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Senate Select Committee Report on the Harper's Ferry Invasion
Testimony of John C. Unseld

Pp. 1-12

January 5, 1860.

John C. Unseld sworn and examined.

By the Chairman:

Question. Will you please to state your age, and where your reside?
Answer. I was fifty-four years old last fall. I reside about a mile from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in Washington county, Maryland.

Question. Were you acquainted with the late John Brown, who was executed, by sentence of the law, in Jefferson county, Virginia, in December last?
Answer. I had been acquainted with him, but by the name of Smith. He informed me that his name was Smith.

Question. State the circumstances under which you made his acquaintance; and when, and where?
Answer. It was about two thirds of a mile from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, on the edge of the mountain, in Maryland, on the 4th day of July last, between eight and nine o'clock. I was going to Harper's Ferry, and met him there and saluted him, saying, "Good morning, gentlemen; how do you do?" There were four of them together; his two sons, Watson and Oliver -- he told me their names -- and a Mr. Anderson.

Question. State whether he told you his name, and what name he gave?
Answer. I said, "Well, gentlemen," after saluting them in that form, "I suppose you are out hunting mineral gold, and silver?" His answer was, "No, we are not, we are out looking for land; we want to buy land; we have a little money, but we want to make it go as far as we can." He asked me the price of land. I told him that it ranged from fifteen dollars to thirty dollars in the neighborhood. He remarked, "That is high; I thought I could buy land here for about a dollar or two dollars per acre." I remarked to him, "No sir; if you expect to get land for that price, you will have to go further west, to Kansas, or some of those Territories where there is government land" -- "Congress land" perhaps I said.

Question. Did he state his business?
Answer. He did afterwards.

Question. Give the whole conversation.
Answer. I then asked him where they came from. His answer was, "from the northern part of the State of New York." I asked him what he followed there. He said farming, and the frost had been so heavy lately, that it cut off their crops there; that he could not make anything, and had sold out, and thought he would come further South and try it awhile. Then, I think, I left him.

Question. Did he tell you what business he was engaged in?
Answer. He told me he was farming, and the frost had cut off his crops.

Question. But what business he was going to follow?
Answer. I then left and went to Harper's Ferry, and on my return afterwards I met the same party in the same vicinity. He then said to me, "I have been looking round your county up here, and it is a very fine country, a very pleasant place, a fine view; the land is much better than I expected to find it; your crops are pretty good. He was around where they were cutting grain. He then asked me, "Do you know of any farm that is in the neighborhood for sale?" I answered him, "I did; that there was a farm about four miles from there, owned by the heirs of Dr. Kennedy, that was for sale." He then remarked to his company, and to me also, "I think we had better rent awhile until we get better acquainted, and they could not take the advantage of us by the purchase of land;" and said to me, did I know of any property to rent. I told him perhaps he might rent that; I did not know; but it was for sale I knew. He then asked me the direction to it. I told him the direction, and the distance.

Question. Did he inform you what occupation he expected to pursue after he bought or rented land in that neighborhood?
Answer. I will tell the story. He then remarked to Watson Brown and Anderson, "Boys, as you are not very well, you had better go back and tell the landlord at Sandy Hook that we shall not be there to dinner; that we will go on up and look at the place; but you can do as you please." Finally Watson looked around at Anderson, and I did not hear him say anything; but then he turned round and answered, "Well, we will go along." "Well," said I, "if you go on with me up to my house, I can then point you the road exactly." They went up, and I asked them to come in and take dinner. They thanked me, and would not, and did not drink. "Well," said I, "if you follow up this road along the foot of the mountain, it is shady and pleasant and you will come out at a church up here about three miles, and then you can see the house by looking from that church right up the road that runs to Boonesborough, or you can go right across and get into the county road and follow that up." He sat and talked with me awhile, and I finally asked him what he expected to follow there. I perhaps remarked to him, he could not more than make a living on the farm. "Well," said he, "my business has been buying up fat cattle, and driving them on to the State of New York, and selling them, and we expect to engage in that again." They left me then, and went on. So in the course of about three days I think, I met him again on the road between my house and Harper's Ferry, and he said, "Well, I think that place will suit me; now just give me a description where I can find the widow and the administrator." I told him that the widow lived in Sharpsburgh, a small town about ten miles from there, and the administrator (Fiery) lived between five and six miles north of Sharpsburgh; and he told me he would go and see them. I met him again in a few days after that, and he told me he had rented the two houses on the Kennedy farm. He said, "I intend going up in a few days, or sending one of the boys up to pay the rent." The following week I met him again, and he had a receipt -- I presume it was. He had a paper, and said, "Well, we have got the houses, and paid the rent; we pay thirty-five dollars for the two houses, pasture for a cow and horse, and firewood, from now until the first day of March next, and here is the receipt." I remarked to him, "I do not want to see the receipt, it is nothing to me." That is about all I know of him about that time.

