GREENCASTLE, Pa. — The John Brown raid of Harpers Ferry in October of 1859 has close ties to Franklin County. There is the John Brown House in Chambersburg, which was actually a boarding house that John Brown (1800-1859) frequented and stored arms and ammunition in as he planned out his raid to free slaves by overtaking the federal armory in West Virginia.
The Allison-Antrim Museum located on South Ridge Avenue held its monthly guest speaker seminar this past Thursday, featuring a lecture by historian Roger Swartz, who highlighted the days, months and years of the men who escaped following the raid’s disastrous conclusion.
Swartz is a well-known and respected historian and author who has received critical acclaim for his works, particularly on the subjects of Colonial America and the American Revolution. He is also well known for his work as a guest professor teaching classes at Hagerstown Community College and Frederick Community College and as a guest speaker at many historical seminars and events throughout the tri-state region.
For the seminar held on June 11 in the Red Barn behind the Allison-Antrim Museum, Swartz gave a PowerPoint presentation that focused on the six men that escaped capture and fled through Pennsylvania and into Ohio, Massachusetts, and Canada. The six insurgents were Osborne Perry Anderson (1830-1871), Owen Brown (1824-1889), John E. Cook (1829-1859), Barclay Coppoc (1839-1861), Francis Meriam (1837-1865) and Charles Tidd (1834-1862).
Swartz also shared maps of the route taken by the men, photos of the various locations where the men held up including the schoolhouse just outside of Harpers Ferry where they waited to help supply arms for freed slaves.
The audience of about 20 attendees also learned the fate of each man, including John E. Cook who was captured at Mont Alto’s Iron Furnace and was briefly detained at the Old Jail in Chambersburg. Owen Brown, who was one of John Brown’s sons, eluded capture and fled to Ohio before moving out to California with many of John Brown’s other family members.
While the raid itself did not take place in Franklin County or Washington County, the planning and preparation for the event did. Chambersburg and Sharpsburg were both key areas for the abolitionist Brown and his followers, and the aftermath blazed a trail through Hagerstown, Chambersburg, Waynesboro and Greencastle.
For more information about John Brown’s raid and its local connections, visit:
Franklin County Historical Society and John Brown House: https://www.franklinhistorical.org/
Allison-Antrim Museum: https://greencastlemuseum.org/
Waynesboro Historical Society: https://www.waynesborohistory.com/
Washington County Historical Society: https://wchspa.org/
Sharpsburg Historical Society: https://sharpsburghistory.com/
