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Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
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History of Cass County, Iowa
Continental Historical Co.,
Springfield, Ill: 1884


  281-282
                              CHAPTER VI
          REMINISCENSES, INCIDENTS AND PERSONAL RECOLLECTONS

                              JOHN BROWN

        Sometime during the winter of 1857, old JOHN BROWN, of Kansas fame,
     accompanied by two of his sons and one white man, stopped all night
     with D. A. BARNETT, at the Grove City House, at Grove City (now the
     City Hotel, Atlantic).  BROWN and his party had in charge about
     eighteen runaway negroes, men, women and children, whom they were
     taking on the "underground railroad" from Missouri to Canada. They had
     three mule teams, and all the male adults of the party were armed with
     Sharp's rifles and Coil's navy revolvers.  After breakfast they took
     their leave and traveled eastward. No one but Mr. BARNETT knew who
     they were until they had gone, or knew that any negroes were of the
     party. It was no uncommon thing during the years just preceding the
     War of the Rebellion, for runaway negroes to be helped across the
     county, on their secret march to freedom. One instance in this
     connection will bear relating. In the year 1859 a pair of runaway
     negro men were traced from Missouri to the vicinity of Lewis. A large
     reward was offered for the arrest of them.  The sheriff of the county
     and the man who kept the ferry over the Nishnabotna, at Lewis, had
     been posted as to the runaways and were'on^the lookout for them. It
     was thought the negroes could not cross the river at any point for
     many miles north or south, but would have to cross at Lewis. Passen-
     gers on the ferry-boat were watched with unusual interest for many
     days. One beautiful Sabbath morning a farmer who resided on the west
     side of the 'Botna, drove down to the ferry, having with him in the
     wagon two ladies closely veiled. The farmer was apparently on his way
     to church, and the two ladies closely veiled were apparently female
     members of the family. The farmer was ferried to the east bank and
     drove to Lewis — from there he drove on eastward to Adair county, and
     placed the two "veiled ladies," who were really the two negro men,
     safely at another "station" in Adair. The sheriff and the keeper of
     the ferry never knew what became of those negro men, and never knew
     that they crossed the ferry in open day.

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