Abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859)

Side A: Born in Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown moved with his family to Hudson, Ohio, in 1805 and lived many years in Portage and Summit Counties. His expert knowledge of sheep and wool led to a business partnership with Colonel Simon Perkins from 1844 to 1854. The partnership drew Brown’s family to the house at 514 Diagonal Road, across from Perkins’ estate on Mutton Hill. Brown considered the then two-room house with loft, rented from Perkins, “the most comfortable and most favourable arrangement of my worldly concerns that I ever had.” (Continued on other side) Side B: (Continued from other side) While in Akron, Brown transported freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, which he called the “Subterranean Pass Way.” Arriving in “Bleeding Kansas” in 1855, he fought proslavery forces and gained a fearsome reputation as “Osawatomie Brown.” In October 1959, he led a failed raid on Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, in an effort to end slavery in the United States. He was convicted of conspiracy to incite a slave insurrection, treason, and murder, and hanged. This event played a significant role in the onset of the American Civil War.