THE SHUBEL MORGAN PLUNDER COMPANY
_The angel wings were so dim and shadowy as to be scarcely
visible._--GEORGE B. GILL
In company with Kagi and Tidd, Brown arrived at Lawrence on the night of
June 27th, and, under the name of "Shubel Morgan" left the next day for
the zone of opportunity. The political situation in Kansas, or the
progress which the Free-State cause was making at that time, was no part
of his concern; and to so much as mention his name in connection
therewith, is to trifle with history. Writing to Mr. Sanborn from
Lawrence on the 28th, announcing his arrival in the Territory, he sent a
quick delivery order for some whistles. He said:[315]
... Can you send me by Express; Care of E. B. Whitman,
Esqr. half a Doz; or a full Doz whistles such as I
described? at once?
The above is the sole reference to Territorial affairs contained in this
letter; it may therefore be regarded as an epitome of his interest
therein; it is also an index to the character of the operations he
intended to engage in.
On July 9th, he wrote to his son John that he was now in the log cabin
of the "notorious James Montgomery" whom he deemed a very "brave and
talented officer." Montgomery was the author of the recrudescence, in
Linn and Bourbon counties, of the lawlessness of 1856. Disapproving of
the election, January 4, 1858, under the Lecompton Constitution, he
destroyed the ballot boxes in his district. His political relations with
the pro-slavery settlers in Linn County becoming strained, he served
notice on them to leave the Territory, and compelled them to seek refuge
in Missouri. A troop of cavalry being sent to arrest him, he, with seven
others, opened fire upon it from the timber, killing one enlisted man
and wounding the captain--George T. Anderson, First United States
Cavalry--and two others.
While the Free-State men greatly admired Montgomery's prowess, they
balked at the retaliatory operations his actions provoked. The
deliberate killing of five Free-State men and the wounding of five more
on the Marias des Cygnes May 19th, by Charles A. Hamilton, caused them
to reflect, seriously, upon the situation. Even if Montgomery had
succeeded in burning Fort Scott, in retaliation for these murders, it
could not have brought the dead back to life. The settlers therefore,
regardless of political sentiment, united in an effort to tranquilize
matters. Governor Denver appeared upon the scene in company with Charles
Robinson and Judge J. W. Wright, in an earnest effort to secure a
general pacification. June 14th, at a mass-meeting held at Fort Scott, a
treaty of peace was negotiated. It was called the Denver Treaty. It
provided that "by-gones should be by-gones" as far as possible; that the
Federal troops at Fort Scott should be removed; that militia should be
stationed along the border, to prevent further invasions from Missouri;
and that all other armed companies should withdraw from the field. "This
compact was religiously adhered to during the summer and fall."[316]
Brown found upon his arrival in the recently distracted district that
the Free-State settlers desired peace, and had so publicly declared, and
that in response to their wishes Montgomery had disbanded his band of
raiders. But with the Free-State settlers' wishes, and with their
material and political welfare Brown had no concern. His interests were
distinct from theirs. He came not to serve them, nor to serve the
Free-State cause, but to use them and the Free-State sentiment, as a
shield to protect him from violence while in pursuit of the criminal
operations in which he intended to engage. It was a continuation of the
graft, upon the Free-State cause, which he was professionally working.
Stealthily and in disguise he came into this settlement, and by stealth
he proceeded to execute the purposes for which he came.
Disregarding the settlers' peace treaty and Montgomery's example, Brown
proceeded to organize a company, or pretended that he organized one, and
drew up a paper entitled "Articles of Agreement" for Shubel Morgan's
Company. However, in view of the character of some of the men whose
names appear upon the roll of its membership, and because of the nature
of the business which Brown actually engaged in thereafter, as well as
the personality of the men whom he really directed, it probably was
merely a paper organization gotten up for the delectation of his Eastern
friends, male and female. The articles are as follows:
We, the undersigned members of Shubel Morgan's Company,
hereby agree to be governed by the following Rules:
1. A gentlemanly and respectful deportment shall at all
times and places be maintained toward all persons; and all
profane or indecent language shall be avoided in all cases.
2. No intoxicating drinks shall be used as a beverage by
any member or be suffered in camp for such purpose.
3. No member shall leave camp without leave of the
Commander.
4. All property captured in any manner shall be subjected
to equal distribution among the members.
5. All acts of petty or other thefts shall be promptly and
properly punished, and restitution made as far as possible.
6. All members shall, so far as able, contribute equally to
all necessary labor in or out of camp.
7. All prisoners who shall properly demean themselves shall
be treated with kindness and respect, and shall be
punished for crime only after trial and conviction, being
allowed a hearing in defense.
8. Implicit obedience shall be yielded to all proper orders
of the commander or other superior officer.
9. All arms, ammunition, etc., not strictly private
property shall ever be subject to, and delivered up, on the
order of the commander.
