Will of John Brown: April 13, 1857

I, John Brown, of North Elba, N. Y., intending to visit Kansas, and knowing the uncertainty of life, make my last will as follows: I give and bequeath all trust funds and personal property for the aid of the Free-State cause in Kansas, now in my hands or in the hands of W. H. D. Callender, of Hartford, Conn., to George L. Stearns, of Medford, Mass., Samuel Cabot, Jr., of Boston, Mass., and William H. Russell, of New Haven, Conn., to them and the survivor or survivors and their assigns forever, in trust that they will administer said funds and other property, including all now collected or hereafter to be collected by me or in my behalf for the aid of the Free-State cause in Kansas, leaving the manner of so doing entirely at their discretion.

Signed at Boston, Mass., this 13th day of April, A. D. 1857, in presence of us, who, in presence of said Brown and of each other, have at his request affixed our names as witnesses of his will. The words “and personal property” and “and other property” interlined before signature by said Brown, and “said Callender,” erased.

John Brown.

Daniel Foster,	}
Mary Ellen Russell,	}  Witnesses.
Thomas Russell,	}

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 385-6