"HIS SOUL GOES MARCHING ON"

JOHN BROWN HANGED IN VIRGINIA

Charlestown, Virginia (JFK+50) On December 2, 1859,  John Brown, the abolitionist and militia captain of Bleeding Kansas, was hanged here in Charlestown* after having been found guilty of treason, murder and inciting a slave insurrection.

John Brown had been captured after a failed attempt to take over the United States Armory at Harper's Ferry and supply weapons to slaves.  The raid resulted in seven deaths and ten or more injuries.

At 11 a.m., riding in the back of a wagon sitting on his own coffin, John Brown arrived at the field of execution where a scaffold had been built.  After ascending the steps, a white muslin hood was put over his head. 

"The Sheriff struck the rope a sharp blow with a hatchet, the platform fell---a few convulsive struggles and a human soul had gone to judgment."

Those who believed in John Brown's cause to end slavery would sing...

"John Brown's body lies a mouldrin' in the grave, but his soul goes marching on." 

*Charlestown, renamed Charleston, was founded in 1788, located in Kanawha County, is today the largest populated city of West Virginia.  In Dec 1859, Charlestown was in the state of Virginia.  On June 20, 1863, the city became part of the new state of  WVA.

SOURCE

"An Eyewitness Describes The Hanging of John Brown," by Boyd B. Stutler, American Heritage, Vol. 6, Issue 2, 1955, www.americanheritage.com/

 

 

John Brown Rides To His Execution

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

December 17 1859

Library of Congress Image

 
 

"THE CRIMES OF THIS GUILTY LAND WILL NEVER BE PURGED AWAY BUT WITH BLOOD"

ABOLITIONIST JOHN BROWN HANGED BY STATE OF VIRGINIA

Charles Town, Virginia (JFK+50) On December 2, 1859, John Brown*, having been found guilty of treason, murder and insurrection in leading a failed raid on Harper's Ferry, was hanged by the State of Virginia.  The execution, witnessed predominantly by soldiers, came at 11:15 a.m.

Brown hoped to spark a slave revolt in Virginia by capturing the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and supplying slaves with the weapons to be used to gain their freedom.  

He and his "provisional army" of less than twenty individuals were either killed or captured by the United States Army under leadership of Colonel Robert E. Lee.

Brown's trial, held in Charles Town resulted in the guilty verdict on November 2, 1859.  On the morning of his execution, John Brown handed a note to his guard.  The note read...

"The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."

After the beginning of the American Civil War, Union soldiers went into battle singing...

"John Brown's body lies a mouldrin' in the grave, but his soul goes marching on."

*John Brown (1800-1859) was born in Torrington, Connecticut.  In 1836, JB operated a tannery in Franklin Mills (Kent) Ohio.  In 1846, he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts where he set up a wool commission business. In 1848,JB moved to North Elba, NY and went to "Bleeding Kansas" in 1855 to join the anti-slavery settlers.

"The Last Moments of John Brown"

 by Thomas Hovenden (1880s)

 Metropolitan Museum of Art