Names Date 1858
Shubel Morgan July 12
C. P. Tidd " 12
J. H. Kagi " 12
A. Wattles " 12
Samuelson Stevenson " 12
J. Montgomery " 12
T. Homyr " 12
Simon Snyder " 14
E. W. Snyder " 15
Elias Snyder " 15
John H. Snyder " 15
Adam Bishop " 15
William Hairgrove " 15
John Mikel " 15
William Partridge " 15
After his arrival, Brown spent some time upon the tract of land upon
which the Hamilton massacre had taken place. It belonged to Mr. Eli
Snyder, a blacksmith, and Brown entered into negotiations with him to
purchase his claim to it. Nothing came of the dealings, and it is not
probable that Brown was very much in earnest upon the subject. While he
remained with Snyder he made a reconnoissance into Missouri for the
purpose of obtaining information that would be of use to him in his
planning for future operations.[317]
In the meantime, Stevens and Gill reported for duty. The following named
persons then comprised his band: Kagi, Tidd, Owen Brown, Gill, and
Stevens; Albert Hazlett and Jeremiah G. Anderson joined later.
Just what Brown and his captains did during the first five months of
their sojourn in the Territory has not been made public. Many pages of
very irrelevant matter, containing very few facts, have been put forth
upon the subject; but from the scraps of evidence occurring in the
garbled accounts that have been published concerning their doings, they
seem to have been engaged in stealing horses; but no big robbery was
undertaken until in December.
On July 20th, Brown began a letter to Mr. Sanborn which he completed
August 6th, in which he said[318] that they would soon be in want of a
small amount of money "_to feed us_. We cannot," he said, "work _for
wages_; & provisions _are not_ easily obtained on the frontier." He also
gave out the information that a portion of his men were "in other
neighborhoods." In response to this request for money, Mr. Sanborn, on
August 25th, sent him Gerrit Smith's check for fifty dollars. This check
Brown enclosed to his wife, endorsed to Watson Brown, in a letter to her
September 17th.[319] Because Brown returned this money to the East, it
may be inferred that the urgency for money had been tided over; that the
crisis had passed by the time Mr. Sanborn's letter with the check
arrived; that money had been received from some other source, and that
he did not need it then, "_to feed us_." It is also noticeable that his
men, who were "in other neighborhoods," and could "not work for wages,"
managed to obtain a sufficient amount of money to supply their personal
needs in some other way. The exact character of these pursuits has not
been stated, but the conditions under which they acquired their living
have been made public, in an incidental way, and they were by no means
ideal. They seem to have worked the Territory in pairs. Mr. Gill,
speaking for himself and Mr. Kagi, said,[320] equivocally: "Sometimes
one had the ague, sometimes both. Sometimes we fished, sometimes we had
our supper and beds; at other times we went supperless and took the
prairie for our bed with the blue arch for our covering."
It would perhaps be called harshness to say, at this time, that John
Brown and his men were a band of horse thieves, although Mr. Villard
does say that one of them, "Pickles, was a well known horse thief;" and
it has been more than intimated, within the writer's hearing, that
Charles Jennison, who joined the band temporarily, while indulging a
_penchant_ for horses generally, was neither solicitous about his title
to them, nor about the manner of getting possession of them. As a story
tells it, one of the "psalms" sung by these humanitarians had special
reference to Jennison; it ran in this way:
Am I soldier of the boss--
A follower of Jim Lane?
And shall I fear to steal a hoss
Or blush to ride the same?
We are also told that Mr. Albert Hazlett "picked up a fine stallion down
in Missouri."[321] And Mr. Gill, in a letter to Colonel Hinton,[322]
speaks of a trip which he and Brown were on during several days, but
does not state the nature of their adventures. Brown was ill a part of
the summer; and for several weeks was seriously so, in the home of Mr.
Adair at Osawatomie, where he was cared for by the faithful Kagi. The
latter wrote to his sister that he was compelled to "lay off" at
Osawatomie, for a month, on account of this. He laid off from "fishing,"
and from sleeping on the prairie, with the "blue arch for a covering."
It seems, however, that before Brown was taken ill, he had been doing
some of this speculative or professional business himself; in fact he
attributed his illness to the exposure which he had been subjected to,
while engaged in it, whatever it may have been--"fishing" or other
employment. He related to Mr. Sanborn, in his letter of July 20th-August
6th: "Have been down with ague since last date, and had no safe way to
get off my letter. I had lain every night without shelter, suffering
from cold rains and heavy dews, together with the oppressive heat of the
day." It appears, from this statement, that Brown also had had
engagements in other neighborhoods, for, in his own neighborhood,
"deserted farms and dwellings lay in all directions for some
miles,"[323] and he could easily have taken shelter in some of them. It
is evident, too, that wherever he may have been, his circumstances were
such that he could not call upon the settlers, in such neighborhoods,
and ask for shelter and accept from them such hospitality and
entertainment as settlers are wont to give, or he would have done so.
