Oct. 25 - Nov. 2, 1859 - Trial of John Brown

Oct. 25 - Nov. 2, 1859

Trial of John Brown 

Jefferson County Courthouse

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The Trial of John Brown

Jefferson County Courthouse

— Prelude to War —

One of the most famous trials in American history was held in this building in 1859, when John Brown and his followers faced charges of treason against Virginia, inciting slaves to rebel, and murder. Judge Richard Parker presided.

The trial began on October 25, a week after the raiders were captured, and ended on November 2. Those tried then and later included Brown, John Cook, John Copeland, Shields Green, Edwin Coppic, Albert Hazlett, and Aaron Stevens. Col. Lewis W. Washington, kidnapped by Brown's men from his home, Beallair, and held hostage, was a principal witness for the prosecution. The jury convicted Brown in forty-five minutes. Brown addressed the court, saying, "If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit; so let it be done!" He and his men were hanged nearby on December 2 and December 16, 1859, and March 16, 1860.

On October 18, 1863, Confederate Gen. John D. Imboden attacked Union Col. Benjamin Simpson's Charles Town garrison. Simpson and his infantry took shelter in the courthouse, which Imboden shelled after his surrender demand was refused. The garrison fled, was attacked in a nearby field, and surrendered after Simpson and his staff escaped. Imboden withdrew later that day as additional Union forces arrived.

The first courthouse here, a two-story building with a cupola but no columns, was completed in 1803. The present Greek Revival-style courthouse replaced it in 1836. The courtroom was on the ground floor, and the judge and court officials sat on an elevated platform behind a railing. The county seat moved to Shepherdstown in 1865 because of wartime damage to the courthouse. It returned to Charles Town in 1872 after the building was repaired. The walls were heightened, a broad cornice was added below the roofline, the bell tower was enlarged, and the clock was added. A new courtroom was created on the second floor. In 1922, leaders of the United Mine Workers were tried here for treason against West Virginia for the coal miners' war (Battle of Blair Mountain). Union leader Bill Blizzard and several others were acquitted. Trials for treason against two states thus were held in this courthouse.

After the hanging, they were buried at Edge Hill. 

Also, on the courthouse...

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Exitus Acta Probat. 

1738–1799.

 In Memory of Colonel Charles Washington, brother of General George Washington and founder of Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1786. The four corner lots at Washington and George Streets were donated by him for the public Buildings for use of the County and Town.

In honor and memory of the men and women of Jefferson County who served their country in World War II

• 1701 served • 31 died •

 

Also, in Winchester...

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Martin R. Delany

Free African-American, born 1812 in Charles Town. Died 1885. Ability to read forced family to move to PA in 1822. Studied medicine and attended Harvard in 1850. Published Mystery, first black newspaper west of Allegh. 1843-47, & co-edited North Star with Frederick Douglass to promote and aid abolitionist cause. Comm. major, highest ranking African-American field officer in Union Army, in 1865.

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Two Treason Trials

Jefferson County's Most Famous Trial

In the room immediately behind this wall, the abolitionist John Brown and five of his raiders were tried for treason against the state of Virginia, murder and inciting slaves to rebel. Brown had led 21 men to seize the federal arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry on the night of October 16, 1859 to start an insurrection to topple slavery. Fifteen people died before the raiders were taken.

Treason Trials in Charles Town - Again

Sixty three years after John Brown's raid, labor leader Bill Blizzard and about 800 miners from the coalfields near the Kentucky border were brought to this historic courthouse for trial. The charges were treason against the state of West Virginia and murder. Violence between mine guards and miners in counties 250 miles away had boiled over into full-scale open warfare in the summer of 1921. Fifteen thousand miners armed themselves and marched toward Blair Mountain, going up against trenches and machine guns. At least two dozen men died before federal troops arrived and the fighting subsided.

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Founded in 1786 by Charles Washington, brother of the President. Here John Brown was tried and convicted of treason. Home of W. L. Wilson, Postmaster General, 1896, who here started the first rural free delivery in America

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Focus of Action

Jefferson County in the Civil War

Jefferson County’s association with significant events in Civil War history began in October 1859, when abolitionist John Brown raided the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Quickly captured, Brown and his followers were brought here to Charles Town and then tried, convicted, and executed. On December 2, 1859, Brown rode by here in a light freight wagon on the way to his execution. George W. Sadler, local undertaker and cabinet-maker who also made Brown’s coffin, owned the wagon.

