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An intimate narrative of John Brown and his family in the Adirondack Mountains.
With passion and sound scholarship, Sandra Weber introduces a fresh and intimate portrayal of John Brown in his time and favorite place, the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. This intertwining story of sublime scenery and human rights concentrates on John's relationships with his family and black neighbors, which brings forth the essence of the man: his inner self, moral fiber, and principles. Weber reveals a vital piece of the John Brown story. It creates a conduit through which to reconcile the poor pioneer farmer, family patriarch, preacher, and devoted friend of blacks with John Brown's public persona.
"This book reconstructs the local world of the Brown family in North Elba (Essex County), New York. Most scholarship on Brown fails to recognize the importance of this area for the radical abolitionist family. But Weber demonstrates that although Brown was often absent from the farm in North Elba, it remained the center of the Brown family life through the 1850s and after Brown’s death in 1859." — Carole Emberton, author of To Walk About in Freedom: The Long Emancipation of Priscilla Joyner
"John Brown in New York beautifully reveals the love John Brown had for his family and the love his family and his friends had for him." — Don Papson, cofounder and past President, North Star Underground Railroad Museum, Ausable Chasm, New York
"Weber uses personal letters written by the Brown family that give a picture of what they were experiencing while he was on his mission to end slavery. The book also provides an intimate view of how they dealt with Harpers Ferry, the deaths of his sons, and his execution." — Tom Calarco, author of The Search for the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York
List of Illustrations
Terminology and Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. A Land of Promise and Hard Toil
2. Timbucto
3. Cultivators of Soil and Social Justice
4. The Genesis of the John Brown Farm and the Demise of Timbucto
5. Middling Tuff Times
6. High Peaks and Higher Law
7. Carrying the War into Africa
8. The Anguish of Harpers Ferry
9. Vying for John Brown's Body
10. Buried Among Kin and Neighbors
11. Suffering, Stone Inscriptions, and School
12. July Fourth at North Elba
13. Wartime in Essex County and Concord
14. Truly, the World Moves, and the People Move with It
Appendix A: John Brown's Family
Appendix B: Timeline
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index