The John Brown Farm

From Saranac Lake (see the previous two posts), my sister and I drove the short distance south to Lake Placid. Just as we got this good view of Whiteface Mountain, we turned onto John Brown Road:

The John Brown home was not open (we'd known that before we went), but the grounds were open so we stopped and walked around:

Signs explained the site, John Brown's story and history of this former farm, now a monument:

I got the impression that John Brown was a severe, cold man, perhaps a religious fanatic, and not someone I might like, however much I agree with him about the evil of slavery. I took note of how seldom he came home to visit his wife and children:

John Brown was hanged after his trial for the raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and his body was returned to his wife at the farm in Lake Placid (actually North Elba), New York. The sign explains that 12 men are thought to be buried in the three graves here, including two of John Brown's sons:

The graves were encircled by a locked, wrought iron fence:

John Browns gravestone, which was originally his grandfather's, is protected by glass:


The tombstone was originally for John Brown's grandfather, but his name and the names of the two sons who died in the raid at Harper's Ferry were added:


The story of how the old Brown farm became a memorial, owned and operated by the state of New York:

The farm house was closed, so we didn't get to see inside that:

This huge stone memorial was outside the fence and behind the gravestones, but I couldn't read the inscription and couldn't find it online to tell me what it said. I could, however, see enough to tell me that it was a memorial to John Brown:

When the museum is open, the barn is also open and has displays inside. Knowing it was closed, we didn't walk down to it. Instead, we headed back toward Saranac Lake with another stop in mind (see tomorrow's post):