Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/549



settlement at Springdale, four miles east, which also gave him a cordial reception. As the years passed a warm friendship grew up between John Brown, James Townsend and many of the citizens of Springdale. This Quaker settlement became one of his favorite stopping places on his numerous journeys to Kansas during his war on slavery. He could here find safe shelter and generous assistance for the slaves he frequently piloted from Missouri to freedom in Canada.

For several years John Brown had contemplated striking a blow at slavery in the mountain region of Virginia and, in 1857, he began to mature plans for the hazardous enterprise. He believed that a body of fearless men could make a safe lodgment in the mountains and liberate slaves who would join them. His plan was to arm the escaped slaves with pikes, organize and drill them under experienced officers selected from young men who had seen service in the Kansas War. He expected thousands of slaves to flock to his standard when his purpose became known to them and believed that he could soon establish a powerful force in the mountains, pledged to the liberation of slaves. He employed Hugh Forbes, who had seen service in Europe, to open a school of military instruction at Tabor, Iowa, for the purpose of drilling men for this expedition. Tabor was near the Missouri line but was an antislavery settlement, where he had warm friends. It had been an important point on the route of Free State men to Kansas and was in full sympathy with their cause. But Brown and Forbes did not agree in the work; Forbes was dismissed and returned to the east. Brown then went to Kansas to enlist a number of his old followers. He was joined by his son, Owen, John C. Cook, A. D. Stevens, Richard Realf, J. H. Kagi, C. P. Tidd, W. H. Leeman, Luke F. Parsons, C. W. Moffett and Richard Richardson, most of whom had served in the Kansas War.

They proceeded to Springdale, where they were quartered on the farm of William Maxson, three miles from