The Hinton and Randall Letters of Dec. 1, 1859: Two Theories

John Brown was sentenced to death in a Virginia court on November 1, 1859 and might have been rushed to the gallows that same week, although his attorneys found reasons to have his execution delayed until the beginning of December.  In the few weeks between Brown’s sentencing and execution, he reached the height of his celebrity in the North, while the South was grinding its teeth in outrage and anxiety over Brown’s invasion and the fear that more abolitionist assaults would soon follow.  Of course, nothing of the kind took place, although the South was—in a sense—struck by a second blow from Brown, in the great impact of his letter writing and correspondence from jail, much of which went quickly into the press.

It is an interesting point that Brown’s captors refused any photographic image of Brown being recorded during his incarceration, no doubt as an act of spite toward the North.  Yet his captors were strangely liberal toward Brown with regard to his correspondence.  Although the Prosecutor Andrew Hunter carefully examined Brown’s incoming and outgoing letters, the number of Brown’s letters that went out to the world is a little surprising, given Virginia’s posture of banning northern reporters unless they were explicitly proslavery or sympathetic to the South.  I have endeavored to engage these themes in my two books, Freedom’s Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia and John Brown Speaks: Letters and Statements from Charlestown (both Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).

In the process of preparing these works, especially in gathering and editing Brown’s jailhouse letters, I noticed something interesting about two letters that were among the last Brown wrote before his execution.  The brief letters are apparently written on half-sheets and are virtually identical in wording and format, and both are dated as December 1, 1859—the day before Brown’s hanging.  To my knowledge, none of the Brown biographers have made note of these two letters being so similar and I became aware of them only because of my John Brown letter research.  As already noted in John Brown Speaks, the letters are written to Harriet Oviatt Randall, an old family friend from Ohio, and Richard J. Hinton, the English journalist that Brown got to know during his time in “Bleeding Kansas.”

Richard J. Hinton
(1830-1901)

The former was married to a clergyman and living in Ohio at the time of Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry.  Hinton traveled from the Kansas Territory in the fall of 1859, his movement eastward having been documented by a Virginia spy working in the service of Governor Henry Wise.  Hinton seems to have been drawn eastward by rumors of a plan to liberate Brown, although any such notion of jailbreaking the Old Man was actually quite useless before the end of October.  Charlestown was steadily loaded with militia, ostensibly to prepare for an invasion by abolitionists, but in actuality more because Virginians actually were apprehensive of a slave revolt.  At any rate, the talk of rescuing John Brown proved only talk and by the time Brown wrote to Hinton, the latter could only follow Brown’s last days and hours through the New York Tribune, the only antislavery paper that managed to smuggle reports out of Virginia through an undercover journalist.

When I read and compared the letters to Randall and Hinton, it never occurred to me that either of them could be a forgery.  My conclusion, then and now, is that both letters are (probably quite hurriedly) written in Brown’s hand with the exact heading, content, and nonspecific greeting (“My Very Dear friend”).   In John Brown Speaks, I suggest the reason these letters are virtually identical is because they were handwritten “form letters.”  In other words, I believe Brown wrote them in advance, intending to answer letters from particular people—like old friends and associates, and it is quite possible there were more of these “form letters” sent on December 1, although they may have not survived or have become inaccessible in a private collection.  The most obvious reason that Brown would have dashed off some nonspecific “form letters” is that he was running out of time and had a great deal of correspondence to examine, sort, and answer.

It is not exaggerating to say that Brown received hundreds of letters.  A good many of these letters were screened and withheld by Prosecutor Andrew Hunter.  The letters that Hunter withheld either were freaky, extremely hostile and mean-spirited, or letters written by associates or self-proclaimed allies claiming (in code or otherwise) that his rescue was underway.   Notwithstanding there were a good many letters withheld, Brown received many more from strangers, associates, friends, and family, and he naturally tended to answer the latter.  The Old Man naturally “edited” the collection that he kept and passed on to his wife when she visited him on his final day in Virginia.  Most of these letters were scattered and lost, but a good many were transcribed and published by James Redpath in Echoes of Harper's Ferry (1860).   Many more letters never left the jailhouse because Brown burned them in his cell.  Most of the letters he destroyed apparently were requests for his autograph, given the celebrity he had attained in his last days.