His condition seems to have been similar to the condition which horse
thieves are in, when they have stolen horses in their possession: they
cannot safely ask for shelter and other entertainment and have to lie
out at night, and suffer from cold rains, if there happen to be any, and
from heavy dews. It is to be regretted that Brown's later biographer did
not secure from Salmon Brown a statement concerning the doings of Brown
and his captains, while they were operating in Kansas. It transpired,
however, that Brown encouraged horse stealing by his subordinates.
Reference has been made to the fine stallion which Hazlett had "picked
up" down in Missouri. Mr. Gill, in his narrative about this matter,
states that Brown bought this fine horse from Hazlett; giving him, in
exchange for it, a United States land warrant for forty acres of land,
that had been donated to Brown by Gerrit Smith; and that he afterward
sold the horse, by auction, at Cleveland.
After recovering from his illness, Brown made a number of trips to
Lawrence, where he had some controversy with the National Kansas
Committee, for which he assumed to act as agent; not only without
authority from it to do so, but in opposition to its expressed wishes.
The committee, through its agent, Mr. E. B. Whitman, at Lawrence, had
made advances, for necessary supplies, to many Kansas settlers, taking
their notes for account of the same. Some of these notes had been given
to Mr. Stearns, as security for money which he had advanced to the
committee, and Stearns had given them to Brown, or sent them to him, for
collection. It appears that the notes had not been endorsed and made
payable to Mr. Stearns, and that the ownership of them was still in the
committee. But Brown, when surrendering the notes to the makers, upon
payment to him, cured that defect and extinguished the committee's title
by acknowledging payment to him, as its agent. October 26th, Mr. H. B.
Hurd repudiated Brown's agency in a letter to Mr. Whitman. He said:
"Capt. John Brown has no authority to take, receive, collect or transfer
any notes or accounts belonging to the National Kansas Committee, nor
ever has had, nor will such dealings be recognized or sanctioned by our
committee."[324] Of course, Brown kept the money he thus collected. He
had an offset against the committee. He claimed that it owed him five
thousand dollars. Under its resolution of January 24, 1857, it had
"voted $5000 in aid of Capt. John Brown in any defensive measures that
become necessary" in Kansas. Brown was then engaged in "defensive"
measures or operations, as has been related, and from his point of view
he had earned the right to claim this money.
During the latter part of October, Montgomery again made things
interesting for his neighborhood. Alleging violation of the Denver Peace
Treaty, he entered the court-house at Fort Scott, while the grand jury
was in session, took possession of the papers it was considering,
destroyed them, and compelled it to adjourn. On the night of October
30th, a very weak attempt, or an alleged attempt, was made to
assassinate Montgomery; a party, supposed to be pro-slavery men firing a
volley into his cabin. Because of this it was decided to fortify it;
Gill, Tidd, and Stevens doing most of the work. Brown "indulging in his
favorite occupation of cooking."[325] The incident may have been a
_ruse-de-guerre_. Having heard that he had been indicted by a
pro-slavery jury, at Paris, for the ballot-box affair in January,
Montgomery, on November 13th, went there with a party and made an
unsuccessful search for the records. He invited Brown to join him. The
latter did so, but remained "on the outskirts of the town" while the
searching was being done. After this adventure, Acting Governor Walsh
wrote the department suggesting that a reward of $300 and $500 be
offered respectively, for the arrest of Montgomery and Brown; such a
reward, he thought, "would either effect their arrest or drive them from
the Territory."[326]
On December 6th, a joint meeting of Free-State and pro-slavery men was
held at Sugar Mound, in Linn County, to adopt a peace agreement to
replace the Denver Treaty, which the Free-State men claimed had been
violated by the court proceedings against Montgomery; the attack upon
his life on the night of October 30th, etc. The resolutions were drafted
by Brown, and Montgomery presented them to the meeting. They were
adopted, after some modification.[327] The preamble recites that "the
citizens of Linn County, assembled in mass meeting at Mound City, being
greatly desirous of securing a permanent peace to the people of the
Territory generally, and to those along the border of Missouri in
particular, have this day entered into the following agreement and
understanding, for our future guidance and actions." The articles
provide that all criminal processes, pending against Free-State men,
growing out of difficulties with pro-slavery parties, shall be forever
discontinued and quashed; that all Free-State men held in confinement,
on account of similar difficulties, shall be immediately released.
Article 4 covered a very wide range. It provided that "No troops,
marshal or other officers of the General Government, shall be either
sent or called in, to enforce or serve criminal processes against any
Free-State man or men on account of troubles heretofore existing for any
act prior to this date." A "recommendation" that was unanimously agreed
to was, "that we earnestly recommend that all those who have recently
taken money, or other property, from _peaceable_ citizens within this
county, immediately restore the same to their proper owners."
