The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding Country

The interview between these two men of somewhat similar character, though of diametrically opposite views on politics, is said to have been very impressive. It lasted two hours and those who were present reported that Brown exhibited a high order of uncultivated intellect in his conversation with the highly educated and polished governor of Virginia. It is said, also, that in the course of this interview, Brown foretold the utter destruction of Harper's Ferry to take place in a very short time – a prophecy which, if uttered at all, has met with a terrible and literal fulfillment. Brown, Wise and the group surrounding them while this conversation was in progress, would furnish a fine theme for a picture. The stern, old Puritan with his bleeding wounds and disordered dress, his long, gray beard and wild gleaming eyes, like some prophet of old, threatening the wrath of Heaven on a sinful generation, and the stately governor of Virginia reminding one of some cavalier of Naseby or Worcester – each firm and true as the blade he carried and each a type of the noble though fanatical race from which he sprang, would make an impressive picture and, perhaps, the scene will exercise, some day, the genius of a future painter.

On Wednesday night, October 19th, while the fever of excitement was yet at its height, a gentleman residing in Pleasant Valley, Maryland, about three miles from Harper's Ferry, heard a rumor that the "abolitionists" and the slaves were butchering the people around Rohrsville, a few miles farther up the same valley, and very properly gave notice of what he had heard, riding furiously through Sandy Hook, towards the centre of the trouble, the government armory. The people of Sandy Hook, men, women and children rushed wildly towards the same point for protection at the hands of the troops there assembled, while the people of Harper's Ferry were equally wild with this new excitement. The marines who were yet at the place turned out and marched to the point designated, where their appearance caused another and more reasonable alarm among the people there, who had not been disturbed by Brownites, white or black and who, for a long time, could not be convinced that the soldiers had come to protect and not molest them. Sandy Hook was totally deserted by its people on this occasion, and many of them hurried away whatever of their portable property they deemed most valuable. It is said that one man shouldered a half-grown hog of a favorite breed and made tracks to Harper's Ferry, and, as he and his neighbors scoured along the road, the squeals of the indignant pig blended harmoniously with the multifarious noises of the flying column. The marines, finding no enemy, returned to Harper's Ferry, but, for many weeks afterwards, similar alarms were started by nervous or mischievous people with nearly the same results.

Harper's Ferry was now patrolled every night by details of citizens until the execution of Brown, which took place near Charlestown, December 2d, 1859. Many a midnight tramp did the author take along the muddy streets that winter with an old Hall's rifle on his shoulder when his turn came to watch out for prowling abolitionists. The companion of his watch was a worthy Milesian gentleman named Dan. O'Keefe, from "the beautiful city called Cork." They made it a point to watch Dan's house particularly, through a very natural praiseworthy anxiety on the part of that gentleman for the safety of his better half and several pledges of love presented from time to time by that excellent lady to her lord and master, as well as for the sake of a corpulent flask which the hospitable Hibernian never failed to produce from a cupboard, near the door, when in their rounds, they came to his house. As the night and the contents of the flask waned, the courage of the brothers-in-arms arose and it is fortunate, perhaps, for the fame of Horatius Cocles, Leonidas and other celebrated defenders of bridges or passes that no abolitionists attempted to cross to "the sacred soil of Virginia" while those worthies were on guard and full of patriotic enthusiasm and whiskey punch. No doubt, their exploits would have eclipsed those of the above mentioned Roman and Greek and of anybody else who has gained celebrity by blocking the passage of an enemy. Several companies of armorers were organized for the defense of the place and, once a week did they display all "the pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war" marching and countermarching along the streets, to the delight of the ladies, the children and, no doubt, of themselves, as well as to the terror of any book peddler from the north who might be in the neighborhood and who might reasonably be suspected of being opposed to slavery. A force of United States troops under Captain Seth Barton, afterwards prominent in the service of the confederacy, was stationed at Harper's Ferry and, gradually, quiet was restored. A Milesian warrior, named Sergeant McGrath of the above troop was detailed to instruct the awkward squad of citizens in the manual of arms and his deep Munster Doric could be heard on parade evenings thundering his commands to refractory recruits.

