A Kansas Memory Podcast

John Brown: Compassionate or Violent?

The documents used in the John Brown podcast are available on Earlier Kansas Memory podcasts used documents from Territorial Kansas Online: A Virtual Repository for Territorial Kansas History, 1854-1861.

• Letter, John Brown to Dear Wife [Mary Brown] & Children every one
  October 13, 1855
  One week after arriving at his sons' settlement ("Brownville") near Osawatomie, Brown wrote the family back east that although most were sick when he first arrived, they "appear now to be mending." The trip across Missouri was without incident, except for problems with a sick horse and their "heavy load." Brown then wrote briefly of the Adairs, the "most uncomfortable situation" in which he found his children upon his arrival, and other things including prairie fires and finally the political situation in the territory. In fact, at this early date, John Brown "believe[d] Missouri is fast becoming discouraged about making Kansas a Slave State & think the prospect of its becoming Free is brightening every day."
• Letter, John Brown to Dear Wife [Mary Brown] & Children every one
  September 7, 1856
  Just over a week after the Battle of Osawatomie, John Brown wrote his family from Lawrence about the death of "our dear Frederick" and the ensuing engagement, in which Brown himself was slightly wounded. Brown's small force "killed & wounded from 70 to 80 of the enemy" before escaping, and through it all "Jason fought bravely by my side."
• Speech, John Brown
  ca. March, 1857
  During the spring of 1857, John Brown traveled to several Northeastern cities (specifically, in Brown's home state of Connecticut) to solicit financial support for the Kansas crusade. In the speech delivered from these handwritten notes, Brown outlined some of the many sacrifices he and others had made to give his audience a sense of what was needed and discussed the unfolding situation in Kansas Territory.
• Letter, L. Maria Child to Capt. John Brown
  October 26, 1859
  Lydia Maria Child, "an earnest friend of Kansas," wrote John Brown from Wayland, Mass., on October 26, 1859, regarding her opposition to violence but her admiration for his courage and commitment to the cause of freedom. She had hoped to come to his aid in prison, but in the meantime assured Brown "that no honest man ever shed his blood for freedom in vain, however much he may be mistaken in his efforts."