Brown was not sincere in his participation in this meeting as an
advocate for peace. His plans were already formed for a grand _coup_, to
raise money. He intended to do something spectacular--something that
would be worthy of his name and of his reputation. The homes that he
intended to plunder had been selected long before, and the premises in
each case thoroughly reconnoitered. All the essential details had been
provided for. He was simply waiting, at this time, in a state of
expectancy, for the psychological moment to arrive: then he intended to
strike. September 10th, he wrote to Mr. Sanborn:
Before I was taken sick there was every prospect of some
business very soon, and there is some now that requires
doing. I have but fourteen regularly employed hands, the
most of whom are now at common work, and some are sick. How
we travel may not be best to write. I have met the
notorious Montgomery and think very favorably of him.[328]
October 11th, he wrote to his wife from Osawatomie: "... I can now see
no good reason why I should not be located nearer home, as soon as I can
collect the means for defraying the expenses. I still intend sending you
some further help, as soon as I can. Will write you how to direct to me
hereafter."[329] November 1st, he wrote to her from Moneka: "I shall
write you where to direct when I know where to do so." From these
letters it appears that his plans were complete except as to the date
for the execution of them. December 2d, he wrote to his family as
follows:[330]
I have just this moment returned from the South where the
prospect of quiet was probably never so poor. Other parts
of the Territory are undisturbed and may very likely remain
so; unless drawn into the quarrel of the border counties. I
expect to go South again immediately.... When I wrote you
last I thought the prospect was that I should soon shift my
quarters somewhat. I still have the same prospect, but am
wholly at a loss as to the exact time.
His opportunity came December 16th,[331] when Montgomery, with a force
of nearly one hundred men, marched upon Fort Scott, to effect the
release of Mr. Benjamin Rice, who had been arrested November 16th, in
violation of the by-gones-to-be-by-gones provision of the treaty of June
15th; and had not been released after the adoption of the Sugar Mound
Treaty of December 6th. In this exploit a merchant of Fort Scott, Mr. J.
H. Little, was killed, and his store robbed of goods amounting to about
seven thousand dollars. Montgomery organized his company for this raid
December 14th, and, upon invitation, Brown, Stevens, and Kagi joined in
the expedition. Stevens and Kagi took part in the affair; Stevens being
charged, by some writers, with having killed Little. But Brown, "with
his customary dislike to serve under another," or probably, because of
his higher responsibilities, took no part in the attack. He went "only
as far as the rendezvous" at the Wimsett farm, where he probably
received his share of the loot.
Returning on the 19th, he collected his men, and on the night of the
20th, executed his famous raid into Missouri. The party operated in two
divisions--one under Brown's direction and the other under Stevens's
orders. With Brown were Charles Jennison, Jeremiah Anderson, Geo. B.
Gill, Kagi, and three or four others. This party was to rob the
plantations of Mr. Harvey B. Hicklan and Mr. John Larue. The latter
lived about three-fourths of a mile from the Hicklan home. With the
Stevens party were Tidd, Hazlett, and five others. This band was to rob
the places of David Cruise and Hugh Martin. Cruise, in addition to his
other possessions, had a slave girl that Stevens wanted--and got--but
not until after he had killed Cruise. A statement by Stevens, made at
the Kennedy farm, in Maryland, furnishes all the information that exists
concerning the details of the murder. He is reported as saying[332] that
he went to the cabin and demanded the girl; that the old man asked him
to come inside, which he thoughtlessly did, and that then the old man
slipped behind him and "pulled a gun." That it then became a case of
"shoot first. You might call it a case of self defense, or you might say
that I had no business in there and that the old man was right."
Brown's party arrived at the Hicklan home at midnight, forced the door
open, and with pointed revolvers intimidated Hicklan, and proceeded to
plunder the establishment. Mr. Gill, who appears to have been in charge
of the ethics of the occasion, says, that in spite of his efforts to
restrain the men, they took practically everything that was in sight.
"Some of our men," he said, "proved to be mere adventurers, ready to
take from friend or foe as opportunity offered." This statement, by one
who knew whereof he spoke, is the clearest exposition of the character
of Brown's thefts that has been made. The robbery on the night of
December 20, 1858, was his final transaction of that character. All of
the property stolen by him during that night belonged to pro-slavery
men. Therefore, Mr. Gill's knowledge that "some of their number were
mere adventurers, ready to take from friend or foe as opportunity
offered" could not have been derived from their conduct on this
occasion. The statement is explicit evidence that Brown and his men were
not moved or controlled by any sentiment relating to slavery; or by any
political bias in their thefts, but that they were common thieves,
operating under the protection of Free-State sentiment while they robbed
and plundered Free-State men and pro-slavery men, without discrimination
as opportunity offered. It may be said, in general terms, that all
horses look alike to a horse thief. It is the horse, _per se_, that
appeals to the thief, rather than the political affiliations of the
owner. In the absence of competent testimony to the contrary, it would
be said, promptly, of Brown, that he was an exception to this rule, as
well as to all other rules, that control human actions; that he was
moved by loftier motives than those which control the actions of the
ordinary horse thief; that he confined his plundering to pro-slavery
men, and robbed them, only, as a private duty, by and with the consent
of the Almighty. But this direct evidence against him, and the men whom
he controlled, is competent and quite conclusive.