During the war, the county’s position at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley – the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy” – and the proximity of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made it strategically important to both sides. Confederate troops trained in Harpers Ferry in 1861 under Col. Thomas J. Jackson, who returned in September 1862 to capture the Federal garrison just before the Battle of Antietam. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army retreated through the county after the battle, and his wounded filled buildings in Shepherdstown. In July 1864, part of Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s army passed through on his Washington Raid. In September, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan launched his Valley Campaign from Charles Town.

Two notable Charles Town natives served in the war. R. Preston Chew, barely eighteen in 1861, raised an artillery battery and then led horse artillery under Gens. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. Martin R. Delany (1812-1885), a free black, became a writer, physician, black nationalist, and one of a few black officers in the U.S. Army in 1865; commissioned a major, he held the highest rank.

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Zion Episcopal Church Yard

The Rector and parishioners welcome you to Zion Episcopal Church and Churchyard. The history of this place reflects the history and growth of Charles Town as an area settled by people moving west and from the north to the greater Shenandoah Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries.

While the oldest gravestone dates to 1788 and was most likely moved to the property in the 19th century, the church building in front of you was built in 1851 following a fire which destroyed the first building that dated to 1815. There is much visible symmetry in the building architecture. There are doors from the north and south leading into the narthex, the central aisle divides the nave and sanctuary and an equal number of stain glass windows are along each side of the church. Following the Civil War, the church had years of growth and periods of financial challenge. The steeple was not added until 1891 and the bell weighing 1,328 pounds first rang for Easter in 1892. The interior side balconies were removed in 1899 and the interior was renovated in 1949.

The Churchyard is the final resting place of notable people and local residents. The gravestone of Mary Ann Morsell who died in 1831 has a poem dedicated by her friend, Francis Scott Key. Members of the Washington family have lived in the area since 1750 with over 70 Washington family tombstones in the churchyard. Over 20 of them were born at Mt. Vernon. including the last owner, John A. Washington, who died in 1861. Colonel Lewis Washington, taken hostage by John Brown during his raid of Harpers Ferry is buried here.

(Side bar)

You are welcome to walk among the graves. The styles are varied ranging from the flat table design, to more elaborate period monuments, to simple stones to a Celtic cross. Also take note of the old trees in the churchyard that anchor the space and cast soft shadows throughout the year. The stone wall was built in the 1850's. The front wall was replaced with an iron fence because of the ice and snow that remained on the brick pavement during the cold months making a treacherous approach for town parishioners walking to church. On the outside of the north wall are several iron rings where horse and carriages would be tied.

The Churchyard Committee continues to raise money for the care and upkeep of the Churchyard and donations are welcomed to support the ongoing need for restoration and preservation.

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Zion Episcopal Churchyard

Notable Occupants

The present church, the fourth on this site, was completed in 1851. Federal troops occupied it during the Civil War and severely damaged it.

The churchyard contains the graves of many Washington family descents. They are buried near the eastern edge of the church. Several other notable Charles Town residents are buried here as well.

George W. Turner attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, 1827-1831 (Robert E. Lee attended 1825-1829). Turner served in the U.S. Army until he resigned in 1836 and returned home to Charles Town. John Brown’s men shot him on the streets of Harpers Ferry on October 17, 1859: one of four civilians killed. His grave is on the west side of the church toward the south wall.

John Yates Beall was a Charles Town resident who served in Co. G, 2nd Virginia Infantry, until he was wounded and discharged. He then sought to serve as a privateer on the Great Lakes. Eventually, he tried and failed to commandeer a train near Niagara, New York, to free captured Confederate officers on board. He was captured, tried, and convicted of espionage. He was hanged on February 25, 1865. His grave is in the northeastern corner of the cemetery. Beall allegedly was a friend of John Wilkes Booth.

Col. R. Preston Chew led Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s Horse Artillery. After the war, he started the Charelstown Mining, Manufacturing, and Improvement Company in present-day Ranson, West Virginia.