Question. Did he tell you then what his name was, and the name of his two sons?
Answer. He told me his name was Smith. He did not give me any given name of himself but "these are my two sons, Watson and Oliver."

Question. What were the ages of the two sons apparently?
Answer. I would judge that Oliver was about 30, and Watson perhaps 25 or 27.

Question. What was the age of Anderson?
Answer. I think he was rather younger, from his appearance; perhaps 22 or 23 years old.

Question. Did Smith, alias Brown, afterwards live at the houses that he had rented on the Kennedy farm?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Will you state whether you ever, and how often were you, at Brown's house while he lived there?
Answer. I cannot state how often, but I was frequently there. I was there nearly every week up to the first of October. I was there every ten days at least.

Question. What took you there?
Answer. I just went up to talk to the old man; but sometimes, at the request of others, on business, about selling him some horses or cows.

Question. Were you ever in the house?
Answer. No sir. He often invited me in. Indeed, nearly every time I went there he asked me to go in, and remarked to me frequently, "We have no chairs for you to sit on, but we have trunks and boxes." I declined going in, but sat there on my horse and chatted with him.

Question. Can you tell me whether he purchased any stock or farming implements of any kind?
Answer. He purchased one cow, one horse, a small wagon, and three hogs.

Question. Did he cultivate the land?
Answer. No, sir. He cut some hay there that he had permission to cut after he removed there.

Question. Can you state whether his family increased or diminished, as to the number of persons that were around him, during the time you knew him there?
Answer. Not to my own personal knowledge, with the exception of two females and another son. They came after he did.

Question. Did you know the name of that other son?
Answer. Watson told me his name was Owen.

Question. Who were the two females?
Answer. One was his daughter, and the other his daughter-in-law, the wife of Watson, as his son Watson told me. I never heard the name of Brown until after he was taken, and Dr. Murphy, the paymaster at the Ferry, told me that some United States officer had told him that he was old Ossawattomie Brown, of Kansas.

Question. Was his daughter unmarried, as far as you heard?
Answer. Watson told me she was a single girl.

Question. How long did those women remain there?
Answer. I think they left, or I missed them, about the 1st of October. They came, I suppose, about the 15th or 20th of July.

Question. Did Brown mingle much in the neighborhood in society?
Answer. He did not. I do not know that he was ever in any person's house but one, and he was a man by the name of Nicholls. He boarded there a day or two, and those females boarded there from Saturday night until Tuesday morning, when they came on. He was in my yard frequently, perhaps four or five times. I would always ask him in, but he would never go in, and, of course, I would not go in his house.

Question. Was any thing said or done by this person, or any of his party, which led you to suppose what was his real object in coming to that part of the country?
Answer. Nothing, only what he told me, that he followed buying up fat cattle and driving them to New York and selling them. He told others in the neighborhood the same thing. There was nothing which induced me to suppose that his purpose was anything different from what he stated to me. I frequently missed him from there, and sometimes I would find him at home and the boys away. I would remark to him, "where are the boys?" "Well," said he, "they are away somewhere." Twice I went there and found none of the men there, but the two ladies, and I sat there on my horse -- there was a high porch on the house, and I could sit there and chat with them -- and then I rode off and left them. They told me there were none of the men at home, but did not tell me where they were.

Question. How soon after you first saw him there, did he take possession of the house?
Answer. It was a very short time; it was the following week, at farthest. He told me that he was an old surveyor, in one instance; that he had surveyed land in Ohio, and New York, and Kansas Territory; that he followed that, and he said, "I have a little instrument that I carry in my hand, about the size of a small bucket, that has a magnet that will tell where there is any iron ore; sometimes I carry that; it has a needle to it; if the ore is in front of me the needle will point to it, and as I come there it will turn."