It has been said that Brown made restitution to Hicklan of some of his
property. But that statement belongs in the class of a long line of
personal statements, that have been put forward from time to time, in
palliation of the enormity of Brown's crimes, or in attempts to justify
them, or in efforts to make it appear that he was engaged in an
unselfish warfare against slavery. Mr. Villard swept away a lot of this
rubbish by the keen logic of his exposition concerning many of the
stories which were made current about the Pottawatomie matter. So this
statement, about returning to Hicklan some of his property, and Mr.
Gill's statement that the raid on the night of the 20th, was inspired by
the "Jim Daniels story," belong in the same general class of rubbish.
Mr. Hicklan stated, in 1888, that nothing that was taken was ever
recovered. He said:
They did not give anything back. Brown said to me that we
might get our property if we could; that he defied us and
the whole United States to follow him. He and his men
seemed anxious to take more from me than they did for they
ransacked the house in search of money, and I suppose they
would have taken it if they had found it.... What I have
stated is the truth and I am willing to swear to it. I do
not hold any particular malice or prejudice on account of
these old transactions. Old things have passed away, but
the truth can never pass away.[333]
Along with the plunder of the Hicklan home, five slaves were taken;
these are said to have belonged to the "Lawrence estate" then in
Hicklan's care, as administrator. Besides the negroes, he took from the
Lawrence estate two good horses, a yoke of oxen, a good wagon, harness,
saddles, a considerable quantity of provisions, bacon, flour, meal,
coffee, sugar, etc.; all of the bedding and clothing of the negroes,
Hicklan's shot-gun, overcoat, boots, and many other articles belonging
to the whites. From Larue were taken five negroes, six head of horses,
harness, a wagon, a lot of bedding and clothing, provisions, and, in
short, all the loot available and portable.[334] Besides killing Cruise
and looting the home, Stevens took, as claimed by the family, two yoke
of oxen, a wagon load of provisions, eleven mules, and two horses. A
mule was also taken from the Hugh Martin home.
After the robberies the two parties united at a point theretofore agreed
upon, and started on the return trip to Kansas. At daylight they
secreted themselves in a deep wooded ravine, where they remained until
after dark, when they continued their march, arriving at Mr. Wattles's
home, two miles north of Mound City, at midnight of Wednesday the 22d.
Here Brown stopped until morning, having with him the slaves, one wagon,
and two or three of his men; the others pushing on northward with the
swag, to get it beyond danger of recovery, and to divide it or sell it
for the benefit of all concerned.
The liberation of the slaves was a cumbersome and dangerous experiment,
but it was as necessary as it was dangerous. To have taken all this
plunder and carried it off without the diversion of taking the slaves
with him, would have been a case of such plain stealing, that Brown
would have been completely discredited therefor; even the "Secret War
Committee" might have joined in the general repudiation of him that
would have followed. But the carrying off of the slaves to freedom, in
this wholesale spectacular way, was great advertising; it distracted
attention from the basic motive of the raid, and secured creditable
notoriety for Brown in the North. It seems, however, that after arriving
at the Wattles home with the slaves, Brown practically, or personally at
least, abandoned them to their fate. The narrative states:[335]
At dawn on Thursday, the caravan started again, and this
time without Brown. Two of his men accompanied the one
ox-team, which was sent forward, one going ahead to act as
pilot.
This man, however, turned back, leaving the negroes to make their way to
Osawatomie alone. They arrived, without any mishap, at the home of Mr.
Adair, near Osawatomie, on Christmas Eve, where, it seems, no
arrangements had been made to receive them. On the arrival of the slaves
at his home, Mr. Adair says he referred the matter of sheltering them to
his wife, calling her attention to the responsibility it would involve.
"She considered the matter a few moments and then said: 'I cannot turn
them away.' They were taken around to the back yard, and the colored
people were brought into the back kitchen and kept there that
night."[336] Continuing the narrative Mr. Villard says that at two A. M.
of the morning after Christmas, the fugitives were finally placed in an
old abandoned preëmption cabin on the south fork of the Pottawatomie,
where kind neighbors brought them food and gave them encouragement.[337]
In this location they remained until they were taken north. It is
probable that Brown, in his selfishness, cared but little whether these
negroes were returned to slavery or not. He had done his stunt in
liberating them, and made no pretense of defending them or of caring for
them until in January, and took care not to be near the fugitives while
the pursuing bands were scouring the country in search of them.
