John Brown's Spirit

John Brown was born in a Calvinist household on May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut. He was an abolitionist who believed the sin of slavery could not be ended through peaceful means. Brown hoped to inspire a slave insurrection while siezing guns and ammo. In 1859 , Brown led an unsuccessful raid on the U. S. Armory and Arsenal in Harpers Ferry, that ended with his capture. He was tried, convicted of treason, and hung. Brown was executed on December 2, 1859 in Charlestown, West Virginia.

According to a 20th century ghost story in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, visiting Civil War buffs and tourists would sometimes spot a gaunt, white-haired man in period dress walking with a small black dog at his side along one of the streets of the town. The man is obviouly one of the many historical re-enactors. He has a definite resemblance to John Brown whose ill-fated raid on the federal arsenal made this town famous in 1859.

In some versions of the story, a group of visitors will ask this man if they may take his picture, the man silently pauses and poses, before continuing to stroll past the storefronts and historical buildings with his dog. With many of the orginal buildings still standing, much of modern day Harpers Ferry still resembles Harpers Ferry from 1859.

In other versions of the story, a couple of visitiors will snap his photograph from across the street.

Later, in both versions of the tale, when that roll of film was developed, there was only an empty spot where the man should have been on the photo. Clearly the spirit of John Brown still resides in Harper's Ferry.

Sometimes a story involved a tourist seeing a gaunt, white-haired re-enactor walking towards the door of the "fire engine house." The tourist glanced down, reaching for his camera in order to get a photo of the historical re-enactor. When the tourist looked back up, the re-enactor had completely vanished.

During his raid on the U. S. Armory and Arsenal, Brown took refuge in the armory's small fire engine house, which later became commonly referred to as "John Brown's Fort." This building has been moved several times, but presently is located about 200 feet from its original site.

October 2013

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Spirit Work: John Brown
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