Question. Had you any knowledge when he was joined by the men who were afterwards found with him at Harper's Ferry?
Answer. No, sir; I had not.

Question. What was the distance of your residence from where he lived?
Answer. About four miles.

Question. What was the distance from Smith's (alias Brown's) house to Harper's Ferry?
Answer. About five miles.

Question. Was his house on or near a public road?
Answer. It was within about 300 yards of the public road.

Question. In sight?
Answer. Very plain; it makes a very pretty show for a small house; I mean the house he resided in.

Question. You stated that he rented two houses; do you know to what purpose he put the one he did not live in, or did he live in both?
Answer. He told me, and I thought that he had rented it for his son to live in. One time I went there, after the females had come on, and inquired for them, and one of the females answered me, "they are across there at the cabin, you had better ride over and see them." I replied it did not make any difference, and I would not bother them, and I rode back home.

Question. What were the distances of the two houses apart?
Answer. About 600 yards; one on one side of the road, and the other on the other; the house they called the cabin is hid by shrubbery in the summer season pretty much; it is a swampy piece of ground, and going from Harper's Ferry to Boonesborough you cannot see it until you get by; indeed, you could not see it from the other house when they went there.

Question. How large was that cabin-house, as you call it -- how many rooms had it?
Answer. Only one room and a garret.

Question. When you first saw Smith or Brown did he tell you how long he had been there -- when he came?
Answer. He told me that he had come in the cars to Harper's Ferry the evening before, which was the 3d of July; that when they got out of the cars he inquired -- I do not know whether he said "he" or "we" -- where they could get board the cheapest, and were informed they could get it cheaper at Sandy Hook, about a mile below the Ferry, and they consequently went there and took board, and this morning were walking out to take a view of the country. Sandy Hook is a small village about a mile below Harper's Ferry, on the Maryland side of the Potomac river.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. Did you ever know from July until October about Brown's receiving any boxes or anything of that kind?
Answer. I heard of him receiving one load of boxes with very heavy things in them.

Question. But you did not see them yourself, or know anything about them?
Answer. No, sir.

Question. Did he tell you anything about them?
Answer. No, sir.

By the Chairman:

Question. When did you first hear of the invasion and seizure of the armory at Harper's Ferry by this man and his party?
Answer. On Monday, the 17th of October, about 9 o'clock in the morning.

Question. Did you go to the Ferry after you heard it?
Answer. I did not go to the Ferry until Tuesday morning.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. Did Brown, in passing to and from the Ferry and his house, go by your house?
Answer. No, sir; if he had, I should have been one of the first ones taken. The neighbors wanted me to get on my horse and go away, but I would not. There was no slaveholder in the neighborhood but myself, except Byrne, whom they had.

By the Chairman:

Question. Are you a slaveholder?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. What is your occupation in life?
Answer. I am living off what I have saved. I suppose you might consider me a mechanic, but I am not engaged in any business. I have made some money, and I am living off the interest of my money, I am living on a farm, but I am not farming it. I own the farm, and rent it out.

Question. When did you first learn, and how did you learn, that this man Smith was not really named Smith?
Answer. I have already stated that Dr. Murphy was the first one who informed me, on Tuesday about noon, that some United States officer -- I do not remember his name -- had said to him that that must be old Ossawattomie Brown, from Kansas. That was the first news I had of it. That was after the attack on Harper's Ferry.

Question. Did you see Brown after he was captured?
Answer. Yes, sir; I saw him the Monday before he was hung.

Question. Was he the same man to whom you have referred as passing by the name of Smith?
Answer. Yes, sir; he was.

Question. Did you have any conversation with him?
Answer. Yes, sir.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. This was a short time before his execution?
Answer. Yes, sir; the Monday before. He was executed on the 2d of December, and it was on the 28th or 29th of November that I saw him in jail.

By the Chairman:

Question. In that conversation did he recognize you as his acquaintance in Maryland?
Answer. He did, and also a little son I had that was with me.

Question. Give the conversation.
Answer. I asked him why he made his attack on Virginia, and at the place he did, Harper's Ferry. His answer was: "I knew there were a good many guns there that would be of service to me, and, if I could conquer Virginia, the balance of the Southern States would nearly conquer themselves, there being such a large number of slaves in them."

Question. Have you any further information that you consider important in the inquiry before the committee, as to Brown's object in going there, or what he did after he got there, as derived from Brown himself or any of his party?
Answer. Nothing that I know of, except as to the taking of those arms, Sharp's rifles and pistols.