Naturally no public accounting was ever made of the property taken by
the Shubel Morgan Plunder Company, nor has any statement ever been made
as to the division of the plunder, or of a division of the proceeds,
among the members of it. But it is known that it was the raid and the
robbery, that Brown had in view, whereby he expected to raise the money
to defray the expense of the return of the party to the East. January
11, 1859, he wrote to his family that he had been unable to finish up
his business as rapidly as he had hoped to when he wrote
previously--December 2d--and the delay of his departure from Kansas
until about January 20th, was probably due to the fact that it required
that length of time to close out the company property and make
distribution of the proceeds. Final settlement was probably made at or
near Lawrence. Mr. Villard says on page 380:
Somehow or other Brown recruited his finances while near
Lawrence, and his wagons, when he drove away, were creaking
with the weight of provisions contributed by Major Abbott
and Mr. Grover.
Pending the sale of the plunder and final settlement for it, Brown
remained an unwelcome prowler, in the neighborhood of Moneka, amid a
storm of indignation against him that was as general as it was severe.
Even his "staunch friend Wattles" severely censured him "for going into
Missouri, contrary to our agreement, and getting these slaves." On
January 2d, Brown wrote a formal letter to Montgomery "asking him to
hold himself in readiness to call out reënforcements at a moment's
notice, to prevent a possible invasion because of a raid into Missouri."
But Montgomery was not holding himself in readiness to defend Brown, or
to repel the retaliatory invasion he had invited; but "was eagerly at
work for peace;" seeking to prevent a retaliatory blow from falling
upon the Free-State settlement. What Montgomery wrote to Brown in reply
to this letter, if he answered it at all, has never been published. He
denied having any complicity with Brown, and joined in the general
denunciation of him, and in the condemnation of his action. It was this
denunciation of him by Montgomery and the Free-State men generally that
called forth Brown's personal defense of his conduct, in what he called
his "Parallels"; a paper conspicuous in Brown literature.
The Lawrence _Herald of Freedom_ on January 8, 1859, published a letter
from a clergyman at Moneka, from which the following paragraphs are
extracts:[338]
I have watched the progress of these troubles here until I
am sick-heart-sick with humanity. Here are men claiming to
be Christians, and even ministers of the Gospel, who
profess to be guided in their actions by the teachings of
the Prince of Peace, who have organized a body of
murderers, robbers, gamblers and horse-thieves, and
subsisting by plunder. They are riding over the country and
committing the basest of crimes. If this is Christianity
anything would be preferable to it.
The strangest of all is to see peace men, those in the
States who were members of peace societies, and who were
sending delegates to peace congresses, laboring to
inaugurate civil war, with the expressed object of working
a revolution throughout the nation, ultimating in a
dissolution of the Union; and all to procure the
emancipation of the slave. Simple men! They should learn
that revolutions involving such grave consequences are not
usually set on foot by murderers and thieves. Though Brutus
triumphed over the dead corpse of Cæsar, yet it is not
believed that in this age of enlightment a few ignoramuses
and desperadoes of the character of those in this country
can succeed in crushing out slavery and with it American
freedom.
But Brown's band was the only band of thieves operating in that
neighborhood after July 15, 1858. The Shubel Morgan Company, then, was
the "organized body of murderers, robbers, gamblers and horse thieves"
described and complained of by the Moneka clergyman--"Men who prosecute
their nefarious business in the name of God and Humanity." The _Herald
of Freedom_ seems to have fallen under Brown's displeasure. He thought
"all honest, sensible Free-State men in Kansas consider George
Washington Brown's 'Herald of Freedom' one of the most traitorous
publications in the whole country."[339]
On January 11, 1859, Governor Medary asked the Territorial Legislature,
then in session, to appropriate $250 as a reward for the arrest of
Montgomery, and a similar amount for the arrest of Brown. In response to
this, Montgomery wrote a letter to the Lawrence _Republican_, saying,
among other things: "For Brown's doings in Missouri, I am not
responsible. I know nothing of either his plans or intentions. Brown
keeps his own counsels, and acts on his own responsibility. I hear much
said about Montgomery and his company. I have no company. We have had no
organization since the 5th day of July."[340] Continuing, Mr. Villard
says that Montgomery came to Lawrence on January 18th, and delivered
himself up to Judge Elmore, who placed him in the custody of the
sheriff. There being but one indictment against him, and that for
robbing a post-office, he was released on bail, in the sum of $4,000.
Three days later he returned home and continued his efforts in behalf of
peace. He came back to Lawrence on February 2d, with six of his men, who
also surrendered themselves to the Territorial officers.
