The fascinating account of the men and motives that led to the taking of the John Brown Bell from Harpers Ferry by a group of men from Co. I, 13th Mass Infantry during the Civil War. And the equally fascinating account of the completion of John Brown's task by these same soldiers.

1. The Taking of the John Brown Bell

2. Presented by Paul Brodeur and Alan Chamberlain For the The Marlborough Historical Society With the aid of Students from Marlborough High School Monday, September 26, 2011 The 150 Anniversary of the Taking of the John Brown Bell

3. Our Special Thanks to the Following Sources for Making This Presentation Possible

4. 13 th Mass Website at www.13thmass.org Copyright 2008 Brad Forbush And especially for all the personal assistance from Brad Forbush

6. Cyrus Felton's two volumes of local history: Four Hundred Fifty Events Six Hundred Events Charles Hudson History of Marlborough Ella Bigelow Historical Reminiscences View the Hudson and Bigelow books, as well as other histories of Marlborough online at the Histories of Marlborough .

8. John Buczek's History of Marlboro Website at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~historyofmarlborough/contents.htm#Fire containing Paul Polewacyk's History of the Marlborough Fire Department

9. The Ringing of the John Brown Bell in Marlboro on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid October 16, 2009

11. On Fast Day, which occurred Sept 26, 1861, Lieut. David L. Brown and fifteen others of the Company I crossed the river and procured a rope at a store nearby, then climbed to the roof of the engine house, disconnected the bell from the belfry and proceeded to lower it. Just as it reached the edge of the roof, the rope parted and the bell dropped striking on the flagstone, chipped off a few pieces from the flange, but not enough however to injure the tone of the bell. We then loaded it on the scows and took it across the river. Lysander Parker, under oath, 1909

12. 1. Absolutely Abolitionist Marlboro 2. The Motivation of the Fire Department 3. The Subject of John Brown's Raid 4. The Decision Makers 5. The Taking of the Bell 6. The Aftermath 7. Timeline of the Bell in Marlborough

13. Absolutely Abolitionist Marlborough

16. Timeline 1848: Marlborough Free Soil Meeting 800 in attendance (Cyrus Felton) 1848: Harpers Ferry firehouse is built to house the equipment and fire bell for the National Armory (National Park Service)

17. Timeline Sept 18, 1850: The Fugitive Slave Act is passed, requiring any Federal Marshall or other official to aid in the return of slaves to their rightful owners. This begins the acceleration in the Underground Railroad throughout the country. A number of houses in Marlborough and Feltonville are converted to assist in the conveyance of slaves to Canada.

18. Timeline Nov 11 1850: The Substance of Resolutions passed this day in Marlborough Town Meeting. (Cyrus Felton) “ Massachusetts cannot become the hunting ground for slaves.” “ We most decidedly disapprove of the Fugitive Slave Law, and will not aid, but will in all suitable and proper ways resist its execution.” But very few voted nay.

19. Timeline April 12 th 1851 the East Meeting house bell tolled 75 times because Thomas Sims, a colored person was taken from Boston back to Georgia as a slave. It was 75 years since Independence had been declared. (Cyrus Felton)

20. The West Village of Marlboro, centered around the Second Parish Church (Unitarian), was a hotbed of Abolitionism led by Rev. Horatio Alger, father of noted Rags to Riches author Horatio Alger Jr. Within 20 years the West Village would become home to many French Canadians who had experienced abolition in Canada since 1833 and tended to vote Republican. Was this pure coincidence?

23. The State Disunion Convention held at Worcester, Mass. in January of 1857 was a unique exercise in northern secessionist thought.

25. (Gathered) for the purpose of considering the “practicability, probability, and expediency of a separation of the Free and Slave States”. Organizer: Rev. T. W. Higginson (Member of John Brown’s Secret Six) Among the six Vice Presidents: William Lloyd Garrison, Boston (publisher of The Liberator) Charles Brigham, Marlboro

26. “ Uncle Charles Brigham, ... a great temperance laborer and anti-slavery man, very public spirited and one of the founders and leading men of the Unitarian Church (Feltonville).” Ella Bigelow Historical Reminiscences of the Early Times in Marlborough

27. “ If the Union cannot stand the practical working of the truths enunciated in the Declaration of American Independence, it seems to me its value has been calculated. I am not, however, prepared to believe that the triumph of freedom requires the dissolution of the Union.” O.W. Albee Letter to the Worcester Disunion Convention

28. The Motivation of The Marlborough Fire Department

31. In 1850 Marlboro there were three villages, each distinct enclaves of small factories and closely packed multi story houses surrounding small commercial areas and a central main Church. All areas between the villages remained farmland with sparse housing.

32. The Villages of Marlborough 1856

33. The black circle shows the area between the present Mechanic St and Bolton St. There were no residences except the Howe house at the top of the circle. The white area shows that there were no homes between Fairmount Hill and the present Howe St. It was a swamp. The red line shows that there were no buildings between the present Monument Sq. and the present City Hall. Washington St. was a direct path through a field from the East Village Church to the cemetery. By the mid 1860’s these areas were substantially filled in.

35. This was the answer. An 1849 model hand tub pumper from the Howard & Davis Co. Boston. This is the actual pumper from the Marlboro East Village Torrent Company.

38. Marlborough Firefighters and the Fireman's Muster July 4, 1849, the first fireman's hand engine muster was held in Bath, Maine. Marlborough that year received three new engines and two years later were contestants for the first time. Since that time Marlborough's engines have been prominent in most musters held in New England where they originated. Several of the largest, and best, were held in Marlborough". H.H Esterbrook, Westboro, circa 1922 Quoted in Paul Polewacyk's history of the Marlboro Fire Department on John Buczek's Marlboro History Website

40. The Subject of John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

42. An overhead view of Harpers Ferry. The Potomac River descends from the north and the Shenandoah comes in from the west. The white arrow is the relative position of the Engine House and the Red arrow is the substructure of the railroad bridge destroyed by the Confederates in the summer of 1861.

43. The bridge from the Maryland side looking at Harpers Ferry. The buildings left of center are the Wager Hotel buildings and just to the right a small water tower. Behind the tower sits the Engine House (not visible). Historic Photo Collection, National Historic Parks

44. These overhead street maps are from The Business Enterprises and Commercial Development of Harpers Ferry Lower Town Area, 1803-1861 by Charles W. Snell The circled area is the water tower. The Potomac River is to the right.

45. The Wager House Hotel complex including the Potomac Restaurant/Hotel was at times run as separate hotels but mostly as a single unit. The slaves of our story all would have worked in this area.

46. The Engine House where John Brown was isolated sat behind a fence and gate within the Armory complex and stood throughout the Civil War although all the buildings around it were totally destroyed.

48. Born a Slave But Made His Escape to Freedom Exciting Days In the Life of a Marlboro Barber “ Young (William) Geary was one of those who carried the breakfasts to the imprisoned men and in this way he had the opportunity of meeting John Brown.” Marlboro Daily Enterprise Wednesday, June 5, 1901

50. from the Marlboro Enterprise – Monday, 30 May 1914 Mrs. Fanny Stanley, Who Died Saturday, Knew John Brown Personally “….when he was hung, she saw him go to his death on the scaffold. She was in a hotel at the time. She knew that he was to go to his death on that day and climbing to the topmost part of the hotel she saw the enactment of a tragedy that has gone down the ages. Mrs. Stanley said that when the drop was pulled, his face turned toward the north, prophetic of future development.”

51. “ In my Company was a man who knew every secret hiding place in the mountains around Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights and it was whispered that he had been one of John Brown's men who had escaped capture, he would point out places where he had been with Brown's band - his name was Ledra Coolidge, a quiet, earnest sort of man.” Charles Roundy, Co. F

52. There were no known, provable connections between the John Brown Raiders and Marlboro except perhaps the depth of their hatred of slavery.