Question. What do you know about that?
Answer. I was present when they were taken. You asked me, some time ago, when I went to the Ferry. I told you Tuesday morning. When I got there, I saw Captain Butler, of the Hamtramck Guards, a volunteer company, of Jefferson county, Virginia. I asked him to take his company over to the school-house, on the other side of the river; that the men were in the school-house. He remarked, "My company is dismissed," and I left him, and passed on. I supposed Cook, Tidd, and the negroes they had taken were in the school-house, and had arms with them, guns, pistols, &c. I heard so from the others.

Question. State what you did as to sending any party or going with any party to the school-house?
Answer. I had learned from others the day before that Cook and others were at the school-house where my child, a school-boy, attended. On Tuesday, after passing from Captain Butler, I came across Captain Rowan, another captain of a volunteer company of Jefferson county, and I said to him, "Mr. Rowan, take your company and go over to the school-house; they are over there; the danger is there." He remarked, "I will, if John will go," pointing to Mr. Avis, who stood about a rod from him. I asked him "What do you say, John?" "Well," said he, "I will see about it directly," and he walked across the street as though he were going to attend to some business. That did not suit me, and I went on around the hotel, and I came across Captain Rhinehart, who was captain of the cavalry of Jefferson county, and I asked him to take his company and go to the school-house and capture those that were there. He said, "My company is dismissed." I turned around -- I was back of the railroad now on the back porch at the tavern -- coming back, I met Mr. Faulkner at the front door. I asked him if he knew Colonel Lee. He replied that he did. "Well," said I, "I wish you would get him to send a company to the school-house; they are over there now; here is a man, Pitcher, who says he just came over, and they opened the door and pointed a gun at him." "Well," said he, "come along and I will get them." He was then in the superintendent's office, or under that roof in one of the offices. He went in and saw Colonel Lee. While he was in the house Colonel Baylor, of the Virginia militia, came to the door, and I said to him, "Colonel, send a company over to Maryland to the school-house." Said he, "I have no right to send a company to Maryland." Said I, "The devil you have not; I would send them anywhere at such a time as this." "I will not do it," said he, and he turned away and left me. I was outside and he was inside. Mr. Faulkner came out and said, "Colonel Lee says they have gone an hour ago." I asked "What company has gone." "The Baltimore Greys," he replied. "Well now," said I, "they have not gone at all, for I have just come over, and there was one man standing in the street who had a uniform on, and I hailed him and asked what company he belonged to, and he told me the Baltimore Greys. Where is your captain, I asked. He has gone up on Camp Hill to get his breakfast. Well, said I, come with me and show him to me. We started up on foot and overtook him before he got to the top of the hill. I told him my business, and he said that after he got something to eat he would go with me. I went back to the ferry, and passing the armory gate I met Captain Simmes, of the company belonging to Frederick, Maryland, who was just going in the gate. I asked him "are you captain of that company?" "Yes," said he. "Well," said I, "come take them, and go to the schoolhouse and capture those fellows." He said "I cannot do it now." I then began to get a little out of humor. I passed on to the square and I met Mr. Boteler, member of the House of Representatives. I said to him, "Aleck, do you know Colonel Lee?" He said he did. "Now," said I, "I wish you would go and see him and get him to send a company over to this school-house. Nobody will go there, and those fellows are over in the school-house." He went and saw him and came back and said "Colonel Lee says they have been gone an hour and a half, or two hours ago." Said I, "they have not gone at all; I know they have not; where is Colonel Lee?" He pointed him out to me and I went up to him and saw him. He said to me, "My dear friend, they have gone two hours ago." "No," said I, "colonel, they have not gone; I have come from there." He asked me, "Are you certain of it, and will you pilot men there." "Yes," said I. "Then," said he,"come and I will get you a company." He came down towards the gate and met the lieutenant of this Baltimore company and asked him why did he not go to the school-house in Maryland, as he had ordered him. "Why," said he, "they told me the order was countermanded." While he was talking to him, the captain came up and the colonel said to him "Why did you not go to the school-house when I ordered you?" "Why," said he, "my men were hungry, and I thought a short time would not make any difference, and we went on Camp Hill to get breakfast, and when we came back they told me the order was countermanded." The colonel said, "I did not countermand it, and nobody else had authority to do so. Now," said he, "I want you to get your company and go with this man who says he will pilot you there." We started and went across the river to the school-house, which is in Maryland, about a mile from Harper's Ferry. When we got there two of the men of the company and myself opened the front door, went in, and found a number of boxes there. The people had gone away; there was no person there. The door was fastened with a chain and the chain was run through a staple and a stick in it. That fastening was outside. We pushed it open. I think we pushed it four times before we got it open. We thought they were behind the door, and when we would give it a push it would fly shut; but after three or four pushes it stayed back, when we pushed the things behind it away a little.

