluting her faithfulness in the shadowed days “when others said of me, ‘now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.’”9 </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As it happened, the United States had recently passed a new Bankruptcy Act on August 19, 1841, and it was under this new act that the disappointed John Brown submitted a petition for bankruptcy on May 11, 1842, two days after his forty-second birthday. That month, a small notice appeared in the <i>Akron Beacon</i> declaring John Brown, “Tanner and Currier,” and a grocer named Meacham as having made petitions for a court hearing of bankruptcy the following month. As if to pour salt in the wound, the county commissioner published notice a week later that he was prepared to consider Brown’s claims, and that summer, and in October, he was listed under a short notice entitled “Bankrupts” with eighteen other unfortunate fellow citizens. By this time, however, Brown had already received an assignee from the court named George B. De Peyster, charged with taking a fine-tooth comb to every detail of property in the Brown household. De Peyster gave public notice in the summer that he was handling Brown’s bankruptcy case, and by late September, he had prepared a signed inventory. Even centuries later, the document is pitiful because De Peyster’s schedule sets forth the things that the Browns personally owned, and included things that De Peyster permitted them to keep, from household furniture and home furnishings to foods and tools. De Peyster’s schedule still exists and is held in the Boyd B. Stutler Collection in the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.</p><p><span> </span>Of particular interest to me in this episode are the books De Peyster listed on the bottom of the first page, for they provide a particular insight into Brown’s life and interests at this period. I should add that among these household items on another page De Peyster mentions that there were “about 36 volumes of school & miscellaneous books” in the household, so the books under consideration were the only ones he considered of value. Doubtless the “school & miscellaneous books” represent the texts that Brown used for the education of his children (and other people’s children, as was the case during his Pennsylvania years), although De Peyster provided no title information. Fortunately, he did list several other volumes, and evidently did so because they had greater value, and evidently because they were John Brown’s own books. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In listing these more valuable volumes on Brown’s bookshelf, De Peyster offered scant information as to titles although assigning dollar value to each. Fortunately, with a little help from Google books and other internet sources, I was able to identify almost all of them, thus gaining insight into the kinds of things that John Brown was reading in the late 1830s and early ‘40s, some of which are interestingly when keyed to his biography. </p><p><span> </span>To no surprise, the first item listed is “11 Bibles & testaments.” De Peyster valued these copies of the sacred text at $6.50, which according to one online inflation calculator is equivalent in today’s money about $200. Of course, the testimony of the Brown children in later life is that on Sunday evenings, John Brown regularly passed out Bibles for a time of family worship and prayer, the family standing—not kneeling—in prayer, and Brown himself famously handling the chair (tipping it backward on its back legs) as he prayed. (As I recall, John Junior and his siblings only saw their father kneel in prayer once to make a sacred vow against slavery sometime between the late 1830s and early 1840s.) Certainly these Bibles were undoubtedly part of the family’s sacred regimen from week to week.</p><p><span> </span>The second item was “1 Vol Beauties of the Bible.” De Peyster valued this book at eighty-six cents, actually about $25 today. And no, this was not a book about the pretty women of the Bible (although that probably would make an interesting book). Rather, the “beauties” refers to notable selections of biblical text. In typical style for that era, the subtitle goes on and on: <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BkEXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=beauties+of+the+bible&hl=en&ei=gSl3TP24JML58AbHnqHOBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">A Selection from the Old and New Testaments with Various Remarks and Brief Dissertations Designed for the Use of Christians in General, and Particularly for the Use of Schools, and for the Improvement of Youth</a></i>. Interestingly, the editor and commentator of this book was Ezra Sampson of Hudson, New York. According to the old Appleton’s encyclopedia, Sampson (1749-1828) was a Massachusetts clergyman, writer, and a veteran of the Revolutionary War, afterward a chaplain at Roxbury, Mass. Sampson later co-founded a publication called the Balance, then served as editor of the Connecticut Courant [Hartford, Conn.], served as a county judge, and also wrote a number of theological and historical works, including Beauties of the Bible, first published in 1802. Given its publication date, it is likely that John Brown was first introduced to this work as a teenager, and possibly was given this book as a gift after his church membership was made official on March 31, 1816, when he was barely sixteen-years-old. Interestingly, in the preface, Sampson begins with the lamentation that at one time, the Bible was the only textbook used in public schools, but subsequently other books had been introduced along with the Bible as textbooks. Sampson writes that it should humble Christians to realize that “while we have neglected to make the knowledge of the bible any part of the school education of our children, the Mahometans [sic] have been teaching their children the Alcoran [sic] with most diligent care. Will not Mahometans rise up in judgment against us and condemn us?” (p. iii)</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The next item is not religious, but rather “Flints Surveying.” De Peyster valued this work at eighty-seven cents, again, about $25 today. John Brown buffs will recall that later in life, he was an active and experienced surveyor, and that he surveyed lands in western Virginia in 1840 on behalf of the Oberlin Institute, and that likewise he surveyed property in the Kansas territory for his sons. Interestingly, Brown quite intentionally went to the aid of local Indians (presumably the Sac and Fox Nation) by surveying their lands in order to restrict the intrusions of proslavery interlopers in the territory. In one or two cases, when surveying did not convince these Southern intruders, the Brown boys escorted them forcefully off Sac and Fox Nation land at gunpoint. Brown also quite intentionally Used his surveying abilities as a means of conducting surveillance on proslavery terrorists, which is how he and his sons confirmed that they were marked for death in 1856, and what motivated the Pottawatomie killings. Interestingly, John Brown aficionado, Boyd B. Stutler, prepared an article about the Old Man in The Empire State Surveyor (1969), the official professional publication of New York State surveyors. In that article, Stutler wrote that “John Brown did not have a formal college training in surveying. He did have a propensity for math and geometry. His training in surveying was self-taught from the text of a book known as “Flints Surveying,” written sometime before 1820.” In his own famous autobiographical letter written in 1857, Brown described this informal education, writing of himself in the third person: “He however managed by the help of books to make himself tolerably well acquainted with common Arithmetic; & Surveying: which he practiced more or less after he was Twenty years old.” The book that Brown primarily alludes to is Abel Flint’s 1806 publication, <i>A Treatise on Geometry and Trigonometry with a Treatise on Surveying in which the Principles of Rectangular Surveying without Plotting are Explained</i>. I have not located the 1806 version that Brown likely used, but an <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=u_4OAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Flint,+Surveying&hl=en&ei=-BV5TNr-PIO0lQfx7bjwCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQ6wEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">1839 version is accessible through Google Books</a>.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p> Once more dependent upon the old <i>Appleton’s</i> encyclopedia, we learn that Abel Flint (1765-1825), was from Connecticut, a graduate of Yale University, and served as a tutor at Brown University until 1790. He studied theology and afterward became a minister (often young clergymen took their training as mentors of established ministers, rather than going to seminary), pastoring a Congregational church in Hartford, Conn. He edited the <i>Connecticut Evangelical Magazine</i>, helped compile a Congregational hymnal, and was one of the founders of the Connecticut Bible Society in 1809. In 1818, he received an honorary doctorate in divinity. Fortunately, this encyclopedic entry gives us the publishing date of his surveying work as 1806. </p><p>The four book on John Brown’s shelf is listed by De Peyster as “Dicks Works,” which he valued at $2.00, about $60 in contemporary terms. Thomas Dick was a Scottish theologian and astronomer who sought to advance a Christian form of science in the face of rising secular science. In the pre-Darwinian era, Dick’s concerns were more broadly focused on how theology, which was still considered a science too, could be broadly applied to the "natural sciences," earth, space and social sciences. This may sound odd to us, particularly since we have been largely influenced by modern scientists who have philosophically demanded the absolute break between the secular and the sacred (some of whom have also presumed to make grandiose judgments about the sacred despite being limited to the more narrow notion of “science” that prevails today.) But Dick's approach is actually a logical outcome of the Protestant Reformation, particularly Calvinism, which presumed that the normative role of humanity as imago Dei, the image of God, was to explore and measure the creation. Since John Brown clearly inherited a Puritan’s curiosity for just about every study including science, it is no surprise that he would have had Dick’s writings on his home library shelf. There is an interesting vignette that relates to this theme, preserved in an 1879 article in <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i>, written by the journalist William Addison Phillips. In this article, Phillips recalled meeting John Brown on three different occasions, but the first was in 1856, in Brown’s camp in Kansas in a wooded area where the Kaw and Wakarusa Rivers converged. Phillips recalled:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The sun went down as we looked at it, and as I turned my eyes to his I saw he had drunk in the glorious beauty of the landscape.</p><p>"What a magnificent scene, captain!" I exclaimed.</p><p>"Yes," he said, in his slow, dry way; "a great country for a free State."</p><p>As the sun started to set, Phillips and Brown put their saddles down together, and lay down for the night, covered with a blanket under the broad night sky. “He seemed to be as little disposed to sleep as I was,” Phillips recalled, continuing</p><p>and we talked; or rather he did, for I said little more than enough to keep him going. I soon found that he was a very thorough astronomer and he enlightened me on a good many matters in the starry firmament above us. He pointed out the different constellations and their movements. “Now,” he said, “it is midnight,” and he pointed to the finger marks of his great clock in the sky.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Phillips continued:</p><p></p><blockquote>In his ordinary moods the man seemed so rigid, stern, and unimpressible when I first knew him that I never thought a poetic and impulsive nature lay behind that cold exterior. The whispering of the wind on the prairie was full of voices to him, and the stars as they shone in the firmament of God seemed to inspire him. “How admirable is the symmetry of the heavens; how grand and beautiful. Everything moves in sublime harmony in the government of God. Not so with us poor creatures. If one star is more brilliant than others, it is continually shooting in some erratic way into space.”10</blockquote><p></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We do not know precisely what volume of “Dick’s Works” that De Peyster assessed on Brown's bookshelf, but it could easily have been Dick’s <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=82kWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA21&dq=Dick+the+scenery+of+the+heavens+displayed&hl=en&ei=ry95TKPXMYSdlgfKvtzrCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Celestial Scenery, or the Wonders of the Planetary System Displayed; Illustrating the Perfections of Deity, and a Plurality of Worlds</a></i> (1837). This work is essentially a Christian astronomer’s reading of his science. Interestingly, in this volume, Dick includes arguments for “plurality of worlds,” or other inhabited planets in the universe. More central to the work, however, is a theistic understanding of the cosmos as a divinely created and operated system, what in his preface Dick calls “the perfections and the empire of the Creator.” Demonstrating a certain knowledge of astronomy, Dick concludes that the “harmony and order” of heavenly bodies “evince [God’s] wisdom and intelligence” (p. 21), and amidst his astronomical speculations, concludes that the starry heavens “answer purposes in the Creator’s plan worthy of His perfections and of their magnitude and grandeur” (p. 27).</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Another book on Brown’s shelf is identified by De Peyster the work of “Dr Rush.” Valued at $2.00 (again, about $60 today. In this case, the book is undoubtedly <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xtUKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Essays:+Literary,+Moral,+and+Philosophical&hl=en&ei=GnF5TJ7xAYKB8gac35GZBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophica</a></i>l, published first in 1789 and again in 1806 by Benjamin Rush (1746-1813). Rush was a physician and one of the founding fathers of the United States, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, and a leading educator and humanitarian who opposed slavery. Although Rush was a Universalist, Brown undoubtedly appreciated him because of his anti-slavery views and his contributions to educational theory. Rush may have entertained peculiar biological views of “race,” but he believed blacks were equal with whites and opposed chattel slavery. Brown’s story resonates with two particular essays in Rush’s book: the first was an essay dating from 1786 in which Rush set forth a plan to establish public schools in Pennsylvania, and his defense of public schools as being consistent with a republican form of government. John Brown was always a defender of the public school system, but this essay may have been of special interest to Brown during his decade in northwestern Pennsylvania, where he acted as a kind of community father in his own right—particularly as one who planned for the schooling of his children and others in his vicinity. Not only was he an advocate of public school education, but apparently he had held a seat on something similar to a school board in the Meadville area, and likewise dreamed if not planned on starting a school for black youth in the same area. Another essay in this book that would likely have been quite meaningful to John Brown is Rush’s inclusion of an essay by Anthony Benezet (1713-84), a Huguenot abolitionist. Benezet’s essay is more than fascinating—a short story called “Paradise of Negro Slaves—A Dream.” In Benezet’s fictive dream, he finds himself intruding upon a peaceful colony of black people at worship, only to discover that he is in the afterlife with black people who had suffered and died in slavery.</p><p><span> </span>The sixth book that got De Peyster’s attention is listed as a “Church Members Guide,” valued at twenty-five cents, about $7 in today’s currency. The exact identification of this book is somewhat difficult to determine since there would have been a variety of such works available. Assuming that Brown would have preferred a volume reflecting his own church heritage, a likely candidate is <i>The Church Member’s Guide</i> by John Angell James, published in England in 1822. This appears to have been a prototypical work of its kind in the early 19th century. The problem here is that it was not published in the U.S. until 1855; so if Brown had a copy of the James Church Member’s Guide, it was a British edition. A second possibility is that Brown had a copy of <i>A Manual for Young Church-Members</i> (1841) by Leonard Bacon, a clergyman from New Haven, Conn., one of the founders of the anti-slavery New York Independent. Of course, this might have been another church membership book, published locally or otherwise. Generally, church member’s guides or handbooks set forth distinctive themes of Protestant denominations as well as major theological and ecclesiastical doctrines. </p><p>Finally, De Peyster listed “Balls narrative,” another book valued at twenty-five cents, about $7 today. While it is no surprise to find an authentic so-called “slave narrative” on John Brown’s bookshelf, it is nonetheless interesting to know what he was reading about slavery at this time. <i>The Narrative of Charles Ball</i> is one of the more notable antebellum narratives, a genre of antislavery writing that tended to be edited by those not associated with radical abolitionism. According to the late historian John Blassingame, Ball’s editor was a lawyer named Isaac Fisher, and the first printing of the narrative was published in Pennsylvania in 1836—the same year that Brown returned to Ohio from Randolph Township near Meadville, Pennsylvania. Pro-slavery critics tried to debunk Ball’s narrative without success, and ultimately it has proven highly reliable to historians.11 If you’re interested, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pGmCpc5NWOsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ball%27s+narrative&hl=en&ei=aI95TLqUHMKAlAentpnsCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">an 1854 edition of Ball’s narrative is available through Google books</a>.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This short list of books from John Brown’s bookshelf in 1842 provide a sense of the man, certainly that he was deeply religious, practical in his studies, and interested in matters like astronomy while constantly being mindful of the plight of the enslaved. At the same time, of course, De Peyster’s document is a reminder of a particularly painful period in John Brown’s life in which he, like other aspiring frontier entrepreneurs in the 1830s and ‘40s, had experienced devastating failure. In his younger days, Brown had envisioned himself as becoming a successful abolitionist tycoon who could do the kinds of things that his later associates among the “Secret Six” did by funding his antislavery. But in his early forties, John Brown was far from reaching the success that he had hoped to attain, while the nation itself had not yet come to the point when hope for the peaceful demise of slavery would vanish, finally pushing him across the line toward taking radical antislavery measures. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In 1848, six years after his bankruptcy, Brown confided to a friend: “I believe I received my Bankrupt discharge in the Fall of 1842 at which time all I possessed would not pay near the expense of getting it, so that I then had to go into a debt on annual interest which took me several years to pay. I then had a wife & Twelve minor children, & we were so destitute of clothing that the greater part of us stayed away from [church] meetings till we had nearly lost the habit of going entirely.” By 1848, he concluded, he had “paid a good deal on my old debts,” as he wrote, and was looking forward to a good year in the wool business.12 More could be said about John Brown’s troubled business story, but suffice it to say that while he never found success, he did not finish his professional life a defeated soul. There would be more ups and downs, but he would never again taste the bitterness of this period. In early 1849, writing from his wool commission operation in Springfield, John Brown informed his father back in Ohio: “Our business is prosperous; to all appearance. Money is becoming more easy.”13</p><p>-LD</p><p><br /></p><p>Notes</p><p> <span> 1 </span>Stephen B. Oates, <i>To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown</i> (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1970), 72. </p><p><span> 2 </span>Chester G. Hearn, <i>Companions in Conspiracy: John Brown & Gerrit Smith</i> (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1996), 1.</p><p><span> 3 </span>Marvin Kent later wrote: “The tannery . . . was just completed when I rented the same from my father for my own business. This put John Brown out of a job and led him to take a construction contract on the line of the P&O Canal from Kent to Akron. During this period, he traded many hundreds of dollars with my family.” Quoted in a letter from Dudley Weaver to Boyd B. Stutler, Aug. 12, 1952, RP05-0042, in the Boyd B. Stutler Papers; Also see “John Brown, of Harper’s Ferry,” <i>Kent Courier</i>, Sept., 7/14?, 1906, Box 4, John Brown – Oswald Garrison Villard Papers.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 4 “John Brown Had Faith in Kent, O,” <i>Plain Dealer</i> [Cleveland, Ohio] (July 6, 1926); Mary Land, “John Brown’s Ohio Environment,” <i>Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly</i> (Jan. 1948): 33; J.B. Holm, “John Brown Was Resident of Kent; 100th Anniversary of Harper’s Ferry Is Today,” <i>Record-Courier</i> [Ravenna-Kent, Ohio] (Oct. 16, 1959), 9; Dudley Weaver to Boyd B. Stutler, Aug. 12, 1952, RP05-0042, Boyd B. Stutler Papers.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 5 John Brown to H. J. Huidekoper, July 5, 1838, in the John Brown Collection of Pelletier Library, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 6 Oswald G. Villard, <i>John Brown: A Biography 1800-1859</i> (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1910, 1929), 36-37; Holm, “John Brown Was Resident of Kent,” 9; John Brown to Seth Thompson, Dec. 13, 1838, Box 1, Folder 63, University of Atlanta.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 7 It is interesting, too, that Oates relied heavily on John Brown Jr.’s testimony, yet too easily rejects Brown’s claim that he was largely undone by dealing in credit. Cf. Stephen B. Oates, <i>To Purge This Land With Blood</i>, 36-37</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 8 John J. Wallis, “What Caused the Crisis of 1839?” Historical Paper 133 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, Apr. 2001), 10.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 9 Mary Land, “John Brown’s Ohio Environment,” 33; “John Brown: Citizen of Kent,” The Kent Historical Society Home Page (Kent, Ohio). Retrieved from https://bit.ly/39R1SFa; “John Brown Had Faith in Kent, O”; John Brown to Mary Brown, Mar. 7, 184[6], MS01-0016, Boyd B. Stutler Papers; also see DeCaro, <i>“Fire from the Midst of You” A Religious Life of John Brown</i> (New York: NYU Press, 2002),<i> </i>115-20.</p><p> <span> 10 </span>See William A. Phillips, “Three Interviews with Old John Brown,” <i>The Atlantic Monthly</i> (Dec. 1879).
