JOHN BROWN.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
BY C. B. GALBREATH.
JOHN BROWN'S FRIENDS IN WASHINGTON.
The following letter to John Brown,
Jr., which, so
far as we know, has never before been
published, states
clearly whom the writer regarded as
friends in Con-
gress. This letter is now of historic
interest only. Had
it been published at the time it was
written it would
doubtless have created some commotion
and have made
trouble for some of the congressmen
named. The let-
ter is here reproduced literally:
ROCHESTER N. Y. 5th Feby, 1858.
DEAR SON JOHN
Since writing you yesterday I have
thought of a way in
which I feel quite confident you might
raise for the secret service
from $500 to $1000, provided I can get
you at once to undertake
[it]. I have as I think a number
of valuable friends in Congress
Mr. Giddings, Dr. Chaffee of
Springfield, Gen John Dick of
Meadville Pa, Mr. Sherman (of the
investigating Committee)
from Ohio, Mr. Burlinggame from Mass.
& last but not least our
old friend Olin of Troy N Y. With all
these gentlemen I am
more or less acquainted. Mr. Olin
treated me with the utmost
respect, & kindness last Spring at
Troy; & promised to do all
in his power to assist me: but I was
obliged to go off without
seeing him again, as I expected. You know
him well, & would
meet a most cordial reception from him;
& through him, & others
you could get an introduction to all
persons at Washington that
you might desire an acquaintance with;
might see and even feel
the Lions; & perhaps form some most
valuable connections.
Mr. Burlingame gave me $50, at
Boston. I will in the end meet
the expense; & you can hardly
fail; to get enough for that while
there. You would I have no
doubt get at some good men
Vol. XXX - 22. (337)
338 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
through Dr. Bailey of the National Era.
You can say to our
friends that I am out from Kansas for
that express purpose. I
think Mr. Sherman & Giddings will
give You a good lift. Dr.
Chaffee, & Mr. Dick if you undertake
you must not be in too
great haste. I want to get good Maps
& State statistics of the
different Southern States I mean
State Maps: not too large; but
large ones might a number of them be
done up together. Eli
Thayer is a particular friend: I did not think of him at
first.
I have no doubt he would hook on his
team. You might find
friends at W who would give you some
that may be a little old:
that would be n[e]arly as good [as] any;
or sell them for a
trifle. You should have a full list of every member of either
House; or of all others; who might do any thing for
you. I have
no doubt but you would by diligence & patient
perseverence
fully succeed in rasing the wind:
besides getting wonderfully
posted up. Do not lisp my plans or
theories of any Kind; other
than by mere hints: to such friends
as will first commit them-
selves. You can say we are as
thor[ou]g[h] abolitionists as G.
Smith. Write me at once whether you will
undertake the job;
& if so how soon you can go as I may
want to see you first.
You can say I am keeping still.
Yours as ever
JB
KANSAS UNITED STATES SENATORS ON JOHN
BROWN.
Samuel C. Pomeroy was well acquainted
with John
Brown in Kansas and at times associated
with him in the
warfare against invaders from Missouri.
When Brown
was in prison at Charlestown, Pomeroy
visited him and
was very cordially welcomed. Afterward,
when the
raid at Harper's Ferry was investigated
by committee
of which Senator Mason of Virginia was
chairman,
Pomeroy was in the District of Columbia
awaiting an
opportunity to testify. In a letter he
declared that if
called upon he would defend John
Brown's actions in
Kansas regardless of what this might
cost him
politically. He defended Brown's act on
the Pottawa-
John Brown 339
tomie and declared that under the
circumstances he fully
approved it. "That one act," said he, "struck terror
into the hearts of our enemies and gave
us the dawning
of success."
Pomeroy's open defense of John Brown
does not
appear to have cost him much
politically, as he was
afterwards twice elected United States
Senator from
Kansas.
Senator John J. Ingalls in a tribute to
John Brown
said:
"Already the great intellectual
leaders of the movement for
the abolition of slavery are dead. The
student of the future will
exhume their orations, arguments and
state papers, as a part of
the subterranean history of the epoch.
The antiquarian will dig
up their remains from the alluvial drift
of the period, and con-
strue their relations to the great
events in which they were actors.
But the three men of this era who will
loom forever against the
remotest horizon of time, as the
pyramids above the voiceless
desert, or mountain-peaks over the
subordinate plains, are
Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and
old John Brown of
Osawatomie."
STORY OF THE SONG, "JOHN BROWN'S
BODY."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical
Magazine for
October, 1920, reproduces from The
Collector for June,
1910, the following account by J. H.
Jenkins of the
origin of the song "John Brown's
body lies moldering in
the grave":
"In the spring of 1861 the Twelfth
Regiment of Massachu-
setts Volunteer Infantry was stationed
at Fort Warren, Boston
Harbor.
Among the number were four sergeants, Eldredge,
Edgerley, John Brown and J. H. Jenkins,
who constituted a male
quartette, especial attention being
given to those patriotic airs
which were then stirring the hearts of
the boys in blue. Among
the favorite airs which seemed to have
the right swing was an
old campmeeting tune, to the words of
'Come brothers, will you
340
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
meet us,' and to this tune we proposed
to set martial words. The
Virginia tragedy of John Brown was fresh
in our minds, and was
emphasized the more by the martial ardor
of the little sergeant
of the same name. He used to speak of
'marching on' in the
spirit of his namesake, and so the first
verse sprang into being
spontaneously,
John Brown's body lies a moldering in
the grave,
His soul goes marching on.
"The second verse applies entirely
to Sergeant Brown. He
was very short, and was the butt of many
jokes from his com-
rades, when he appeared on parade with
his knapsack strapped
upon his back, overtopped by the neatly
rolled regulation over-
coat. He would answer back, 'Well, boys,
I'll go marching on
with the best of you.' So the second
verse was added, 'John
Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his
back, His soul goes
marching on.'
"The death of Col. Ellsworth at
Alexandria gave rise to the
third and fourth verses, his old Zouave
company going under the
soubriquet of 'The Pet Lambs,' while our
abhorrence of the
Rebellion found vent in our expressed
desire to 'Hang Jeff Davis
on a sour apple tree.'
"In this way the song with its five
verses was put together,
piecemeal, and when sung at night, in
the barracks, became im-
mensely popular.
"Every Saturday afternoon Gilmore's
Band came down from
the city to play for dress parade,
accompanied by crowds of
people in excursion steamers. One
Saturday the quartette took
P. S. Gilmore into one of the casemates,
and sang the tune to
him time and time again, while he played it on his
coronet, and
then noted the air in his band book. The
next Saturday, when
the regiment was at parade rest, the
band started down the long
front to the inspiring strains of 'John
Brown,' then played by a
band for the first time.
"When the regiment left Boston for
Harper's Ferry, it
stopped for dinner in City Hall Square,
New York. After din-
ner the line was reformed for the march
down Broadway to the
Ferry. When the order 'Forward march'
rang down the line, our
band struck up our favorite tune, the
regiment joined in the
refrain, and their steady tramp was
emphasized by the chorus
from a thousand throats of 'Glory
Hallelujah.' The song soon
became a national one, while in the Army
of the Potomac the
12th Mass. was known as the 'Hallelujah
Regiment.'"
John Brown 341
It is generally known that Julia Ward
Howe wrote
the Battle Hymn of the Republic to
the measure of the
John Brown song. She heard thousands of soldiers
singing with great fervor their battle
song and was
profoundly impressed. At the suggestion of a friend
that more appropriate words might be
written for the
music she composed her famous poem. The soldiers,
however, to the end of the war clung to
the words of
the John Brown song.