John Brown's Body

Our son’s recent four-day visit was very enjoyable from start to finish, winding up with the trip to Saranac Lake's little tiny airport to put him on a little tiny airplane that would return him to New York City. As he flew off to the metropolis, we drove over to North Elba and visited John Brown's farm.

The caretaker of the historic site is a descendant of John Brown and is passionate about the man and his cause. She is a wonderful story-teller who held us spellbound with her emotional vignettes, told with perfect theatrical timing. We hung on her words as we went through the house, some of which is furnished with Brown's own things, the rest with period pieces.

In 1846, Brown, who was living in Ohio, heard of "Timbucto," the community started by Abolitionist Gerrit Smith. It was a colony of sorts located in the northeastern Adirondacks which offered free 40 acre parcels of land to blacks. In 1849, Brown moved there to help teach these colonists how to farm. He bought 244 acres nearby (the site of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site we visited), but quickly realized that most of the Timbucto land was unfit for farming and only the hardiest of the colonists would be able to survive there. In 1851 he went back to Ohio, but in 1855 returned with his family to North Elba and the farmhouse and barns were built. His wife and a couple of his daughters lived there, but he only visited sporadically because of his anti-slavery activities in Kansas and Ohio. The famous Harper's Ferry raid took place in Virginia in 1859; Brown was captured, tried, and then executed on Dec. 2, 1859. The Civil War broke out shortly thereafter, arguably (by this caretaker at least) partly as a result of John Brown’s martyrdom. He is buried at the farm in North Elba along with two of his sons and ten other raiders killed at Harpers Ferry.

According to this caretaker, John Brown’s affection for “negroes” and belief in equality was formed very early in his life through his own experience rather than because of the strong religious fanaticism many people attached to him later. She is friends with Russell Banks, author of Cloudsplitter, and although in love with his earlier book, The Sweet Hereafter, she could not bear the fictionalization she encountered in Banks’ portrayal of her ancestor.

You may someday visit Lake Placid’s resorts, drive up the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway, enjoy the view from atop the ski jump or visit the bobsled and luge runs and the skating rinks. Maybe you’ll cheer on the competitors in the Iron Man competition or cross-country ski race, perhaps you’ll paddle a kayak or canoe, and maybe you’ll enjoy a wonderful meal at either the Mirror Lake or Interlaken Inn. But while you’re there soaking up all that Olympic Village excitement and fun, take a couple of hours to quietly experience John Brown’s home and meet his descendant. You won’t be disappointed.

Link to information about the farm: http://www.nyhistory.com/gerritsmith/nelba.htm