See <i>Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies</i>, edited by John W. Blassingame (Baton Rouge: University of Louisiana Press, 1977, 2002), pp. xxiii-xxvi.
John Brown to Seth Thompson, Dec. 12, 1848, in Washington University Library collection.
John Brown, Springfield, Mass., to Owen Brown, Hudson, Ohio, January 10, 1849, Kansas State Historical Society.</p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-44981015613799401882021-01-12T01:23:00.005-05:002021-01-12T01:32:22.759-05:00Catch Him if You Can: The True Story of Alexander Ross, John Brown’s Fraudulent “Friend”<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RlN3uqTxbW5fqEbEB6-50q9N0MeFLVXlDLXyX1zlOUUwt3yy4P1tlJTfAcdiJR_kWWnTP8-Qnmc101-Md5yIUVBerOzsfuoNocqZH2MhSrDqsr8zEecY7AbfTaA3hoWSn1hC/s1024/Ross+AM+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="692" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RlN3uqTxbW5fqEbEB6-50q9N0MeFLVXlDLXyX1zlOUUwt3yy4P1tlJTfAcdiJR_kWWnTP8-Qnmc101-Md5yIUVBerOzsfuoNocqZH2MhSrDqsr8zEecY7AbfTaA3hoWSn1hC/w216-h320/Ross+AM+copy.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A. M. Ross</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Alexander Milton Ross (1832-97) was a distinguished Canadian physician and a specialist in the study of North American animal and plant life. As a youth he worked as a newspaperman and studied in New York City, earning a degree in medicine at the age of twenty-three. In a colorful and adventurous career, Ross was decorated by European royalty and was renowned in his own nation as an outspoken leader in the medical community as well as a preeminent naturalist.1<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>Ross also embraced Spiritualism, which in the 19th century was an <i>avant garde</i> religious movement that often attracted unconventional religious thinkers and socially-minded activists, including many abolitionists.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ross is also remembered by many Canadians as a strong abolitionist and a daring activist who used his studies in naturalism as a pretense to assist fugitives escaping from slavery. During the years of the Civil War, Ross served as the vice-president of the Anti-Slavery Society in Toronto, Ontario, and was well known among his countrymen as an anti-slavery orator and writer. Later in life, he enjoyed the reputation of one who had smuggled many of the enslaved to freedom in Canada, and wrote two memoirs pertaining to his activism. He is undoubtedly best known for his 1875 publication, <i>Recollections and Experiences of An Abolitionist</i>.2 It is Ross’s involvement with the anti-slavery movement that allegedly brought his story in contact with that of John Brown the abolitionist.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In his memoir, Ross records meeting with John Brown twice within two years of the Harper’s Ferry raid, and also claimed to have had correspondence from him as well. According to <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, Ross claimed one meeting lasted late into the night, and that Brown presented him certain “letters from friends in Boston and Philadelphia” which he carefully examined.3<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To round out his story, Ross wrote that not only did he do advance surveillance in Virginia for Brown, but after the failure of the Harper’s Ferry raid, he tried to get Governor Wise of Virginia to permit him to see Brown, but was instead forced to leave the state, whence he returned to Canada and prepared for another underground railroad mission.4<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But this was the story that Alexander Milton Ross published in two editions over the years, and which eventually helped him to gain access to Brown’s contemporaries and adult children.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In reality, Ross was a complete fake.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He may have been a minor-league antislavery figure in Canada, but his relationship with Brown and involvement in his story was a complete fraud.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In fact, Ross was such a good liar that he was never discovered in his lifetime.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Fortunately for history, however, despite the extent of his deception, one man finally interrogated, exposing the the complete deception of Alexander Milton Ross. But no one since Stutler has examined Ross closely since then even though more documentation has further confirmed his fraudulence.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So in this episode, you will finally get the whole story.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0Bt_0nPxzTlpOXb3jYyYRkq7YZ1ox2b6qp-7gr4aWPCLGZXNkKHYt76zw9bKi2AK7fWAH3T1AOdDk3OqhJBVbRB7gZgITrAG7B0obwV6x28LGj25bWxdOcnEK1Sp5TQTnnic/s200/stutler.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="131" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0Bt_0nPxzTlpOXb3jYyYRkq7YZ1ox2b6qp-7gr4aWPCLGZXNkKHYt76zw9bKi2AK7fWAH3T1AOdDk3OqhJBVbRB7gZgITrAG7B0obwV6x28LGj25bWxdOcnEK1Sp5TQTnnic/w210-h320/stutler.jpg" width="210" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Boyd B. Stutler</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the mid-20th century, Boyd B. Stutler, the foremost documentary scholar of John Brown, became increasingly convinced that the testimony of Ross was not trustworthy. Stutler was an exacting and tireless researcher who had amassed myriads of primary and secondary sources, and could analyze with the mind of a historian and sniff out the scent of questionability with the nose of a journalist.5</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large; vertical-align: 4px;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In an independent scholarly career that spanned five decades, Stutler was not only the most conversant in John Brown literature, but was well-versed in collateral historical and biographical material pertaining to the antebellum and Civil War periods. He was particularly frustrated by the anti-Brown bias that permeated the writing of leading Civil War scholars in the mid-20</span><sup style="font-family: georgia;">th</sup><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> century.6</span></p><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Naturally, Ross’s memoir must have been appealing to Stutler at first. But the more he examined Ross’s book, the more he became convinced that Ross could not be trusted. “Too bad,” he wrote to the Reverend Clarence Gee, his life-long colleague, since Ross had long been considered “a good witness for the defense.” But now Stutler had become certain that Ross was a false witness. In fact, according to his research, Ross had not only fabricated stories about John Brown, but he had also lied about his war time collaboration with President Abraham Lincoln. Stutler wrote to Gee in 1953 that “we can safely write Dr. Ross off as one who invented intimacies in order to bask in the refulgent light of reflected glory.”7<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>Following Stutler's brilliant lead, my own examination of evidence regarding Ross only confirms that the beloved Canadian abolitionist was one of the greatest frauds in North American history.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Missing from the Record<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">First, it seems peculiar that Ross is largely absent from the major biographical sources on John Brown, whether primary or secondary. Given his repeated claims of having been well acquainted with the abolitionist, his absence from contemporary eyewitness accounts and related correspondence is quite telling. Nothing that survives from the writings of Brown or his colleagues includes a reference to Alexander Ross—nothing, that is, except alleged correspondence that Ross presented in his dubious memoir. So, for instance, when Richard Hinton mistakenly included Ross in his popular 1894 book, <i>John Brown and His Men</i>,<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>the only source he had to do so was Ross himself.8</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Secondly, for one purporting to have been a trusted associate of John Brown, Ross is missing from the Brown family’s correspondence until he appears by self-introduction in the 1870s. In fairness, it is not necessary that Brown’s sons and daughters would have had correspondence with Ross prior to the Harper’s Ferry raid. However, if Ross’s claims were true, one would think that John Brown Jr. and Owen Brown, who were both in their father’s inner circle, would have had some knowledge of Ross, or at least some knowledge of him in the preparatory phase of the raid.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In his bogus memoir, Ross presents himself as having been a key figure of interest to John Brown, being sought out by him in 1857-58, and later being asked by him to take a daring assignment at the crisis hour in 1859. Yet there seems to be nothing about him in any of the several major collections of Brown family correspondence except that which he himself initiated in the 1870s and afterward. Ross likewise is not mentioned in Brown’s memorandum books, now held in the Boston Public Library collection, in which the abolitionist kept a careful record of his correspondence and contacts.9<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As biographers go, it is likewise notable that Oswald Garrison Villard, the grandson of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, made no reference to Ross in his monumental biography of John Brown, first published in 1910. Although Villard’s interpretation is biased in significant respects, his work undoubtedly was the most well-researched scholarly effort regarding Brown up to that point.10 Writing fifty years after Brown’s death, Villard drew from rich resources based almost entirely on the field research of his assistant, Katherine Mayo.11 </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The fact that Villard made no reference to Ross in either the text or the note section of his book is not simply evidence of a lack of historical presence in the John Brown story. A search of Villard’s papers at Columbia University revealed that he actually had two significant items on Ross, but he elected not to include them in his work. Not surprisingly, too, researcher Mayo had made thorough notes from the second edition of Ross’s <i>Recollections and Experiences of an Abolitionist</i> (1876). Why did Villard choose to overlook the inspiring account of Ross’s interaction with John Brown as well as his claim to having been a daring “undercover” abolitionist in the South? He likewise made no mention of a letter written by his famous grandfather, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to Ross in 1875, apparently in response to Ross’s request for John Brown materials. Garrison’s letter to Ross conveys no sense that he was writing to one who was familiar to John Brown.12<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>It seems clear that biographer Villard overlooked Ross altogether because he had quietly determined that the Canadian’s memoir was untrustworthy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ross and the Browns<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If the absence of Alexander Ross from prominent historical record is significant, so are his rigorous efforts to correspond with the Brown family in their later years. While Ross seems to have been sincerely interested in befriending the surviving Browns, his motivations also appear to have included a desire to gain personal papers and information, as well as to bolster his self-styled role as John Brown’s friend and compatriot.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If not the earliest, at least one of the earliest letters between Ross and the Browns was written to John Brown Jr. and Owen Brown on November 15, 1877. In this letter, Ross made no familiar greeting, nor any familiar reference by way of introduction. Instead, he had enclosed photographic copies of the last written words of John Brown, made for one of the Charlestown jail staff on the day of his hanging in 1859 (this is the famous so-called prophecy where Brown predicts that slavery would have to end in widespread bloodshed).13 In the letter, Ross repeatedly used “thy” instead of “your,” apparently to create the favorable impression that he was an antislavery Quaker. Ross claimed that he had received the document from a “gentleman” in Charlestown, Virginia, which was true—although Ross had clearly obtained it for opportunistic reasons, not only for display, but in order to wile his way into the Brown family’s confidence.14</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigItKu3Ziqgwexcq2b_WBYMul-MMPXYeLSTKX2pZkfZ47GUKzHMWjrSSc9nSDH-DmE32hQkt79m-ITYWg24h3cwi7EGM6ptXQvO-MJaY9AON02w80w3fukIAnQTiAmEiossJ4b/s957/JB2sketch.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="733" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigItKu3Ziqgwexcq2b_WBYMul-MMPXYeLSTKX2pZkfZ47GUKzHMWjrSSc9nSDH-DmE32hQkt79m-ITYWg24h3cwi7EGM6ptXQvO-MJaY9AON02w80w3fukIAnQTiAmEiossJ4b/s320/JB2sketch.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Newspaper sketch ca. 1880s<br />John Brown Jr.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the same letter, Ross wrote that he had “the good fortune to meet thy father on several occasions & entertain feelings of profound veneration & admiration for his noble character.” Ross also mentioned his published memoir, but apologized that he had no copy to send them, but would send them the new third edition when it was published in the spring of 1878.</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: georgia; vertical-align: 4px;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is telling that Ross did not expand much more on his alleged association with John Brown in this initial letter to his sons. In his next letter to John Brown Jr., Ross slightly continued the fraud, writing: “I knew your illustrious father and loved & respected him and revere his memory.” Perhaps it seemed strange to John Jr. that Ross had waited so many years before establishing communication with Brown’s family, but it seems that Junior was somewhat credulous if not eager for attention from outsiders because he had always enjoyed the greatest share of public attention given to John Brown’s family.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>Still, Ross was as thorough as he was cunning in his ploy. In 1877 he also initiated correspondence with Brown’s widow, Mary Brown, by then living in California. This enabled Ross to passingly mention that he had received a letter from her only “a few months ago.” In fact, Ross referred to Mary Brown as “thy mother,” which may suggest that Ross did not know that Mary actually was Junior’s stepmother.15<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span></span><span>Ross continued to correspond with John Jr., frequently asking for photographs of the family, replete with endearing references to the interest of his son Garibaldi Ross in the Brown story. Meanwhile, Ross made certain to provide the rest of the Browns with photographic copies of their father’s last writing, as well as sending off ten copies of the new edition of his </span><i>Recollections and Experiences</i><span> for Mary Brown and the rest of the family.16</span><span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span><span>By elevating their correspondence to an exchange of materials between himself and the Browns, Ross established a strong foothold that would now enable him to entrench himself in the Brown’s family’s confidences and exploit them further for primary documents that would in turn be used to lend credence to his own fraudulent story.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For instance, by the following May 1878, Ross had acknowledged the gift of an original John Brown letter, ostensibly sent by John Brown Jr. for Ross’ daughter—no doubt a gift that Ross himself had obtained through endearing insinuation. Emboldened by Brown’s generosity, Ross then asked for “some Little relic or memento of your illustrious father” as a favor to young son, Garibaldi Ross. Sure enough, John Jr. (who was generous to the point of foolishness in giving away the family’s historical treasures17) promised a special John Brown relic to Ross’s “little son.” When the treasure he sought did not come with immediacy, Ross persisted. In October 1878, he again wrote to John Jr.: “If you can send my Little Garibaldi an autograph Letter of your father or any memento by him, it will be highly prized and sacredly treasured while he Lives.”18<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>Meanwhile, Ross was enjoying the royalties and reputation resulting from the sales of his fraudulent story.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Common Bonds<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Alexander Ross further was able to exploit religious commonality between himself and John Brown Jr. At the end of December 1878, Junior had written to Ross, confiding that he and his brother (apparently Jason Brown) were in communication with dead friends in the spirit world. “We are Spiritualists,” Junior wrote.19 Ross was delighted to learn this; perhaps he had refrained at first from informing the Browns that he was also a Spiritualist because he assumed they were evangelicals like their late father. In fact, many of the Brown children had begun to leave Christianity while their father was still alive, and the elder sons, especially Junior and Jason Brown seem to have been easily taken in by the faddish Spiritualism of the day.20 On January 5, 1879, Ross wrote a lengthy letter to John Junior, declaring, “I feel a bond unites us and makes us brothers indeed.” Ross revealed that he had been a Spiritualist for fifteen years, and that he had published his lectures and essays on Spiritualism against “the orthodox tyrant” of Christianity.21<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>Junior was probably delighted by this rhetoric, since he was happy dismiss his father’s religious convictions, just as he had disregarded John Brown’s disdain for secret fraternal orders by joining the Masons in later years. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Not only was Ross now able to wrap himself in the confidence of John Brown Jr., but he found another Brown sibling who was even more credulous and exploited this new connection even more.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Ross now also began an extensive communication with Anne Brown Adams, Junior’s younger half-sister, who was thirty-six-years old in 1879 when they began their correspondence. Anne was a teenager at the time of the Harper’s Ferry raid and had kept house for her father and his raiders at their Maryland headquarters in 1859. In later years, Anne’s writing could be cranky and eccentric, and she claimed to know more about her father’s intentions than she probably knew at the time. Yet she remained one of the most valuable historical eyewitnesses, ultimately outliving all of John Brown’s raiders. Anne corresponded with Ross over a sixteen-year period, ending in 1895. In her letters to Ross, she often recalled incidents from youth, or vented frustrations and shared personal details concerning various players in the John Brown story. To no surprise, Ross seems to have persuaded Anne to write a lengthy, descriptive essay about the Harper’s Ferry raiders, once more allegedly as a favor to his son Garibaldi.22</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Problematic Ross Testimony<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If anything, the passing of years and intimate access that Ross had to the Brown family probably tempted him to become even more daring in his claims. In discussing Ross a half-century later, Boyd Stutler thus advised his friend Gee that Ross’s “tales grew taller as he grew older.” “He tells about his intimate connection with J[ohn] B[rown],” Stutler continued, “yet I am convinced that he never knew him and had no dealings with the man in the flesh."23</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In historical retrospect, Stutler’s judgment has been more than borne out by the evidence. In his day, Stutler apparently did not have access to the Ross-Brown correspondence that I have read in the Gilder Lehrman Collection here in New York City. But Stutler was absolutely correct in surmising that Ross indeed<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“rangled some letters from the family long after J[ohn] B[rown] had passed.”24 Stutler reasoned that Alexander Ross seems to have had no connection with Brown, not even in terms of manuscripts. Further, Stutler cited an 1865 letter from Ross to George L. Stearns, one of John Brown’s “Secret Six” supporters–written a decade before the publication of his bogus memoir. In the letter Ross lies about meeting Brown during his secret convention in Chatham, Ontario, in 1858—a meeting that Ross definitely did not attend. In his letter, the lying Ross then tried to get some “slight memento” from Brown as a gift for his children.25</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As Stutler observed, as early as 1865, Ross was fishing for an original John Brown document. A decade later, when Ross published his fradulent <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, he claimed that he had at least two different letters that Brown had written to him personally in Brown’s own hand. Stutler concluded that Ross was self-condemned by his own 1865 letter to Stearns–and that his own writings exposed him as a “monumental liar” whose own testimony weighs heavily against his later claims.26</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ross’s Historical Sleight of Hand<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Without owning any real letter in Brown’s hand, Ross at first used a deceitful method of inventing documents for his memoir, sometimes by plagiarizing other published Brown letters. For instance, he appropriated a letter Brown sent to someone else inviting him to the Chatham convention. Interestingly, the version of Brown’s letter that he plagiarized was itself a paraphrase made from memory and does not follow the actual letter form that Brown had sent out. Furthermore, the alleged invitation to Ross from Brown exists nowhere in any archive. In the book, Ross used printed text for the letter and appended an image of Brown’s signature.27 A complete fake.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ross fabricated another document for his memoir, claiming that Brown had written to him from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, two weeks before the Harper’s Ferry raid. In the counterfeit letter, Ross has Brown telling him he would begin the raid toward the end of October and wanted his help “in the way promised.” He signs the letter, “Your friend, John Brown,” although anything Brown wrote from Maryland in 1859 was either unsigned, or signed with the pseudonym, “Isaac Smith.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But since Ross had no copy of letters written by Brown in late 1859, he simply appended a copy of John Brown’s signature, a fraud that seems to have been overlooked, even by the Brown family.