26 April 1708

Leathes, William, fl. 1708

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Last will and testament freeing a slave]

"In the name of God Amen I William Leaths of the City and province of New York Sadler being very Sick and weak in Body but of perfect mind & memory...ordaine this my last Will and Testament...I give & bequeath unto my Servant Wan the Spanish Indian boy now living with me his freedom provided he serve my Loving wife. Seven years after my Decease." Includes the signatures of witnesses and sealed with red wax bearing the imprint of a skull and crossbones.

GLC09102

26 March 1783

Hall, Lyman, 1724-1790

Autograph document signed

Title: [Document authorizing the distribution of confiscated slaves from Tory plantations to veterans of the Revolution]

"Ordered that the Commissioners, of the Confiscated and Annexed Estates, furnish Mr. Henry Ellison with such Numbers of Negroes, as he is Entitled to Receive, by Virtue of his Certificates in Col. Jackson's Corps, agreeable to the Laws of this State & that this Order do issue in Favour of Mr. Ellison..." Docketed "An order for negros to H. Allison."

GLC09104

January 4, 1891

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to F.B. Sanborn

W.P. Garrison has defamed Brown family in "The Prelude of Harper's Ferry 11: John Brown, Guerrilla" by contradicting their claims: "Father early cherished a purpose to make war upon slavery by Force and arms...war as understood by us meant war."

GLC08295

15 October 1831

Vinton, John, fl. 1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his mother

Vinton, a captain of a northern regiment assisted in the suppression of Nat Turner's slave rebellion: "I doubt if any active movement against the slaves will be necessary...[They] however are irresponsible and reckless and it is difficult to foresee to what a blind desperation might prompt them...."

GLC08258

5 April 1884

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to F. B. Sanborn

Transmittal letter returning proofs not included to John Brown's biographer, correcting events and names of participants at Pottawatomie Creek. He states that his brother, Frederick, "did not have a hand in the execution of those men, though thought it right and just they should be killed."

GLC08260

January 24, 1895

Thompson, Ruth Brown, 1829-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to F.B. Sanborn

John Brown's daughter assisting his biographer in locating various siblings of Brown because "yours is a perfect truthful history of him and his deeds."

GLC08262

February 2, 1885

Brown, Jason, 1823-1912

Autograph letter signed

Title: to F.B. Stanton

John Brown's son and "Bleeding Kansas" companion apologizes for lack of funds because of hard times and asks for additional advance for Brown family land purchase.

GLC08263

ca. 1840-1890

Webb, Maria, 1804-1873

Scrapbook

Title: [Scrapbook of Maria Webb]

Bound collection of letters from leading abolitionists of the period, including Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe, among others.

GLC08360

February 12, 1857

Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

"I believe that there were never so many thinking upon the subject, never were thoughts more nearly right on the great question of Liberty. I do not disesteem the political & Commercial aspects of Slavery. Its evils in these regards are greater than any of us imagine. But it is the Moral Condition of the slave & the effect of the system upon the Conscience of the Nation, that I chiefly feel & deprecate. One thing is certain. Let the friends of freedom, those who have no honors to seek, no offices to crave, no ambition to mislead them, let such become if possible more…

GLC09133

circa 1880-1890

Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912

Print

Title: Passage through Baltimore

Comments on Abraham Lincoln's stealthy trip through pro-South Baltimore on his way to Washington to be inaugurated. Lincoln's plans were changed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 22 February 1861 to avoid trouble in Baltimore. He boarded a special train on 23 February 1861 and travelled through Baltimore behind the curtains of a berth in a sleeping car. Volck depicts Lincoln being frightened by a hissing cat as he attempts to peek out of a freight car. The letters "P.W. & B.R.R. Co" (Philadelphia Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad) are on the freight car as well as the words "fright Bones…

GLC00493.02

circa 1880-1890

Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912

Print

Title: Worship of the North

Depicts Lincoln in front of an altar with a black idol sitting on a platform with the words "Chicago Platform" on it. A sheet hanging from the platform says "The end justifies the means." Shows a white person being sacrificed in front of it. Henry Ward Beecher is shown having just used the sacrificial knife, Charles Sumner bearing a torch, Horace Greeley swinging a censer that emits snakes, and General Benjamin Butler (Volck had a special enmity for Butler after he occupied Baltimore, Volck's hometown, in early 1861) kneeling in worship with a knapsack full of stolen money. Also shows General…

GLC00493.01

circa 1880-1890

Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912

Print

Title: Offering of bells to be cast into cannon

Depicts a pastor and members of his congregation presenting church bells to be used to create weapons of war. The officer who accepts the bells removes his hat in recognition of the reverence of the occasion. Enslaved people are depicted lifting bells and other materials. An enslaved man to the left of the center of the sketch, wears a long apron and has removed his hat. Among the other items that have been donated appear to be candlesticks and andirons. This is one of the few sketches to which Volck put his own initials "AJV" in the lower left corner. The intials "EBM" also appear above…

GLC00493.19

1893 circa

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross [Fragment]

Does not want her father made into a wax sculpture by men in Chicago who are staging an exhibition about John Brown's raid. Only the last two pages remain. Place and recipient inferred from content.