In this light, Brown probably felt overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence that came into his jail cell and was quite busy separating the several that he had time to answer before dying.  Anticipating that he would have to answer some late-coming letters, I believe he wrote out a template on some half-sheets and that these two letters, to Harriet Oviatt Randall and Richard J. Hinton, are examples.  The template reads:

Charle[s]town Prison, Jefferson Co., Va., 1st Dec. 1859.
My Very Dear friend
I can on[ly] say one word to Your most king letter of the            I trust
God is with me: “in very deed”.  May he ever be with you: & all yours.
Your Friend
John Brown

The originals of the letters to Randall and Hinton are held in notable Brown collections: the Randall letter is held in the Chicago History Museum and the Hinton letter is held in the Henry Huntington Library Collection, San Marino, Calif.

Boyd Stutler: "Rank Forgery"

At the time I made my own examination and drew these conclusions, I was not aware that Boyd B. Stutler, the “godfather of John Brown scholars,” had observed the similarity between the two letters and had drawn his own conclusions.  Of course, no John Brown scholars should ever be surprised to find Stutler’s fingerprints on even the most obscure topic in our study of the Old Man.   Over the years I have rarely found an issue that Stutler had not already addressed to some degree, and Stutler certainly had a theory about these letters—although quite different from mine.

Boyd B. Stutler

Stutler’s take on the letters was simply that Hinton’s letter is a forgery based upon the Randall letter.  In 1949, he wrote to James Goodwin of Toronto, discussing the fraudulent work of Canadian abolitionist, Alexander M. Ross.  Ross published (in two versions) a book about his association with John Brown, although Stutler exposed Ross posthumously as a complete fake and fraud.  There is no doubt that Stutler was correct since it is clear (and I’ve furthered his thesis with my own research) that Ross lied and defrauded the Brown family, and published supposed correspondence from Brown to him that actually did not exist.  Ross apparently did the same thing with Abraham Lincoln, and Stutler was the first to point this out to Canadian historians.

In his 1949 letter, after discussing Ross as one who “liked to shine in the light of reflected glory,” Stutler added that Richard Hinton was of the same stripe.  While admitting that Hinton indeed corresponded with Brown earlier, Stutler insisted that Brown’s letter of December 1, 1859 was “easily spotted as a rank forgery” based upon Brown’s letter to Harriet Oviatt Randall.  He insinuates that Hinton must have copied the letter to Randall because her letter was extant and, I suppose, was accessible to Hinton in perpetrating his alleged forgery (see Boyd B. Stutler to James C. Goodwin, May 15, 1949, RP11-0038D, Stutler Papers online).

I do not believe Stutler was correct in this conclusion although I understand why he made it.

First, Stutler believed that Hinton was not to be taken at face value as a historian.  To a different correspondent, Stutler wrote that Hinton “was unreliable, unstable and inconstant and his regard for the truth extended only to the ends that it would serve his own purpose” (Boyd B. Stutler to James C. Malin, July 26, 1940, RP10-0089H, Stutler Papers).   In other correspondence, Stutler referred to Hinton as a “special pleader” on behalf of Brown, and that he was unreliable and “generally inaccurate as to names, places and dates.”  His rule of thumb for reading Hinton was simply, “do not follow him except in cases where other evidence supports his statements” (Stutler to Norma Cuthbert, Apr. 15, 1948, RP05-0174E and Stutler to Victor Lauriston, Sept. 22, 1948, RP02-0202A).

Stutler knew his stuff, so his reading of Hinton should be taken seriously, and certainly he was correct.  Hinton (and James Redpath) were both associates of Brown in Kansas and both had a vested interest in defending him, even if it meant beautifying the sources with slight fabrication.  Stutler was correct in stating that Hinton should be used with caution as a source, although I think he has been too easily dismissed by contemporary historians precisely because he was a John Brown “pleader.” In other words, a good many 20th century writing found it convenient to dismiss John Brown's first biographers precisely because they were cynical toward Brown and wanted to diminish him. Even Stutler knew the value of Hinton’s writing, and that he could not be dismissed wholesale because he was an eyewitness, knew Brown, and was a participant in the stormy days of antebellum history.  I find Stutler’s suspicion of Hinton was tinged with contempt, some of it worthy and professional, and some perhaps due to Stutler’s own need to demonstrate his objectivity in the study in an era when the base line among many historians regarding Brown was quite negative.