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The invention of these fabricated letters from John Brown proved to be the nails in Ross’s historical coffin.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These letters are nowhere found in any archive, and if he had real letters from John Brown, Ross would not have written to Stearns in 1865, asking for something in Brown’s hand.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Certainly, these initial fabrications were essential to Ross in validating himself as a key figure in the John Brown story, a lie that he continued to inflate in later years. Indeed, as late as 1893, Ross deceived biographer Richard Hinton, claiming that John Brown had confided in him at the time of the raid.28 Like so many others, Hinton accepted Ross’s story at face value, just as well-meaning Canadians also embraced the Ross deception as proud fact. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of noteworthy publications proudly cited Ross as a colleague of John Brown as well.29</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Recall that when it came to introducing himself to the Browns in the late 1870s, Ross had sent John Brown Jr. “photographic copies” of the last words written by his father.<span class="s1" style="vertical-align: 4px;"> </span>In fact, he was quite generous in offering to make duplicates for as many of Brown’s children as were living at the time. Stutler points out that the original document resurfaced during the Chicago World’s Fair of 1892-93, which included a major John Brown exhibit. At that time, Ross sold the document to another collector, at which point it was revealed that he had only recently purchased it from Brown’s former guard through the agency of the former jailer in Charlestown. According to Stutler, however, Ross pretended to have owned the document for quite some time.30</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But it seems that even Stutler did not know the extent of Ross’s deceit in the matter. If indeed Ross had only obtained the document shortly before the 1892-93 World’s Fair, it is clear that he had pretended to own it from the 1870s, especially when he sent photographs of the document to the Browns in 1877. Ross may have borrowed the original. But it is more likely that he had gotten a photograph of the document for himself through his correspondence the jailer, and then continued to pursue the document’s owner until finally purchasing it. So, in 1870s, when he frauded his way into the Brown family circle, he only had an image of the original document and had made second-generation reproductions to distribute John Brown Jr. and the others.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ross fabricated other documents for his publication, including fake written orders of Governor Wise of Virginia (to which he also appended a facsimile signature). And most appalling, Ross manufactured a “last letter” from John Brown, which Ross dated December 1, 1859, the day before the abolitionist was hanged.31 (<a href="https://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2020/04/ephemera-liars-souvenir.html" target="_blank">see "A Liar's Souvenir," Apr. 27, 2020</a>) To no surprise, these letters are nowhere to be found and certainly have never been documented by any historian or collector–perhaps the most pathetic testimony to both Ross’s fraudulence and his admiration for John Brown–the epitome of his fantasies as well as the deceptions he wormed into the pages of history. These fake letters also suggest how Ross both plotted and then pored over the many published letters by Brown, and then skillfully appropriated the characteristics of Brown’s personal correspondence in order to forge his own. Lastly, Ross constructed his own memoir somewhat cleverly according to his own studied and reconstructed history of John Brown’s activities. In order for him to set himself into the record as Brown’s colleague and collaborator, he cleverly selected the most dramatic and detailed period of the abolitionist’s life in the later 1850s, when Brown’s life was full of movement, secret meetings, and seemingly endless travel. The fabric of his public career at this time had pockets of dramatic mystery that Ross could exploit, bogus interviews with Brown that would not be easily questioned. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A Legacy of Deceit<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But the truth of his duplicity could not remain buried forever, and in the 20th century Canadians who knew the real Ross whispered their suspicions. Not wanting to play the role of iconoclasts, no doubt, they seem to have talked among themselves, and a few of the old-timers were overhead calling Alexander Ross a “humbug.” In correspondence with Boyd Stutler, Canadian historian Fred Landon acknowledged that Ross “took in people very widely.”32</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Fortunately, Stutler was unrelenting, and the more he sought, the more the noose of history tightened around the neck of Alexander Milton Ross. In 1953, the Chief of the Manuscripts Division of the Library Congress responded to inquiries made by Stutler about Ross. Apparently, the Library had transcripts of both an antislavery speech that Ross had given in 1864, and an antislavery tract that he had published in 1865. It seemed odd to Stutler that Ross did not mention knowing either John Brown or Abraham Lincoln in either document. The Librarian agreed that Ross had proven a hustler.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Stutler must have smiled when he read the Librarian’s own conclusion: “That, I submit, is like cheating at solitaire.”33</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Alexander Ross first begged and then bought an original John Brown manuscript, only to sell it for a profit, just as he also profited from publishing three editions of his fake story, a self-glorifying myth that he inflated to shameless proportions over three decades. His was an ambitious and successful program of deceit that probably even deluded Ross himself into thinking his place in history was secure. But if the Browns never knew that Alexander Milton Ross was a fraud and a charlatan and never knew their famous father, at least history exposed him before the world. “Yea, verily,” Boyd Stutler wrote to his preacher friend Clarence Gee. “Alexander Ross was a liar and the truth was not in him.”34</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">LD</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">-------</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Notes</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">1“Dr. A. M. Ross,” <i>Canadian Illustrated</i> News (March 31, 1877), 196, with the letters of A. M. Ross in the John Brown Jr. Papers, Charles E. Frohman Collection (FR-5), Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. <i>Hereinafter</i>, JBJR; “Alexander Milton Ross,” in <i>Virtual American Biographies</i>, at Virtualology.com. Retrieved in 2003.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">2 </span>Alexander Milton Ross, <i>Recollections and Experiences of An Abolitionist: From 1855 to 1865</i> (Toronto: Roswell and Hutchinson, 1875; rpt., Northbrook, Ill.: Metro Books, Inc., 1972).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">3 </span>Ibid. 20-24.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">4 Ibid., 48-65.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">5 Boyd Blynn Stutler (1890-1970) was indeed both a first-rate journalist and historian. He began his career as the owner and editor of a Grantsville, West Virginia, newspaper at the age of sixteen, a position he held until being elected mayor of that town at the age of twenty-seven. He afterward worked as a war time correspondent for the <i>American Legion Magazine</i>, and as editor of other newspapers. An authority on the history of his home state, Stutler also served as president of the West Virginia Historical Society in the late 1950s. He wrote several books on state history and numerous articles about John Brown. See “Historian, Ex-Legion Editor Dies,” The <i>Charlestown Daily Mail</i> (Feb. 19, 1970). Stutler’s documentary and historical contributions to the John Brown story, though often unsung, remain unparalleled. Fortunately for students and scholars, a large part of his Brown collection is available on the excellent <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/wvmemory/imlsintro.html" target="_blank">West Virginia Archives and History</a> website.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 6 </span>For instance, Stutler wrote that he was disappointed in the portrayal of Brown in Allan Nevins’s <i>Emergence of Lincoln</i>, especially because he had been the author’s consultant. Though he greatly admired Nevins’s writing style, Stutler was frustrated by his bent toward treating Brown harshly, even though “his strictures were softened considerably” in the final draft of the book. He felt that many historians were clinging to “untenable ground” in their negative evaluations of the abolitionist. Boyd B. Stutler to Clarence S. Gee, Dec. 11, 1950, 1, in Stutler-Gee Correspondence, Hudson Library & Historical Society, Hudson, Ohio. <i>Hereinafter</i>, Stut-Gee.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 7 </span>Boyd B. Stutler to Clarence S. Gee, Apr. 20, 1953, 1, Stut-Gee.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 8 </span>Richard J. Hinton, <i>John Brown and His Men</i> (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1894). Hinton apparently takes Ross’s word for it by saying that the doctor was “a faithful friend of John Brown, efficient as an ally also” (p. 171). It is interesting that Hinton, himself an associate of Brown, places Ross nowhere in the story except where Ross has placed himself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 9 </span>For instance, significant correspondence of Brown’s children can be found in the Henry Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., the Gilder Lehrman Collection, currently at the New York Historical Society, New York, N.Y., and the Hudson Library & Historical Society, Hudson, Ohio. Of course, other important archives hold Brown family correspondence dating from before the time of the raid and afterward.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 10 </span>See Louis A. DeCaro, Jr., “Black People’s Ally, White People’s Bogeyman: A John Brown Story,” in Andrew Taylor and Eldrid Herrington, <i>The Afterlife of John Brown </i>(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 10-25.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 11 </span>Oswald G. Villard’s John Brown Papers, including research notes, chronology date books, primary and secondary sources, correspondence, and the author’s handwritten manuscript are held in the Rare Book and Manuscript Collection of the Columbia University Library, New York, N.Y. <i>Hereinafter</i>, OGV.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 12 </span>See William Lloyd Garrison to Alexander M. Ross, Aug. 25, 1875 in “J.B. Estimates of” folder, Box 3, OGV; and Katherine Mayo’s notes on the second edition of Ross’s <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, in “JB Jail Letters 1859" folder, Box 5, and “Mrs. John Brown and Family” folder, Box 6, OGV.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 13 </span>Written on a small piece of paper in Brown’s hand is a kind of prophecy of the coming Civil War: “Charlestown Va 2d December 1859[.] I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed: it might be done.” The original is now in the Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Ill.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">14 </span>Alexander M. Ross to John Brown Jr. and Owen Brown, Nov. 15, 1877, JBJR. In subsequent letters, however, he did not continue to use this Quaker affect.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 15 </span>Alexander M. Ross to John Brown Jr., March 18, 1878, JBJR. Ross probably did not know that Mary Brown was actually John Junior’s stepmother, but the children of Brown’s first wife, Dianthe, often referred Mary as “Mother” anyway.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">16 </span>Alexander M. Ross to John Brown Jr., Apr. 2 & 28, 1878, JBJR; Ross’s son was actually named Norman Garibaldi Ross, his middle name taken in honor of the Italian liberator, Giuseppe Garibaldi.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 17 </span>For instance, John Brown Jr. gave a letter in his father’s handwriting to an enthusiastic Presbyterian minister. When the minister wrote a moving letter of thanks, Brown gave him a second letter. Upon learning that the Browns had clipped and sold John Brown’s signatures from other letters, he expressed interest in buying the mutilated letters as well. Besides those that were sold by other Brown siblings, there is no telling how many John Brown letters have been lost to history as a result of such generosity or financial need. See Henry G. Martin to John Brown Jr., Dec. 31, 1885 and Jan. 23, 1886, JBJR<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 18 </span>See letters from Alexander M. Ross to John Brown Jr. dated May 9 and 23, and Oct. 22, 1878, JBJR.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 19 </span>John Brown Jr. to Alexander M. Ross, Dec. 27, 1878, #3007 pt 2/3, in the Gilder Lehrman Collection, New York Historical Society, New York, NY. <i>Hereinafter</i>, GLC.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 20 </span>While Brown’s daughters seem to have maintained their father and mother’s evangelical faith in later years, the sons seem never to have returned to the fold, especially John Brown Jr. See my discussion in Louis A. DeCaro Jr., <i>“Fire from the Midst of You”: A Religious Life of John Brown</i> (New York: New York University Press, 2002), 207-09.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">21 Alexander M. Ross to John Brown Jr., Jan. 5, 1879, JBJR.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 22 </span>A significant collection of letters written by John Brown Jr. and Anne Brown Adams to Alexander M. Ross can be found in GLC. Anne’s lengthy description of the raiders is found in Anne Brown Adams to “Master Garibaldi Ross,” Dec. 15, 1882, #3007.03, GLC.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">23 </span>Boyd B. Stutler to Clarence S. Gee, Sept. 18, 1951, 1, Stut-Gee.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">24 </span>Boyd B. Stutler to Fred Landon, Jan. 26, 1953, <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/wvmemory/jbdetail.aspx?Type=Text&Id=4216" target="_blank">RP11-0035 A-I</a>, in the Boyd B. Stutler Collection, West Virginia State Archives web site. <i>Hereinafter</i>, Stut-Web.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">25 </span>Alexander M. Ross to George L. Stearns, Jan. 22, 1865, <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/wvmemory/jbdetail.aspx?Type=Text&Id=1030" target="_blank">MS09-0021 A-C</a>, Stut-Web; Stutler discusses this letter in Stutler to Gee, Sept. 18, 1951 in Stutler to Landon, Jan. 26, 1953.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">26 Ross, <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, 53; Stutler to Landon, Jan. 26, 1953.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">27 See S</span>tutler to Landon, Jan. 26, 1953. The bogus invitation is found in <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, 53.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 28 </span>Hinton, <i>John Brown and His Men</i>, 174 (n. 1, par. 1).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 29 </span>Fred Landon to Boyd B. Stutler, Jan. 31, 1953, <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/wvmemory/jbresults.aspx?Geography=&Topic=&Date=&People=&Words=RP11-0035&Op=AND&NumRec=50" target="_blank">RP11-0035 A-I</a>, Stut-Web.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 30 </span>Stutler to Landon, Jan. 26, 1953.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">31 Katherine Mayo’s literal transcription from the second edition of <i>Recollections and Experiences</i>, in “JB Jail Letters 1859" folder, Box 5, OGV.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">32 </span>Fred Landon to Boyd B. Stutler, Jan. 20, 1953, <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/wvmemory/jbresults.aspx?Geography=&Topic=&Date=&People=&Words=RP11-0035&Op=AND&NumRec=50" target="_blank">RP11-0035 A-I</a>, Stu t- Web.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">33 </span>Report of David C. Mearns, Chief, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., to Boyd B. Stutler, Apr. 17, 1953, in A. M. Ross file, Gee Papers, Hudson Library & Historical Society, Hudson, Ohio.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">34 </span>Stutler to Gee, Sept. 18, 1951.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-64626223392934161922020-12-06T15:26:00.005-05:002020-12-06T15:35:42.054-05:00John Brown, Philadelphia, & A Decoy Coffin<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/episodes/6713410">https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/episodes/6713410</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxi920YvGoqFNB8cfR803TexsNjfDyQc14gSDvJDk8HZf0WnCzaNvqv9AYF-7HW_KlRorOriN60XBgDcMCMFiB_VSvpCKHkAyzT2kdHnxBjih0MzUjK6f9lfYYQrCbG1sVQsI/s300/New+Blog+Pic.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxi920YvGoqFNB8cfR803TexsNjfDyQc14gSDvJDk8HZf0WnCzaNvqv9AYF-7HW_KlRorOriN60XBgDcMCMFiB_VSvpCKHkAyzT2kdHnxBjih0MzUjK6f9lfYYQrCbG1sVQsI/w200-h200/New+Blog+Pic.png" width="200" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Prologue</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Conventional historical narratives have typically presented the Harper’s Ferry raid as a quixotic, ill-planned, and essentially hopeless endeavor driven by fanaticism and ignored by enslaved black people. In fact, there is substantial evidence to show that Brown was fairly well received by locally enslaved blacks in Jefferson County, Virginia, when he invaded Harpers Ferry on the evening of Sunday, October 16, 1859. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Similarly, his plan was reasonable and feasible: to move into this threshold southern county, begin to gather up enslaved people, arm them, and retreat to the nearby Allegheny Mountains. In the mountains, Brown’s men would train enslaved people to move onto plantations and farms, similarly leading more enslaved people away, likewise training and arming them. No actual insurrection was intended, which is to say that no political agenda for killing slave masters was devised, only fighting in self-defense when necessary. For the most part, Brown hoped to minimize fighting and concentrate on leading away sufficient numbers to the point that his movement could spread, county by county, and then state by state, until the South was thrown into a panic. Brown had no intention of launching a south-wide massacre; he wanted to attack the slavery system itself by destabilizing it to the point of paralysis. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">His seizure of the government armory, although not part of his original plan, was likewise not as desperate as many have assumed. The armory actually was under civilian operation and the town of Harpers Ferry and the armory were meagerly guarded and could be held for a reasonable amount of time as long as he moved quickly and deliberately. On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown took a small force of men, white and black, into Harper’s Ferry and began to take prisoners and collect slave masters. He also began to attract local slaves to join him, although subsequently Virginia slave masters denied the support of their slaves in interviews with the northern press. It was essential to the ideology and psychic stability of the South to believe that “their” slaves were loyal and faithful. Of course, the existence of slave patrols throughout the South put the lie to such self-serving fiction. Unfortunately, northern politicians and journalists—many of them moderates like Abraham Lincoln or conservatives with racist sympathies, preferred to believe that Brown had failed in attracting enslaved people to his side. In late 1859 and early ‘60, many northerners were far more concerned about persuading the offended South that they had not supported Brown than they were to understand the realities of what Brown had accomplished on Virginia soil. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Actually, John Brown failed at Harper’s Ferry because he did not follow his own plan. By his own admission, he failed to move in and out of Harper’s Ferry with expedience and was still in town by mid-morning the next day, October 17. Brown’s delay was based on too much concern on his part for parleying with captive slave holders and comforting his hostages. He also let a passenger train pass through Harper’s Ferry, enabling the engineer to spread word of Brown’s invasion. A terrorist would have left Harper’s Ferry strewn with dead slave holders, white southern corpses, and a derailed train. As a result of his delay, Brown got bogged down in fighting and finally was forced to withdraw into the armory fire engine house with several of his men and his hostages, and after repelling assaults and ongoing gunfire for the rest of the day, they were overtaken by U.S. marines the following morning, October 18. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Only a handful of Brown’s men escaped. Most were killed in battle, some of them being murdered by angry Virginians after capture or surrender. Lewis Leary, one of the two black men from Oberlin, Ohio, was wounded, captured, and murdered--his throat cut by an angry white man. Only one reporter on the ground recorded the murder and then it was covered by the Southern press so effectively that the murder was not known until I located it in the pages of the Baltimore<i> Daily Exchange</i> after reading the reminiscences of its young reporter, Simpson Donavan. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The surviving raiders, including Brown, were tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. John Brown was found guilty of murder, insurrection, and treason against the State of Virginia. His trial was rushed for political and strategic expedience, and after being sentenced on November 2, he had but one month to settle accounts with God, humanity, and history. Despite being stabbed, cut, and bludgeoned to unconsciousness, Brown received no mortal wound and recovered. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It did not take long for him to realize that he had another chance to strike at slavery. As he put it, God had taken the sword of steel from his hands and given him instead the sword of the spirit. With Bible, pen, and paper, he devoted his last days to reading, prayer, and answering letters from friends and strangers as well as penning epistles of comfort and advice to his family. Despite his failure at Harper’s Ferry, he wrote to his wife Mary, he could make the most of his defeat “by only hanging a few moments by the neck.” </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">After they hanged him, John Brown's body was cut down and dumped into a coffin. The doctors who presided at the gallows were not satisfied that he was dead, even though he had hung, swaying in the December breeze, for half an hour after the trap door had swung out. Adjourning for an afternoon repast, they made their final inspection later in the day, officially declaring that Brown was dead. To underscore their contempt, they left the noose around his neck. