JOHN BROWN'S BODY.


[BROWN, JOHN. 1800-1859.] Autograph Letter Signed ("Ruth B. Thomas") from the daughter of John Brown, to "Mr. [Elisha] Graves Otis," asking him to help arrange the return of her father's body, 2 pp, octavo (126 x 201 mm), North Elba, Essex Co, NY, November 29, 1859, framed in double sided-glass, which is hinged to a larger frame housing a reproduction portrait and a plate reproducing the text of the letter.WRITTEN JUST DAYS BEFORE HIS EXECUTION, A POIGNANT PLEA FROM JOHN BROWN'S DAUGHTER FOR A REPRIEVE, OR FOR THE RETURN OF HER FATHER'S BODY. In part: "...thank you for your generous offer to intercede for us in getting our dear father's body. We all feel very anxious to have him buried here, but I am afraid it is too late, but hope for the best. Will you not please to telegraph to Governor Wise to grant our request?... If our dear father (as well as brother) are to be sacrificed to the God of Slavery, we shall not believe he has died in vain. We see that a great many attribute father's course to a spirit of revenge, but it is utterly false. He was actuated by a noble generous feeling which has been growing in his breast for more than 20 years." The family's petitions for the bodies were (partially) successful, as John Brown's body returned to the family at the farm at North Elba for the last time on December 8, 1859. The body of Watson Brown would finally return to the farm in 1882, after an arduous journey, to be buried with his father. The letter is unrecorded, and sheds new light on his final days. The raid at Harper's Ferry is the singular event which hastened the onset of the Civil War.