A Connecticut-born farmer with Calvinist roots, Brown (1800–1859) was a lifelong opponent of slavery. In the 1850s, amid the heated debate over the admission of Kansas as a slave vs. a free state, the increasingly zealous Brown moved there and led a guerrilla band in the murder of five pro-slavery settlers that came to be known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. Later, Brown hatched a plan to capture the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and distribute the weapons to slaves. The violent plot failed when he was captured by Robert E. Lee, tried, and hanged. Matte-finish 5.5 x 7.25 oval photo of Brown, by Lawrence’s of New York, affixed to a 7.75 x 9.75 photographer’s mount; slip affixed to the mount is signed in black ink, “Your friend, John Brown.” In good condition, with scattered toning, surface marks, and soiling, heavy creases to the signed slip, the signature faded but visible, and the image a bit faded. RR Auction COA.