Cook and another of Brown's party, named Albert Hazlett, were arrested in Pennsylvania and brought back to Virginia on requisitions. This circumstance furnished a lesson to the fanatics who unhappily abounded on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line. To the southern men it ought to have proved that the people of the north did not sympathize to any great extent with the invaders of Virginia and to the northern people who expressed themselves as being shocked at the want of clemency exhibited by the state of Virginia on this occasion, it showed that among themselves were men who were ready to deliver over Brown's party to the tender mercies of the slave holders for the sake of a few hundred dollars offered as a reward for this service.

Cook and another white man, named Edwin Coppic, with two negroes, named Green and Copeland, were executed on the 16th of December, in the same year and Hazlett and Aaron D. Stevens – both white – met the same fate on the 16th of March, 1860.

Brown's trial was, of course, a mere matter of form. He took no pains to extenuate his guilt and openly avowed that he desired no favors from the state of Virginia. Two young lawyers of Boston, named Hoyt and Sennott, volunteered to defend him and they acquitted themselves creditably. The Honorable Samuel Chilton, of Washington City, was employed for the defense by John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, afterwards governor of that state, but, of course nothing could save the prisoner and he was executed as before stated.

Brown died with unshaken fortitude and, bitter as the animosity against him was, his courage or rather his stoic indifference elicited the admiration of even his unrelenting enemies. Indeed it is difficult at the present time to do justice to the character of this remarkable man, but, no doubt, the future historian of this country who will write when the passions that excite us have subsided or, perhaps, are forgotten will class him with the Scotch Covenanters of the 17th century. It appears to the writer that in many respects John Brown very closely resembled John Balfour, of Burly, whose character is so finely portrayed in Scott's "Old Mortality." The same strong will and iron nerve and the same fanaticism characterized these two men and it must be said of both, for Burly's character is taken from life – that, while no sane person can wholly approve of their actions, their most implacable opponents cannot deny a tribute of respect to their unflinching courage. The other prisoners, also, died bravely and, indeed, it was a melancholy thing to see men of so much strength of character lose their lives in such a foolish undertaking – foolish, as far as the limited facilities of man can reach – but wise, perhaps, could men understand the workings of Him "whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways." In judging of this invasion it is well to remember that everything which John Brown proposed to do was successfully accomplished within five years from the day of his execution, and who can tell how much active providential interference there was in this apparently wild and lawless enterprise?

An attempt to escape was made by Cook and Coppic on the night before their execution. By some means they succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the cell watch and in climbing the outer wall of the prison when they were challenged by a citizen guard who was posted outside and their further progress was prevented. The name of the sentinel who discovered them in their flight was Thomas Guard and many jokes and puns were perpetrated for months afterwards on the coincidence. They were taken back immediately to their cell and closely guarded 'til morning.

A characteristic anecdote was told by the late Mr. James Campbell, who was sheriff of Jefferson county at the time of the Brown troubles. It will be remembered that, on the morning of the raid, Brown got breakfast for his men at Fouke's hotel and that, in liquidation, he restored to liberty Walter Kemp, the bartender, whom he had taken prisoner. A short time before Brown's execution Sheriff Campbell sold some property belonging to Brown which was found at the Kennedy farm and was accounting to him for it, and naming some claims presented against him by various parties with whom Brown had had dealings. Among these claims was one of Mr. Fouke for the refreshments mentioned. Brown was reclining on his bed, not having yet recovered from his wounds, and, no doubt, with his spirit darkened by the shadow of his impending fate. He listened apathetically to the list of debts, until that of Mr. Fouke was mentioned when he suddenly rose up and protested against this demand. "Why, Mr. Campbell," said he, "I made a fair exchange with Mr. Fouke; I restored to him his bartender as pay for the meals referred to, and I do not think it honorable in him to violate the contract." Mr. Campbell replied: "Why, Mr. Brown, I wonder at you. I thought you were opposed to trading in human flesh, but, now, I find that even you will do it, like other people, when it suits your convenience." A grim smile played for a moment 'round the old Puritan's firmly compressed mouth. He lay down again quietly and remarked "Well, there may be something in that, too." He made no further opposition to the claim. A part of the property disposed of by Sheriff Campbell was a horse which Brown had bought from a Harper's Ferry horse trader. In the transaction Brown had been badly bitten, as the animal was nearly valueless and, on the day of the raid the old man made particular inquiries about the tricky trader. The latter was warned of his danger and took care not to encounter his victim, who, with all the solemn thoughts of a great national uprising, and the fearful risk of his undertaking, was yet smarting from the petty deception put on him in the sale and eager to take vengeance for it.