About this time Brown received a visit from George A. Crawford, a
Free-State Democrat residing at Fort Scott, who said some things to
Brown at the request of Governor Medary. In a letter to Hon. Eli Thayer
of August 4, 1879, Crawford states the substance of this conversation.
Some extracts from the letter are as follows:[341]
... I protested to the Captain against this violence. We
were settlers, he was not. He could strike a blow and
leave. The retaliatory blow would fall on us. Being a
Free-State man, I myself was held personally responsible by
pro-slavery ruffians in Fort Scott for the acts of Captain
Brown. One of these ruffians, Brockett, when they gave me
notice to leave the town said, "When a snake bites me, I
don't go hunting for that particular snake. I kill the
first snake I come to."
I called Captain Brown's attention to the facts that we
were at peace with Missouri; that our Legislature was then
in the hands of Free-State men to make the laws; that even
in our disturbed counties of Bourbon and Linn we were in a
majority and had elected the officers both to make and
execute the laws; that without peace we could have no
immigration; that no Southern immigration was coming; that
agitation such as his was only keeping Northern friends
away, etc. The old man replied that it was no pleasure to
him, an old man, to be living in the saddle, away from home
and family and exposing his life; and if the Free-State men
of Kansas felt they no longer needed him, he would be glad
to go....
On account of the unfriendly criticism of his conduct, Brown left the
neighborhood of Moneka January 11th and went to Osawatomie, and about
the 20th, in company with Gill and Kagi, convoying the slaves, set out
on the journey to the North. Stevens and Tidd were with the party at
Osawatomie, but they were detailed to steal "a span of horses" the day
the caravan moved, which made it necessary for them to scurry out of the
neighborhood as rapidly as the horses which they had stolen could
travel.
Concerning this transaction Mr. Gill says,[342] that a day or two
before starting he found out that a Missourian, with a span of horses,
was stopping _temporarily_ a few miles from Osawatomie; also that he had
a well grounded _suspicion_ that they had been stolen from Free-State
men. At Garnett, he says, he communicated his suspicion "to Stevens and
Tidd, who set out, the same evening that we did, to replevin these
horses. After doing so they proceeded to Topeka to await us; Kagi also,"
he says, "scouted ahead for some purpose, most probably to arrange
stopping-places for us, leaving Brown and myself alone with the colored
folks."
With the stealing of these horses "Brown's men wound up their business
in South Eastern Kansas." It was probably their last theft in the
Territory. What their first one was, and what their intermediate acts
were, can only be surmised. Summarizing his work in Kansas during 1858
Mr. Villard says:[343]
As for John Brown, he was ready to leave the Territory for
the last time. Of constructive work there was no more to
his credit than when he left the Territory in 1856.... The
sole act of any significance to be credited to him during
these six months in Southern Kansas is the capture of the
slaves.... Certain it is that the Missouri raid, in
violation of his agreement, caused many peaceful Free-State
settlers to flee their homes for fear of violence, and
might have resulted seriously but for the efforts of
certain Missourians to keep the peace....
Brown's successful trip across the country, from Kansas to Canada, in
the rigor of winter, with these colored fugitives, will always stand to
the credit of his courage, his sagacity, and his perseverance. The
initial drive from Osawatomie to Major Abbott's place near Lawrence,
where they arrived January 24th, had its discomforts. Mr. Villard,
quoting from Gill's narrative says: "Through mud, and then over frozen
ground, without a dollar in their pockets, their shoes all but falling
apart, Gill and Brown, resolutely drove the slow-going ox-team with its
load of women and children. Gill's feet were frozen, and the 'old man's
fingers, nose and ears frozen.'" From Abbott's hospitable home they sent
the ox-team to Lawrence to be sold, and in its place obtained horses and
wagons. On the 28th, the narrative states, they arrived at Holton "amid
all the discomforts of a driving prairie snow storm." But the storm
could not have been very severe, because upon their arrival next day at
Spring Creek, six miles distant, that stream "was too high to ford" and
they were compelled to remain there over Sunday. The storm therefore
must have been a rain storm rather than a prairie blizzard.
About this time Brown's movements were discovered and his location had
become known; also the Territorial authorities became active in an
effort to arrest him. On Saturday, as the story goes, a volunteer posse
from Atchison, under Mr. A. P. Wood, arrived upon the scene, and took up
a position on the north side of Spring Creek, barring Brown's further
progress northward. It looked as though the "chase was trapped"; and
Governor Medary with evident satisfaction announced the fact to
President Buchanan. The Governor also sent a special messenger--Deputy
Marshal Colby--to Colonel Sumner, commanding at Fort Leavenworth,
informing that officer as to the situation, and requesting that troops
be sent to capture him. But Brown, in anticipation of hostilities, had
sent to Topeka for assistance, and Colonel John Ritchie, with about
twenty men, responded to his call, arriving at his camp about noon on
Monday. Upon the arrival of these reënforcements, Brown promptly moved
toward the crossing of the creek, and quite as promptly the Atchison
party abandoned its position. The engagement that followed seems to have
been a contest for speed, and was appropriately named "The Battle of the
Spurs."[344] The Leavenworth _Times_ had this to say about the
battle:[345]
The chase was a merry one, and closed by Brown's taking off
three of his pursuers as prisoners; with four horses,
pistols, guns, etc., as legitimate plunder.