Stutler’s rule of thumb, that one should not rely upon Hinton without supporting evidence, is just good historical sense.   There are moments when Hinton, Redpath, and Sanborn might be suspected of writing with an agenda to protect and lionize Brown (Hinton and Redpath both denied that the Old Man was present at the Pottawatomie killings).  But I still believe Stutler jumped to the wrong conclusion when it came to his charging Hinton with rank forgery in regard to the December 1 letter.

Contra Stutler

First, I believe Stutler’s own cynicism toward Hinton backfired in this case because Stutler himself did not follow his own rule.  Where is the evidence that Hinton somehow had procured the letter  to Randall and then made a meticulous forgery from it?   I am not aware that Brown’s short letter to Randall was ever published, and even if it were, Hinton would have needed more than a mere transcription to create the “forgery” that Stutler alleges.  Without evidence (some record of Hinton’s correspondence with Randall, etc.), Stutler offers only that Brown’s letter to Randall was extant during Hinton’s lifetime.  It is true that Katherine Mayo surveyed Brown’s letter to Randall in 1908-09, and made a transcription for Oswald G. Villard’s biographical work.  I do not know how Mayo learned of Randall’s letter; but until or unless evidence emerges that Hinton also knew of this letter and somehow obtained it, and then forged a copy of it, Stutler’s claim is thinly circumstantial at best.

Second, in light of other work he was doing at the time, Stutler’s feelings about Hinton may reflect cynicism toward other frauds, especially Alexander M. Ross.  Stutler knew and acknowledged that Hinton knew Brown and had correspondence with him, which was quite in contrast to Ross, the Canadian faker, who had built a reputation on the fraudulent claim of having been John Brown's intimate correspondent.  So I would suggest Stutler's conclusions about Hinton were partially spillover from the Ross affair.

In contrast, we know that Hinton did make an effort to come eastward from Kansas in late 1859 in response to Brown's capture and incarceration.   As I have documented, one of Governor Wise’s informants even met Hinton in St. Louis and spoke to him, reporting that Hinton “gloried” in being one of Brown’s men.  He even had Hinton’s personal card, which he passed on to Wise (John Brown Speaks, 92).  In light of this, it seems quite reasonable that Brown would have written to Hinton, particularly after when Hinton wrote to him using the pseudonym, Harrison.   This was typical Kansas practice among free state people (Brown himself used a number of pseudonyms), and it is likely that “Harrison” wrote to Brown and that Brown felt constrained to answer him on his last day of life.  This is what Hinton himself wrote on the verso side of Brown's letter to him, where he says that the letter was received by him in Boston on December 2, the day of Brown's execution.  I simply see no reason to doubt that he was telling the truth.

Verso side of Brown's letter to Hinton
(Henry Huntington Library Collection)

Thirdly, an examination of the two letters really makes it hard to understand why Stutler considered Hinton’s letter from Brown to be a “rank forgery.”  Indeed, were I to look at both letters without knowing which was written to Hinton, I would have concluded that the letter to Randall might be a forgery, because it is a more loosely scrawled version of Brown’s handwriting.  Between the two letters, the one to Hinton is slightly more typical of Brown’s usually pinched handwriting.  Nevertheless, I believe both are written by Brown and the handwriting of both looks to me as coming from the same writer.  Even the slight variations between the letters are “Brownian” (for example, compare the “9” in “1859,” in the headings of both letters, which are slightly varied but appears to be from the same writer).

Of course, one might yet raise questions about the letters.  Most notably, both letters have the same misspellings of “Charletown” (Charlestown) and “on” for “only.”  Wouldn’t these duplications of errors suggest one is a forgery of the other?   Possibly but not necessarily.  I have seen Brown use “on” for “only” in other letters too.  When one has become familiar with Brown’s letters, one begins to see certain patterns and tendencies in his writing overall.  For instance, one characteristic of Brown was to use the ampersand instead of “and”; “and” appears only rarely in Brown’s letters.  Another characteristic is that Brown’s vocabulary and spelling were uneven; he was a reader and had a decent vocabulary as a literate 19th century agrarian, typical of his time and place.   But his spelling and punctuation are peculiar in repetition.  Furthermore, it is not unreasonable to think that Brown deliberately wrote “on” for “only” as shorthand.   If one remembers that he was writing under duress given his fleeting hours of life, it is not surprising that he just dashed off “Charletown” without realizing it.

