John Brown Museum
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The John Brown Museum, also known as the John Brown Museum State Historic Site and John Brown Cabin, is located in
Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a portmanteau of two nearby streams, the Marais des Cygnes River (form ...
. The site is operated by the
Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kan ...
, and includes the log cabin of Reverend Samuel Adair and his wife, Florella, who was the half-sister of the
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
John Brown. Brown lived in the cabin during the twenty months he spent in Kansas and conducted many of his abolitionist activities from there. The museum's displays tell the story of John Brown, the Adairs and local abolitionists, and include the original cabin, Adair family furnishings and belongings, and Civil War artifacts.


History

When Kansas Territory was established in 1854, newspapers in the North encouraged settlement in the area to ensure that the new state would be free. The land also offered promise to families—the opportunity to cultivate fertile land, enjoy the peaceful countryside, and protect the territory from the spread of slavery. Samuel and Florella Brown Adair held such a dream. Florella's father, Owen Brown, was also the father of the abolitionist John Brown. Owen, a strict
Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
, was a trustee at Oberlin College. John Brown's mother, Ruth Mills Brown, died in 1808, and Owen married Sally Root around 1811. Their children included Florella. Both Samuel and Florella were graduates of Oberlin, a progressive coeducational and biracial college in
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Samuel finished his theology program and the two were married and moved westward, where Samuel sought a position in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory. Five of John Brown's sons followed the Adairs to Kansas. There they faced severe illness and the strife of
Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...
. Brown arrived to help his sons, but did not plan on staying permanently. In Kansas he found a sympathetic group to put his ideas into action. The freestaters and abolitionists rebelled against the controlling pro-slavery government. They often fought those from
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
who came into the territory to push pro-slavery agendas. Osawatomie, near the Missouri border, was attacked and burned by pro-slavery forces on August 30, 1856. The Adair Cabin, which the family had purchased in 1854 for , survived the attack. The Adairs endured much hardship in the territory. As a minister, the Reverend Adair struggled to build his church, the first in Osawatomie and the third Congregational church in Kansas. He provided the walnut lumber and native stone construction materials used for the church building, which was dedicated July 14, 1861. The church still stands today. Florella also led a hard, strenuous life. The log cabin required a dramatic change in lifestyle for the college-educated woman, who had to learn how to do without things to which she was accustomed. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, Samuel was sent to
Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...
to serve as a military chaplain. Florella took over her husband's duties at home. Eventually she became ill and joined Samuel in Leavenworth, where she died in 1865. After Fiorella's death, Samuel returned to Osawatomie. He helped establish the first mental institution in Kansas, which became
Osawatomie State Hospital Osawatomie State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital established in 1863 and opened in 1866 in Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of ...
. There he volunteered his services as chaplain for 11 years. Samuel died in 1898. He left the cabin to his son, Charles Storrs Adair.


Adair cabin

The Adairs' house was a typical rough, frontier log cabin. Its fireplace was used for warmth and cooking. It is believed that the room in back was used to hide escaped slaves. John Brown's son, Frederick, died nearby, the first victim of the
Battle of Osawatomie The Battle of Osawatomie was an armed engagement that occurred on August 30, 1856, when 250–400 pro-slavery Border ruffians, led by John W. Reid, attacked the town of Osawatomie, Kansas, which had been settled largely by anti-slavery Free-Sta ...
. Because of his activities in and around the area, John Brown became known as "Old Osawatomie Brown". Brown stayed in the cabin with the Adairs from time to time. In 1911 the Kansas legislature named the site of the battleground John Brown Memorial Park and moved the cabin to its present site. The stone building that encloses the cabin was built in 1928. In 1963, the Kansas Historical Society became the administrator of the site.


Statue

A statue of Brown by George Fite Waters was added in 1935. It was sponsored by the
Women's Relief Corps The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...
, Department of Kansas.


See also

*
John Brown Farm State Historic Site The John Brown Farm State Historic Site includes the home and final resting place of abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859). It is located on John Brown Road in the town of North Elba, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Lake Placid, New York, where ...
, in upstate New York, a U.S. National Historic Landmark * John Brown Farm, Tannery & Museum, in Pennsylvania


References


Further reading

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External links

* * * * {{John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry History museums in Kansas Brown, John Museums in Miami County, Kansas Kansas state historic sites Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Houses completed in 1855 Houses on the Underground Railroad John Brown sites Bleeding Kansas Historic American Buildings Survey in Kansas 1855 establishments in Kansas Territory Houses in Miami County, Kansas National Register of Historic Places in Miami County, Kansas John Brown and family in Kansas Historic house museums in Kansas Monuments and memorials to John Brown (abolitionist)