February 10th, Brown was at Tabor, Iowa. From there he wrote to his
wife:[346]
I am once more in Iowa, through the great mercy of God.
Those with me and _other_ friends are well. I hope soon to
be at a point where I can learn of _your welfare_ & perhaps
send you something besides my good wishes. I suppose you
get the common news. May the God of my _fathers_ be your
God.
Brown's reception by the people of Tabor was a disappointment. He
arrived on Saturday and hoped to receive an ovation at the church next
day; and that a "collection" would be taken up for his benefit. To bring
this about he prepared the following notice, which he handed to the Rev.
John Todd, as the latter entered his church Sunday morning, which he
desired should be read to the congregation:[347]
John Brown respectfully requests the church at Tabor to
offer public thanksgiving to Almighty God in behalf of
himself, & company: & _of their rescued captives in
particular_ for his gracious preservation of their lives, &
health; & his signal deliverance of all out of the hand of
the wicked, hitherto. "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord; for
he is good; for his mercy endureth forever."
But there was objection and the note was not read. The fame of Browns
actions, or the infamy of them, had preceded him at Tabor, which was
probably confirmed by the swaggering and boasting of his men. At any
rate, after conferring with Dr. H. D. King, who occupied the pulpit with
Mr. Todd, the latter declined to read the note, or to take up the
collection.[348] Dr. King is reported to have said:
Brother Todd, this is your church, but if I were you I
would not make a prayer for them. Inasmuch as it is said
they have destroyed life, and stolen horses, I should want
to take the charge under examination before I made a public
prayer.[349]
Brown was equally unfortunate at a public meeting which he called for
Monday. It resolved that "we have no Sympathy with those who go to Slave
States to entice away Slaves, & take property or life when necessary to
attain that end."[350]
At Grinnell Brown held two night meetings, with full houses, at which he
and Kagi spoke. Both were loudly cheered. The collections, too, were
satisfactory: "$26.50 and whole party and teams kept for Two days
without cost. Sundry articles of clothing given to captives. Bread,
Meat, Cakes, Pies, etc., prepared for our journey."[351]
In justification of his Missouri raid, Brown, in March, wrote to Mr.
John Teesdale of the Des Moines _Register_:[352]
First, it has been my deliberate judgment, since 1855, that
the most ready and effectual way to retrieve Kansas would
be to meddle directly with the peculiar institution. Next,
we had no means of moving the rescued captives without
taking a portion of their lawfully acquired earnings, all
we took has been held sacred to that object and will be.
The last clause of the latter statement would move Jennison's ghost to
smile if it were read to it.[353]
The caravan arrived at Springdale February 25th, and remained there
until March 10th, when the colored people and their traps were loaded
into a box car, at West Liberty, and taken by an express train to
Chicago. The use of a box car, and the transportation of the fugitives
to Chicago, was quietly arranged by Mr. Grinnell with Superintendent
Tracey, of the railroad. The latter refused to accept payment for the
service, saying: "We might be held for the value of every one of those
niggers."
Arriving at Chicago, March 11th, at 4:40 A. M., Brown reported his case
to Allen Pinkerton, who took charge of the party. Pinkerton also raised
a fund of about six hundred dollars for Brown; and arranged with General
Superintendent Hammond, of the Michigan Central Railway, for a car and
transportation for the outfit to Detroit. Kagi had charge of the party
from Chicago to Detroit where they arrived March 12th, at 10 o'clock A.
M., Brown having preceded them on an earlier train to arrange for their
reception at Windsor, Canada. He met them on the ferry boat and escorted
them across the river to freedom.[354]
The liberation of these slaves in Missouri, and the safe delivery of
them in Canada was a capable performance. But it is not believable that
the department of justice at any time contemplated any interference with
Brown, or that it made any attempt to arrest him, or had any desire to
effect his arrest. That it had him under surveillance, and had reports
of his movements, from the time he arrived at Holton until he
disembarked the fugitives at Windsor, there can be no reasonable doubt;
and that it had the power to arrest him, if it desired to do so, will
not be denied. But the fugitive slave law, at this time, had become a
grievous thorn in the political flesh of the northern Democracy. The
Administration had troubles enough, already, in the distracted condition
of the country, without further antagonizing Northern public sentiment,
and turning loose upon itself the tempest of criticism and censure that
would surely follow if Brown were arrested, and a heartless judge should
remand back to slavery and punishment these timid, shrinking, friendless
women and children.