John Brown in Crawford County The Making of a Radical Abolitionist

Abstract

In 2000, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) featured as part of its “The American Experience” series; a television documentary called “John Brown’s Holy War.” In the documentary, historian Edward R. Renehan Jr. says: “Kansas is the birth of the Messianic Brown; it’s the birth of the Mose-like Brown; it’s the birth of the terrorist Brown; it’s the birth of the murderer Brown.” Yet earlier in the same program Renehan states “Throughout his career, we see John Brown insisting on taking the lead in all things. And when he is not permitted to do so, we see him rebelling and leaving.” Given the public memory of John Brown as an iconoclast or unstable personality, it would seem that this side of Brown would manifest itself during his years in northwestern Pennsylvania. If so, it would appear that Professor Renehan’s claim that Kansas “gave birth” to the radical Brown is false. In fact, a close examination of Brown’s life in Crawford County supports a long held theory of biographers and psychologists. The defining traits and distinct characteristics of a personality usually manifest themselves early in that individual’s life. Crucial episodes occurred in Crawford County that foreshadowed later motives and actions of Brown. These episodes were Brown’s break with the Congregationalist Church, Brown’s break with the Masonic Order, Brown’s involvement with the Underground Railroad and Brown’s attempt to start a colony of ex-slaves and a school for black children. An appreciation of the significance of these events for Brown demonstrates that the seeds of his later radicalism were planted when he lived in Pennsylvania.