On the morning of his execution he bade an affectionate farewell to his fellow captives with the exception of Cook whom he charged with having deceived him, and Hazlett of whom he denied any knowledge. It is said that he gave to each of them, with the exceptions noted, a silver quarter of a dollar, as a memento and told them to meet their fate courageously. His pretense not to know Hazlett was understood to be for the benefit of the latter whose trial had not yet come off. Hazlett stoutly denied that he knew anything of Brown or that he was connected in any way with the raid on Harper's Ferry. It will be remembered that he was arrested in Pennsylvania, some time after the invasion, and, of course, his defense, if he had any, was an alibi. A very absurd story was published about Brown's taking a colored baby from its mother's arms at the scaffold and kissing it. No colored person of either sex would dare to approach the scene of the execution. The slaves were frightened and bewildered so thoroughly at the time that their sole aim was to avoid the public eye as much as possible but the paragraph promised to take well and the reporter was not disappointed.

Brown's wife arrived at Harper's Ferry shortly before his execution and, to her his body was delivered for burial. He was interred at North Elba, in the State of New York, where he had resided for some years. His wife was a rather intelligent woman and she did not appear to sympathize with her husband's wild notions on the subject of slavery. In conversation with a citizen of Harper's Ferry she expressed an opinion that Brown had contemplated this or a similar attack for thirty years, although he had never mentioned the subject to her. The bodies of Cook, Coppic, Hazlett and Stevens, also, were delivered to friends, and it is said that the last named two are buried near the residence of a benevolent lady of the Society of Friends in New Jersey. She had always sympathized with their cause and she provided their remains with the only thing now needed – a decent burial.

Many anecdotes of John Brown are told in the neighborhood of the Kennedy farm where he and his party resided during the greater part of the summer previous to the attack, and they serve to illustrate the character of this extraordinary man. Whenever he killed an animal for his own use and that of his men he invariably sent a portion of it to some of his neighbors, many of whom were poor and sorely in need of such attentions. In other respects, also, especially in his love for children, he exhibited a kindness of heart which made him to be much liked by all who knew him. He was very regular in his attendance at church exercises and his piety was undoubtedly genuine, as will appear from the following: Once, a large crowd had assembled in a log schoolhouse to listen to an itinerant preacher. The minister made but a very poor show and his sermon was considered, even in that unsophisticated region, as far below mediocrity. John Brown or Isaac Smith, as he was then called, was one of the audience and, all through the sermon he kept his eyes riveted on the preacher and appeared to be totally absorbed in attention, as much so, indeed, as if the pulpit was occupied by Henry Ward Beecher or some other far famed divine. When the sermon was concluded one of Brown's neighbors in the audience made some jocular remark about the preacher and the discourse and asked Brown if, ever before, he had heard such trash from a pulpit. "Sir," said the stern old man. "When I come to hear the word of God, I do not propose to criticize the preaching of His minister. I recognize the Master, humble as the servant may be, and I respect His word, though coming from the mouth of an obscure and illiterate man."

On the other hand he sometimes savored strongly of blasphemy, whenever religious dogmas or tenets appeared to clash in any way with his favorite hobby. After his conviction many preachers of various denominations offered him the consolation of religion according to their particular rites. At their introduction to him Brown always asked these gentlemen: "Do you approve of slavery?" As the answer at that time was sure to be in the affirmative for not even a minister of the Gospel dared then to hint at any sin in "the institution" – he refused to receive their services, preferring to go before his God unshriven to accepting the ministrations of slavery-loving preachers. One reverend gentleman remarked to him that Saint Paul himself had sent back a fugitive slave to his master, when Brown, with his dark eye ablaze said: "Then Saint Paul was no better than you are." And in this spirit he entered the great unknown, where it is to be hoped that honest convictions receive at least as much honor as well conned creeds, learned by rote, and often wanting in the great essential – an active charity.

