Weatherwax, a recreation of the type of 19th century sail ferry used to transport Mary Brown and members of the Cortege across Lake Champlain from Adams’ Landing, VT near present day Button Bay Park to Barber’s Point, NY. near present day Camp Dudley south of the village of Westport., NY.
The Essex County Courthouse, in Elizabethtown, NY, where John Brown’s body lay in state, was guarded by four volunteers the night of Dec. 6, 1854.
During the vigil, re-enactors will voice the discussions about slavery and the meaning of John Brown as their predecessors did 150 years ago.
The grave site, in North Elba (Lake Placid), NY, where John Brown’s body, and later the remains of many of the Raiders are buried.
Following abolitionist John Brown’s capture, trial and sentencing his wife, Mary, visited him at the jail in Charles Town, WV. On Dec. 1, 1859, the two shared a final meal together and Mary returned to her lodgings in Harpers Ferry, WV where she waited for her husband’s body.
On Dec. 2, 2009 re-enactors performing the roles of Mary Brown, as well as other abolitionist leaders, will begin a symbolic cortège of John Brown Coming Home from Charles Town to his final resting place in North Elba (Lake Placid), NY.
December 2, 2009
11:00 a.m.
Charles Town WV
Charles Town Courthouse Lawn
John Brown leaves his wife Mary and rides on a wagon with his coffin to the gallows, accompanied by a procession organized by the NAACP
web site: www.harpersferrywv.net/NAACP.htm
December 6, 2009
1:00 p.m.
Westport, NY
John Brown's Cortege arrives at the Westport Heritage House
3:00 p.m.
Elizabethtown, NY
John Brown's Cortege arrives at the Old Stone Church (United Church of Christ)
4:30 p.m.
A candle lit procession follows the carrying of John Brown's coffin from the church to the Essex County Courthouse
5:00 p.m.
John Brown's coffin lies in state, a vigil begins
December 7, 2009
Elizabethtown
10:00 a.m. John Brown's coffin is carried from the old Essex County Courthouse by Town Supervisors representing Westport, Elizabethtown, Keene
and North Elba, the communities the cortege passed through as they made their way home.
Lake Placid, NY
3:00 p.m.
A wagon bearing John Brown's coffin enters the outskirts of Lake Placid (Rte 73), proceeds up Old Military Road, and along John Brown Road to the Farm
4:00 p.m.
John Brown's coffin is taken into his farm house
John Brown Farm State Park
December 8, 2009
11:00 a.m.
John Brown Farm State Park
A memorial service is held
11:45 a.m.
Service ends
Church bells are rung.
"May the spirit of Old Man Brown and his noble young raiders haunt this nation until we collectively realize the true significance of the Harper's Ferry raid: NOT the so-called first battle of the Civil War, as many historians suggest. Rather, the Harper's Ferry raid was the foremost militant human rights action involving blacks and whites fighting side-by-side on the soil of the United States for sheer liberty."-- Louis DeCaro, Jr.
John Brown Coming Home
Naj Wikoff
Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau
49 Parkside Dr.
Lake Placid, NY 12946
Tel: 518.523.2445 ext. 108
johnbrowncominghome@lakeplacid.com
