# Happy Sesquicentennial of John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050 "2009-10-16T16:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/1 "2009-10-16T16:59:05Z")
Today (or technically tonight) is the 150th Anniversary of Brown’s takeover of Harper’s Ferry. I don’t think Hallmark has a card so… > [@](#): > > Go out and have a very merry > Sesqui-tastic celebration of Harper’s Ferry > So today to-work don’t be a slave > you’ll too soon be mouldering in the grave! > So crank up KANSAS on your IPod > Have some fun and recreation by God!!! There have been some really good articles on it in some history magazines, my favorite being AMERICAN HERITAGE’s account of the “[Secret Six](http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/johnbrown/secretsixdetails.html)”, the New England financial and moral supporters of Brown in New England, some of whom went into hiding for a time after HF for fear they’d be arrested. (One was Julia Ward Howe’s husband, who decided the news from HF was a good time to have a second honeymoon in Canada until it was determined there was nothing incriminating in his papers [which they found out by hiring him a defense lawyer- to go through his papers; Julia later referred to this as her own personal denial of Christ before the cock crew, which I’m guessing made her husband chuckled and remark “Julia said _cock_” but I don’t know that). Brown is a fascinating character if only for perceptions of him. I used to take for granted he was a crazed savage only slightly less mad than Manson. Having read more about him now, I still can’t see how anybody would call him a hero, but I don’t think he was insane except in the way that the very zealous of any persuasion are insane. That said I do believe he deserved hanging for his murders in Kansas if nothing else, but would love to hear other’s views if any. Three pieces of trivia about Brown and the Raid: 1- Brown was the father of 20 children (7 by his first wife, 13 by his second), many of whom were of course involved with his activities. 2- When arrested by Robert E. Lee Brown was holding (and ceremoniously surrendered) a sword given by Frederick the Great to George Washington; he had stolen it from Washington’s nephew earlier that week. 3- The song _John Brown’s Body_ wasn’t about him, not at first anyway. It was about Sergeant John Brown of the Second Battallion/Boston Light Infantry, an early Civil War casualty. Most people even then assumed it was about the abolitionist though, and today it might as well be. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/2 "2009-10-16T17:08:17Z")
I read [Flashman and the Angel of the Lord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_and_the_Angel_of_the_Lord) not too long ago, which was about that raid. Highly entertaining and informative, like all of Fraser’s books. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/3 "2009-10-16T19:13:18Z")
Bit of a hijack, but I started the thread, so… I’ve never read any of Fraser’s books. Do you need to read them in order or can you “start any Monday”? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/4 "2009-10-16T19:57:15Z")
Maybe I’ll go to the [John Brown house](http://www.ci.akron.oh.us/Tour/JBrown.htm)tomorrow to celebrate. He spent a lot of time around these parts. His father’s house is in [Hudson](http://www.hudsonlibrary.org/hudson%20website/Archives/Archives/Underground%20Railroad/ugrr.html) (scroll down to see some of his brothers’ places). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/5 "2009-10-16T20:21:24Z")
Martin Scorcese is producing a film version of [CLOUDSPLITTER](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudsplitter), a recent novel whose main character is (a very fictionalized version of) Brown’s son and lieutenant Owen. No word on casting yet; I’m trying to think of who is old enough/gaunt enough/charismatic enough to play Brown. (Everybody who met him, including those who hated him, agreed he was magnetic.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/6 "2009-10-16T20:38:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m trying to think of who is old enough/gaunt enough/charismatic enough to play Brown. Some names that came to mind: John Carradine, John Anderson, John Marley, Jeff Corey. . . all of whom are no longer available due to prior engagements. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/7 "2009-10-16T21:17:26Z")
Family mythology holds that I’m related to him. With 20 kids, that’s no surprise. I’ve always liked [this picture of him](http://click.si.edu/Image.aspx?image=802&story=273&back=Story). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/8 "2009-10-16T23:25:50Z")
My uncle used to own Brown’s cave hideout. filling\_pages, you owe my family back rent. 😉 (To clarify, he bought the water company in Harper’s Ferry and apparently the water company owned land that a cave used for storing material was on.) ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/9 "2009-10-17T00:43:16Z")