The gallows on which Brown was hung must have been a vast fabric and the rope used must have been as long as the Equinoctial Line, or, else, both had some miraculous powers of reproduction. Of the many thousands of soldiers who were stationed from time to time in Jefferson county, from the day of Brown's execution till the last regiment disappeared, more than a year after the war, almost every other man had a portion of either as a souvenir of his sojourn in Virginia. The writer saw pieces of wood and fragments of rope purporting to have formed parts of them – enough to build and rig a large man-of-war. If the soldiers believed they had genuine relics they were as well contented as they would be if they had the reality and it would be cruel to undeceive them. The true history of that scaffold is as follows: It was built by a carpenter of Charlestown, named David Cockerell, expressly for the execution of Brown. When this purpose was accomplished the builder took it to his home, and put it away as a curiosity. When the war broke out Cockerell joined the confederate army and acted as engineer on the staff of Stonewall Jackson. Fearing that in his absence from home his family might be annoyed by soldiers coming to see the relic or, if possible, to steal it, he ordered it to be built into a porch attached to the house and the whole structure to be painted in the same color so that no stranger could guess at anything beyond the common in the ordinary looking porch. Cockerell died some years after the war, and it is said that his heirs disposed of the famous scaffold to some Washington City speculators, who proposed to exhibit it at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The writer gives this history of the scaffold as he has received it from trustworthy sources. For several months after the raid a brisk trade was prosecuted by the boys of Harper's Ferry selling "John Brown pikes" to railroad passengers who, every day now stopped at the station from curiosity and, as the number of genuine pikes was not very large, the stock must have been exhausted in a very short time. It is said, however, that some ingenious and enterprising blacksmiths in the neighborhood devoted much of their time and capital to the manufacture of imitations, and it is certain that the number of pikes sold to strangers exceeded, by a great many, the number supposed to have been captured at Brown's headquarters.

The names of the invaders, as well as could be ascertained, were as follows: John Brown, Watson Brown, Oliver Brown, Owen Brown, Aaron D. Stevens, Edwin Coppic, Barclay Coppic, Albert Hazlett, John E. Cook, Stuart Taylor, William Lehman, William Thompson, John Henrie Kagi, Charles P. Tydd, Oliver Anderson, Jeremiah Anderson, 'Dolph Thompson, Dangerfield Newby, Shields Greene alias "Emperor," John Copeland and Lewis Leary, of whom the last four were negroes or Mulattoes.

John Brown was, at the time of the raid, fifty-nine years old. He was about five feet and eleven inches in height, large boned and muscular, but not fleshy, and he gave indications of having possessed in his youth great physical strength. His hair had been a dark brown, but at this period it was gray. His beard was very long and, on the day of the raid, it hung in snowy waves to his breast and helped to give to his aquiline features a singularly wild appearance. His eyes were of a dark hazel and burned with a peculiar light that gave promise of a quick temper and a daring courage. His head, as it appeared to the writer, was of a conical shape, and, on the whole, his physique well corresponded with the traits of his character. The portrait of him in this book is an admirable likeness. He was a native of Connecticut, but he had resided for many years in the states of New York and Ohio where, it is said, he was a rather extensive and successful wool-grower. He was twice married and he had a very large family of sons and daughters, the most of whom were married. He emigrated to Kansas at an early period in the history of that territory and he was an acknowledged leader in the civil broils which distracted that region for several years. Of course, various opinions were entertained concerning him – the Free Soil men considering him a hero, and the pro-slavery people regarding or affecting to regard him as a demon incarnate. It is said that, in 1851, he visited Europe with the ostensible purpose of exhibiting samples of wool, but in reality to study the science of earth fortifications and gain military knowledge to be made available in a servile war which he designed to excite at a suitable opportunity. He certainly suffered a great deal in Kansas – losing one of his sons, Frederick, and a considerable amount of property in fighting the southern settlers, and it is probable that a bitterness of feeling on this account mingled with his natural hatred of slavery.