GLC03007.52

18 March 1878

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Thanks Ross for two photographs of his fathers last written words. Requests more copies of this photograph for other family members, and says many people request his father's autograph.

GLC03007.04

24 March 1878

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Encloses "one of the Commissions issued to my Father's men. I know of the existence of only two of them. These were brought back by my brother Owen," who wishes they be returned once Ross has made copies of them. One commission was signed by John Brown, the other "by Mr. Monroe as President of the Convention which was held in Chatham Canada, and is a Commission to Owen as 'Treasurer.'" GLC03007.55 is a photograph of the first of these commissions.

GLC03007.05

1878

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

States that he is enclosing a letter from John Brown, intended for the recipient's son. Recipient inferred from content.

GLC03007.06

1878

Brown, John Jr., 1821-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross [Fragment]

Second page of a two page letter, first page missing. Thanks the recipient for sending him a copy of "The Lincoln Memorial Album." Says the recipient's contribution to the book "interested me greatly" and that "I had not before quite understood, and therefore had not duly appreciated Mr Lincoln." Has sent a photograph of himself and Owen, hopes the recipient plans to visit, and looks forward to conversations concerning "every department of scientific enquiry." Recipient inferred from content.

GLC03007.07

13 April 1879

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Thanks him for "placing my father before the world in his true light" with "a truthful and just estimate of his character and motives" in his writings for the public. Mentions that she was with John Brown just two weeks before his raid, and that she "taught in the Contraband's schools" towards the end of the war. Also discusses personal matters.

GLC03007.08

January 15, 1882

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Inquires after an extra copy of a pamphlet detailing the events which took place in Harper's Ferry. She details information of the publisher, Osborn P. Anderson, a free Black man who was with Brown at Harper's Ferry. Expresses hope that Anderson was still alive, though she had read in the news he may had died some years ago.

GLC03007.10

February 25, 1882

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Discusses local plant life, her obligations as a mother, and his friendship with her father.

GLC03007.11

January 16, 1886

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

One lettera ddressed to Alexander M. Ross from Anne Brown Adams dated January 16, 1886. Mentions hardships of motherhood and awaiting word from a publisher to printpapers that she spent. Thanks him for suggesting soda as a remedy for her sore throat. Expects that he was happy to see his "refugees." This may refer to people he aided with seeking emancipation.

GLC03007.13

2 January 1887

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

One letter from Anne Brown Adams to Alexander M. Ross dated July 31, 1887. Pertains to one of her children receiving a vaccaniation, their illness and her opinion of Franklin Sanborn's book which mentions her father. Cannot believe "that people would be so united in suppressing a truth." Is upset by the publishing of so many private family letters that she sees as irrelevant. Wishes authors would instead speak to her and Solomon, since John Brown confided so closely in them. Saddened that she cannot get his writings concerning John Brown published in any newspaper. Suggests she try the "…

GLC03007.14

31 July 1887

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

One letter addressed to Alexander Ross from Anne Brown Adams dated July 31, 1887. Mentions the health of her children and reading The Life of Frederick Douglass. Does not find truth in Douglass's account of meeting John Brown. Believes that Uncle Tom's Cabin is a suitable work to teach her children about slavery. Recounts that there was a false narrative in the biography which led her children to be skeptical of Frederick Douglass's biography.

GLC03007.15

19 October 1887

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

Discusses the Alcott family in Concord and her approval of sick patients eating very little. Inquires after the Alcott family, with whom she used to live. Mentions Louisa May Alcott. States her firm belief that underfeeding sick patients can be good for them, and that overfeeding them is harmful. Ends with "As ever a friend of liberty, truth, and progress."

GLC03007.16

15 December 1887

Adams, Anne Brown, 1843-1926

Autograph letter

Title: to Garibaldi Ross

Brief biographies of the men involved in the raid on Harpers Ferry, and discussion of her job keeping house for the men as they prepare. Writes to Alexander Ross' son, because "Your father has requested me to tell you the story of my life at, or recollections of, Kennedy Farm, during the Summer of 1859." Gives a physical description of the house, the finding of the house, her life during this time, and then biographies of the raiders who lived there. Presents "John Brown, not the one the world knew him, but my father, as I knew him." Claims "He told me of his plan to make a raid on Harper…

GLC03007.17