Thanks for the educational moment, Samp. As a west coast kid I had heard the name and context but hadn’t looked into the moment much. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/10 "2009-10-17T00:53:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Bit of a hijack, but I started the thread, so… > > I’ve never read any of Fraser’s books. Do you need to read them in order or can you “start any Monday”? “Start any Monday.” That’s one of the many great things about the Flashman series. Just jump in pretty much anywhere, like I did in the middle of the series. The sole exception to that I would say is read _Flash for Freedom_ before _Flashman and the Redskins_, but even then it’s not strictly necessary. The one mentioned above for John Brown and Harper’s Ferry, _Flashman and the Angel of the Lord_, has a lot of informative endnotes, like all the books. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/11 "2009-10-17T03:49:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Some names that came to mind: John Carradine, John Anderson, John Marley, Jeff Corey. . . all of whom are no longer available due to prior engagements. But Crispin Glover will be perfect in about ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/12 "2009-10-17T06:16:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Start any Monday.” That’s one of the many great things about the Flashman series. Just jump in pretty much anywhere, like I did in the middle of the series. The sole exception to that I would say is read _Flash for Freedom_ before _Flashman and the Redskins_, but even then it’s not strictly necessary. > > The one mentioned above for John Brown and Harper’s Ferry, _Flashman and the Angel of the Lord_, has a lot of informative endnotes, like all the books. Highly recommended. I concur; you can read them in any order (but I’d start with the first one if you can. You can certainly figure out what’s going on and who everyone is if you jump in in the middle of the series, but why not read the first one first and have it all explained to you!) ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/13 "2009-10-17T08:24:44Z")
I like Victor Hugo’s comment on his execution–“It is Washington killing Spartacus.” Another interesting fact is that Jesse Root Grant, Ulysses’s dad, lived for a time in the same house as John Brown while doing work for Brown’s father. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/14 "2009-10-17T15:39:42Z")
> [@Bernard\_Marx](#): > > I concur; you can read them in any order (but I’d start with the first one if you can. You can certainly figure out what’s going on and who everyone is if you jump in in the middle of the series, but why not read the first one first and have it all explained to you!) For me, someone here gave me his copy of _Flashman at the Charge_, so that was my first one. After that, it was a question of finding them in whatever order I could. There’s only two I’ve not read now, and I recently managed to obtain them – _Flashman and the Dragon_ and _Flashman and the Tiger_ – and I’ll be reading those soon. And then, it will be over. ☹ For the OP, I thought since he’s interested in the John Brown raid, _Flashman and the Angel of Death_ would be a good one to start with, since Flashman personally takes part in the raid. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/15 "2009-10-17T16:18:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But Crispin Glover will be perfect in about ten years. No votes for Clint Eastwood? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/16 "2009-10-17T17:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > No votes for Clint Eastwood? While Brown’s hair when gray at a relatively early age, he was not a particularly old man (he died at the age of 59). [This picture](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/07/John_brown_abo.jpg/506px-John_brown_abo.jpg) for example was taken in 1856, only three years before the Harpers Ferry raid and his death. And for comparison, [Crispin Glover](http://nuevocineespanol.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/crispin-glover-suited1.jpg) (who is currently 45). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/17 "2009-10-17T17:42:10Z")
I just always thought they shared that “upset eagle” look. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/18 "2009-10-17T18:14:28Z")
[The Old Man](http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?cPath=45&products_id=1619), a book by Truman Nelson, has recently been republished and I’m very much looking forward to reading it. The world needs a few more John Browns. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/19 "2009-10-17T20:27:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And for comparison, [Crispin Glover](http://nuevocineespanol.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/crispin-glover-suited1.jpg) (who is currently 45). Hmmm… not bad. I’m afraid they’ll go with Robert Duvall, who in addition to being too old for the part will probably use the same southern accent he used for _The Apostle_, _Lonesome Dove_, and every other role in which he played a southerner even though Brown wasn’t a southerner. Actors who’ve played him include Raymond Massey (in two very different movies- one as evil and insane, another as sympathetic, and on Broadway), Johnny Cash (in the godawful miniseries _North and South_) and- my personal favorite- Sterling Hayden in _tHE Blue and the Gray_. I can’t find a clip of Sterling as Brown online, but he gave [this interview](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwsKDBca-h4)to a French show while bearded for the part (about 1:50 in is where his part begins- he speaks English). ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050/20 "2009-10-17T20:28:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And then, it will be over. ☹ I can remember how excited I was after reading _Flashman_ when I realised that there wasn’t just one book - there was a whole series of them waiting to be read. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-sesquicentennial-of-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/514050.md?page=2)