Produced by Mark C. Orton, Louise Pattison and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE STRANGE STORY OF HARPER'S FERRY WITH LEGENDS OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY BY JOSEPH BARRY A resident of the place for half a century PRINTING HISTORY 1st Printing By Thompson Brothers, Martinsburg, W. Va. 1903 2nd Printing Published By The Woman's Club of Harpers Ferry District (Printed By The Shepherdstown Register, Inc., Shepherdstown, W. Va.) 1958 3rd Printing Published By The Woman's Club of Harpers Ferry District (Printed By The Shepherdstown Register, Inc., Shepherdstown, W. Va.) 1959 4th Printing Published By The Woman's Club of Harpers Ferry District (Printed By The Shepherdstown Register, Inc., Shepherdstown, W. Va.) 1964 5th Printing Published By The Woman's Club of Harpers Ferry District (Printed By The Shepherdstown Register, Inc., Shepherdstown, W. Va.) 1967 6th Printing Published By The Woman's Club of Harpers Ferry District (Printed By The Shepherdstown Register, Inc., Shepherdstown, W. Va.) 1969 Copyright, 1903, by JOSEPH BARRY PREFACE The =real story= of Harper's Ferry is sad, and but little less wild and romantic than the old-time legends that abound in the long settled country around. The =facts= of the story we give with scrupulous =exactness=. We, ourselves, have witnessed many of the most important incidents narrated and, for what happened before our time, we have the evidence of old settlers of the highest character and veracity. The =legends= are =consistent=, even though they may have no other claim on our consideration. They never have more than one version, although one narrator may give more facts than another. The narratives never =contradict= one another in any material way, which goes to show that there was a time when everybody around believed the main facts. THE AUTHOR. [Illustration: JOHN BROWN'S FORT] THE STRANGE STORY OF HARPER'S FERRY CHAPTER I.