John Brown Jr. (July 25, 1821 – May 3, 1895) was the eldest son of the abolitionist
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
. His mother was Brown's first wife, Dianthe Lusk Brown, who died when John Jr. was 11. He was born in
Hudson, Ohio
Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan statistical area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, th ...
. In 1841 he tried teaching in a country school, but left it after one year, finding it frustrating and the children "snotty". In spring 1842 he enrolled at the
Grand River Institute in
Austinburg, Ohio.
In July 1847 he married Wealthy Hotchkiss (1829–1911). The couple settled in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
.
He was described by a Kansas acquaintance as "a man of education, and of more than common abilities. Strictly honest and conscientious." "His family and himself are beloved and sympathized with by his neighbors of all parties; and well he may be; for he is one of the finest specimens of men, physically and intellectually. ...He is a man who would be distinguished anywhere for his active, energetic temperament and fearless manner. Socially he is amiable, warm hearted and affectionate."
Kansas
John Jr. moved with four of his brothers to
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...
in spring 1855. While his brothers Frederick, Owen, and Salmon traveled by land, John Jr., his brother Jason, and their families traveled by boat, across the state of Missouri on the
Missouri River. John Jr. described the trip as "a horrid business in a low stage of water which is a considerable portion of the year." Most of the passengers and crew were pro-slavery, and the captain deliberately left the two boys' parties behind at a stop in
Waverly, Missouri
Waverly is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 849 at the 2010 census.
Waverly is the location of Baltimore Bend Winery, one of the many small wineries ...
.
He was elected to the territorial legislature—the
Topeka Legislature—in 1856.
John Jr. did not join his father and brothers in the
Pottawatomie Massacre of May, 1856. However, he was captured by
Henry Clay Pate
Henry Clay Pate (21 April 1833–11 May 1864) was an American writer, newspaper publisher and soldier. A strong advocate of slavery, he was a border ruffian in the "Bleeding Kansas" unrest. He is best known for his conflict with, and capture by ...
, a
border ruffian
Border ruffians were proslavery raiders, crossing from the slave state of Missouri into the Kansas Territory, to help ensure Kansas entered the Union as a slave state. They were a key part of the violent period called Bleeding Kansas, that pea ...
and commander of a proslavery militia, in connection with the murders. He was turned over to federal authority, Captain
Thomas J. Wood
Thomas John Wood (September 25, 1823 – February 26, 1906) was a career United States Army officer. He served in the Mexican–American War and as a Union (American Civil War), Union General officer, general during the American Civil War.
Duri ...
. He was beaten by the soldiers and suffered a mental breakdown.
[ His father, John Brown, plotted a rescue. His troops overtook proslavery men in the Battle of Black Jack near Palmyra on June 2, 1856. The elder Brown captured Pate and his men, provisions, horses, mules, and equipment. He agreed to release the prisoners in exchange for his sons.][
A pro-slavery court in ]Lecompton
Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton was the ''de jure'' territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861, and the Douglas County seat f ...
charged John Jr. with high treason because he was a free-state politician. He was finally released from prison in September. Shortly after this, John Jr. left Kansas with his father. His father took his son's heavy chains and padlocks first to Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
to show to " Emerson and his friends", and then he held them up at antislavery meetings in different places.[
]
The raid on Harpers Ferry
John Jr. did not participate in his father's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated at the confluence o ...
(since 1863, West Virginia). ''Kansapedia
All except one (New York) are free and deal with a state of the United States.
See also
* List of online encyclopedias
{{Lists of encyclopedias
Online state encyclopedias
Online state encyclopedias
Online state encyclopedias
Wi ...
'' says that when the time came to make a decision on participation, "Brown, who was suffering from mental illness, experienced more anxiety."
However, he knew all the details and was part of the process of preparing for the raid.
John Brown sent John Jr. on a journey throughout the state of Pennsylvania, wanting him to find men "of the right stripe", willing to join John Brown's raiders. The areas that John Jr. was ordered to visit, specifically, were Gettysburg, Bedford, Chambersburg, and Uniontown. John Jr. also spent time visiting Massachusetts, New York, and Canada, trying to enlist black supporters. Neither of these missions produced the desired results, and the "army" attacking the Arsenal was merely twenty-one men.
