Jefferson County military proclamation   Save
Oversize Manuscript/Audiovisual Materials
Description: Proclamation warning that from November 28 until December 2, 1859, and particularly on December 2, the hanging date of John Brown, strangers who lack proper business in Jefferson County or surrounding counties in Virginia, will be arrested. It also warns citizens of the county to stay in their homes to protect their property, and forbids women and children from attending the execution. John Brown gained national attention when, on October 16, 1859, he led a group of twenty one men on a raid of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (modern-day West Virginia). A federal arsenal was in the town, and Brown hoped to capture the buildings and the weapons stored inside. He then intended to distribute the guns and ammunition to slaves in the region, creating an army of African Americans that would march through the South and force slaveholders to release their slaves. Brown and his men succeeded in capturing the arsenal, but local residents surrounded the buildings, trapping the abolitionists inside. A d View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: ovs2277_1
Subjects: Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) History; John Brown's Raid, 1859; Abolitionists -- Ohio
Places: Harper's Ferry (Virginia); Jefferson County (Virginia)