Saturday, September 9, 2017

Franklin B. Sanborn to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 4, 1859

June 4, 1859.

Brown has set out on his expedition, having got some eight hundred dollars from all sources except from Mr. Stearns, and from him the balance of two thousand dollars; Mr. S being a man who, “having put his hand to the plow, turneth not back.” Brown left Boston for Springfield and New York on Wednesday morning at 8.30, and Mr. Stearns has probably gone to New York to-day, to make final arrangements for him. Brown means to be on the ground as soon as he can, perhaps so as to begin by the 4th of July. He could not say where he should be for a few weeks, but letters are addressed to him, under cover to his son John, Jr., at West Andover, Ohio. This point is not far from where Brown will begin, and his son will communicate with him. Two of his sons will go with him. He is desirous of getting some one to go to Canada, and collect recruits for him among the fugitives, — with Harriet Tubman or alone, as the case may be.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 524-5

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