There was confusion respecting the identity of his two sons – Watson and Oliver. They were both mortally wounded on the 17th. One of them, supposedly, a young man apparently about twenty-three years of age, of low stature, with fair hair and blue eyes, was shot in the stomach and died in the course of the night in the engine house, while the party had still possession of it. It is said that he suffered terrible agony and that he called on his companions to put him out of pain by shooting him. His father, however, manifested no feeling on the occasion beyond remarking to his boy that "he must have patience; that he was dying in a good cause, and that he should meet his fate like a brave man." The other was a tall man, about six feet in height, with very black hair. He, also, as before stated, was wounded in the skirmish of the 17th, and he died next morning, after the marines got possession of the engine house. He was one of the two men who were wounded from "the Gault house." When he died his father was a prisoner and badly wounded. On learning that one of his men had died a few minutes before, he sent out to inquire if it was his son and, on being informed that it was, he manifested the same stoicism and made a remark similar to the one of the previous night, when the other son was dying – that the cause was good and that it was glorious to die for its sake. When the news reached him he was engaged in the interview with Governor Wise. After satisfying himself as to the identity of the man just deceased, he resumed his conversation with the governor, as if nothing had happened which was calculated in the least to discompose him. As before noted, there is a doubt with the people of Harper's Ferry as to which of these two men was Oliver and which was Watson, and, indeed, whether or not the fair-haired youth was his son at all.

Owen Brown was one of those detailed to operate in Maryland. He was not in the skirmish, and he made his escape and was not seen again in Virginia or Maryland. The writer has no knowledge of his appearance or age.

Aaron D. Stevens was a remarkably fine looking young man of about thirty years of age. He was about five feet and ten inches in height, heavily built and of great symmetry of form. His hair was black and his eyes of dark hazel had a very penetrating glance. He was said to be a desperate character and, as it was reported that he had suggested to Brown the murder of the prisoners and the firing of the village, there was greater animosity felt towards him than any of the others, except, perhaps, Captain Brown himself and Cook. He received several wounds in the skirmish and it was thought he could not survive them. In consequence of these injuries he was one of the last put on trial and executed. He was said to be a believer in spiritualism or spiritism which is, perhaps, the proper term. He was the one who was so badly wounded from "the Gault house" and who was taken to Fouke's hotel. Had he not been disabled, it is to be feared, from what is reported of him, that a massacre of the prisoners would have been perpetrated on his recommendation. Whatever his crimes may have been it is certain that he was a man of undaunted courage and iron nerve. While he lay at Fouke's hotel helpless from his wounds, a crowd of armed and frenzied citizens gathered 'round him, and it was with the utmost difficulty that a few of the less excited people succeeded in saving his life for the present. One man put the muzzle of his loaded gun to Stevens' head with the expressed determination to kill him instantly. Stevens was then unable to move a limb, but he fixed his terrible eyes on the would-be murderer and by the sheer force of the mysterious influence they possessed, he compelled the man to lower the weapon and refrain from carrying out his purpose. To this day the magnetized man avers that he cannot account for the irresistible fascination that bound him as with a spell.

Edwin Coppic or Coppie was a young man aged about twenty-four years, about five feet and six inches in height, compactly built and of a florid complexion. He was a very handsome youth, and for various reasons, great sympathy was felt for him by many. He was not wounded in the skirmish, but he was taken prisoner by the marines in the engine house. He had come from Iowa where resided his widowed mother, a pious old lady of the Society of Friends. He had been for a long time in the employ of a Mr. Thomas Gwynn, living near Tipton, Cedar county, in the above mentioned state. Mr. Gwynn was a farmer and merchant and Coppic assisted him as a farm laborer and "help" around his store. His employer was much attached to him and came to Charlestown for his remains, which he took with him to Iowa. After Coppic's conviction a petition was forwarded to the governor of Virginia, requesting executive clemency in his case. It was not successful, however, and he was executed as before stated. In conversation with a citizen of Harper's Ferry who interviewed him in his cell, Coppic said that, when he left his home in Iowa, he had no intention to enter on any expedition like the one against Virginia, but he confessed that his object was to induce slaves to leave their masters, and to aid them to escape.