Regarding John Brown - photo 1
Regarding John Brown - photo 2

Regarding John Brown

Lot 247
26.05.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 5 292
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 753038
Lot 247 | Regarding John Brown
Estimate value
$ 500 – 800
Regarding John BrownOliver Brown, Theodore Parker, Caleb Cushing, 1856-1859JOHN BROWN – group of three letters pertaining to the final years of John Brown's life, in particular Judge Thomas Russell, who supplied Brown with a hiding place when he was pursued by a U.S. Marshal for treason in 1856 and later offered his legal counsel to an imprisoned Brown following his failed raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry. 1. BROWN, Oliver (d. 1859). Autograph letter signed ("Oliver Brown") to Thomas Russell, North Elba, 21 December 1858. 1 page, 243 x 192mm (wax remnants on verso). Writing that he had seen Russell's letter "to John Brown my Father" and reporting that Brown was "now in Kansas Ter[r]itory," but believing he would "Start East shortly," yet still promising to forward the letter to Kansas, but adds that "I feel authorized only to say that he has abandoned no Scheme which he has hitherto had in view." Oliver Brown was among thee of John Brown's sons who participated in the Harper's Ferry raid, and like his brother Watson, was mortally wounded there.2. CUSHING, Caleb (1800-1879). Autograph letter signed ("Cushing") to Henry A. Wise, Boston 31 October 1859. 1 page, bifolium, 248 x 195mm (mounting remnants on verso). Cushing introduces Thomas Russell, a Massachusetts superior court judge, "who proceeds to Virginia at the request of John Brown for the purpose of advising with him as to his legal interests…." Brown had written to Russell on 21 October 1859 from his jail cell in Charleston, Virginia seeking "to obtain able & faithful counsel for myself & fellow prisoners…" (See the original letter at the Kansas Historical Society).3. PARKER, Theodore (1810-1860). Autograph letter signed ("TP") to "My dear Judge [Russell]," n.p., "Sunday morning, [c. 1856]." 1 page bifolium, 200 x 130mm. A cryptic piece of advice to the judge then harboring the fugitive Brown: "If John Brown falls into the hands of the marshal from Kansas, he is sure either of the gallows or something yet worse. If I were in his position I should shoot dead any man who attempted to arrest me for those alleged crimes; then I should be tried by a Massachusetts Jury, & be acquitted." Parker, a Unitarian minister and a member of the Secret Six who supported John Brown's efforts, issued a pamphlet in 1860 that defended Brown's actions at Harper's Ferry and argued for the right of enslaved people to kill their enslavers. Letters from Theodore Parker are extremely rare. In later years, Russell would read this letter aloud during public lectures, the text of the letter appearing in print in 1880 (Republican Record, For Scott, Kan., 24 Dec. 1880, p. 3).
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