Question. State now what you found in the school-house.
Answer. We found a number of boxes. I think there must have been about fifteen small boxes, about four feet long and a foot square. We opened about five of them, as well as I recollect. They contained Sharp's rifles, and then we opened a large box that contained a number of pistols and some powder flasks.

By Mr. Doolittle:

Question. Were these rifles and pistols new, fresh, as if they had never been used?
Answer. They were new, I think.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. Were they unsoiled?
Answer. They never had been used, judging from the appearance of them.

By the Chairman:

Question. Did you count them to ascertain their number?
Answer. No sir; we did not. We opened the boxes and distributed them to the Baltimore company, and there were some young men who came there. Every man who was there got a gun and a good many a pistol. After that the captain said "Let us take these to the Ferry, and when we get there we will open the balance and distribute them." I made some remark to him and he came to the door and asked me if we could not get a wagon. There was a man there who lived close by, and I said to him, "Mr Beck, hitch up your horse and bring these things to the Ferry." He started off, and after he started I looked down a ravine rather south from the school-house, and I saw a wagon down there among the bushes. I remarked to some one, "Down there is a wagon; now, come along with me and we will go down and see what is there." We went down and found a very large wagon and three horses -- one horse tied to the wagon and the other two loose. We caught them, hooked two of them up to the wagon, drove it to the school-house, and put a large number of these things in that wagon, and some of the boxes in Mr. Beck's wagon. After we got them in, nobody appeared to be willing to drive the horses, and I said to some one, "Here, get on my horse, and I will drive them." One of the soldiers got on my horse and I got on the wagon and drove those horses down to the Ferry, with the guns in the wagon.

Question. Did you bring of all the guns that you found there?
Answer. All but what we distributed. We thought we had a right to them after going there.

Question. The people who were there helped themselves out of the boxes?
Answer. Everybody that was there, I believe, got a gun, and I have frequently remarked that anybody who says he was there and did not get a gun does not tell the truth, for I carried a number of them out of the house to give to some fellows myself.

Question. Can you form an idea how many guns and pistols were distributed?
Answer. I do not know accurately, but I think there were between forty and fifty persons, each of whom got a gun and most of them a pistol.

Question. Were there no other arms than rifles and pistols?
Answer. I saw nothing else there at all, except one sword.

Question. Were there no other arms of any other kind?
Answer. No, sir.

Question. Were there any pikes there?
Answer. No, sir.

Question. Were all the arms that were found at the school-house which were not taken by the people who were there, carried down to the Ferry?
Answer. Yes, sir.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. To whom were those arms delivered at the Ferry?
Answer. To Mr. Kitzmiller, who was then acting as superintendent of the armory. I think there were also at the school-house some few grubbing hoes and a few picks and shovels -- not many.

Question. Were they new?
Answer. Yes, sir; they had never been used.

By the Chairman:

Question. Were you present when the pikes were taken?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. State what knowledge you have of any pikes being found, and where they were found, and the circumstances attending it, without going into detail?
Answer. I raised a parcel of men at the Ferry to go with me. The superintendent said we should have guns. When we got the company formed, Dr. Murphy said we should not have any guns; there were in his charge, and he could not give any more out; he had given out a large number the day before. I then went to Colonel Lee again, and said I, "Colonel, the company that was with me at the school-house have left me, and I want another company to go to Brown's house." "Well," said he, "if you will pilot them there, I will give you another company." So he hunted up Lieutenant Green, of the marines, and told him to take these men with me up to Brown's residence. "How far is it?" he asked. Said I, "it is about five miles." We started; I went up with him to the Kennedy farm. He took his company, I do not know how many; probably all they could spare there. We took along the wagon and horses we found at the school-house, which I learned was Lewis Washington's wagon. Mr. Washington told me so himself at the arsenal, and we took it by his permission to the Kennedy farm. When we got to the farm-house, we ascertained that there had been some citizens from the neighborhood of Sharpsburg at the house before we got there. We did not find anybody in the house; it was deserted. We found there a number of trunks, carpet-bags, and a large quantity of paper of different kinds -- "Patriotic Volunteer," I believe it is termed on the outside. It is a drill-book for soldiers, gotten up by Forbes, I believe. There was a number of them in a large box, but no furniture there at all save one table and a cook stove. We found this pamphlet in a map of Kansas Territory. The map my little boy tore up.