Finally, I believe the structure of these letters contains evidence that they were pre-written in anticipation of late-coming letters to be answered on his last day of life.  If one examines both letters, it is apparent that they were composed with a gap as such: “. . .your most kind letter of the __________”.   If Brown expected to answer some last-minute letters and had no time to write, it stands to reason that he may have made a number of handwritten copies with a gap where he could plug in the date of the letter he had received.   This is apparent in that both letters have Brown’s marker where the date was inserted (^).  In the case of his letter to Hinton, Brown even seems to have written the date over the text of his "form letter."

If we may discern anything else about these letters, I would suggest they show that both Randall and Hinton fell into a category of late-coming correspondents whom he felt deserved a personal response from him--but only a cordial line of farewell and signature.   Certainly, he made no answer to letters from strangers that may have come into his hands at the last minute.  Quite in contrast, Brown wrote a short but more personal letter on the same date to Edward Harris, an old wool associate from Rhode Island.  The letter to Harris is brief but personalized, no doubt because Harris had sent $100 in his “kind and comforting letter” of November 20, 1859 (see John Brown Speaks, 89-91).  Not only did Brown receive Harris’ letter sooner than those from Randall and Hinton, but the Old Man was overwhelmingly mindful of his family’s welfare just prior to his death, and so he was more likely to write a more personalized note to Harris.   The letters to Randall and Hinton show that Brown did not want to pass from this life without acknowledging them; yet he could not provide them with anymore than his little "form letter" offered.

As in many other things, there may be evidence to suggest otherwise.  I never take Boyd Stutler’s conclusions lightly and it is possible that we may yet find reason to strengthen Stutler's notion that that Hinton’s letter is a “rank forgery.”  But I do not believe so.   The images are provided for the reader to consider below (click on the image for complete view).  What do you think?—LD

Brown's letter to Richard Hinton, Dec. 1, 1859
(Henry Huntington Library Collection)

Brown's letter to Harriet Oviatt Randall, Dec. 1, 1859
(Chicago History Museum Collection)

Out of the Blue: "Emperor," A Shield's Green/John Brown Movie in Production Now!

Green (1859 sketch)

For sometime we have been aware of potential John Brown projects for both cinema and television, but this one has taken us by surprise.  It appears that Mark Amin’s Sobini Films has beaten every proposed or planned production to the punch.  According to Deadline Hollywood (June 20), “Emperor,” the story of black Harper’s Ferry raider Shields Green, is now in production.  Green was one of several black men who joined John Brown at Harper’s Ferry in 1859, and joined Brown despite the low-key discouragement of Frederick Douglass, the preeminent black leader of that era.  

Douglass loved Brown and (probably) grudgingly brought Green to meet him in August 1859, months before the Harper's Ferry raid, in a secret meeting in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Green had escaped slavery and made his way North, where he came under the sway of Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York.  After Douglass learned (early in 1859) that Brown intended to seize the Harper's Ferry armory, his relationship with Brown became strained.  Despite their decade-plus of friendship, Douglass deliberately and repeatedly opposed Brown's plan to invade the federal armory and seems to have communicated his disdain to African American leaders and potential recruits.  )I tend to believe it was this interference and not sickness that kept Harriet Tubman from following through.)   Indeed, Douglass probably did more to discourage free blacks from joining Brown has been reported in standard biographies.  (Note, my point is not to judge Douglass, only to suggest what seems the most likely narrative based on the evidence.  One might very well conclude that Douglass was right in his instincts, even if he overrated the security Brown faced at the armory.)

