The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding CountryBarry, Joseph
History
The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding Country
Barry, Joseph
Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History; Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History -- John Brown's Raid, 1859
flavor of their pork that winter. Nobody thought on the subject or, if
anybody did recall the episode, it was, no doubt, to give credit to the
hogs for their rough treatment of the invaders.
On Tuesday evening, after Brown's capture, and when the people were
somewhat relieved from the terror of a more extensive and dangerous
invasion, a citizen of Harper's Ferry, who had not had a chance to
distinguish himself in the skirmish of Monday, fired a shot into what
was left of Newby's body, a feat which, it must be supposed, tended to
exalt him, at least, in his own estimation. Like Kirkpatrick at the
murder of the Red Comyn, he thought he would "make sicker" and guard
against any possibility of the dead man's reviving. The citizen referred
to was somewhat under the influence of whiskey when he fired the
superfluous shot, but the writer saw another man who was apparently
sober and who was certainly a person of excellent standing in the
community, kick the dead man in the face and, on the whole, great a
crime as the invasion of the place was and natural as the animosity
towards the raiders should be considered, it must be confessed that the
treatment the lifeless bodies of those wretched men received from some
of the infuriated populace was far from creditable to the actors or to
human nature in general.
Shields Greene alias "Emperor" was a negro of the blackest hue, small in
stature and very active in his movements. He seemed to be very officious
in the early part of Monday, flitting about from place to place, and he
was evidently conscious of his own great importance in the enterprise.
It is supposed that it was he that killed Mr. Boerly. He is said to have
been a resident of the State of New York, but little is known with
certainty about him. He was very insulting to Brown's prisoners,
constantly presenting his rifle and threatening to shoot some of them.
He was aged about thirty years.
John Copeland was a mulatto of medium size, and about twenty-five years
of age. He was a resident of Oberlin, Ohio, where he carried on the
carpenter business for some years.
Lewis Leary, a mulatto, was mortally wounded at the rifle factory in
Monday's skirmish and died in a carpenter's shop on the island. He was a
young man, but his personal appearance cannot be described minutely by
any person not acquainted with him before the raid, as he was suffering
a great deal from wounds when he was captured and, of course, his looks
were not those that were natural to him. He, too, had resided in
Oberlin, and his trade was that of harness making.
A negro man whom Colonel Washington had hired from a neighbor and who
had been taken prisoner with his employer on the previous night was
drowned while endeavoring to escape from his captors. He was an
unwilling participant in the transactions of the day, and no blame was
attached to him by the people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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