Blast Furnace

12/06/2025

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12/04/2025

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12/03/2025

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12/03/2025

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12/03/2025

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12/02/2025

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On this day in 1859, abolitionist John Brown was executed for his role in the raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal in modern-day West Virginia. John Brown was born in 1800 in this house in Torrington, Connecticut, and he lived here for the first few years of his life, before his family moved to Ohio. As an adult, he would become a strong opponent of slavery, eventually culminating with his attempted raid at Harpers Ferry. His goal had been to use the weapons at the arsenal to arm a slave rebellion, but it ultimately failed and he was arrested and charged with treason.

This attack, along with his subsequent trial and ex*****on, was highly polarizing across the country. Northern abolitionists viewed him as a martyr; Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that Brown would “make the gallows glorious like the cross,” and Henry David Thoreau praised the fact that “He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them as he was bid.” However, southern slaveowners viewed him as a dangerous radical, and feared that his efforts would lead to similar raids and attempted slave uprisings. As a result, John Brown’s raid would become an important contributing factor in southern secession, which began just over a year after his ex*****on.

Meanwhile, John Brown’s birthplace became an important landmark in Connecticut. In 1901 it was restored and opened as a museum, and it is shown in the top photo around 1906. However, the house was destroyed by a chimney fire in 1918. A small commemorative marker was added to the site in 1932, and the property is now owned by the Torrington Historical Society. The site includes remnants of the foundation in a clearing next to the road, along with a short walking trail in the woods.

Historic image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

12/01/2025

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12/01/2025

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12/01/2025

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12/01/2025

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