Ohio History Journal

JOHN BROWN'S LAST LETTER

 

 

BY CLARENCE S. GEE

 

John Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame, sat in his

prison cell in Charlestown, Virginia (now West Vir-

ginia) on the morning of December 2nd, 1859, well

aware that he had not long to live. His trial had re-

sulted in a verdict against him and he was sentenced to

die on this date. In papers recently restored to the files

of the Circuit Court in Charlestown we find the original

verdict:

We the Jury find the defendant John. Brown, the prisoner at

the Bar guilty of Treason, advising and conspiring with slaves

and others to rebel & for murder in the first degree--

J. C. Wiltshire--foreman

He had about completed his arrangements. On the

previous day his wife had been permitted to visit him

for a brief time. She had come all the way from their

home in the Adirondacks, North Elba, New York, and

now awaited the further sad developments. Brown's

will had been drawn, a codicil was added, and other

matters cared for. Finding he still had time left to him,

he wrote one more letter. This was his last letter, and

was written to an old friend, Lora Case, in Hudson,

Ohio. There is always interest in "last" words.

Various material has been presented as John

Brown's "last work." F. B. Sanborn in his Life and

Letters of John Brown, page 617, speaks of a codicil to

(185)

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186      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the will as "undoubtedly the last work of the old hero

with his pen." He further suggests, on page 620 of the

same volume, that "possibly the very last paper written

by John Brown was the sentence, which he handed to one

of his guards in the jail on the morning of his execu-

tion:--

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 blood-

shed it might be done."

In his Recollections of Seventy Years, Sanborn pub-

lished the Lora Case letter. In recent years, as it be-

came more certain that this was really the "last letter"

of John Brown, interest in it increased. There were

facsimile copies available, but it was not known where

the original was located. Several claims to the posses-

sion of this valuable holograph were made, but each was

proved false. But the original has been found, and is

now in the possession of Mr. Thomas F. Madigan, 2

East 54th Street, New York City.

Before we trace its travels from the prison cell in

Charlestown to its present ownership, we present a copy

of the letter itself. It was previously published in the

Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Vol.

XXX, No. 3, July 1921, p. 284, in an article by C. B.

Galbreath. It appeared also in the New York Times,

February 13, 1929, p. 15.

Lora Case and John Brown were devoted friends.

The Browns and Cases both emigrated to Hudson, Ohio,

from Connecticut. John Brown came from Torrington

with his parents in 1805. Lora Case, son of Chauncey

and Cleopatra (Hayes) Case, came in 1814. He was

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John Brown's Last Letter            187 eleven years younger than John. In his "Reminis- cences," Lora Case speaks of his friend:

The first meeting-house in Hudson was a little log structure at the very center of the town. In this building I first went to church and Sunday School, and my first teacher was John Brown, whose soul goes marching on.

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188      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The two remained in close friendship throughout the

passing years, sharing a mutual hatred of slavery.

With no thought of the great value that some day

would attach itself to this communication, it was never-

theless cherished by appreciative friends. There were

many persons in Hudson who were deeply interested in

Brown, and many of his relatives still lived there at the

time of his execution.

Mr. Case added the following notation in his own

hand:

I received this letter of

John Brown Dec 10th 1859. Written on the day of execution.

LORA CASE. Born Nov 18th 1811.

He also added a photograph of John Brown on the

upper left-hand corner and one of himself on the upper

right-hand corner and had these framed with the letter.

He had six facsimile copies made. One of these is now

in the possession of Mrs. Mary Case of Hudson, Ohio.

Mr. F. W. Ashley, assistant librarian of the Library of

Congress, has stated recently that he had seen this let-

ter of John Brown to Lora Case hanging on the wall in

Mr. Case's house in Hudson over forty years ago.

Lora Case died on July 14, 1897. The John Brown

letter came into the possession of his daughter, Mary

E., the wife of Mr. Stiles E. Scott, of Hudson. The

writer, during his pastorate in Hudson, often talked

with Mr. Scott about the original letter to Mr. Case,

and what had become of it. Mr. Scott was unable

to state definitely what his wife had done with it. (At

this writing, September 23, 1930, Mr. Scott is still

living at Hudson). It was thought at one time that the

letter was owned by Newton B. Hobart, of the Taft

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John Brown's Last Letter            189

School, Watertown, Connecticut.    Several years ago

Mr. Hobart was Principal of the Academy in Hudson.

He has written recently concerning this question:

As a student and teacher I lived in Hudson, Ohio, from 1874

to 1892 and during that time knew intimately Lora Case, to whom

the letter was written. He showed it to me several times, and

finally, at my request, loaned it to me in order that I might make

a copy of it. It was probably this incident that gave rise to a

report that I had the letter, and several people and some libraries

wrote me about it. I never knew what disposition was made of

it after Lora Case's death.

It has been revealed that a man by the name of C.

P. Birge secured the letter from Mrs. Scott. Mr. Birge

lived as a boy in the Western Reserve, and was an in-

timate friend of the Case family. His mother is buried

at Brecksville, Ohio.  Mr. Birge later established his

home in Keokuk, Iowa, and thither went the John

Brown letter. He died in 1903. The letter then came

into the possession of his daughter, Mrs. William E.

Praeger, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Much of this in-

formation is furnished by Mr. Praeger in a letter to

Harlan N. Wood, now acting Headmaster of the West-

ern Reserve Academy at Hudson.

Mr. and Mrs. Praeger kept the letter for many

years. Finally, they decided to part with it. It was pur-

chased from them by Mr. Madigan, the present owner

of this American holograph of such great interest and

significance.

Thus, the last letter of John Brown has been found

at last.

Delaware, Ohio.

September 23, 1930,

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