John Brown

He married Dianthe Lusk in 1820. They had seven children. His wife died in 1832 after the death of their newborn son.

He married Mary Ann Day on June 14, 1833 and the couple had thirteen children along with the seven from his earlier marriage.

In 1843, four of his children died due to dysentery.

John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, to Ruth Mills and Owen Brown on May 9, 1800 as their fourth child among eight children.

His father, a Calvinist was against slavery. In 1805, after the family shifted to Hudson, Ohio, his father opened a tannery. His father was a supporter of ‘Oberlin Institute’ (now known as ‘Oberlin College’) but later became critical of the institute’s “Perfectionist” leanings.

At 12, he witnessed enslavement and beating of an African-American boy while travelling through Michigan. The incident haunted him for years.

At 16, he went to Plainfield in Massachusetts and joined a preparatory program. After a short while he went to Litchfield, Connecticut and enrolled in ‘Morris Academy’.

He aspired to be a Congregationalist minister but due to shortage of money and his sufferings from eye inflammation he left the academy and went back to Ohio.

He began his career in Hudson in his father’s tannery. Later he opened a tannery with his adopted brother outside the town which became quite successful.

His family shifted to New Richmond, Pennsylvania, in 1825. There he purchased a 200 acre land and built a tannery, a barn and a cabin using one-eighth of the land. Fifteen men were employed in the tannery within a year. His income came from cattle raising and surveying.

He helped in constructing a school and a post office. He long with Seth Thompson, a kinsman from eastern Ohio, ran an interstate business that involved raising cattle and production of leather.

He moved to Franklin Mills, Ohio (Presently known as Kent) with his family in 1836. Here he partnered with Zenas Kent to operate a tannery by the Cuyahoga River. In this pursuit he borrowed money to purchase land and build the tannery.

In 1837 after Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered, John Brown vowed publicly to dedicate his life to end slavery.