In the early summer of 1859 John travelled around what is today Ontario, Canada
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
(Hamilton, St. Catharines, Chatham, London, Buxton, and Windsor), seeking support from Canadian negroes for his father's project. He found little support.
John Jr. acted as his father's liaison for the raid in Virginia. In 1858, John Brown sent John Jr. to Virginia. This mission was to survey the area surrounding Harper's Ferry.
Because of tensions between John Brown and other members of the plans and cause, John Brown appointed John Jr. as the intelligence agent and liaison. This meant that John Jr. would be the go-between for John Brown and other members. This provided safety for John Brown and secrecy.
John Jr. received word from his father to move the "tools" for the raid. The letter told John Jr. to do this "with perfect quiet" and to move only the tools, "not the other stuff", to a safe place where only Jr. and "the keeper" would know where they were. This cryptic message was received and Jr. travelled to Conneaut, Ohio
Conneaut ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Creek northeast of Cleveland. The population was 12,841 at the 2010 Census. Conneaut is located at the far northeast ...
, where the weapons had been secretly shipped, and moved them several miles south to a farm in Cherry Valley Township, Ohio.
When his brother Owen
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
escaped capture, he took safe refuge with John Jr. at this home in northeast Ohio.
In early 1860, the U.S. Senate created a Select Committee to report on the invasion of Harper's Ferry. James M. Mason, head of the committee, submitted a resolution to compel John Jr. and two others to testify. A deputy of the Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms was sent to arrest the individuals—according to the report, Brown was then living in Ashtabula County, Ohio
Ashtabula County ( ) is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,574. The county seat is Jefferson. The county was created in 1808 and later organized in 1811. The name Ashtabula deriv ...
—and bring them to Washington. The deputy reported that Brown could not be arrested without the employment of armed force. In the summer "an armed party of twelve persons" attempted unsuccessfully to carry him off.
Civil War and Jennison's Jayhawkers
In the summer of 1860, John Jr. was an agent of the "Haytian Bureau of Emigration", working under his father's former associate and biographer James Redpath
James Redpath (August 24, 1833 in Berwick upon Tweed, England – February 10, 1891, in New York, New York) was an American journalist and anti-slavery activist.
Life
In 1848 or 1849, Redpath and his family emigrated from Scotland to a farm nea ...
.[ ] Brown served as the agent of emigration for the British North American Provinces between 1860 and 1861.[
In July 1861, Brown decided to recruit a company of soldiers that would travel to Kansas and enlist with Kansas volunteer forces then operating in Missouri under the auspices of Kansas Senator James H. Lane. His intention was to enlist "abolitionists of the intense sort" and muster them under Colonel James Montgomery, one of Lane's three Lieutenants.] In August he wrote to Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith (March 6, 1797 – December 28, 1874), also spelled Gerritt Smith, was a leading American social reformer, abolitionist, businessman, public intellectual, and philanthropist. Married to Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, Smith was a candidat ...
from Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
, Ashtabula County, Ohio
Ashtabula County ( ) is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,574. The county seat is Jefferson. The county was created in 1808 and later organized in 1811. The name Ashtabula deriv ...
, returning to him the land he had been given in North Elba. John Brown's "Sharpshooters" garnered significant press attention as they traveled from Ohio to Kansas. However, on its arrival, the company had only signed 66 men. On November 9, 1861, while Brown was still recruiting in Michigan, the company elected to join Colonel Charles R. Jennison's First Kansas Cavalry, later designated the Kansas Seventh Volunteer Cavalry, and known in Missouri as ''Jennison's Jayhawkers
Jayhawkers and red legs are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs w ...
''. Upon his own arrival in December, Brown was mustered in as the captain of Company K of the Kansas Seventh. Brown served as captain of the company until May 1862, when he resigned because of his rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...
. He was succeeded as captain of the company by his second lieutenant, George H. Hoyt, who had been one of his father's lawyers following the Harpers Ferry attack.
