Watson Brown to his Mother and Family, October 30, 1856

St. Charles, Iowa, Oct. 30,1856.

Dear Mother, Brothers, And Sisters, — I sent you a draft for thirty dollars a few days ago in a sheet of paper with a very few words on it, — they being all I had time to write then. We are well and in fine spirits, besides being in good company. We are in the company of a train of Kansas teams loaded with Sharpe's rifles and cannon. I heard a report that father had gone East. We travel very slow; you can write to us at Tabor. On our way we saw Gerrit Smith, F. Douglass, and other old friends. We have each a Sharpe's rifle. Oliver, your watch was all that saved us. I want you to write and let us know how you get along. No more now.

Yours truly,

Watson Brown.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 341