Owen Brown

Owen Brown. An Abolitionist Comes West. , Owen Brown is buried at the top of this hill, "Little Round Top," named for the heroic stand by Union troops at the Battle of Gettysburg. He and his brother Jason lived nearby on land they homesteaded in the 1880s. He was the last survivor of the 1859 raid on the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, led by his father, abolitionist John Brown, who hoped to spark an insurrection to end American slavery. , Later, this raid was called the first battle of the Civil War. Ten raiders, including two of Owen's brothers, were killed in action. John Brown was among seven captured, tried, and hanged for treason. Owen escaped with four others. Yet, in the war that followed, the words "John Brown's body lies a moulderin' in the grave, but his soul goes marching on" were sung as the Union's anthem. , Owen and Jason carved paths into these mountains that remain to this day. They entertained a stream of visitors, their family as closely associated with the end of slavery as were their friends Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. When Owen caught pneumonia and died in January 1889, 2,000 people attended his funeral. A simple wood tablet marked his grave; nine years later this was replaced by the granite stone that has commemorated the gravesite ever since. , But Why to Pasadena? , After living more than 20 years as a fugitive from the law for his role in the Harpers Ferry raid, Owen Brown, his brother Jason, their sister Ruth and her husband Henry Thompson moved to Pasadena, founded shortly after the Civil War by Union Army veterans and supporters. Many had been abolitionists who shared the Browns' progressive and temperance-minded beliefs. Admirers including locals, visiting Union veterans, and former slaves and their descendants trekked to Owen's remote cabin, wanting to shake his hand. Since Owen's death in 1889, this grave has been a pilgrimage site and memorial to the sacrifices of the Civil War and the battle to end slavery.