Okeniyi

In this light, Douglass was neither proactive nor neutral in bringing Green to meet Brown, but probably did so as a kind of obligatory gesture.  When Green chose to "go wid de ol' man," as Douglass later reported, the abolitionist leader was probably surprised and dismayed.   Green was a stalwart among Brown's men and clearly was quite brave and principled as an antislavery man in his own right.  It  was reportedly a fearful experience for him to return to the South (he had to be smuggled south), but in the end Green's bravery far exceeded his fears.  He not only supported Brown in the crisis, but he remained with him down to the last desperate moments of the raid, and afterward was hanged with Brown's other captive men in December 1859, following the old man's own execution.   

Amin

Green is portrayed in this film by Dayo Okeniyi. Other cast members are Naturi Naughton, Bruce Dern, Paul Scheer, Harry Lennix, Mykelti Williamson, and Ben Robson. Interestingly, Brown will be played by veteran and Oscar-nominated actor, James Cromwell.  Cromwell’s father, John Cromwell, directed the 1940 bio-pic, “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” and chose to portray Brown in that film’s brief Harper’s Ferry scene.  Like his father, James Cromwell is sympathetic to Brown, although he has stated his disagreement with Brown’s methods—by which, we suppose, he means the Pottawatomie killings of 1856.  This is not surprising, since even some of our own friends in the John Brown community have been sufficiently miseducated to the point of being apologetic and squeamish about those Kansas killings. 

The screenplay for "Emperor" was written by Mark Amin and Pat Charles, and the film is in pre-production in Georgia.  It is produced by Cami Winikoff and Mark Amin for Sobini Pictures, and also by veteran black filmmaker Reginald Hudlin.  Sobini’s Tyler Boehm will serve as executive producer.  I hope to obtain more information to share with the John Brown community.--LD

Research: On Collections (and Collectors)

John Brown materials are scattered across the country in university libraries, historical societies, and other institutional collections.  Those in pursuit of John Brown's letters will find that they exist, one here, another there, in scores of archives from coast to coast in the United States.  Added to the long list of archives holding documents in Brown's hand are those holding related materials--from family letters to valuable primary and secondary collections.  The vigorous, untiring researcher would find it a task of years, if not decades, to pursue a fairly exhaustive course of research in regard to the broader category of John Brown-related materials.   

In the early-to-mid-20th century, when Boyd Stutler was collecting Brown's letters, he lamented that these primary documents found their way into institutional archives, out of reach to the private collector.   Nowadays, my lamentation runs quite opposite of Stutler's complaint, in that I would much prefer if Browniana found its way into university and historical society collections rather than private collections.  Since there is no way to track and record primary documents in private collections, we simply have no idea what or whether valuable information is simply out of reach because they are hoarded away by some privileged collector.   While I am grateful that Stutler and others in the early 20th century pursued collecting Brown's letters as a private endeavor, I am far more grateful that those private collections ended up in accessible state and institutional archives.  

Historical "Black Holes": Private Collectors

More than a decade ago, I wandered quite providentially into a New York City gallery on Manhattan's east side, only to discover that a rare letter from Brown to his half-sister Florella and her clergy husband, Samuel Adair (in Kansas) had recently been sold to a private collector.  I was able to retrieve a partial transcription from the dealer, but had to contact the wealthy doctor who had purchased it to request an image of the letter, or at least a complete transcription.  I received neither from him.  To my dismay, I found this collector to be miserly with the content of his John Brown letter.   Although I endeavored to explain to him that historians are mainly interested in the content of a historical document, he was unconcerned, unmoved by my appeal, and evidently quite selfish.

Of course, not all collectors are of this mindset.  The more generous (and honest) ones may acknowledge that their interest is in owning the original document, and that sharing an image or transcript of their property with scholars detracts nothing from the value of the original.   Not so with this accomplished collector who, it turned out, also held another rare John Brown letter in his collection.   In a desperate attempt to obtain transcriptions of both of his letters, I even called him on the phone, explaining my interest and making my request.  He remained disinterested although he was quick to boast about the many letters he held in his predominantly black history collection, which came off like rubbing salt into the wound. I learned afterwards from another scholar that this same collector was similarly greedy with other primary materials.   

While I can hardly blame a man of wealth for entertaining an enthusiasm for primary documents of historical interest, such collectors are no longer a benefit to the John Brown study as they were in the early 20th century, as the progenitors of some of today's most important collections.  Today, collectors holding John Brown materials are a problem, whether selfish or just oblivious to the pursuit of historical researchers.  Private collectors who amass John Brown letters today may be like historical "black holes" into which information is lost, sometimes for generations.  Only God knows how many important Brown letters and documents have disappeared into someone's library cabinet--held captive until either the collector dies and his family sells the collection, or until he decides to sell in pursuit of other desirable documents.   