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Mary Brown, widow of the abolitionist, set out from the family home in North Elba, near present-day Lake Placid, N.Y., with the intention of seeing her husband in his Virginia jail cell. She was warmly received in Boston on November 3, where she was given gifts and money by Brown’s supporters and admirers. She proceeded by rail to Philadelphia and was greeted by the city’s abolitionist leadership, especially James Miller McKim, president of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society. But when she reached Baltimore, Maryland, Mary Brown received a telegram from her husband’s lawyer, George Sennott, demanding on her husband’s behalf that she not come any farther into the South.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Frustrated and disappointed, she was obligated to turn around and go back. But instead of going home, Mary went back as far as Philadelphia, where she shuttled back and forth between the homes of abolitionists William Still and Lucretia Mott, and Rebecca Buffum Spring in Perth Amboy, New Jersey while awaiting the day of her husband’s execution on December 2. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Brown’s hesitance about having his wife come down to Virginia seems to have been a blend of practical apprehensions and painful emotions, not the least of which was that he was thinking of the expense of her travel given the long winter ahead after his death. Before learning that she had begun to make her way southward, he had written on November 8 appealing that she not come to Virginia at all. Afterward he wrote to a close associate, asking him to persuade Mary to remain at home for a time, at least until he directed her otherwise–which probably meant that he was hoping to receive monetary support for the family’s expenses. Perhaps too, Brown was being a bit selfish, writing that Mary’s presence would only “deepen my affliction a thousand fold,” worried as he was that she would lose her composure and go “wild” on his account, as he put it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Whatever the case, he changed his mind by November 16, when he wrote to Mary, allowing her to visit under the condition that she could “endure the trials and the shock” she might encounter in Virginia. Meanwhile, from Philadelphia, she wrote a letter to Governor Wise of Virginia requesting the mortal remains of her husband and their two sons, Watson and Oliver, both of whom died from wounds sustained in the battle at Harper’s Ferry. With the approval of her husband and the governor, Mary set out for Virginia in the company of James Miller McKim and his wife, Sarah Speakman McKim, and Hector Tyndale, another abolitionist. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On December 1, the day before the execution, John and Mary Brown were permitted a few fleeting hours together, being allowed to enjoy a final meal and discuss family plans and concerns. After being denied permission to spend their last night together, Mary was escorted back to her hotel in Harper’s Ferry. The next day, she remained there with the McKims and Tyndale, who held hands and prayed with her at the hour of execution. After the hanging, Tyndale received Brown’s coffin at Harper’s Ferry, causing something of a stir when he demanded that it be opened for inspection. A rumor was going about that the southerners were going to steal Brown’s body and replace it with another corpse, perhaps that of a dead black man. Observing the hatred and contempt that Virginians expressed toward Brown, Tyndale later said the incident brought him the nearest to personal violence of any part of the experience. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The widow and her brave friends thus escorted the coffin by rail from Harper’s Ferry to Philadelphia with the intention of being met by an undertaker, who would duly prepare John Brown’s body for its final interment outside the family home in North Elba, New York. But Philadelphia was already bubbling with protest, and it would have been impossible for the Old Man’s body to have rested peacefully over the weekend in the city without significant demonstrations taking place. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">II</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On the day of the execution, the Reverend William H. Furness, pastor of the First Congregational Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, along with other members of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, held a vigil in support of Brown at National Hall on Market Street. Mayor Alexander Henry, fearing an explosive conflict between pro-South hecklers and enthusiastic pro-Brown African Americans, called out 120 policemen to oversee the event. According to the <i>Philadelphia Press</i>, a crowd of whites and blacks had begun to assemble outside of the Hall an hour before the doors opened and a definite “turbulence” was in the air. Recognizing that an element of whites were present with the intention of disturbing and contradicting the program, the <i>Philadelphia Press</i> reporter also estimated that about a fourth of the attendees were black. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">While the black representation at National Hall was by no means scant, black Philadelphia held other vigils for John Brown on the day of his hanging, most notably at the Shiloh Baptist Church, located at South and Clifton Streets, where Jeremiah Asher was pastor. One of the several speakers in this program was the eloquent Jonathan Gibbs, the Dartmouth graduate and pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church, whose eloquence so impressed the racist reporter from the <i>Philadelphia Press</i> that he declared Gibbs’ oratory “almost entirely free from the ordinary peculiarities of Negro speech.” Expressing the deepest sympathy for John Brown “that brave man,” Gibbs decried the doctrine that the black man had no rights that the white man was bound to respect, and in a booming voice lifted a prayer of such anointed proportions that the Press reporter found the scene at the church had become almost excitingly frightening, with shrieks and cries, “Lord hear us! Hear our prayer! Remember old John Brown! If he must die, remember his soul!” Another speaker was Jabez Campbell, pastor of the Wesley Church, also known as Little Wesley, on Hurst Street below Lombard. Campbell, who would later become a renowned bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, explained that he did not himself open his church to a John Brown vigil because his congregation was already under suspicion of authorities for “being engaged in a treasonable work,” probably referring to underground railroad activities. “Now,” he declared, “if praying to God to enable Brown to pass out of this world leaning on the arm of Jesus be treason, then we are engaged in treason, and I am proud to be numbered with you in hearing this approach!” After an equally powerful prayer, Campbell looked to a clock in the church and finding it close to the noon hour declared, “John Brown is now, just near about launching into eternity.” Invoking a legion of angels to carry Brown’s soul to heaven, he prayed aloud: “Lord grant that he may have a quick passage, yes Lord, so quick that he may not know anything from the time the prop drops until his soul is safe with Jesus at the right hand of the Eternal! And when the prop falls today, it will be like an earthquake, and slaveholders will tremble.” With such words, the congregation exploded into responsive shouts, noted the Press reporter, “long, loud, and more boisterous than ever.” Campbell was actually late in pronouncing Brown dead since he had already swung out on the gallows at half-past 11 o’clock A.M. But he was absolutely right that a kind of John Brown earthquake was only beginning. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Over at the National Hall, the police kept the meeting from violent outbursts from white hecklers and other racists, although there was little ability to prevent the clash of competing remarks and sentiments. Throughout the program, sympathetic tears and cheers were contradicted by jeering, hissing, and loud cursing. The Reverend Furness, a seasoned anti-slavery warrior, spoke first, boldly declaring that “out of the grim cloud that hangs over the South, a bolt has darted, and blood has flowed, and the place where the lightning struck”—speaking of Virginia—“is wild with fear.” William Still later recalled these fiery words, admitting that he and other abolitionists feared that Philadelphia, the foremost black center in the United States in that era, “would be selected as the spot where Slavery would make its first mortal onslaught, and the abolitionists there the first victims.” As noted by a reporter for <i>The Republican Compiler</i>, when Furness concluded his speech by declaring that “Today, [John Brown] has bequeathed his blood in which to write the great act of emancipation for four millions of slaves,” his words were greeted with blended applause and hisses. Then, two competing waves arose, the first of hisses, then one of applause. Lucretia Mott of Philadelphia and Theodore Tilton of Brooklyn likewise spoke with similar responses from the mixed audience. But when the black abolitionist Robert Purvis arose to speak, the sound of hisses and moans nearly drowned out the applause. Racists in the audience reacted more strongly to his words than to the other speakers by making loud hisses, groans, and cries which added to the confusion of the competing spirits in the Hall. Undaunted, Purvis concluded by predicting, “the time shall come when John Brown shall be looked upon as the Jesus Christ of the nineteenth century!” This final remark nearly caused an uprising of such confusion that the journalist from the <i>Compiler</i> could not record the rest of his speech for the noise filling the Hall. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The explosive event at National Hall on the day that Brown was hanged is instructive in reminding us that white Philadelphia , like the majority population of New York City, was largely sympathetic to the South and the interests of the Union over the concerns of enslaved blacks. No wonder, as Russell Weigley tells us, the “storm center” of Philadelphia for decades was the black community, which in the 1850s had grown to about 12 percent of the total population. Although the white population was significantly larger, African Americans lived “immediately adjacent to the business, commercial, and upper-class residential heart of the consolidated city,” thus being quite visible and capable of bringing disquiet to the city. Blacks were disdained by Philadelphia’s elite families, which were closely knit to the South in social and economic interests, just as they were despised by lower class whites as well as the Irish immigrant community. In fact, not long after the pro-Brown event at National Hall, a counter-event was held in Philadelphia which drew 6000 whites, all of them declaring disgust over the Harper’s Ferry raid and their full support of the constitutional rights of southern slave holders. Similar so-called “Union Meetings” were held in New York and other major and secondary cities by conservative whites in the northeast, attended by both businessmen and blue collar workers.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">III</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">John Brown’s brief, posthumous visit to Philadelphia was not the first trip he ever made to the city. Among those appropriate to our story, the first took place between March 9-16, 1858, when the Old Man was canvassing for African American support for his intended raid into the South. While in the city, Brown was a guest in the home of Stephen Smith, who lived on Lombard Street in Philadelphia. In John Brown’s era, the black population was especially concentrated around Lombard Street, going east and west through the fifth and seventh wards of the city. Not only would Brown have considered this a prime area for recruiting support, but it was logical for him to have sought out a successful black entrepreneur like Smith, who along with his partner, William Whipper, had built a lumber and real estate empire with other notable business holdings and an interest in underground railroad work as well. Smith, joined by William Still, hosted Brown, John Brown Jr., and New Yorkers Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland Garnet, along with other black Philadelphians in this strategic meeting, although Brown seems to have conducted other meetings with black leaders during his unusually lengthy stay in black Philadelphia. No record exists of the discussion on Lombard Street that day in 1858, but undoubtedly it involved the Old Man’s efforts at enlisting black soldiers to accompany him into Virginia. Interestingly, Frederick Douglass, though not from Philadelphia, is key to the unfolding story of Brown’s involvement in this city. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In his third and final autobiography published in 1881, Frederick Douglass wrote that he learned of Brown’s intention of attacking Harper’s Ferry during a secret meeting that took place within three weeks of the raid on October 16, 1859. In fact, the meeting took place nearly two months before, when Douglass met with Brown in a quarry near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in late August 1859. As Douglass fashioned the story, it was during this meeting that he first learned of Brown’s determination to make an attack on Harper’s Ferry as a preliminary move in his mountain-based campaign. Despite Brown’s urging, Douglass wrote, he had refused to join the venture and warned the Old Man that he would be caught in a “perfect steel-trap.” Douglass did acknowledge that Brown had previously spoken of raiding Harper’s Ferry but had “never announced his intention of doing so” until the Chambersburg meeting, a claim that has never been questioned by scholars. However, Douglass seems to have conflated the developments of 1859 in his memoir, entirely overlooking a clash with Brown that took place during a meeting in Detroit in March 1859. Indeed, there is good reason that Douglass’ dissent from Brown’s plan originated at this point, and not seven months later as the former recorded in his autobiography. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Given that their association dated back to the 1840s, it seems that Douglass had supported Brown’s plans as long as he had kept to the original strategy of initiating raids on plantations and establishing a mountain-based campaign in the South. When Brown adjusted his plan to include the seizure of Harper’s Ferry, Douglass began to back off. Brown’s ally and biographer, Franklin Sanborn, would agree, suggesting that Douglass knew of the Harper’s Ferry plan earlier than he portrayed in his autobiography. This is significant because it explains a number of things about the John Brown story, most notably that despite their ongoing friendship, Douglass was steadily opposing Brown’s plan throughout 1859, and to some degree dampened his ability to gain black recruits. Douglass’s friendly dissent was certainly no secret to other black leaders, and this dissent evidently took its toll in Philadelphia. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Just prior to meeting Brown at Chambersburg on August 20-21, 1859, Douglass stopped in Philadelphia and, according to historian William McFeely, Douglass held a secret meeting in a local church and found the attenders fearful of bearing retaliation for what Brown might do. Unfortunately, McFeeley misses the full meaning of the incident, which is born out in a memoir of black leader William H. Johnson. According to Johnson, Douglass’ secret meeting would have followed immediately the events that had taken place in Philadelphia on August 15-16. Johnson writes that a newly formed “colored military company” had scheduled a parade in Philadelphia which involved men who were already enlisted by Brown. Johnson recalled that Brown was disturbed by news of this public display of “armed and disciplined” blacks, fearing that their demonstration would draw undue attention from authorities. Johnson says further that Brown came up to Philadelphia on August 15, in the hopes of discouraging the parade. But he felt further undermined that evening during a public meeting at the Lombard Street Central Presbyterian Church (or possibly the Shiloh Baptist Church–Johnson’s account seems to confuse the two churches). The guest speaker was another one of Brown’s black collaborators, J. J. Simons of New York City. According to Johnson, Simons “made a speech in which he commended the Negroes of Philadelphia for organizing a military company and stated there was a grand project on foot to invade the South with an army of armed northern Negroes.” He then called for recruits from Philadelphia’s black community who would “march through the South with a gun in one hand and a bible in the other.” Johnson says that Brown was present at this meeting and was appalled by Simons’s lack of discretion. Later that night Douglass and Brown called an emergency meeting at the home of Thomas J. Dorsey, a famous caterer and another leading figure in Philadelphia’s black community. Johnson was in attendance at this meeting and remembered Brown as having a “very kindly face” although shaded with “deep sorrow” because of Simons’s indiscrete remarks at the church. Despite efforts at damage control, Johnson says that the incident created irreversible problems for Brown. Always reticent about his plans, Brown believed the whole affair had jeopardized his operations and might possibly bring the authorities down upon black leaders in the city. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When these realities hit home for Philadelphia’s black leadership it is understandable that some began to worry over the possible repercussions of their association with the Old Man. Yet, incredibly, there remained sufficient interest in Brown’s plans among some black Philadelphians. According to Franklin Sanborn, in late September 1859, “certain colored citizens” wrote a letter to Douglass urging him to support their efforts to join Brown. “We think you are the man of all others to represent us,” they wrote, even pledging to support Douglass’s family if he himself would join Brown’s efforts. “We have now quite a number of good but not very intelligent representatives collected,” they concluded in their appeal. These events not only demonstrate the extent to which Brown looked to Philadelphia’s prominent black population for support, but also cast light on Douglass’s autobiographical stylizations. Evidently, he had no intention of joining the dangerous effort despite the appeals of Brown and his Philadelphia supporters. Regardless of our sympathy for Douglass and our personal gratitude that he chose to live rather than die with John Brown in Virginia, there is little doubt that his dissent was far more extensive and disappointing to Brown than he was understandably willing to admit in later years. According to the Johnson memoir, Brown and Douglass were together in Philadelphia once more, just prior to the raid, on Thursday, October 13, which seems tenable from what we know of the Old Man’s whereabouts. According to Johnson, Brown referred to the small number of raiders he had enlisted as “the forlorn hope of what might have been a grand expedition.” Perhaps Douglass was trying to mend fences with his old friend; or he was going along grudgingly with Brown out of a sense of personal obligation. He had hesitatingly introduced but one man to Brown, a fugitive South Carolinian named Shields Green, but seems to have been displeased when Green decided to join John Brown’s raiders. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the last Philadelphia meeting, Johnson says Douglass held a list of young black Philadelphians, but apparently none of them finally chose to join Brown in Virginia. To what extent Douglass negatively impacted black enlistment in Philadelphia we will never know. Interestingly, John Brown’s family thereafter had no friendly words for Frederick Douglass--the prominent sentiment among them being that he had broken his long-standing promise to support their father when the trumpet was blown. Perhaps this drama is concealed in his famous words written in tribute to Brown years later, to the effect that while he could live for the slave, John Brown could die for the slave. Frederick Douglass clearly preferred to live for the slave as an orator, activist, and politically respected leader. We should be grateful that he chose to do so. Leaving for you to read between the lines of history, I would only add that I’ve yet to find a single personal letter written between Douglass and the Brown family after 1859. Such historical silence may be very significant indeed. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">IV</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> When the train carrying John Brown’s body pulled into the Wilmington and Baltimore Station at Broad and Prime Streets, it was no secret that the Old Man was coming for his last visit to Philadelphia. Transport of the body through the city had been wired ahead and had generated a great deal of excitement. According to the Philadelphia Press , a large, “motley” crowd had gathered, comprised of blacks and whites of both sexes, young and old. The crowd was eager and tense, a prime target for the city’s pickpockets, especially the notorious Bill Oliver (who was arrested by police) and one known only as “Mysterious Jim” (who got away). The train rumbled into the station at 12:45 P.M. on Saturday, December 3, the day after the execution. Disembarking from the train was one described as a “stout,” “elderly,” and plain woman wearing a plaid shawl, who was undetected by the crowd as being Mary Brown the widow of the martyr. Actually she was only about 43-years-old, but the Press reporter was perhaps correct in saying there was “nothing very remarkable in her appearance.” The widow evidently was not interviewed by the press and stayed overnight at the home of anti-slavery man Edward Hopper on Arch Street. Leaving the depot she was visibly leaning upon the arm of abolitionist Hector Tyndale, who was seething with disgust over Brown’s hanging and their experience in Harper’s Ferry afterward. Greeted at the station by an abolitionist committee headed by the Reverend William Furness, Tyndale finally vented his rage, talking loudly and waving his arms in disgust. “A miracle has happened, Dr. Furness,” Tyndale exclaimed. “A miracle has happened! The earth never opened to swallow up those fiends!” The old abolitionist tried to calm him down, gently patting Tyndale on the shoulder. But he would not easily forget his resentments toward Harper’s Ferry and its belligerent citizens. A few years later, as Major Hector Tyndale, he probably took a measure of satisfaction when he returned to Harper’s Ferry and burned down a number of buildings in the town in the course of fighting Confederate snipers. Afterward, he would set up his office in the same hotel where he, the McKims, and the new widow of John Brown had waited to receive his body. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">With the arrival of the body in Philadelphia, Mayor Alexander once more had to deal with possible explosions of protest and riot. He rightly anticipated that large numbers of the city’s black population would turn out, being both curious to see the coffin and tense with their own feelings of resentment. Likewise would come the white hecklers, many of them southern medical students and other pro-slavery sympathizers. With Brown’s body in the station, the scene could easily explode into a kind of urban civil war. Alexander was intent on avoiding any such outcome and so dispatched a strong force of officers who made no exception in blocking all entrances into the depot. Not content to merely shield the coffin from the crowd, Alexander then refused to allow the body to be delivered to the waiting Philadelphia undertaker, instead ordering that the coffin should be moved out of the city without delay. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The mayor’s final measure, afterward called a “deception” by the Philadelphia Press , was to create a decoy coffin–actually a large industrial toolbox covered with blankets–which was carried by six police officers into the depot yard and placed on a wagon driven by other policemen. Of course, the ploy was designed to draw the crowd away from the depot and it was quite successful. As the wagon carrying the decoy coffin pulled out, it was immediately followed by what one writer called an “almost frenzied throng.” The Press reporter described the movement of the crowd as “one of ludicrous description. It seemed,” he wrote, “as if all the boys and Negroes in town were in full speed,” and a number of women pursued the wagon too, likewise joining in “the hue and cry.” One reminiscence of the event says the decoy coffin was taken in the direction of the headquarters of the Anti-Slavery Society, but the Philadelphia Press report published on December 5th says that it was brought directly to the Walnut Street wharf to create the impression that it was being shipped on to New York. In the mean time, the real coffin was quietly and quickly placed in a furniture wagon and driven to the Camden depot, where it was temporarily locked in a baggage crate and promptly shipped out after the crowd had subsided. John Brown’s body would thus be prepared for burial by an anti-slavery undertaker in downtown Manhattan, finally being carried northward by railroad toward its final destination in the Adirondacks. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Epilogue</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At the time of the Harper’s Ferry raid, Frederick Douglass had returned to Philadelphia for a speaking engagement at National Hall, the same site where the uproarious John Brown meeting would take place in December after the execution. As it happened, however, on October 18, the day that Brown was defeated at Harper’s Ferry, Douglass gave what would become one of his most well-known lectures, entitled “Self-Made Men.: Perhaps he had thought of his old friend Brown when he had prepared that lecture, perhaps not. But as history would have it, news of the Harper’s Ferry raid broke the day of his speech, and telegraphs carried the news that Brown’s invasion of Virginia had failed and his effort to launch a liberation movement had been halted. Defeated and captured, the blood-crusted Old Man was now a prisoner of the State of Virginia. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Although Douglass should have expected to be implicated in Brown’s raid and fled immediately, he strangely lingered in Philadelphia long enough to enjoy a reunion with Amanda Auld Sears, the grown daughter of the white man who once held him as a slave. When further news prompted the warnings of friends in Philadelphia, Douglass was jolted back to reality. Now, in flight mode and overwhelmed with fear, he nervously boarded the ferry at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street wharf, crossing the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey. Typically, travelers would have preferred the railroad from Camden northward to New York City, but Douglass, so fearful of being apprehended, took a painfully slow ride by steamboat into Manhattan so that he could arrive in the city late at night. From there he was finally able to return to his home in Rochester, New York, and then fled into Canada to avoid being arrested.12 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">By not going to Virginia with Brown, Douglass had seemingly dodged a bullet, although he was still reduced to flight. Two months later, John Brown’s body traveled northward following along the same route Douglass had taken, exiting Philadelphia by ferry to Camden, then by steamship to New York. It was as if his dead friend had followed his trail. Indeed, judging from Frederick Douglass’ many retrospective speeches and written reflections about John Brown, the Old Man never stopped following him.—LD</span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">This episode is based on a presentation that Lou made at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on Dec. 2, 2009 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Harper's Raid and John Brown's execution.</span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Notes</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 See Louis A. DeCaro, Jr., <i>Freedom’s Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia</i> (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), 35-36.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 John Brown to Mary Brown, Nov. 10, 1859, in Dreer Collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3 “I have heard Gen. Tyndale say that his insistence on seeing the body brought him the nearest to personal violence of any part of the affair.” Justice James T. Mitchell to Oswald G. Villard, Nov. 27, 1907, in J.B. Funeral & Burial Folder, Box 3, John Brown-Oswald G. Villard Papers, Columbia University Library, New York.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4 See my narrative of John Brown’s execution and aftermath in <i>Freedom’s Dawn</i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>5 Sources for this section: William Still, <i>The Underground Railroad</i> (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), 763; “Execution of John Brown; The Feeling in Philadelphia; Intense Meeting at National Hall,” <i>Philadelphia Press</i>, Dec. 3, 1859, 2; “John Brown’s Execution,” Republican Compiler [Gettysburg], Dec. 12, 1859, 1. Also see “Grand Union Mass Meeting at Jayne’s Hall,” <i>Philadelphia Press</i>, Dec. 8, 1859, 2.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>6 See Russell F. Weigly, “‘A Peaceful City’: Public Order in Philadelphia from Consolidation Through the Civil War,” in Allen F. Davis and Mark H. Haller, Eds., <i>The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower Class Life 1790-1940</i> (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), 158-60.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>7 On the so-called “Union Meetings” in opposition to John Brown, see <i>Freedom’s Dawn</i>, 341-49.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>8 Still, <i>The Underground Railroad</i>, 735; W.E.B. DuBois, <i>John Brown</i> (1909; New York: Modern Library, 2001), 147; Oswald G. Villard, <i>John Brown: A Biography 1800-1859</i> (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1910, 1929), 323. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9 <i>Freedom’s Dawn</i>, 25-30.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>10 Sources for this section: William S. McFeely, <i>Frederick Douglass</i> (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1991), 1996; Franklin B. Sanborn, <i>Recollections of Seventy Years, Vol. 1</i> (Boston: The Gorham Press, 1909), 153-54; <i>Autobiography of Dr. William Henry Johnson</i> (Albany, N.Y.: The Argus Company, 1900), 194-96.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>11 Sources for this section: “The Arrival of John Brown’s Remains” and “The Doings of Pickpockets,” <i>Philadelphia Press</i>, Dec. 5, 1859, 2; Russell F. Weigly, “The Border City in Civil War, 1854-1865,” in <i>Philadelphia: A 300-Year History</i> (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1982), 389-90; Henry J. Kilbourn, “When John Brown’s Body Came Home: Events That Hastened the Civil War,” <i>The Congregational World</i> (ca. 1905), in J.B. Funeral & Burial folder, Box 3, Villard Papers, Columbia University Library; Weigly, “The Border City in Civil War, 1854-1865”; Rebecca Hemphill to Oswald G. Villard, Feb. 26, 1908, in J.B. Funeral & Burial folder, Box 3, Villard Papers; John McLaughlin, <i>A Memoir of Hector Tyndale</i> (Philadelphia: Private Printing, 1881), 7-9, 118; Villard, <i>John Brown</i>, 561; Still, <i>The Underground Railroad</i>, 763. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>12 David W. Blight, <i>Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom</i> (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018), 305-06.</span></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-52364780279434770592020-12-01T20:51:00.000-05:002020-12-01T20:51:47.705-05:00Pottawatomie, 1856: The Political and Personal<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/episodes/6608917">https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/episodes/6608917</a></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxi920YvGoqFNB8cfR803TexsNjfDyQc14gSDvJDk8HZf0WnCzaNvqv9AYF-7HW_KlRorOriN60XBgDcMCMFiB_VSvpCKHkAyzT2kdHnxBjih0MzUjK6f9lfYYQrCbG1sVQsI/s300/New+Blog+Pic.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxi920YvGoqFNB8cfR803TexsNjfDyQc14gSDvJDk8HZf0WnCzaNvqv9AYF-7HW_KlRorOriN60XBgDcMCMFiB_VSvpCKHkAyzT2kdHnxBjih0MzUjK6f9lfYYQrCbG1sVQsI/w156-h156/New+Blog+Pic.png" width="156" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="text-align: justify;">Thanks to the misinformation and harping of writers who actually know very little about Brown, he is all-too-often remembered first and foremost as the man who led the Pottawatomie killings—massacre, as they call it--in the Kansas territory, which took place overnight on May 24-25, 1856. The story of the killings of five pro-slavery Southern settlers has been recounted ad nauseam and often in an unbalanced and even distorted fashion—always to John Brown’s disadvantage. In these narratives, the men who were killed by Brown and his party are typically presented as having been guilty of nothing more than holding proslavery sympathies. In some narratives, they are “innocent victims.” In other narratives, they are portrayed as having been almost randomly chosen as targets of Brown’s alleged vendetta strike against proslavery people. We have heard it and seen it time and again: they say John Brown is the original “American terrorist”—as if terrorism in this nation originated in 1856, rather than in the violent and intentional acts of racist aggression unleashed by whites upon indigenous and African people in North America. As the legal historian Paul Finkelman has observed, no, John Brown was not a terrorist. John Brown did not fight against human freedom. He fought people who were trying to deny democratic and human rights. I prefer to put it this way. John Brown was not a terrorist. <i>He was a counter-terrorist.</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the frequently distorted Pottawatomie scenario, the five men killed—William Sherman, Allen Wilkinson, James Doyle and his sons William and Drury—are victims virtually above reproach, while John Brown and his men are adjudged as murderers and terrorists. Often, too, narrators speak of the Pottawatomie killings as if Brown did them all alone, and that his men were held under some sort of spell. In fact, every one of the Pottawatomie killers joined in this mission because they understood what was at stake. In fact, this flattened, sterile reading of the Pottawatomie killings cannot be presented without (1) misrepresenting the real facts of the incident; (2) ignoring the historical-political context; and (3) overlooking the moral and political "big picture" as it existed in 1856. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Real Facts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">First, the real facts of the Pottawatomie episode are that Sherman, Wilkinson, and the Doyles were not mere “victims,” nor were they killed because they were proslavery men, or because they were Southerners. While John Brown did not agree with proslavery settlers in Kansas, he interacted with them peacefully from late 1855 when he arrived in Kansas, until the heated circumstances of the spring 1856, when proslavery terrorism began to mount its bold assault upon free state people. Brown had regularly traded with pro-slavery Missourians and co-existed with proslavery settlers because, first, he was first a peaceful man, not someone with a “unslakable thirst for violence”, like one biased, Lincoln-worshipping academic has put it. Second, Brown wanted the democratic process to play out—the voting of settlers that was supposed to determine whether Kansas entered the Union as a free or slavery state. Third, Brown and his sons would have abandoned Kansas had it been won by a majority proslavery vote, although in fact the superior number of settlers were free state. The question for Brown seems never to have been if the free state side was going to triumph in the democratic process, but whether the South would acquiesce to a free state victory at the polls, of if they were going to attempt to thwart it by illegal means.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqAjKt6f2YwmhiPjlrOkApK1YeklpPT1IuWzn2eVwkRKRiErSFUyRxYJAKv2guPsSLqfe3lNftLZptGBi_6vxtGUMQCcdseFHDVVTPIdYQTtw5sKFXJFzhH86DutmbqMaULQa/s320/Holloway-History+of+Kansas+1868.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="320" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqAjKt6f2YwmhiPjlrOkApK1YeklpPT1IuWzn2eVwkRKRiErSFUyRxYJAKv2guPsSLqfe3lNftLZptGBi_6vxtGUMQCcdseFHDVVTPIdYQTtw5sKFXJFzhH86DutmbqMaULQa/w400-h239/Holloway-History+of+Kansas+1868.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unfortunately, most popular narratives of Brown’s role in Kansas virtually begin with May 1856 and the Pottawatomie killings. But Brown had been in Kansas since the fall of the previous year and his correspondence is filled with optimistic expressions that Kansas would enter the union through the democratic process without interference by proslavery thugs. It was only when things took a turn for the worst that Brown took up arms. The idea that he was looking for an excuse to kill proslavery people is patently incorrect, not only in terms of the record, but in terms of his own biographical profile overall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Of course, it is true that Brown went to Kansas with weapons in late 1855; but he did so only because he was asked to do so by his sons, who had settled in the territory the year before, and were worried about the possibility of a worsened political scenario. From his arrival, Brown monitored political matters in the Territory and over six months of residence in Kansas, he never lifted a finger to oppose, threaten, or harm a pro-slavery person. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So if the “Pottawatomie Five” were not killed because they were proslavery men, why were they killed? Well, simply put, the men who were targeted by John Brown and his party were part of a circle of Kansas territorial settlers who were actively engaged in conspiring to assist and support the overthrow of the democratic process in the territory by any means necessary. Sherman, Wilkinson, and the Doyles were local allies of invading proslavery so-called "Ruffians" (that is, domestic terrorists) who began to invade the territory in the spring of 1856 with the clear intention of using violence and intimidation to seize power from the majority free state settlers. These terrorists were particularly hostile toward pro-black abolitionists like the Browns. In their eyes, it was bad enough that Northerners did not want slavery in Kansas; it was far worse when some of those settlers were outright abolitionists who did not hesitate to declare their belief in black equality. To no surprise, it did not take long for the Browns to become distinguished in the eyes of their proslavery neighbors like the Sherman brothers and Allen Wilkinson, who was a proslavery political leader in Kansas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While some of the “Pottawatomie Five” were low-life types, this was not the reason they were killed. Nor was the fact that the Doyles had formerly been slave hunters in the South the reason for their being targeted. Rather, the basis of all of these men having been taken from their homes at night and killed was that they were discovered through reliable sources to have been conspirators and collaborators with invading terrorists, or “hordes,” as Brown referred to them. Specifically, John Brown had been given good information that these men were connected with locally encamped invaders, and that these terrorists would be directed against the Browns by the likes of the Doyles, especially because of their pronounced antislavery and pro-black position. According to Brown family testimony, John Brown went so far as to conduct an investigation himself to make certain of the conduct and intention of his proslavery neighbors. When he was certain of their intentions to lead an attack upon his family, there was no doubt left in his mind that waiting passively would only give them the time and opportunity they needed to bring destruction upon his family. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It is important to stress that the typical free state person was not an abolitionist who believed in black equality. Most of the free state settlers in Kansas really were pro-free white labor, not pro-black. Many of them did not want a black presence in Kansas, which was a point of contention for the Browns. To put it another way, many free state settlers from the North were conservatives. Like the moderate Abraham Lincoln, they wanted the nation to be a white-first nation; blacks should be free, but priority and prerogative should be given to white people. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcRD1rrB5pedgSYjdRFVoCWoRLsK_OOd61wubHVCXB-aNqEM9tYkHsRUZ5SJtwLPYOfspDHwIZR60aCXGMHiUbhHtwHnxMVz4r_wz-7jf3SlfgpLVacvSnbT_iLSRaxRnGnS9/s1034/IMG_1676.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcRD1rrB5pedgSYjdRFVoCWoRLsK_OOd61wubHVCXB-aNqEM9tYkHsRUZ5SJtwLPYOfspDHwIZR60aCXGMHiUbhHtwHnxMVz4r_wz-7jf3SlfgpLVacvSnbT_iLSRaxRnGnS9/w139-h200/IMG_1676.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>At best, Brown thought this position was half-right because it was antislavery. But he was a “radical abolitionist,” not because he picked up a gun but because he demanded immediate emancipation, preached the equality of all people, and believed black people had as much right to use violence to win their liberation as did the founders of the United States. In Kansas, this made the Browns a minority among free state settlers. One should also remember that when Brown went to Kansas, he was already deeply connected with the leaders of the black liberation movement. Frederick Douglass was sipping tea in the Brown homestead over a decade before he was ever invited to Lincoln’s White House. The Browns read black newspapers, entertained black guests in their homes, and hosted a number of major black leaders before they ever thought about going to Kansas. Such openness was not typical of free state people, and the Browns were quite outspoken and even defiant in upholding their social and political views regarding the equality and empowerment of blacks. This is a key factor in understanding the political background to what happened at Pottawatomie Creek—and what might have happened had the Browns not struck first. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Historical-Political Context</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As to the historical-political context, this is another reality that is typically overlooked when John Brown's alleged "terrorism" is discussed in popular commentaries and on TV documentaries. First, we must remember that by May 1856, a de facto civil war was already underway in the Kansas territory. Although there was no formal political division of the United States until secession in 1861, there was actual political division manifested in the Kansas territory in 1856. At that time, it was the free state side that was grappling with the federal government, which was dominated by proslavery interests. Later, in 1861, it was the proslavery side that was struggling against the federal government, which was then under the control of the Republicans, who wanted to delimit—but not abolish—slavery. Unlike John Brown and a small number of abolitionists, in 1856 much of the North was still enamored with the idea of political compromise with the South. Many free state settlers were extremely conservative and expected the federal government to handle Kansas affairs in a democratic fashion; as to defending themselves, they were timid and hesitant. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It’s no small matter that Kansas in 1856 was a territory, not a state in the union. Given that the Kansas territorial war was technically outside of the United States, the distance, in terms of geography and information was exploited by proslavery forces. In other words, because the Kansas territory was literally on the frontier, on the “outside” of the political United States, proslavery terrorism targeting a largely benign and unprepared majority of free state settlers met no initial resistance. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In his correspondence, John Brown’s letters reflect the "outside" reality of the Kansas territory. For instance, in a letter to his wife dated January 9, 1856, he wrote: "We get no News from the States of account to satisfy our hunger which is very great"; and again on March 6, 1856, he wrote: "It seems that those of our friends who write us, take it for granted that we know of all that happens in the United States." Free state and proslavery settlers alike shared the experience of being removed from the nation in a manner that had practical and political implications. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Certainly, there was a deficiency in information and communication that separated free state people from the United States. Interruption of and/or tampering with the mail and news reporting initially enabled proslavery interests to work behind a veil of political ignorance and naivete in the free states of the union. With the support of proslavery interests in Washington D.C., the initial siege of the territory by proslavery thugs, including the first attempt to seize the town of Lawrence, a free state center, could be carried out to a significant degree because it was “outside” and away from the ready sight of the free states. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To no surprise, the record of Kansas territorial governors in this period reflects the power of pro-slavery interests and the relative impotency of free state interests. Indeed, what passed for "law and order" in the Kansas territory was pro-slavery domination at best. At worst, there was such a fragmenting of the rule of law that neither peaceful proslavery nor peaceful free state settlers were safe, a point later made by Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts, testifying before the U.S. Senate in 1860. To put it plainly, the idea that John Brown was acting as a vigilante is an unstudied presumption that suggests he had recourse to legal protection. A vigilante is one who takes the law into his own hands. But in territorial Kansas in May 1856, the law was under the boot of proslavery thugs and the Browns had recourse neither to federal protection nor local to constabulary support. They knew that if they did not take action for themselves, they could not look to the government to protect them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Free state settlers (who were in the majority) went to Kansas without the means of war, being fully confident in the just oversight of the federal government regarding the democratic process. As it turned out the most definitive presence in Kansas was that of the so-called Border Ruffians—armed domestic terrorists from Missouri, as well as other proslavery thugs streaming into the territory from the South. As free state settlement increased, so did violent and aggressive proslavery forces, and this came to a head in the spring of 1856. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Meanwhile, federal and territorial officials failed to insure the civil rights and democratic freedoms of settlers, especially free state people. Brown had brought guns and swords to Kansas, but he never would have broken them out of the crate had the threat of terrorism not begun to explode after the spring thaw. The notion that he is somehow the prototypical “domestic terrorist” is pure nonsense. If prototypes of domestic terrorism are to be found in the Kansas story, they are found in “Border Ruffians” from Missouri and proslavery “hordes” from the Deep South, some of which carried banners proclaiming, “The Supremacy of the White Race.” These thugs were threatening free state people before John Brown arrived in the territory and they killed five free state men in different instances all before the Pottawatomie incident took place. Certainly, the conspiracy and malicious intentions of proslavery invaders constitutes the real prototype of domestic terrorism in the Kansas story. That John Brown should be labeled a terrorist for making a preemptive strike against men aligned with terrorists simply has no basis.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Big Picture</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Brown’s lethal response to the plotting and conspiracy of pro-slavery collaborators in his vicinity must be viewed against the backdrop of free state settlement and proslavery expansion, which is a vital part of the “big picture.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As noted, the free state settler movement was politically conservative at first, somewhat passive, and apparently naïve regarding the intentions of the federal government and the power of proslavery interests. Since the free state movement was fundamentally conservative, free state leaders and settlers in the territory were not initially willing to use a militant response to proslavery intrusion. Free state settlers were not political radicals, and some were compromisers—take for instance, the Pennsylvania publisher, George Washington Brown—or G.W. Brown—(he was no relation to John Brown), who published two versions of his newspaper in Kansas, one to send back east, and one to shield himself from proslavery contempt. True enough, free state settlers expressed a political opposition to the expansion of slavery; but they were willing to tolerate slavery in the South as long as it did not expand, and as long as it did not come into Kansas. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now, in contrast, pro-slavery leaders were about the business of expansion. The introduction of “Popular Sovereignty,” as it was called, gave proslavery politicians a basis to further their interests in the expanding nation. Indeed, proslavery leaders would not vote for a transcontinental railroad unless the government included proslavery options into the opening of new territories, including Kansas and Nebraska (in 1854). Actually, proslavery interests were determined to expand slavery by any means necessary, but were willing to go along with the democratic process as long as it worked in their favor. This is why, when Lincoln was elected in 1860, proslavery leaders were quick to move toward secession. It was not slavery that was at stake for them; it was the expansion of slavery.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">John Brown was a careful student of proslavery politics and he believed that the South was not going to relent without militancy, an insight that was proven correct in history. In the 1850s, he believed that pro-slavery interests were exploiting federal resources and quietly planning to break out of the union if they were not successful in expanding slavery westward. He further understood that Kansas was a watershed in the destiny of the nation as far as slavery was concerned. Journalist William A. Phillips recounted a conversation with Brown in early 1859, when the Old Man, in Kansas, told him that civil war was on the minds of some of President Buchanan’s cabinet members; and that “for years” the military’s resources had been manipulated and maneuvered to the advantage of the South; and that other proslavery officials in the military and administration were preparing to ravage the federal government’s resources in the event of secession. Phillips was skeptical of Brown’s gloom-and-doom reading of antebellum intentions at the time, but he recorded Brown’s prophecy: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“No, the war [in Kansas] is not over. It is a treacherous lull before the storm. We are on the eve of one of the greatest wars in history, and I fear slavery will triumph, and there will be an end of all aspirations for human freedom. For my part, I drew my sword in Kansas when they attacked us, and I will never sheathe it until this war is over. Our best people do not understand the danger. They are besotted. They have compromised so long that they think principles of right and wrong have no more any power on this earth.* </div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Although Phillips recounted these words in an 1879 recollection published in The Atlantic Monthly, we have no reason to doubt the fundamental integrity of his reminiscence. Brown had corresponded with him and Phillips had interviewed Brown three times, this last statement being made in early 1859, the year of the Harper’s Ferry raid. Furthermore, Brown’s remarks as recalled by Phillips are consistent with his letters and other recorded words. It is clear that he understood the significance of the territorial civil war in Kansas, especially the fact that it was only an opening skirmish in what he believed would become an unprecedented tragedy in the young nation’s history. Beyond this, he seems to have alluded to Pottawatomie as the jumping-off point of his own militancy: He drew his sword, he said, in what he perceived as an attack upon himself and his family in conjunction with the larger free state presence. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">By pointing, too, out the lack of understanding among what Brown referred to as “the best of our people,” he was criticizing the politically conservative and ill-prepared leaders of the North who were so caught up in political business-as-usual that they did not see the naked reality of the proslavery power. Not perceiving proslavery leaders as actual enemies, Northern conservatives and moderates persisted in the belief that the South could be placated and bartered into cooperation with the North. Meanwhile, the South was playing a political zero-sum game, quietly making provision for secession and war. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">John Brown knew well that pro-slavery interests were fundamentally violent and hostile to both democracy and human rights. But in the Kansas territory he also had to contend with a large segment of free state people who were, in his own words, “besotted”—muddled and stupefied by their own belief that somehow the nation could find a solution by political compromise. By settling in Kansas, many free state people were not only establishing new lives and expanding the white frontier, but they were hoping to bring Kansas into the union as a free state based upon the assumption that the South would actually cooperate if defeated at the ballot box. Not only were they entirely unrealistic about prospects of “Popular Sovereignty,” they were reactionary and critical of the more militant voices on the free state side, voices like that of John Brown. Indeed, not a few free state leaders were unwilling to use force and were quite critical of any talk of militancy in the face of proslavery aggression. This non-militancy among the free state settlers not only accounts for the 1856 sacking of Lawrence, but probably also the ruthless assault on Lawrence that took place again during the Civil War. Had John Brown, or men like John Brown, been in charge of Lawrence, neither of these proslavery invasions would have taken place with such ease, and many proslavery thugs would have died in the process.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Of course, John Brown, ever the optimist, characterized the free state position as “half-right,” for he was happy to find agreement as to the exclusion of slavery from the new territory. However, he wanted Kansas to enter the union as a free state for whites and blacks to live together in equality. This was the family philosophy of the Browns, and their outspokenness in this regard even strained their relations with free state people. Needless to say, if the unabashed egalitarian views of John Brown’s family troubled free state allies, then their gospel of black equality was downright infuriating to proslavery settlers, including neighbors like the Doyles and Shermans. Indeed, the Browns’ reputation as lovers of black people was broadcasted by the Browns themselves, usually in a tone of defiance. And although he refused to follow his father in the case of the Pottawatomie killings, it’s interesting that meek John Brown Jr. himself attempted to liberate an slaved person by force in 1856, but was obligated by his free state colleagues to return the victim to his master, something that his father would never have done. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In conclusion, it has often been claimed that it was the Pottawatomie killings that incited war in Kansas. This is a frank misrepresentation of the facts. Violence, terrorism, and warfare were the mainstay of proslavery thugs—armed men, who were themselves nurtured in a culture of violent repression of black people, who had no intention of losing Kansas to the free state side. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The shelling and sacking of Lawrence in May 1856 was the natural result of proslavery politics in Kansas, although it has become a mainstay of historians to claim that Brown struck at Pottawatomie in retaliation for that invasion. But if there was an element of political retaliation in the Pottawatomie attack, this was not the reason for the killings. The motivation behind the Pottawatomie killings was preemptive. The Browns knew that the same forces that had attacked Lawrence were soon coming for them, and that their proslavery neighbors were going to help bring this about. Osawatomie, the burgeoning free state community closest to the Brown settlements was marked for assault whether or not Brown took action. But the Browns themselves were in the crosshairs of the Shermans and the Doyles and there is every reason to believe that had Brown not taken action, he and his sons and their families would have been either killed or driven from their settlements in May 1856. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">By striking first, Brown deprived the invading forces of assistance and derailed an attack, at least for the time being. The proslavery attack on Osawatomie three months later was not a result of the Pottawatomie killings, but rather a regrouping of the proslavery faction’s original intention. It is ludicrous to argue that the attack on Osawatomie in August of 1856 would not have taken place if the Pottawatomie killings had not taken place in May 1856; rather, it is reasonable to conclude that Brown’s bold actions at Pottawatomie delayed that attack for three months in a political context where there was a clear lack of federal and local protection for free state people including especially the radical abolitionist Brown family.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As would be the case in 1861 for the entire nation, so matters in Kansas had to come to the climax of war in 1856 because proslavery interests were determined to have their way. Blaming “bleeding Kansas” on John Brown is no more valid than is crediting him with starting the Civil War by his actions at Harper’s Ferry. The reactionary, bellicose and determined proslavery faction were decidedly secessionist and were intolerant of anything less than getting their way. After losing Kansas territory to the Union, the most militant Southern leaders were tracking for secession and looking for any excuse to secede. But if Lincoln had lost the election of 1860, the South would not have seceded, regardless of the Harper’s Ferry revolt. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 1856, pro-slavery interests were advancing with determination into Kansas; they saw it as a first step toward achieving the territory they intended to take. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure out what would have happened if proslavery terrorism had not been checked in the Kansas territory; nor did the Slave Power easily surrender. But after Brown was hanged and buried, even the most conservative people in Kansas probably wished that he were resurrected to face off against the likes of original American terrorists like Quantrill or “Bloody Bill” Anderson. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Personal</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When John Brown and his men pulled the Pottawatomie Five from their cabins in the dead of night and hacked them to death with broadswords, their actions were terrible, bloody acts of a kind that would make anyone sick. There’s no way to beautify the Pottawatomie killings: but they are a reminder that the advance of evil can sometimes become so great that even good men are driven to extreme measures of violence in order to stop it. There is no basis to suggest that John Brown ever regretted the Pottawatomie killings, although he evaded association with the episode because he knew that politically naïve people, without real understanding of the reality of things in Kansas, would merely be horrified by the killing and miss the point that the Browns were facing dire circumstances and had to act or be targeted themselves. Did John Brown and his men overreact? Was the Pottawatomie incident literally overkill? It might be easy to criticize Brown for the violence of the strike at Pottawatomie, but if one tries to step into his shoes, he had no idea of what would happen, and waiting may very well have given his enemies the advantage they needed, especially if the Doyles and others were involved in leading an army of terrorists to their doorstep. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After the Harper’s Ferry raid, when the widow and mother of the slain Doyles wrote to Brown in his Virginia jail cell—partially to gloat and partially to express her sorrow—he evidently read her letter but said nothing. What could he have said? Had he not lost three sons himself in the war against slavery? The only difference between the two parents was that Brown grieved over sons slain in defense of human rights while Doyle’s husband and sons died as terrorists, or at least, as abettors of terrorism—caught in the snare of their own making. By her own words at the time, she had warned her husband about getting involved in “devilment.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Like any group of combat veterans, the Pottawatomie killers themselves had different feelings about the incident, although the prevailing attitude among them leaned in Brown’s direction. The ill-fated Frederick Brown, who was murdered not long after the Pottawatomie affair, felt regret for his role. But feeling badly about killing an enemy does not necessarily mean one feels he has done wrong. In my first pastorate, I became quite close to an elderly leader in the congregation who had served in World War II and did his share of killing Germans. There were stories he could relate to me, like the time he jumped into a fox hole and saw a dead S.S. officer, standing before him, eyes open in a grim death stare. But there were other things that he would not talk about—the horrors of war and killing and death that stayed with him all of his life. According to the daughter of Henry Thompson, Brown’s faithful son-in-law and one of the Pottawatomie killers, Henry carried those killings with him all of his life. Yet he always defended the strike and John Brown he upheld as the noblest man he had ever known. Similarly, savagely slaying his Pottawatomie neighbors may have broken Owen Brown’s heart, but neither did he ever renege on the necessity of the bloody deed. None of them were coerced into the action of killing their neighbors, and Brown cast no spell on them as whimsically stated by Stephen Oates in his biography. All of the Pottawatomie killers followed John Brown’s lead because they understood what was at stake at that hour. In the early 1900s, when she was conducting interviews of Brown’s family for Oswald Villard’s biography, Katherine Mayo summed up Henry Thompson’s belief that the Pottawatomie killings were as “essential’ as they were “horrible.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Of course, any skeptic can argue that this hardly proves the Pottawatomie killings were right. My response to skeptics and headstrong devotees of the so-called “John Brown terrorist” school is then tell the whole story. Look at the political and social context of the Kansas territory and quit presenting the Pottawatomie incident in a vacuum. Don’t breeze over the fact that five free state men were murdered in the territory before Pottawatomie; don’t pass over the fact that throngs of armed southern thugs and terrorists were invading the territory with the intention of subverting the democratic process, even at the cost of murder and mayhem. Don’t overlook the fact that John Brown always conducted himself in a peaceful manner, that he advocated peaceful coexistence with proslavery people throughout the democratic process, and never took up arms until it was clear that free state rights were being trampled upon, and that proslavery invaders were threatening the lives of free state people. Anyone who starts their commentary with the Pottawatomie killings with “terrorism” is clearly being selective and biased. As I have written in my first biography, the first question that one might ask, particularly knowing the character and conduct of John Brown up to 1856, is simply this: “What kind of circumstances would drive exceptionally moral and religious people like the Browns to such desperate measures?”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If we truly value freedom and oppose tyranny, then the Pottawatomie incident cannot be viewed as a case of domestic terrorism. To the contrary, the awful slaying of five men along the Pottawatomie Creek in May 1856 must be viewed through the lens of political and historical realities. John Brown used blunt but measured force to excise a real threat; his actions were counter-terroristic, surgical, and specific to a particular case where all forms of law and justice had broken down, and where the power of thuggery and terrorism threatened to swallow up everything sacred to freedom. Furthermore, John Brown saw his own family personally overshadowed by such evil and so he struck first. He did not lift his sword to initiate terrorism, but to answer it. And he did so with finely honed steel. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And evil men trembled. --LD</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">--------</div></div><p>*<span style="text-align: justify;">William A. Phillips, “Three Interviews with Old Brown,” </span><i style="text-align: justify;">The Atlantic Monthly</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (Dec. 1879): 743-44.] </span></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-4683987547257809012020-11-22T20:01:00.003-05:002020-11-22T20:02:25.103-05:00John Brown Today Podcast, Episode 4: The "Battle Hymn" Revision, White Liberals, and Malcolm X<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Podcast: <a href="https://bit.ly/JohnBrowntodayep4" target="_blank"><i>John Brown Today</i>, Episode 4: The "Battle Hymn" Revision, White Liberals, and Malcolm X</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gQ9uCMlPyIcdox7Ov64Bk-JbN37l_rx19OaJkZ388DDcHKrccSD07mDO-199mJ4E4BgDgSitAuFu-NytKvuyy0-5UwA0unhjjlFMWboX9CUIo1yltLAt88uxZfMSE4zy98ov/s300/New+Blog+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gQ9uCMlPyIcdox7Ov64Bk-JbN37l_rx19OaJkZ388DDcHKrccSD07mDO-199mJ4E4BgDgSitAuFu-NytKvuyy0-5UwA0unhjjlFMWboX9CUIo1yltLAt88uxZfMSE4zy98ov/s0/New+Blog+Pic.png" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-62371904198617748512020-11-19T01:57:00.005-05:002020-11-29T12:32:54.741-05:00White Messiahs and Black Resentments: What About John Brown?<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">This evening I re-watched a part of the highly fictional movie, "Emperor" (2020) including a particular dialogue that the screenplay writers presented for the Chambersburg quarry meeting between Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and Shields Green. While the portrayal of Douglass by the wonderful actor Harry Lennix is far better than was the petulant <i>prima dona</i> version of Douglass portrayed by Daveed Diggs in SHOWTIME's "The Good Lord Bird," there is a similar ideological inclination in both stories. My sense is that this inclination reflects a certain contemporary black critique that really has no precedent in black history. Indeed, it is not in any sense <i>the</i> black viewpoint, since African Americans are not a monolith any more than any community. However, a certain view has become more commonly expressed and it has repeatedly found John Brown as a target.</span></span></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To the point, in both "Emperor" and "The Good Lord Bird" television series, the charge of white privilege and/or the complaint of the "white savior syndrome" is associated with Brown's life and legacy. The gist of this charge is that John Brown, being a white man, gets more credit from black people than he should, since black heroes deserve more credit. Likewise, Brown's intentions were indicative of his "white privilege" and even paternalistic racism. It was easy for him, goes this view, to speak of invading the South. But couldn't he see the trouble he was causing to poor, enslaved black people, who would suffer the consequences of his bold plan? </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I have already addressed the latter view as it has been espoused academically by Kay Wright Lewis in a chapter about John Brown in her book, <i>A Curse Upon the Nation</i>. (Read my <a href="https://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2020/05/did-john-brown-really-make-mistake-some.html" target="_blank">response to Wright Lewis on this blog, "Did John Brown Really Make a Mistake?"</a>) However, resentment toward Brown along these lines clearly has it proponents in popular culture as well. Take for instance a 2017 piece published in <i>The Atlanta Black Star</i> written, presumably, by a black author named Gus T. Renegade.