Brown, John, 1800-1859 to Mary Stearns
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05925.01 Author/Creator: Brown, John, 1800-1859 Place Written: Charleston, West Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 29 November 1859 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 20.4 cm, Width: 12.7 cm Order a Copy
Written three days before his execution. He asks to be "spared from having any mock; or hypocritical prayers made over me, when I am publicly murdered: & that my only religious attendants be poor little, dirty, ragged, bare headed, & barefooted Slave Boys; & Girls led by some old gray headed Slave Mother...Farewell, Farewell." Docket reads "please mail this to her." Addressed to "Mrs. George L. Stearns." Mary's husband George was a member of The Secret Six, the group that financed Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
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