John Browns Body Lies A-Moulderin'

I had read that John Brown's Farm was close by, and we took the first road beyond the ski jump to its' location.  This board explains a little about the history of John Brown, rabid abolitionist and the hero of many who wanted to free the slaves. 

But, take a look at this picture.  In front is that same board, and right beyond it is ..... the ski jump!
It is such a weird juxtaposition!  It is a jarring confluence of history.

I don't know how to separate out Lake Placid from Elba, New York, which is where this farm is.

We all know the history of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in   Some historians attribute his actions to starting the Civil War.  What was fascinating to me was the history of his family.  He was married twice, the first wife Dianthe, had seven children and died in childbirth.  The second wife, Mary Ann, (who was 16 when they married)  had thirteen children.  There were eight children left after the raid.   Two of his sons died in the raid on Harper's Ferry.   One son escaped.  The widow and remaining children were left to fend for themselves, facing great hostility.   One of the daughters went south to teach the "contraband" i.e. Negroes who had escaped.   And then, the whole family ended up taking a wagon train West and settling in California.  Mary Ann lived until 1884, John Brown having been hanged in 1859.  I could go on, because I always find these stories fascinating, but for a great read on what happened to them, go to www.historynet.com/john-browns-family.

One of Brown's sons, Watson, was sent to a medical school where they dissected his body and eventually returned the skeleton to the mother.  She ended up getting the bodies back to bury on this farm.

There is a barn and a pond just below the house.

It was a pretty nice house, with two large living areas and a loft with lots of beds.  There are a couple of original chairs here.  The farm went through a few ownerships before becoming a state park.

Mary Ann had a wall taken out between the bedroom and the kitchen.  She spent most of her time here, either giving birth or cooking.  Thirteen children!  John Brown obviously didn't think about abolition all of the time...

One of the artifacts I thought was weird was this shaving cup made out of wood from the scaffold on which John Brown was hanged.

The outside of the house.

Two plaques commemorating the Brown family including John's father.

The original stone for John Brown had an inscription for his father first.   The graves beside it are those of the two sons and perhaps 10 others who were killed in the raid.

This statue stands  in a circular road just away from the house.  The whole area is a nice preservation of a moment in history.  

So the song, John Brown's Body Lies a Moulderin' in the Grave, was sung by Union Soldiers.  It may not have even originally been about THIS John Brown, but a John Brown that served in the regiment.  Nevertheless, it became the marching song for the Union Soldiers.  The Song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic", written by Julia Ward Howe, takes the John Brown Song, which had some coarse lyrics,  and put some "good words" to it.  The melody stayed the same.