Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Conditions for Access
- Conditions Governing Use
- Preferred Citation
- Acquisition Information
- Custodial History
- Scope and Content
- Scope and Content
- Other Descriptive Data
- Alternate Format Available
- Related Material
- Indexed Terms
- Citation/Reference
- Added Entry–Uniform Title
Collection Access
John Brown papers
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- John Brown papers
- Dates
- 1842-1928
- Creator
- Brown, John, 1800-1859
- Creator
- Adams, Annie Brown, 1843-1926
- Creator
- Brown, John, 1821-1895
- Creator
- Brown, Martha E. Brewster
- Creator
- Brown, Mary Ann Day, 1816-1884
- Creator
- Brown, Oliver, d. 1859
- Creator
- Brown, Owen
- Creator
- Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949
- Creator
- Sweet, Forest H.
- Creator
- Hicks, Thomas Holliday, 1798-1865
- Size
- approximately 95 items and 1 volume.
- Language
- Material is in English unless otherwise noted.
Conditions for Access
Advance appointment with special permission required to view John Brown's last note and his Bible. A photocopy of the note is available for research use; a microfilm of the Bible is available for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the archives for more information on licensing and permissions for use and reproduction.
Preferred Citation
A common citation for archives is as follows: Item, Folder number and/or title, Box number, Collection title, ID number, Repository name, location.
Acquisition Information
North, Paul 1960 August 1960.0255. Gift.
Custodial History
Gift of Frank G. Logan; Harriet Carpenter, 1924; Albert H. Sprague, 1944; and other persons; purchase from Forest H. Sweet and other persons.
Scope and Content
The papers contain twenty-seven items by John Brown, 1842-1859. Twelve items are letters to members of his family. They deal chiefly with personal and household matters. Three pieces are business letters on the sale of sheep and wool. Seven letters are fundraising notes and receipts for Brown's western expeditions. There is also Brown's draft of the articles of peace between Kansas and Missouri; a loyalty pledge taken by Brown's raiders; a printed copy of the provisional constitution for the establishment of a free state; the last note written by Brown on the day of his execution predicting the achievement of abolition through bloodshed; and a Bible used and inscribed by Brown during his imprisonment, authenticated by seven notarized affidavits.
Scope and Content
There also are twenty-three letters by members of the Brown family, 1851-1893. They consist of seven business letters by John Brown's son Oliver O. Brown, 1853-1857, dealing with land transactions, plus three letters on miscellaneous personal and family matters by his daughters and wife, 1851-1859. The collection also includes letters by Salmon P. Chase and Thomas H. Hicks, Governors of Ohio and Maryland, offering their cooperation in the capture of Brown's marauders; a poem, "the Burial of John Brown," by William Ellery Channing; and ten letters, 1909-1928, relative to the transcription and collection of John Brown materials by Frederick S. Wait, John Henry Parr, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Oswald Garrison Villard, and Forest H. Sweet.
Other Descriptive Data
The microfilm copy of the Bible is described separately in the online catalog under the title: Brown et al. microfilm of manuscript volumes in "A House Divided" exhibition.
Alternate Format Available
Microfilm of Bible available; Chicago History Museum, Research Center.
Descriptive inventory available online.
Indexed Terms
- Brown, John -- 1800-1859 -- Archives
- Brown, John -- 1800-1859 -- Death and burial
- Brown family
- DeLamarter, George B.
- Gleason, John P.
- Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History -- John Brown's Raid, 1859
- Abolitionists -- United States
- Antislavery movements -- United States
- Families -- United States -- 19th century
- Annotations
- Bibles
- Correspondence
Citation/Reference
NUCMC MS 62-1410.
Added Entry–Uniform Title
Bible English.