Some years back, a rare letter inviting black leaders to Brown's 1858 Chatham convention surfaced on an auctioneer's website.  The letter, signed by Brown and a number of black leaders, had been owned and sold many times over the years, but a recent owner was the singer and actor, Harry Belafonte.  Fortunately, a digital image of this document was posted before it disappeared into another private collector's historical "black hole."   John Brown students and researchers may be comforted that after so many years that most of his materials have found their way into institutional collections and are not so restrained or withheld.  

Where the Letters Are

It may be noted that Brown researchers should be prepared to search across the country in small institutional collections (colleges, historical societies, and libraries) for singly-held letters in Brown's hand.  Some archives hold only one or two; others hold a handful of Brown's letters, like Oberlin College, which has correspondence relating to Brown's surveying assignment in 1840, or Cornell University, which has a few letters primary documents relating to Brown's legal affairs in the early 1850s.  Even the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library has a few of Brown's letters, showing that you almost never know where a Brown letter will turn up until you inquire.  

However, the good news for scholars and researchers is that overwhelmingly most of Brown's letters and related documents are accessible from a handful of major collections.  The bad news is that one will still have to travel coast-to-coast if one intends to visit these collections.  On the other hand, a good bit of research can be conducted by correspondence, and in some cases Brown's letters are even available for free from online digital collections. Still, the state and availability of John Brown resources is far better than it was in the 1930s and '40s, when private collectors still dominated the field.

The major repositories of John Brown's letters and related primary documents today are listed below.  To my knowledge, there is no significant archive or collection of Brown's letters outside of the United States; individual letters may be held abroad by collectors, although this is not so likely.  What follows are the major collections:

BOSTON, MASS.

Boston Public Library Collection

Harvard University, Houghton Library

There are Brown letters in other collections in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but these two Boston repositories are major.  Most notably, Boston Public Library holds two of Brown's memorandum books and letters written to "Secret Six" member, Thomas W. Higginson, by Brown and Brown's associates.  This venerable library holds other Brown materials as well.  Harvard University not only has Brown documents, but also an extensive transcription collection of Brown's letters that belonged to "Secret Six" member, Franklin B. Sanborn, who also was Brown's second biographer.

NEW HAVEN, CONN.
Yale University Library and Yale Beinecke Library
A truly great and unsung John Brown collection, Yale has Brown and Brown family letters as well as the draft (in his hand) of Brown's Provisional Constitution.

NEW YORK, N.Y.

Gilder-Lehrman Collection at the New York Historical Society

John Brown-Oswald G. Villard Papers, Columbia University Library

Two of the most important collections for Brown students is found in my home town, NYC.  An unsung Brown resource is the Gilder-Lehrman Collection, permanently housed at the New-York Historical Society (which, incidentally, also holds a handful of Brown's letters in its own right).  The Gilder Lehrman collection is a relatively young collection (est. 1994), but it is huge, with nearly 100,000 original documents of U.S. historical interest, including a rich collection of Browniana and related materials.   Perhaps the Villard Papers needs no introduction to Brown students.  Oswald Garrison Villard was Brown's prosperous biographer and the grandson of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.  A newspaperman, Villard hired a staff journalist, Katherine Mayo, to scour the country in 1908-09, interviewing survivors of the Brown era and collecting materials.  Mayo was a better researcher than Villard was a writer, and the sum of his papers far exceeds the weightiness of his landmark 1910 biography.  Villard's collection was sold to Columbia University in the 1940s and has happily remained in the rare book and manuscript collection of this prestigious university.   There are not many original Brown letters, but Mayo's transcriptions--exact and comprehensive in most cases--makes this collection one of the most important letter holdings among the Brown collections.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

I have included this archive although its John Brown holdings are not as extensive as others in this description.  However, those interested in Brown would be interested in this archive's holdings of the collector Ferdinand J. Dreer, particularly the materials pertaining to the Harper's Ferry raid--including letters to and from Brown and his men prior to the raid, and primary documents relating to Brown's trial.  The Dreer Collection is expansive in many respects, including Civil War and Pennsylvania history, but Brown researchers know this collection is of great importance to our study.

