Lewis Sheridan Leary (March 17, 1835 – October 20, 1859) was an African-American harnessmaker from
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...
, who joined
John Brown's
raid
RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...
on
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...
, where he was killed.
Life
Leary's father was a
free born African-American harnessmaker. Lewis Leary was born at
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city.
Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...
. His paternal grandparents were an Irishman, Jeremiah O'Leary, who fought in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
under General
Nathanael Greene
Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...
, and his wife of African, European and
Native American descent. His great grandfather, Aaron Revels, also fought in the revolution. Through Revels, he was a cousin to
Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African-American to serve in the United States Senate. His brother was North Carolina politician and lawyer,
John S. Leary.
In 1857, Lewis Leary moved to Oberlin. There he married
Mary Patterson, an African-American graduate of
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
. Leary became involved with
abolitionists
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
in Oberlin, which had an active community. Later, he met
John Brown in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
.
In 1858, Leary participated in the
Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, when fugitive slave John Price was forcibly taken from the custody of a
U.S. Marshal to prevent his being returned to slavery in the South. Leary was not among the 37 men (12 of them free blacks) who were indicted and jailed for their actions. As a result of negotiations between state officials (who had arrested the US Marshal and his party) and federal officials, only Simon Bushnell and
Charles Henry Langston were tried; both were convicted, and served light sentences, in part because of Langston's eloquent speech in their defense.
Leary may have been the first recruit from Oberlin to join Brown's army. He left Mary and their six-month-old daughter Lois at home. Accompanied by
John A. Copeland, Leary went to
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Franklin County, in the South Central Pennsylvania, South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Gre ...
, to join Brown. Leary died eight days after the attack from wounds suffered in the conflict at Harper's Ferry. Copeland was captured, tried and later executed. After Leary's death, the abolitionists
James Redpath (editor for the ''New York Tribune'') and
Wendell Phillips helped raise money for Mary and Louise Leary's support and the girl's education.
In 1869 the widow Mary Patterson Leary married again, to the Ohio abolitionist
Charles Henry Langston. The family moved to
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...
, where they remained for the rest of their lives. In 1872 Charles and Mary's daughter Caroline Mercer Langston was born. She would become the mother of the renowned poet
Langston Hughes.
Death
During the Harpers Ferry raid, Leary was mortally wounded. He survived his terrible wounds for eight hours after the capture of Brown's men, during which he was well treated and able to send messages to his family. His wife had not previously known of the planned raid. He is reported as saying, "I am ready to die." His body was first buried with 7 others killed in a pit along the Shenandoah (see
John Brown's raiders). In 1899 his body was reburied with most of the others killed next to John Brown's grave, at the
John Brown Farm State Historic Site in North Elba, New York.
Legacy and honors
A memorial service was held in Oberlin for Leary,
John A. Copeland, and
Shields Green, on December 25, 1859. The latter two had been executed after being convicted at trial following the raid.
In 1865 after the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, a monument was erected in Westwood Cemetery at Oberlin to honor the three. The monument was moved in 1977 to
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
Park on Vine Street.
"Monument to the Oberlinians Who Participated in John Brown's Raid On Harpers Ferry"
accessed May 21, 2007 The inscription reads:
These colored citizens of Oberlin, the heroic associates of the immortal John Brown, gave their lives for the slave. ''Et nunc servitudo etiam mortua est, laus deo'' (And now slavery is also dead, praise be to God).
S. Green died at Charleston, Va., Dec. 16, 1859, age 23 years.
J. A. Copeland died at Charleston, Va., Dec. 16, 1859, age 25 years.
L. S. Leary died at Harper's Ferry, Va., Oct 20, 1859, age 24 years.
See also
* John Brown's raiders
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leary
1835 births
1859 deaths
African-American abolitionists
American abolitionists
American people of Irish descent
Langston family
American rebels
American revolutionaries
People from Fayetteville, North Carolina
People from Oberlin, Ohio
John Brown's raiders
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry