thumb|Sarah Brown in 1912, recreating the conditions of their trip to California. (Dress and [[covered wagon are replicas.)]]

Mary Ann Day Brown (April 15, 1816 – February 29, 1884) was the second wife of abolitionist John Brown, leader of a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), who attempted to start a campaign of liberating enslaved people in the South. Married at age 17, Mary raised 5 stepchildren and an additional 13 children born during her marriage. She supported her husband's activities by managing the family farm while he was away, which he often was. Mary and her husband helped enslaved African Americans escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. The couple lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the abolitionist settlement of North Elba, New York. After the execution of her husband, she moved to California and became a pioneer of development there.

Early life

Mary Ann Day was born on April 15, 1816, in Granville in Washington County, New York,

When she was sixteen, she occasionally came to abolitionist John Brown's house in New Richmond, Pennsylvania, to work on the spinning wheel. Her sister was his housekeeper. Mary was described as tall and sturdy, with striking black hair. John found her to be a hard worker and practical. A shy man, John wrote a letter to her in which he asked her to marry him.

Marriage and children

At the age of 17, Mary Ann Day was married on June 14 who was a widower previously married to Dianthe Lusk.

Stepchildren

Mary acquired five stepchildren, aged two to twelve, upon her marriage to John Brown. As a Captain in a Kansas cavalry unit, he was the only one of the Brown's children to serve in the Civil War. He died May 3, 1895.

  • Jason Brown was born in Hudson, Ohio, on January 19, 1823. Jason was a humanitarian and a pacifist. He married Ellen Sherbondy in 1847 and they had descendants. He died on December 24, 1912.
  • Owen Brown was born in Hudson, Ohio, on November 4, 1824. He participated in the Kansas battles and came with his father to Harpers Ferry. During the raid on Harpers Ferry, he stayed at the Kennedy Farm and led four others to safety when the failure of the raid became apparent. He died in Pasadena, California, on January 8, 1889.
  • Ruth Brown was born in New Richmond, Pennsylvania, on February 18, 1829. She also attended the Grand River Institute. She married Henry Thompson on September 26, 1850, and they had descendants. She died on January 18, 1904.
  • Frederick Brown (the second) was born in New Richmond, Pennsylvania, on December 31, 1830. He was shot and killed by Martin White in Osawatomie, Kansas, on August 30, 1856, and was buried there.

Mary's own children

Mary had thirteen children with John.

Anti-slavery institutions were established by William Lloyd Garrison in the early 1830s with the founding of The Liberator newspaper and the American Anti-Slavery Society. In the mid-1830s, the Browns were subscribers of the newspaper and Mary was familiar with her husband's and Garrison's positions against slavery. Few people supported the anti-slavery movement in the 1840s and 1850s. Influenced by the Second Great Awakening, Mary believed it important to bring an end to slavery. She saw African Americans as her equals.

While her husband and sons were away fighting against slavery, she remained at home and worked to support the family, as well as running her household and delivering and raising children. John considered his wife a partner and a "fast and faithful affectionate friend" who made it possible for him to focus on his fight against slavery. He recognized that she took on a life of "poverty, trials, discredit, and sore afflictions" due to his commitments, which resulted in periods of illness and loss.

Their children were raised to be truthful, resist temptation, improve morally, and be useful. Four of her children died in 1843 and another two children died by 1849.

Harpers Ferry raid

John planned and executed the raid on Harpers Ferry on October 16, 1859. Her funeral was heavily attended.

Legacy

Historian Stephen B. Oates called her a "loyal, self-sacrificing wife", and stated, "She had been taught since childhood that a woman's task was to bear children, tend her house, and obey her husband. Thus she subordinated herself completely to Brown's will... enduring his intractable ways."

See also

  • California Historical Landmarks in Tehama County
  • Home of Mrs. John Brown

Notes

References

Bibliography

Interview

Further reading

  • Fox, Theron. Saratoga Historical Foundation. After Harper's Ferry : John Brown's widow-her family and the Saratoga years. Saratoga, California: Saratoga Historical Foundation, 1964.
  • Goodwin, Karen. Mrs. Mary Anne (Day) Brown. Red Bluff, California: Goodwin, 1968.
  • Hampton, Kathlin. Mrs. John Brown. Red Bluff, California: Hampton, 1967.
  • Laughlin-Schultz, Bonnie. "The noble wife of the late champion of freedom" Mary Brown's 1882 visit to Topeka and John Brown's enduring legacy. Kansas history. Vol. 35, No. 4 (Winter 2012/2013)
  • Laughlin-Schultz, Bonnie. "Could I not do something for the cause?" : the Brown women, antislavery reform, and American memory of militant abolitionism. Ph. D. Dissertation. Indiana University 2009.
  • Libby, Jean. John Brown's family in California : a journey by funeral train, covered wagon, through archives, to the Valley of Heart's Delight : including the years 1833-1926, and honoring descendants of the women abolitionists of Santa Clara County, now known as Silicon Valley. Palo Alto, California : Allies for Freedom, 2006.
  • Nalty, Damon G. Chronology of residences and real estate holdings of the family of John Brown : Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties Saratoga, CA : Saratoga Historical Foundation, 1995.
  • Phay, Wilbert L. John Brown's family in Red Bluff, 1864-1870 M.A. Dissertation. Chico State College.
  • Reed, Karen. The Widow Brown after Red Bluff. Red Bluff, California: Reed, 1968.
  • Rosenberg, Daniel. Mary Brown : from Harpers Ferry to California. New York: American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1975.