ATLANTA, GA.

University of Atlanta, Robert Woodruff Library

Another Brown collection to be included despite its limited nature is found in--of all places--the heart of the South.  Atlanta University holds the letters of John Brown to his distant cousin and business partner, Seth Thompson, during his Pennsylvania years (1826-1835) and even afterward.  There are other Brown related materials, including materials from his biographer Franklin Sanborn.  A small collection compared to others on this list, nevertheless of great value to the biographer and scholar.

HUDSON, OH.

Clarence S. Gee Collection, Hudson Library and Historical Society

Clarence Gee (d. 1975) was a Congregational minister who became interested in the Brown theme when he pastored the Brown family's church in Hudson, Ohio, in the early 20th century.  Gee became an expert on Brown family genealogy and originally nurtured an interest in Owen Brown, father of the abolitionist, before focusing energetically on John Brown.  Gee's John Brown papers are indispensable for anyone who wants to understand Brown's family background and history.  The Gee Collection not only has notable John Brown letters, but important family correspondence and a substantial Brown collection in general thanks to Gee's efficient research and his rich correspondence with Boyd Stutler.

 COLUMBUS, OH.
Ohio Historical Society
Once you've explored the wonders of the Gee Papers at Hudson, drive down to the state capital and spend some time at the Ohio Historical Society (OHS).  This is an extremely valuable resource for John Brown scholars.  Among its treasures, OHS holds the John Brown Junior papers, which has a good many letters from his father over decades.  OHS also has other John Brown Senior letters in its general archives, along with related materials.  Clearly, Ohio is the heartbeat for any study of Brown.  There are also archives in Cleveland and historical sites in this state--the tramping ground of the Old Man for many years.

CHARLESTON, WEST VA.

Boyd Stutler-John Brown Collection, West Virginia Division of Culture and History

Boyd B. Stutler (d. 1970) is the seminal collector and student of John Brown of the 20th century, and I still believe him to be the "godfather" of John Brown scholars.  Mayor, soldier, journalist, and editor, Stutler was collecting John Brown materials in the first quarter of the 20th century when it was yet affordable as a past time.  He amassed many of Brown's letters and documents, family materials, and loads and loads of primary and secondary material.  At the peak of his collecting days, Stutler housed his private collection in three parts of the country, and in retirement (1950s-1970) consolidated his materials in his home in Charleston, West Va.  Advisor and correspondent, he aided biographers, writers, journalists, and artists of all stripes. Stutler was the quintessential researcher and there is rarely a sub-topic in Brown's life where he has not left his footprints.   Much of this collection is digitized on the West Virginia Memory project and is the most accessible and ready source for Brown students (a link for this archive is provided on this blog).

CHICAGO, ILL.

Chicago Historical Society

In the midwest, this archive is penultimate but extremely important, holding a good many letters of Brown and family, as well as related materials.  Chicago Historical Society obtained much of its Brown materials through an early collector, Frank Logan, including John Brown's jail Bible and the famous "prophecy" that the abolitionist wrote on the morning of his hanging in 1859.  Of interest in this collection also is a narrative by Anne Brown Adams of her father's activities in Virginia leading up to the Harper's Ferry raid.  

TOPEKA, KAN.

Kansas State Historical Society

John Brown is no more appreciated in any place than he is in Kansas, and happily one of the most important Brown collections is found here, not only Brown's letters and other Brown family materials donated to this historical society, but also materials from other Kansas figures and scholars relating to Brown and his activities in territorial Kansas.  The Brown letters, however, are a family treasure trove and cannot be overlooked by Brown students and would-be biographers.  This Kansas archive is large and extensive and is partly accessible online; the Brown papers are also available on microfilm, as are related papers, such as the Adair papers (Brown's half-sister and brother-in-law).

SAN MARINO, CALIF.

Henry Huntington Library Collection

The Browns were pioneers and perhaps it is no surprise that Mary Brown and some of the children of the abolitionist ended their days on the west coast.  This west coast collection is also important for its holding of Brown's letters and family correspondence.   

L. DeCaro, Jr.