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxsVGNDED9xtgGNcdhW9c0WYesjctXA5oYvQT9fBV7AYHVRclsbBwIHUexAfI3-U36h0duh5-Lv-txo43A1CU_QRiGQjYHndYlrOXS7Gk20bPD_hI5WbD1Dv0ZP3aek6lfg7E/s644/renegade.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="644" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxsVGNDED9xtgGNcdhW9c0WYesjctXA5oYvQT9fBV7AYHVRclsbBwIHUexAfI3-U36h0duh5-Lv-txo43A1CU_QRiGQjYHndYlrOXS7Gk20bPD_hI5WbD1Dv0ZP3aek6lfg7E/w400-h255/renegade.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this piece, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renegade complains about black admiration of John Brown in an article entitled, </span><a href="https://atlantablackstar.com/2017/05/21/white-savior-syndrome-even-in-fight-against-racism-black-people-are-falling-victim-to-it/" style="font-family: georgia;" target="_blank">"White Savior Syndrome: Even in Fight Against Racism, Black People Are Falling Victim to It"</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (May 21, 2017).</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In his screed, Renegade begins by criticizing the great admiration that the late Dick Gregory had often expressed for John Brown:</span></div></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><blockquote>Dick Gregory and generations of Black people have been inundated with hymns and propaganda praising Brown or any white person who’s alleged to have lent a hand to end racism. Frequently, these helpful whites garner greater attention than the Harriet Tubmans, Nat Turners and thousands of Black counter-terrorists who invested their complete existence in Black liberation.</blockquote></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renegade then points out how W.E.B. DuBois wrote a reverent biography of John Brown too, but concludes that DuBois really wanted to write a biography of Nat Turner but was prohibited by "whites" from doing so. But like the rest of his article, Renegade is half correct. In fact, DuBois wanted to write a biography of Frederick Douglass for a publisher's series but was prevented from doing because Booker T. Washington already expressed the desire to write it (and he did). His intentions being sunk by a black leader, DuBois then proposed that he write about Nat Turner, and here was refused by the publisher's white editor. Still, the fact that DuBois's third choice was to write about John Brown somewhat undermines Renegade's point. Black people have always prioritized their own leaders and leadership, including DuBois.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renegade's insistence that black people have been "inundated" with propaganda for generations in terms of white saviors has truth to it for sure. But the only real white savior that was propagandized <i>by whites for blacks was Abraham Lincoln, </i>and often the same white people who advanced Lincoln have been intent on demeaning John Brown. Renegade is ignorant of this history, and ignorance clearly is the father of prejudice in Renegade's case. In fact, Dick Gregory and other older black people were not propagandized by whites into admiring Brown and allegedly putting him above black heroes. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">If Renegade were not driven more by petty jealous than by history, he would have realized that it was black people who held forth on behalf of Brown from the beginning. If an appreciation of John Brown is propaganda, then black people were themselves the propagandists, not the targets of it. Renegade picks his facts like cherries from a tree or else he would have known better. For generations it has been African American activists, authors, artists, and historians who have consistently upheld John Brown--even in the face of the Lincoln propaganda that constantly came forth from white society.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renegade then goes on to write that the "orchestrated and disproportionate focus on the handful of John Browns is designed to promote Black glorification of and immense gratitude for “good white people.” His ham-handed treatment of history allows him to slop Brown into the same category with 20th century white liberal civil rights activists and even the tragic Georgia politician, Tom Watson, who started as a liberal and ended an enemy of black people in the late 19th century.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To top off his work, Renegade then cites the notable white anti-racist, Jane Elliott, who contends that what she does as an activist does not take courage, even though she’s been "assaulted and her life and the lives of her children threatened." According to Renegade, Elliott says that it takes more courage for black people "to rise daily to endure and oppose racial terrorism."</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGTJ5fFA7B1xzUNwQHB27EDEpjV2pYFTtHFln4s-KK7OzTt5JFKFeA_Twy97WFNq02x2_Q6xqUMepr0LS9KGp5-8zjahndlSyph45CZtmhHtceXOlG2VZci9sv0IFvfBmx8Rh/s1063/15JANE-ELLIOTT-1-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1062" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGTJ5fFA7B1xzUNwQHB27EDEpjV2pYFTtHFln4s-KK7OzTt5JFKFeA_Twy97WFNq02x2_Q6xqUMepr0LS9KGp5-8zjahndlSyph45CZtmhHtceXOlG2VZci9sv0IFvfBmx8Rh/w200-h200/15JANE-ELLIOTT-1-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jane Elliott, A Heroic<br />Anti-racist Activist <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elliott is an admirable woman, but her point is <i>principial</i> not literal. Elliott may deny that that it takes courage to stand against white racists, but I'd suggest her point is made in humility and with the intention of not allowing herself to be praised to the exclusion of the principle she represents, which is to confront and challenge whites for their racism. If Elliott says that she's been attacked and threatened along with her family, then <i>she must be, humanly speaking, a courageous woman</i> to continue doing what she does everyday. John Brown would make essentially the same point, but that does not mean that his life did not require courage. One might go further and ask if Elliott is actually less courageous than every black individual in the United States because she is a so-called white.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In principle, as Renegade seems to miss, Jane Elliott's <i>single</i> life as an activist <i>cannot compare to the vast experience of oppression and assault at every level that the black community faces daily, even hourly, as well as systemically</i>. Of course, no single white activist's suffering can compare, which is Elliott's point. But it is ridiculous to deny that she is not courageous, and it is petty and stupid on Gus T. Renegade's part to deny her that salutation, just as it is petty and stupid for him to suggest that any admiring word for John Brown by black people is the result of propaganda.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renegade's "White Savior" article is thus a kind of slop that has blended truth with bitterness, prejudice, and even a kind of jealousy. In fact, this is really Renegade's bottom line: apparently he is of that stripe that doesn't want <i>any white person</i>--not even John Brown--credited <i>by black people</i> for fear that black heroes will be shortchanged. This speaks to a selfish soul, not a point of justice. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, on one level, one cannot blame Renegade as a black man for resenting how whites will typically turn any opportunity into a means of patting themselves on the back and alleviating their guilt at black people's expense. Malcolm X did not publicly praise John Brown for this reason; but he never demeaned him either; instead he passively saluted him by insinuating that Brown was the only white man who <i>might</i> be able to join his organization. This was the sentiment of other strident black critics like James Baldwin and John Oliver Killens in the 1960s and '70s. But you never read Baldwin or Killens or any other <i>intelligent</i> black "radical" diminishing John Brown. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">When they do, it suggests either a streak of petty jealousy and prejudice--or perhaps senility.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some years ago, I was invited to attend the reading of a play about John Brown's black Harper's Ferry raiders that was beautifully performed at the Audubon Ballroom in upper Manhattan. After the reading, I was invited to participate as a panelist in talking about John Brown and his black raiders. Toward the end of the discussion, Amiri Baraka, the late great poet and author, who was seated on the front row, suddenly spoke up. I do not remember precisely what Baraka said, but the gist of his words was the complaint that John Brown gets too much attention, and that more attention should be paid to Frederick Douglass.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoJm_bfphXyzfbb7jUcVXAsc_E9Dwup_w8zNM_eoD-jKFdwLPoI0jooG39-H04FHUwYNizXWUb50gMELCaTffXU2HNKvFkapTsHyljwQlaSOIyX2Q_12S18gaRGAx0nv8YE7S/s243/Amiri_Baraka_2013.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjoJm_bfphXyzfbb7jUcVXAsc_E9Dwup_w8zNM_eoD-jKFdwLPoI0jooG39-H04FHUwYNizXWUb50gMELCaTffXU2HNKvFkapTsHyljwQlaSOIyX2Q_12S18gaRGAx0nv8YE7S/s0/Amiri_Baraka_2013.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The late great Amiri Baraka<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now, I must admit that I was put off. Despite my admiration for Baraka's literary legacy, I was frankly appalled at how petty he sounded. Was he even serious that John Brown got more acknowledgment than Frederick Douglass? The truth is that Douglass has been far more celebrated and memorialized than John Brown ever has been. Unlike Brown, Douglass was mainstreamed, even during his life; after his death, Douglass has had no anti-literary tradition. His stature has only grown more monumental over the generations (and rightly so). Indeed, Douglass's political and personal foibles and flaws are fairly well covered and excused by historians.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To the contrary, John Brown is not mainstreamed, and his legacy has been constantly criticized and attacked since the late 19th century. Brown's imperfections have been exaggerated to the point of monstrosity, and the considerations granted to war heroes and other national figures, no matter how racist, is never extended to John Brown. Douglass is remembered in grand biographies, statuary, and so forth across the country. Where I live in Manhattan, there are two statues of Frederick Douglass within a mile of my apartment, including a beautiful circle with his words in illuminated stone, a housing project bearing his name, and a subway station decorated with a lovely montage in his honor. Douglass is the most celebrated black man in the history of the United States, and it is striking to me that Amiri Baraka would make such a jealous and unfair complaint to John Brown's disadvantage, especially since Brown has considerably fewer allies and cultural lobbyists than Douglass. Perhaps it was Baraka's advanced age, or his fatigue at living in a racist society. But he was as wrong on the point as he was unfair, just as Gus T. Renegade of <i>The Atlanta Black Star is wrong and unfair.</i></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="4t18e-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73YXBP8oafc8oLpht87QrUygRzS9vTsHhkvqM0Tg701Sf8f4Nz4OXwfaSZ3yxloazE5VdnuFk3dxT_PpuFIv8cL9yYl8OH5CDRxhJO7jeZiEstBtQp1eYqXkNedmstXrqnHwL/s704/Untitled.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="704" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73YXBP8oafc8oLpht87QrUygRzS9vTsHhkvqM0Tg701Sf8f4Nz4OXwfaSZ3yxloazE5VdnuFk3dxT_PpuFIv8cL9yYl8OH5CDRxhJO7jeZiEstBtQp1eYqXkNedmstXrqnHwL/w400-h181/Untitled.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Shields Green (Dayo Okeniyi) and Frederick <br />Douglass (Harry Lennix) from the "Emperor"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Obviously, these individual black critics are as entitled to have an opinion as anyone else, just as they are as likely to engage in revision that reflects contemporary readings and reflexes. This must be particularly true in an era when Trumpism has given overt permission to white society to vomit up its worst bigotries once more without shame. </div></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Still, the historical question is worth stating.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bf48i-0-0" style="font-size: large;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="4ji4e-0-0" style="color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #050505; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">The fact is that </span><i style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"><span>nowhere</span></i><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"> in the historical record does Frederick Douglass or any other black contemporary of John Brown throw up white privilege in his face, or use it as a way of marginalizing his legacy from the narrative of liberation as we see it done in both "Emperor" and "The Good Lord Bird" television series (I cannot address McBride's book in this regard, as I have not read it and probably never will read it.) </span></div></div></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="4ji4e-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4ji4e-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="4ji4e-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the unsuccessful movie, "Emperor," the marginalization of Brown is vivid and layered: </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">While the movie is Shields Green's ostensible story (it is 95% fiction and very unfaithful to the little that we do know about Emperor), John Brown is treated as a kind of co-star in "Emperor." In the movie, Brown wants Emperor to "be the spark" of the liberation movement, which was not the case. If Brown wanted anyone to be a spark in his movement, it was Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass, and neither of them supported him in the hour of crisis.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJOgxddxbhknvolExmbENwVdUAIn0MZhu1ao6PRzDYYTv1i30EbhWPnKj1LBQQRJiQbgDtJpYxibFJGGygwKFvwsb6BAYGg4WW-lD78YtN0dRUlKBuwxuS-_uo1fgh28rTSNC/s1200/TGLB_105_0530_R.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJOgxddxbhknvolExmbENwVdUAIn0MZhu1ao6PRzDYYTv1i30EbhWPnKj1LBQQRJiQbgDtJpYxibFJGGygwKFvwsb6BAYGg4WW-lD78YtN0dRUlKBuwxuS-_uo1fgh28rTSNC/w400-h266/TGLB_105_0530_R.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shields Green (Quentin Plair), Frederick Douglass (Daveed <br />Diggs), and John Brown (Ethan Hawke) in SHOWTIME's<br />"The Good Lord Bird"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the movie, Emperor rides side-by-side with Brown, calls him "John" (something that none of his men would have done). In shabby Harper's Ferry "raid" scene, the movie makes Shields Green into an almost </span><i style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">de facto</span></i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> leader. This may simply be the writer's means of centering Emperor as the hero, but it effectively diminishes Brown's leadership. Even in the movie's end credits, the closing text lists Shields Green "and John Brown." However, Green was never a co-leader, let alone a leader among the raiders. He was a brave soldier and fighter, and while he had his own agenda and ideological purpose for following Brown, Shields Green was following Brown just like the other raiders, white and black.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I should add that I am well aware that historically, at least in books about the Harper's Ferry raid, more attention has been paid to Brown than to his men. I have just published my own book about the real Shields Green, and this point is made quite clear. It is important that all of Brown's men receive historical attention, both the black and white raiders, because they were all noble men who paid the ultimate price for freedom. Still, we do not correct historical errors by fabrications and distortions of history.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="95vjf-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="9n3ol-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9n3ol-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span data-offset-key="9n3ol-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I've said, in "Emperor," the attitude that Lennix's Douglass shows to James Cromwell's Brown in the quarry meeting is completely foreign to the real Frederick Douglass' memoir--</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">and Douglass repeatedly recounted his differences over strategy with Brown in later years. The notion that he would so boldly impute <i>a careless disregard of black lives</i> to John Brown is without basis and is quite unthinkable given all that Douglass has written about John Brown. This resentment of Brown is not historical at all: it is a contemporary prejudice among certain black artists and writers, and it is historically unfair, and to some degree even perfidious.</span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="eoliq-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="eoliq-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="eoliq-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">First, it is <i>unfair</i> because every black person on record, leader or otherwise who knew John Brown, also knew that he willingly sabotaged his own white privilege in order to oppose slavery. Brown was not a self-elevated white liberal who was exploiting black lives. He gave three sons to the cause and then happily died for it himself. He asked nothing of any man that he was not more than willing to give himself. To be sure, John Brown was not perfect, and there is room to criticize him for his strategic errors at Harper's Ferry as does the black raider Osborne Anderson in his 1860 classic, <i>A Voice from Harper's Ferry</i>. But even Anderson did not strike such a low blow. </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Secondly, Brown was well aware of the consequences that blacks faced for participating in any kind of liberation movement. He was not indifferent to those consequences, but he believed that it was better for black people to suffer the consequences of rebelling against oppression than to continue to remain oppressed. I do not see how this makes him a paternalistic racist as the historian Kay Wright Lewis seems to think.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">My own sense is that Wright Lewis and other black artists and journalists who call Brown's sense of racial parity into question are playing at the historical version of the "Monday morning quarterback," and that they are doing so from a critique that is more about the 21st century than it is about 1859.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="ft20m-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="d98g6" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">John Brown believed that any human being who was not willing to live and die for liberation and justice was not worth his or her life, period. His standard was simply that oppressed people themselves ought to prefer to fight and suffer for freedom rather than remain oppressed. He was aware that there were consequences, but he believed that such consequences should be faced if liberation was going to be attained. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Furthermore, Brown was both encouraged and energized in this opinion by listening to the more militant black voices of his generation, especially men like Henry Highland Garnet and Jermain Loguen, whom he admired greatly. Unlike Douglass, who had to wean himself off of breast of Garrisonian pacifism, other black leaders held forth the same view that influenced John Brown in his own militancy. So, to suggest that Brown was functioning primarily from a paternalistic or racist orientation is quite unfair and not substantiated from the record. To diminish his work on the basis of his access to "white privilege" is a peculiar rebuff. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Of course</i>, John Brown had white privilege. But he used it to oppose slavery and racism, and he took up arms when even comfortably situated black men like Frederick Douglass balked.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From the late 1850s, this was the reason that many in the black community viewed John Brown as their foremost ally, and why black people have floated some admiration for Brown ever since then--until now, that is. F</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">or contemporary black voices to diminish Brown on the basis of "the white savior syndrome" is really indicative of a contemporary misapprehension. On one hand, if John Brown had </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">not</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> taken up arms or made an attempt in Virginia, he could be easily dismissed as yet another "talk-only" white liberal as were so many in his day. Yet, on the other hand, because Brown dared to take up arms and invade the South, he is then criticized as a "white savior," or as someone who devalued the life of black people and placed them in jeopardy. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It is hard not to believe that underlying this kind of thinking is just plain old prejudice and a small-hearted kind of jealousy on the part of the black people espousing it. I am hesitant to write these things because it may offend some people, but it should be said nonetheless. Some people are so jealous and prejudiced that they find it much easier to be resentful than to listen to the narrative that their own ancestors and heroes wrote for them. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: georgia; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all of this, I am reminded finally of a certain parable of Christ, about a musician who complained about the fickleness of his audience: "We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn." I wonder what kind of ally these black critics would want in the retrospect of history--one who made speeches and preached sermons, or one who gave all that he had, and even in failing gave his life for the cause of justice? It seems a kind of malignant absurdity that it has come to this. Those who will not either dance or mourn are themselves an unpleasant lot. Perhaps they do not deserve allies after all.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9q4-0-0" style="color: #050505; direction: ltr; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="9q4-0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-80695305614286787762020-11-16T22:20:00.004-05:002020-11-16T22:34:20.298-05:00So We Go: "The Good Lord Bird" Has Flown (And We're Left to Clean Up the Feathers & Droppings)<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Last evening, SHOWTIME aired the final episode of "The Good Lord Bird," which saw Ethan Hawke's John Brown defeated at Harper's Ferry, jailed, and raising a ruckus with his jailhouse letters. In the closing scene, Hawke's ragamuffin Brown slowly ascends the gallows steps and his head is covered, but we do not see the hanging. The final moments of the episode are devoted to "Onion" who gets to ride off after visiting John Brown in his jail cell on the night before his execution. </span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6tLtFbQRzc-kbZw-J1rb8tgtCtbvSIgp-0zMEU-TJKnixJHmYCGk2lSoF8tYZLfRYSkPqkrSCYO4mqRsOifqEw3DMomdyOU5a-Bpzu9NXaL-Txh5sO7ejAhZO-iGEw0eq1sM/s700/1403813700a21ff9ba0e9a7ec19907cdc8-ethan-hawke-good-lord-bird.rsquare.w700.