THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
April 23, 1903.
"OLD RELIC GONE. The House Where John Brown Drilled his Men
Consumed by Fire."-- Tabor, Iowa, April 11.--A little blaze in a
cottage in this city a few days ago is fraught with much historic
interest, for the famous "John Brown House" was the victim, a relic
of the Underground Railway in the '50s and during the civil war.
And what stories the little old shack could tell of the
frightened gatherings of fleeing darkey slaves, or the gayer scenes
when care was thrown to the winds and the floor cleared for a "reg'lar
old-fashioned breakdown". For it was in the house that many a time
the fiddle shrieked while the fugitives danced to a merry tune in
accordance with the plans of Brown himself, who believed it a good
time to thus cheer up the fleeing negroes.
This house is given added interest because its builders are still
living, one of them here and the other in or near Glenwood, Iowa. It
also sheltered a miniature arsenal, which afterward became famous,
and a cannon, which came from Maine with a party of northerners,
found lodging there until it was taken to Kansas for real war.
The so-called "John Brown house" was originally constructed to
give additional school room for the children of the public school.
Away back in the '50s the public school house was located on the
site of the present big brick church of the Congregationalists.
This structure was built that was to give more space for school
purposes under the direction of Deacon George B. Gaston, a famous
pioneer in these parts, and the men who did most of the work on the
little edifice, destined to become historic, were S. H. Adams and
William Shepardson--the former still living here--the latter,
southwest of Glenwood. The building was located on the property
owned by Dr. J. F. Sanborn. John Brown was ever bringing parties of
blacks through here to aid them in their escape from slavery. This
little school house served as a shelter, where they danced and
fiddled away a merry hour, accompanied their benefactor to church,
and then were hurried on to the next underground station.
Parties were passing through Tabor from the east--one composed
of 200 men from Maine. They had arms, ammunition and one cannon,
which was carefully guarded. These men found lodging in this
building and in other places about the small village, and later went
on to assist in the free state cause in Kansas. The cannon was
carried thence in a load of corn.
Brown drilled his men here from time to time, who were recruited
from the east, and passengers going through Tabor on the daily
stage coach from Missouri viewed the proceedings in very great rage.
John Brown's use of the little school house for the escaping blacks
on the one hand and the people passing through from the east on the
other hand, and the subsequent history of the civil war stamped the
otherwise insignificant building with importance.
"It seems ages ago," said S. H. Adams who built the house, the
other day, "that there was much excitement in Tabor. It became quite
a common thing to see party of negroes in the vicinity, where we
hardly knew what a black man was prior to the Underground. It was
indeed a picturesque scene to see those men drilling for a coming
conflict under the leadership of John Brown. My, but he was a
character! The world has never seen many such men. He was simply
saturated with the idea of freeing the slaves, and that his life
should be forfeited for that idea was of no consequence to him,
provided that he did something toward the emancipation of the
slave."
It is interesting in this connection to recall the underground
station at Nebraska City, Neb., which was written up in the Sunday
World Herald not more than a couple of years ago. Some traces of
that historic spot where the slaves were secreted still remain, and
it was from that point that many fugitives were taken to Kansas and
Missouri, to be piloted across the corner of Nebraska into Iowa and
on to Tabor. |
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