[The witness produced the printed paper, which is entitled "The Laws of Kansas; Speech of Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, in the House of Representatives, June 21, 1856," which is left with the committee, and identified by the name of the chairman written on it.]

Question. State whether you found any arms there, what they were, and what you did with them?
Answer. We found no arms at all at the house where he lived.

Question. Did you bring off the trunks, the papers, &c.?"
Answer. We put the trunks and papers in the wagons. Some of them were destroyed and carried off by citizens around, but there were a good many taken to the Ferry -- some trunks; I do not think any boxes were.

Question. State what you found at the cabin, if you went there?
Answer. Lieutenant Green and myself went in the cabin. He placed one of the soldiers at the door. In the lower part of the house we found a quantity of bed-clothing, such as comforters and canvass for tents, and some axes. There were two cast-iron hominy mills, as I was informed they were, and a good deal of clothing boxed up -- new clothing; but the boxes had been opened when we got there. This was clothing for men, and some boots.

Question. Can you give an idea of the amount of clothing -- the quantity?
Answer. No, sir.

By Mr. Collamer:

Question. Can you give us the size of the boxes or the amount of them?
Answer. I cannot. The clothing was all given away up there and carried off by the citizens of the neighborhood. The boxes had been opened before we got there. There was a pile of counterpanes that looked to be new and very good, that was piled up, I suppose, between two and three feet high, doubled up and piled nicely, laid outside the boxes. There were some knives and forks and spoons, also new, which had never been used. I had a number of them in my hands. I picked them up and threw them down.

By the Chairman:

Question. What else?
Answer. In the upper part of the house, in the loft, we found, as I supposed, about a thousand pikes.

Question. What was done with all those things you found there?
Answer. They were put in the wagon that we took up there a number of pikes were distributed there. Green gave the men a great many. He told me to break the window open and throw them out. I helped him to throw out a good many until I got tired, and I told him I would not throw any more out. He said "send up a couple of soldiers and I will tell them to throw them out." He told the neighbors who were present that they could have as many as they wanted. He said to them, at first, "you can have five a piece;" afterwards he told them ten a piece, and finally, he said, "you may have fifty a piece." They took as many as they wanted and the rest were put in the wagon.

Question. Who took them?
Answer. The citizens of the neighborhood.

By Mr. Doolittle:

Question. Had those pikes handles?
Answer. They had handles on them. There were two straw ticks on the floor, and on turning them up I found two pikes under them, one under each, without handles.

Mr. Davis. You spoke of picks being found in the school-house; you did not mean pikes?
Answer. No, sir; the picks were for grubbing. They were what we call grubbing hoes in our country. He had both.

By the Chairman:

Question. Did you find any picks or shovels in the cabin?
Answer. There were a very few. Apparently they were taken there to be used. There were perhaps half a dozen shovels, short and long handles together, at his house, but they were carried off by the citizens?

Question. Were they all taken to the Ferry?
Answer. All that were not distributed, we carried to the Ferry.

By Mr. Doolittle:

Question. Were these pikes in boxes, or loose?
Answer. They were lying loose, piled up in a corner, as though you would put something up here to hold them from rolling down. They were piled up in one corner right close to where the window had been, but it was nailed up. Handles had been put on the pikes by Brown's men, as I was told by Cook afterwards.

By the Chairman:

Question. To whom were they delivered at the Ferry?
Answer. To Mr. Kitzmiller, the acting superintendent. They were taken to the store-room in the armory, just as the guns were.

Mr Davis. I should like to know from Mr. Unseld whether he heard of these people being in the school-house from his little boy, or whether some other person told him that his boy was in the school-house, and that these people were there.
Answer. I heard it from the teacher.

John C. Unseld.


Chapter Nine: Final Preparations"

His Soul Goes Marching On

West Virginia Archives and History