Interesting facts about john brown
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John Brown
John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut on May 9, 1800 to a religious antislavery couple named Owen and Ruth Brown. He had an early interest in abolition likely started by his father's own passion for the cause. At the age of 5 John moved with his family to the Western Reserve which is now a part of Ohio. He was an awkward and solitary child but was especially close to his mother. She died when John was 8 years old after giving birth to a daughter that only survived a few hours. This left him devastated.
Owen Brown - John Brown's father
In 1816, he enrolled in school in Plainfield, Massachusetts to prepare for college. He soon transferred to Morris Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. Long hours of reading by candlelight hurt his vision and he developed a severe inflammation of the eyes. This combined with the poor quality of his previous education forced him to give up his schooling and he returned to Hudson, Ohio.
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John Brown
Born in Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown belonged to a devout family with extreme anti-slavery views. He married twice and fathered twenty children. The expanding family moved with Brown throughout his travels, residing in Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York.
Brown failed at several business ventures before declaring bankruptcy in 1842. Still, he was able to support the abolitionist cause by becoming a conductor on the Underground Railroad and by establishing the League of Gileadites, an organization established to help runaway slaves escape to Canada. In 1849, Brown moved to the free black farming community of North Elba, New York.
At the age of 55, Brown moved with his sons to Kansas Territory. In response to the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, John Brown led a small band of men to Pottawatomie Creek on May 24, 1856. The men dragged five unarmed men and boys, believed to be slavery proponents, from their homes and brutally murdered them. Afterwards, Brown raided Missouri – freeing eleven slaves and killing
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John Brown was born May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. Soon after Brown’s birth, the family moved to Hudson, Ohio. As a youth he saw an enslaved boy, with whom he had become friends, badly beaten and harshly treated. This and his religious belief that slavery was a sin against God influenced his thoughts and actions throughout his life.
In 1816 he traveled east to study for the ministry but an inflammation of the eyes and a lack of funds forced him to give up this calling. He returned to Ohio and took up his father’s trade of tanning leather. In 1820 he married Dianthe Lusk. She gave birth to seven children, five of whom lived to maturity. In 1826 he moved his family to Richmond, Pennsylvania, built a tannery (with a secret room to hide escaping slaves), organized a church, and served as postmaster to the community. Dianthe died in 1832 and the following year he married Mary Ann Day. She bore thirteen children but only six lived to maturity.
In the ensuing years between 1835 and 1846, Brown pursued various occupations; farmer, tanner, surveyor and real estate speculator.
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