Before the Civil War, John Brown was a leading figure in the abolitionist movement to put an end to slavery. Unlike others around him at the time, he wasn’t a pacifist. Instead, he believed aggressive action should be taken against slaveholders and the government officials who enabled them. At one time, he made the declaration that he would “consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!” And that’s what he did.
John Brown is an important figure in Kansas history, though he was actually born in Connecticut and grew up in Ohio. When he was a youngster, his family’s Ohio home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Eventually, John moved to Massachusetts and then Connecticut, where he was ordained a Congregational minister. Then it was back to Ohio where he opened a tannery, got married, and started a family.
At the age of 42, John declared bankruptcy and had more than 20 lawsuits filed against him. His wife and two kids died due to illness. The single dad (who eventually remarried) took his four surviving kids to Kent, Ohio, and then Springfield, Massachusetts. He moved a lot, because then it was on to New York State…
John Brown’s Impact on Kansas
So what about Kansas? John’s two sons started families of their own and moved to the “western territory” that eventually became the state of Kansas. They, too, were abolitionists. John and his sons were involved in skirmishes with pro-slavery settlers as Kansas made the transition to statehood.
John worked hard to lead raids to free enslaved people. He met Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, fellow abolitionists, and all three helped free enslaved people over the course of many years.
Slavery ended in 1865, six years after John’s death. A memorial mural commemorating John Brown’s work, entitled “Tragic Prelude,” can be seen in the Kansas State Capitol.
Framewoods Gallery in Lawrence, KS, has a framed “Tragic Prelude” artwork, available here.
Framewoods Gallery also has a John Brown Jayhawk statue available– see here for details.