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6tLtFbQRzc-kbZw-J1rb8tgtCtbvSIgp-0zMEU-TJKnixJHmYCGk2lSoF8tYZLfRYSkPqkrSCYO4mqRsOifqEw3DMomdyOU5a-Bpzu9NXaL-Txh5sO7ejAhZO-iGEw0eq1sM/w200-h200/1403813700a21ff9ba0e9a7ec19907cdc8-ethan-hawke-good-lord-bird.rsquare.w700.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the last moments, the faces of various black people are shown, both characters in the story as well as others, all representing the enslaved that Brown had sought to liberate. For what it was worth, it was a beautiful closing. After "Onion" disappears beyond the lens of the camera, we catch a glimpse of a feather blowing past the lens. Unlike the lingering feather that floats upward at the end of "Forrest Gump," the "Good Lord Bird" feather is barely noticeable and then is gone--perhaps resonant with the words that Brown tells "Onion" in his jail cell, that the Good Lord Bird, like the spirit, had to fly alone--perhaps a metaphor for John Brown's lone trail that began in the wilderness of Ohio in the 1800s and ended in a jail cell in Charlestown, Virginia. That's the best I can squeeze out of the series--the whole series.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As I have shared <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1473337/episodes/6314560" target="_blank">on my podcast,</a> as a biographer, I watched "The Good Lord Bird" with mild amusement for the most part, but mainly because I learned to "bracket" my historical expectations, and just take the story as a work of fiction. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/arts/television/the-good-lord-bird-finale.html" target="_blank">To try to correlate "The Good Lord Bird" to the historical record</a> as some have done is a fool's errand. Every episode of "The Good Lord Bird" departs significantly from the historical record, not only in its unworthy portrayals of Brown as a goofball and Frederick Douglass as a petulant prima donna, but in too many large and small details to name. </span></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9JYyKSUcVeONS9Lkw3ssQvwJUkp6zwMta7RUt6VFbkPyI-H61whbk5e7b8Ez04_pz0VvTgYtPLm24GRAzedWaVrdWe7G2EJFZ9aQBebzURi10HmN58bYucqXDeec91KB9FsR/s999/MV5BNTNlYWM2MmMtY2I2OS00Y2IxLTgzZDAtODc1YTY1M2E3N2QyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA5MzQyNjky._V1_SY999_CR0%252C0%252C853%252C999_AL_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="853" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9JYyKSUcVeONS9Lkw3ssQvwJUkp6zwMta7RUt6VFbkPyI-H61whbk5e7b8Ez04_pz0VvTgYtPLm24GRAzedWaVrdWe7G2EJFZ9aQBebzURi10HmN58bYucqXDeec91KB9FsR/w171-h200/MV5BNTNlYWM2MmMtY2I2OS00Y2IxLTgzZDAtODc1YTY1M2E3N2QyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA5MzQyNjky._V1_SY999_CR0%252C0%252C853%252C999_AL_.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large; text-align: center;">The other day I got an email from Marty Brown, one of John Brown's direct descendants, in which she informed me that she had gotten around to watching "The Good Lord Bird." To no surprise, she was understandably annoyed by the inaccuracies, particularly by how Brown's children were portrayed, such as placing John Brown Jr. and Jason Brown at Harper's Ferry, when neither of these sons went to Virginia with their father (the sons who went with him were Owen and his two younger half-brothers, Oliver and Watson, the latter two having been killed at Harper's Ferry). </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> "</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; font-size: large; text-align: center;">I'll never understand why writers insist on treating the Brown family like interchangeable cardboard cutouts," she wrote, "when there is so much true character to be mined and put to use." Marty added:</span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I understand that it's sometimes necessary in drama to conflate characters for plot purposes, but when it serves no conceivable purpose at all and runs exactly counter to the truth, it's just sloppy and stupid. And insulting. So there's my three word review: Sloppy, stupid, and insulting. You can quote me.</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So it was, and so I do.</span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">"The Good Lord Bird," first the novel and then the television series, is a story that appropriates history, only to chew it up and spit it out, and then expects us to have a tear in our eye at the end that will justify its abuse of history. But fiction and (possible) television awards aside, those of us who care about the story of John Brown feel about this series like the guy who lets a friend use his apartment to throw a party. Now that the party's over and the guests are gone, we're relieved. But we're also annoyed because we have to clean up the mess. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrfvtUZbBKExE01MZf6sWuhAgjWl4bB5A3E-3VdlDHKkQBgEyl8Wc9AIQdGGP0lACyBSbjRjBKqibK9n9iRvN7OX6cKqEXy-kUm7HKX5VLv72phigeZm35ERrYFyQxvrlcnTu/s430/Untitled_copy-removebg-preview.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="429" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrfvtUZbBKExE01MZf6sWuhAgjWl4bB5A3E-3VdlDHKkQBgEyl8Wc9AIQdGGP0lACyBSbjRjBKqibK9n9iRvN7OX6cKqEXy-kUm7HKX5VLv72phigeZm35ERrYFyQxvrlcnTu/w195-h196/Untitled_copy-removebg-preview.png" width="195" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Last evening, when I was getting ready to watch the final episode, my wife Michele came into the room and passingly asked me if I was going to watch, "The Dead Bird Walking." I almost split a gut because she wasn't even being sarcastic. It just came out that way. But somehow, being my better half, she intuitively captured my feelings about "The Good Lord Bird."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> As John Brown once said at the news of someone's death: "So we go."</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p> </p></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-3545494114781317782020-10-26T03:15:00.006-04:002020-10-26T03:51:18.031-04:00Something New!John Brown, Mind & Memory<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Students and enthusiasts of John Brown the abolitionist will be happy to learn that <i>for the first time since his death in 1859</i>, a book has been published that provides unique and personal insight into Brown's life and thought with space for your own journaling, note-taking, or personal reflections. As a long-time student of Brown's life and letters, I am happy to present <i>John Brown, Mind & Memory.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHGUrph9TsVpA5GrpIf8MY9IDLxWGMpD12zi10hVF2Sbv1glxBHrq58alGPkMGUI-qPsw7FKmtvDVfoRR8ucGH75LkSJ7YsauTBAug37o5EcWAlxR678svp9E58y3nyWv119e/s790/Mind+%2526+Memory+cover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="519" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHGUrph9TsVpA5GrpIf8MY9IDLxWGMpD12zi10hVF2Sbv1glxBHrq58alGPkMGUI-qPsw7FKmtvDVfoRR8ucGH75LkSJ7YsauTBAug37o5EcWAlxR678svp9E58y3nyWv119e/w263-h400/Mind+%2526+Memory+cover.png" width="263" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">No doubt, you have seen daily journals, but imagine a journal that features daily quotes from Brown's personal letters, along with reminiscences of his life and words from family, associates, and notable authors. The quotations from Brown's letters alone make this work a kind of mini-archive of the abolitionist's letters, covering the period from 1830 until his imprisonment in Virginia in 1859. Other daily quotations feature little known reminiscences from his children and abolitionist associates, providing a rare glimpse into the life of John Brown, the man who lived. </span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To set the tone<i>, John Brown, Mind & Memory</i> features an extended introductory essay and reflection by yours truly, the author of several books on Brown, and based on over twenty years of extensive research. It also features the reproduction of a rare sketch made from life in 1859 by a leading newspaper artist, Albert Berghaus.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFcDs4TTmGOroqAUnzoP1yBA0lKY3GjlbDZ00laLgxqiggu-s3FBbixGivIpWEX5uI95cRXWYNwFaOjOIr4tnob8JoLnSfL_GPtoSo1J2VjVzmLL2nIs6cHl6uToZGSkf_SQG/s2048/IMG_9490.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFcDs4TTmGOroqAUnzoP1yBA0lKY3GjlbDZ00laLgxqiggu-s3FBbixGivIpWEX5uI95cRXWYNwFaOjOIr4tnob8JoLnSfL_GPtoSo1J2VjVzmLL2nIs6cHl6uToZGSkf_SQG/w300-h400/IMG_9490.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>John Brown, Mind & Memory</i> provides a <br />daily quotation and space for reflection--<br />an ideal gift or souvenir!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br />John Brown, Mind & Memory</i> is attractively produced and presents history lovers and John Brown enthusiasts especially with a special experience that will allow them to sample the writing and thoughts of Brown on a daily basis, as well as record one's own thoughts, research notes, or diary entries in a unique way, every day throughout the year. </span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">An ideal gift for the holidays or year-round, click on this link to purchase <i>John Brown, Mind & Memory</i> from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/john-brown-mind-memory-louis-decaro-jr/1137833417;jsessionid=40FDACF9092DBA459F7ECDF4833DC200.prodny_store02-atgap17?ean=9781716651380" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, or directly from <a href="https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-decaro-jr/john-brown-mind-memory/paperback/product-qj26dw.html" target="_blank">the publisher's site</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-87273470743417986712020-10-19T14:39:00.006-04:002020-10-19T17:49:10.923-04:00Reflection on "The Good Lord Bird," Episode 103: On Meeting Frederick Douglass<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqoNJDzCY1_P4VYPht8-c9HxHhqzRjtxxY4vnk2IiugyowxcsYTaEz-uyqgYTNf7RM6leiFL4fvmNsDVYWOBHNoRfvMkie6m4fvcoELdeq6Yw0XuD5zCk9s7IhU1-4s966PG2/s800/844cf0a0-0e66-11eb-970e-05057c61ae7d_800_420.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqoNJDzCY1_P4VYPht8-c9HxHhqzRjtxxY4vnk2IiugyowxcsYTaEz-uyqgYTNf7RM6leiFL4fvmNsDVYWOBHNoRfvMkie6m4fvcoELdeq6Yw0XuD5zCk9s7IhU1-4s966PG2/s320/844cf0a0-0e66-11eb-970e-05057c61ae7d_800_420.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Mister Fred," Episode 3 of "The Good Lord Bird" was perhaps the most silly and irreverent installment so far. As satire, I suppose it hits the mark, particularly with Frederick Douglass being spoofed by Daveed Diggs' portrayal of him as a petulant, self-important, and whining "king of the Negroes." I found it amusing only at a few slight points, but otherwise found the story offensive and typically disturbing to my historical sensibilities.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In synopsis, Brown and "Onion" (Joshua Caleb Johnson) travel to Rochester, NY, to see Douglass and stay at his home. Brown wants to get Douglass to garner economic support from influential people in the North, particularly a group of abolitionist elites known in history as "The Secret Six" (wealthy Gerrit Smith and George L. Stearns, the reverends Thomas Higginson and Theodore Parker, and the educators, Franklin Sanborn and Samuel Howe). Douglass is as irritated by Brown's presence as he is receptive toward him. His wife Anna (played by Tamberla Perry) is pro-Brown and his European lover, Ottilie </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">(played by Lex King)</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">, who is staying under the same roof--and sharing Douglass with his wife--is anti-Brown and calls him "insane" at the dinner table. The tension leads Douglass into a whining fit, especially as he gets into a drinking binge with "Onion." Brown and "Onion" finally leave Douglass's home without knowing if he'll help him. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There's lots to say here because James McBride, followed closely by Ethan Hawke's screenplay, knows enough about Douglass to spoof him effectively. Frederick Douglass actually had two important European female associates, an English woman named Julia Griffiths, who was very instrumental in helping him with his publications and abolitionist work. He also met a German (and atheist) journalist named Ottilie Assing, who lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. Ottilie did not live with the Douglass family, but became close to them, as did Griffiths at some point. I don't recall, but I don't think there was hanky-panky between Douglass and Julia; it appears there was some hanky-panky between Douglass and Ottilie, but not under the same roof, and probably not in the harem-like scenario that Hawke's storyline suggests.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8QANQs77kA3bz2lHPLJrJiENob481OUJSmYfwb75pXo0u63xnU9TXAH4o0HF5deYOmHg4E4qexq2VtDkPz9WgwBB1LBGb8yOsLcgDqEjMMTWWkPHdGmZW4fe1huOf-IbC3NZ/s800/266a7000-0e59-11eb-970e-05057c61ae7d_800_420.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8QANQs77kA3bz2lHPLJrJiENob481OUJSmYfwb75pXo0u63xnU9TXAH4o0HF5deYOmHg4E4qexq2VtDkPz9WgwBB1LBGb8yOsLcgDqEjMMTWWkPHdGmZW4fe1huOf-IbC3NZ/s320/266a7000-0e59-11eb-970e-05057c61ae7d_800_420.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ottilie was an important sounding board and access person for Douglass to meet literary and political people. The real Ottilie was stridently pro-Brown and came out of the European left tradition. Whatever sparked between them, ultimately Douglass was more interested in the access and exposure that Ottilie got for him than he was interested in Ottilie as some kind of soul mate. In contrast, she was all into Douglass and pined for him, and in later years not only tried to influence Douglass (like convincing him of atheism) but probably also wanted to replace his wife. But Douglass never took the bait and Ottilie never got what she wanted; sadly, she committed suicide later. So there's probably a thread of truth in the satire. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We tend to forget that Douglass was a "rock star" in 1859 and antislavery women loved him. If he failed his wife, that's a minus on his record, but he was no player, and he deserves some character ethics in this regard. I think "The Good Lord Bird's" portrayal is unfair and do not think making Douglass into a whining "king" in a two-bed household is fair. Is this really using comedy to convey historical truth, as McBride and Hawke claim to be doing?</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For me, an equally offensive aspect is the dialogue between Douglass and Brown at the dinner table, when Brown tells Douglass he believes the enslaved people will fight if given the chance. At this, Douglass snaps at Brown and essentially tells him off, reminding him that he, Douglass, of all people, knew what the enslaved might think and do. Then Ottilie adds that Brown is the craziest man who ever sat at the table. Such affronts and insults never happened, especially under Douglass's roof.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPOxQ5PbSf4c9g-Ck5pYUoN3HvV44tK7PKOcABoZ8a7nh8A6wQotLmhD_PvzMsoPdeXB9DvOz_EYDdXWbKLOA0BTEHb2zP5vNuU0MdL5qPGNtsnuyuBp_-iOnx5BNa6Yj26Wj/s1050/TGLB_103_0371_R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPOxQ5PbSf4c9g-Ck5pYUoN3HvV44tK7PKOcABoZ8a7nh8A6wQotLmhD_PvzMsoPdeXB9DvOz_EYDdXWbKLOA0BTEHb2zP5vNuU0MdL5qPGNtsnuyuBp_-iOnx5BNa6Yj26Wj/s320/TGLB_103_0371_R.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The reality is that after Douglass met Brown in 1847, he recounted speaking with Brown and a group of black men in a letter that was published in his own newspaper. In that letter, Douglass wrote: ". . . though a white gentleman, [Brown] is in sympathy a black man, and as deeply interested in our cause, as though his own soul had been pierced with the iron of slavery." This is a far cry from the representation conveyed in "The Good Lord Bird," and I'm not entirely sure it qualifies as satire. It seems almost malicious to see such skepticism as McBride-Hawke do when it comes to presenting black attitudes toward Brown.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyone who has examined the surviving correspondence between the two men knows they had a warm, mutual affirming, and respectful relationship well into the late 1850s. Salmon Brown, a son, recalled his father and mother babysitting the Douglass children. Douglass added a warm postscript to Brown's letter to his wife in 1858, when Brown was staying with him in Rochester, New York. True, they had tensions in 1859 when Douglass could not approve of Brown's "add-on" to the older plan--to attack the federal armory in Virginia. Douglass and Brown had words and Brown lost Douglass' final support and lost confidence in Douglass. But they remained friends, and Douglass never changed his tune about Brown for the rest of his life, whatever he may have felt in private thought. It is Douglass who provides the greatest platform for Brown's legacy in the long run. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEKgehlivty-QKILR-yeTeMWfvfMw0Vsa4Inj2xxwXG0PY4TVJyGQygOHjxqiCIQo25IMn4Q216WP5VzhvFrM8uld9ZV_11Vzb9a73Zep3zOHyQCyVTjdVFVOWpqQshGx3vH3/s341/Jb6.BMP" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="191" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEKgehlivty-QKILR-yeTeMWfvfMw0Vsa4Inj2xxwXG0PY4TVJyGQygOHjxqiCIQo25IMn4Q216WP5VzhvFrM8uld9ZV_11Vzb9a73Zep3zOHyQCyVTjdVFVOWpqQshGx3vH3/w112-h200/Jb6.BMP" width="112" /></a></div></span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QFBSz8P2jqepG_i5Z1kV3Mkvwyg_pceh0PZ0z2PGMwRh4umjVjEBLutloTZctvMWiD-CU3QePtgt-wv3WygcoQylnha3iQjmfXgGOvLYJSElkRjAOs6d2juX_5oICP_8gH-P/s274/Frederick+Douglass.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QFBSz8P2jqepG_i5Z1kV3Mkvwyg_pceh0PZ0z2PGMwRh4umjVjEBLutloTZctvMWiD-CU3QePtgt-wv3WygcoQylnha3iQjmfXgGOvLYJSElkRjAOs6d2juX_5oICP_8gH-P/w175-h200/Frederick+Douglass.JPG" width="175" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Among other things, the Brown-Douglass relationship is a primer on black-white relations, especially in leadership. We are all flesh-and-blood, with egos and needs, and pride. At our best, so-called whites may prove good allies to blacks; at worst, we may overstep and forget ourselves, even presume we know better. On the other hand, we should not forget that black leaders, like other leaders of color have personal lives and egos too, and sometimes these can become visible. Obviously, the male-female dynamic reveals another aspect of this human challenge. Brown probably leaned in too heavily on his black allies at times; he was by nature imperious. But this should not be mistaken as racial condescension as the late Vincent Harding did in his book, <i>There is a River, </i>or Kay Wright Lewis does in <i>A Curse Upon the Nation.</i> Brown was imperious toward whites as well as blacks. By his own admission, it was a native part of his temperament and has nothing to do with "race."</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For his part, Douglass was a celebrity and he was younger than Brown in 1859, and had a lot more to lose personally, particularly at a time when his career and activism was expanding. Douglass <i>did</i> rely on two "white" women, and his less educated wife did have to share his attention and sometimes even space with these female colleagues, whether she liked it or not. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Douglass was a man of immense character notwithstanding his human nature, but in some sense his ego was formidable and he had his own man issues. Still, he was a man of integrity and vast powers of intellect and communication, and he used his immense gifts for the just cause. As Douglass put it in retrospect,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Brown "could die for the slave" while </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">he could "live for the slave." That was a genuine admission to a great deal more than Brown's willingness to become an antislavery martyr.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Douglass-Brown story of 1859 is not an easy story to tell. I don't think it was easy even for Douglass to recount, which is why he didn't go into detail about their clash in his third autobiography written in the 1880s. As I have observed elsewhere, all correspondence between Douglass and the Browns seems to have ended after Harper's Ferry, and this probably says as much about the Brown family's disappointment and resentment as it does about Douglass' pride. We are human beings and we differ and fail and fall, fall-out and disappoint, and sometimes these human factors shape history in definitive ways.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndxy1Y8bQN6_wkS76GMHwVjyElv-Xs9T9RlzFjkeg9MYEsmlnqn-OQcRKKAjruZWgjRQ0eUXM_reFWEqujUFh3XSRVoteuw5rjA3_XOf8_RIsvPdHiFUlSnOvLHC7VCTs-7DL/s512/2oB1tC_0X8rOxOH00.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndxy1Y8bQN6_wkS76GMHwVjyElv-Xs9T9RlzFjkeg9MYEsmlnqn-OQcRKKAjruZWgjRQ0eUXM_reFWEqujUFh3XSRVoteuw5rjA3_XOf8_RIsvPdHiFUlSnOvLHC7VCTs-7DL/s320/2oB1tC_0X8rOxOH00.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm sorry that Ethan Hawke wants to portray Brown as a wide-eyed, well-meaning antislavery zealot with a problem of emotional effusion. I can take Hawke's Brown doing silly thins like combing his mustache at the table with his fork. But I'm offended at turning this precious story on its head for the sake of television, making Douglass look like a whining, privileged brat on a sitcom, and suggesting that he held Brown in mixed esteem. Besides, Brown didn't need Douglass to get access to deep pockets. Brown had that on his own; rather he <i>wanted to get black fighters</i> through Douglass' influence, and it was that support that ultimately Douglass withheld.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can bracket my sensibilities and watch "The Good Lord Bird" for fun, but watching this series is the kind of fun that amounts to eating junk food. It's not nourishing, edifying, or satisfying if one has an appetite to learn and reflect upon history.</span></div></div>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20136268.post-59466009976533588332020-10-13T02:22:00.003-04:002020-10-13T02:22:31.832-04:00A John Brown Descendant Writes to The New Yorker About SHOWTIME's "The Good Lord Bird"<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This pretty much says it all. Those who wish to argue from the "higher art" position in defense of the lunatic portrayal of John Brown by Ethan Hawke in the current SHOWTIME series, "The Good Lord Bird," would do well to consider this letter from Marty Brown, a direct descendent of the Abolitionist, which appears in the October 19th edition of <i>The New Yorker.</i></span></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/19/letters-from-the-october-19-2020-issue" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="565" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdR4bITvsuy8T1z5wmVZraw0qeu27o9PbDqWkwgPFdpCXNREBwjzlNE5sDjhQruaJGTkIV81CIZDC9HiBIWuomgVWCF5vYuZWgQgstGIOKEi-mhUcNyDkizpZ4dLK3azx7nJ0i/w582-h640/Marty.png" width="582" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p>Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/10895195726778019518noreply@blogger.com0