Post-war
Following his resignation, in 1862 Brown purchased on the south shore of South Bass Island
South Bass Island is a small island in western Lake Erie, and a part of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. It is the southernmost of the three Bass Islands and located 3 miles (4.6 km) from the south shore of Lake Erie. It is the third l ...
at Put-in-Bay, Ohio
Put-in-Bay is a village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, east of Toledo. The population was 154 at the 2020 census.
The village is a popular summer resort and recreational destinati ...
,[ at that time sparsely populated. He and his brother ]Owen
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
appear on an 1863 list of people in Put-in-Bay subject to Civil War Draft Registration. He remained there until his death, supporting himself by raising fruit. An obituary said that on a plot of he raised "grapes for the Detroit market", and "no doubt it would have pleased his father that he never sold grapes for wine-making."[ A visitor about 1871 described him as a "quiet, genial, warm-hearted farmer, amateur geologist, and land surveyor"; a later one as "sunny, cheery-voiced", with "fine manners and an easy address".][
His sister Ruth and her husband Henry Thompson also lived for nineteen years at Put-In-Bay.
He became a socialist later in life. He "traveled for a time as a lecturer on ]phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
".
In 1882 "Mr. Brown enjoys a standing and consideration among his neighbors that may be envied"; he was one of the community's leading citizens. That year he travelled to Martinsville, Indiana
Martinsville is a city in Washington Township, Morgan County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 11,828 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is the county seat of Morgan County.
History
Martinsville was founded in 1822. It is ...
, to identify the body of his brother Watson. (See Burning of Winchester Medical College
The Winchester Medical College (WMC) building, located at (modern address) 302 W. Boscawen Street, Winchester, Virginia, along with all its records, equipment, museum, and library, was burned on May 16, 1862, by Union troops occupying the city. Thi ...
.) He was the guest of the Governor of Indiana for dinner.
In 1883 he penned a lengthy reply to an attack upon his father's actions in Kansas, especially at the Pottawatomie massacre. Kansas Senator John James Ingalls
John James Ingalls (December 29, 1833August 16, 1900) was an American Republican politician who served as a United States senator from Kansas. Ingalls is credited with suggesting the state motto and designing the state seal.
Life and career
John ...
also published a reply.
In 1887 he was a justice of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
. He remained at Put-In-Bay until his death on May 3, 1895, living a life described as "quiet, retired, but happy." In contrast with his brother Owen, he "delights to tell the tragic story of his father's life to intimate acquaintances". He received a Masonic
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...
funeral, and thousands attended; it was described as the largest funeral ever held in Put-in-Bay. He is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery there.
In popular culture
He is portrayed by Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weave ...
in the 1955 American historical drama film ''Seven Angry Men
''Seven Angry Men'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Raymond Massey, Debra Paget and Jeffrey Hunter.
It is about the abolitionist John Brown, particularly his involvement in Bleeding Kansas and hi ...
''.
In '' The Good Lord Bird'', a 2020 Showtime Limited Series based on the 2013 novel of the same name, he is played by Nick Eversman
Nicholas Eversman (born February 15, 1986) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Michael Winstone on the ABC mystery drama '' Missing'' and Liam Jones II on the ABC fantasy adventure drama ''Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a ...
.
Archival material
Papers of John Brown Jr. are held by the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is a complex comprising several buildings related to the life and presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. It is the first presidential library, built in 1916, and one of three such libraries for US presidents ...
, Fremont, Ohio
Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the banks of the Sandusky River. It is about 35 miles from Toledo and 25 miles from Sandusky. It is part of the Toledo metropolitan area. The populat ...
, and the Ohio Historical Society
Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...
, Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
. His 1861–63 correspondence with his wife Wealthy (162 pages) is at the Kansas Historical Society
The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas.
Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kan ...
, Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
. Several pages in various letters are written in numerical code, which he left us a key to, and they have been transcribed. Those under 18 require a parent's permission to read these letters. A few other letters of John Jr. are also available there.
Published writing
*
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John Junior
Family of John Brown (abolitionist)
Union Army officers
1821 births
1895 deaths
American socialists
People from Hudson, Ohio
John Brown and family in Kansas
People from North Elba, New York
People from Put-In-Bay, Ohio
People from Kansas
People from Ashtabula County, Ohio