53. The Decision Makers Concerning the Bell The following men from Co. I, 13 th Regiment were among the older men from Marlboro who were either involved in the taking of the John Brown Bell or part of the chain of command. There were likely others who were probably killed during the war.

57. The Middlesex House Hotel was once the Thayer Tavern built in the early 1800’s. It was demolished in the 1980’s. Rowe’s Funeral Home is to the left.

59. Russell’s advertisement in the Marlboro Mirror. O.W.Albee listed as a reference.

60. The Taking of the John Brown Bell

63. The map is drawn from the Maryland side with possible targets listed with reference numbers. The Engine House is number 7 and there is a prominent star beneath its position. (See next slide)

65. Map signed L.H. Russell CE (Civil Engineer)

73. The Aftermath

78. Of the sixteen men who took the John Brown Bell seven died during the war and one shortly after. We can conclude that the men responsible for the taking of the Bell were men of heroic stature. Men who fought and died or were horribly wounded. To these men as to so many others we owe the preservation of the Union.

79. “ I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.” John Brown’s final speech.

80. The Object of John Brown's Raid The Slaves of Harpers Ferry

81. The following individuals were the object of John Brown’s Raid. Slaves who lived in Harpers Ferry and at one time or another worked as slaves in the Wager Hotel complex.

83. This photo was taken at Williamsport, MD, probably by George L.Crosby a photographer and artist from Marlboro who had signed up with Co. F and brought his equipment with him. The camp follower slaves were known as ‘contraband’. There is every possibility that the two women to the right are Arenia and Fanny Geary, though without pictures to compare there is no way of knowing for sure. (enlargement following slide)

96. While Marlboro had little to do with the Subject of John Brown or his raid on Harpers Ferry, it had everthing to do with the Object of the raid, which was to bring the slaves of Harpers Ferry to the safety of the North. In Marlboro, they found housing, employment, education and a place in the community.

97. Timeline of the Bell In Marlboro

104. The Ringing of the John Brown Bell in Marlboro on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid October 16, 2009

105. The Funeral of Fannie Geary Stanley Baptist Church, Monument Sq. 1914 There is an image in my mind that best summarizes the topics of this evening. It is a canvas that depicts the funeral of Fannie Geary Stanley at the Baptist Church at Monument Sq. in 1914. The image is drawn from about the position of the entrance to Granger Blvd with a wide angle so as to include both the Baptist Church to the left and the corner of Rawlins Ave. to the right. On that corner stands the old GAR building, since demolished, and below it, on the street stand two men, rope in hand, pulling to ring the bell above. They are wearing firemen’s hats of the day. Just below the bell a plaque that reads “The John Brown Bell”. The Bell sits about the same relative distance from the Baptist Church as it did from the Wager Hotel in Harpers Ferry. In the center of the image stands the Civil War monument, and on it the names of some of the men who Fannie Geary might have met and spoken to in Williamsport, MD, before they went south to the battles in which they died, and Fannie went north to her freedom in Marlboro. She surely would have known that all the men inscribed on that monument had died to purchase that freedom.

106. To the left of the image stand two people in front of the Baptist Church. One is an old soldier, dressed in his best uniform, by the name of Lysander Parker. The other is a beautiful young black woman in a flowing dress. Her name is Fannie Geary Stanley. The soldier is holding her hand gently and tipping his ornamental hat as if to say, “Glad you could come, ma’am, I hope you enjoyed your stay. Godspeed”. The Bell that sits at the Union Common is a National Treasure with national symbolism. But in Marlboro the symbolic freedom it represents is embellished with other values of equal importance. The values of self-sacrifice, of loyalty to one’s word, and, as depicted in the scene at the Monument, of charity and hospitality to strangers met along the way. We hope you’ve enjoyed our presentation tonight. We in Marlboro are not only stewards of the Bell, but stewards of the ideals that it represents. Our hope is that we are somehow led to celebrate these ideals and values in various ways in our community life.