201:, said. "I believe the bell is wired with an alarm, so it can't be surreptitiously taken, like at night." "Oh, they've wanted it back," said Joan Abshire, a member of the Marlborough Historical Society who recently finished a comprehensive study of the bell. "When I went down there (for research), they always said, 'Well, where's the bell?" The men from Marlborough saved it from obliteration, claimed Gary Brown, chairman of the city's Historical Commission, "Had they not taken the bell, it wouldn't exist. Virtually every bell in the South was melted down for munitions."
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132:, In May 1861, Company I, 13th Massachusetts Infantry was on patrol in Harpers Ferry, and found the engine house where John Brown's raid ended on October 17, 1859. The bell was still in place, and knowing their hometown hook and ladder company needed a bell (many of them were firemen), they decided to take the bell, and brought it with them to Williamsport, MD.
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Over the years, citizens of
Harpers Ferry have tried in vain to have the bell returned to be exhibited in the John Brown Wax Museum or the reconstructed firehouse where John Brown was captured by Col. Robert E. Lee. "In the past, several mayors have tried to have it returned, but basically it's
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Two years later, with the Civil War beginning, a
Marlborough unit in the Union Army took the bell from the Harpers Ferry Armory after being ordered to seize anything of value to the U.S. government to prevent it from falling into the hands of Lee's Confederate army.
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In
September 1892, six of the original fifteen soldiers returned to Williamsport to see Elizabeth (then Snyder). They discovered that she had hung the bell in her back yard, and rang it on special occasions.
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While stationed in the town, Company I became friends with
Elizabeth Ensminger who supplied them with bread. When the company was ordered to Virginia, they entrusted Elizabeth with the bell.
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Knowing their hook and ladder company in
Marlborough needed a bell, the soldiers removed the 700-to-800-pound (320 to 360 kg) device and got permission from the
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The John Brown Bell: The journey of the second-most important bell in
American history, from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to Marlborough, Massachusetts
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difficult to do. I suppose it requires a lot of energy that, frankly, no one has," James A. Addy, mayor of the
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The men raised the money to bring the bell to
Marlborough, where it now hangs in Union Commons Park in
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116:-era bell that has been called the "second-most important bell in American history", after the
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by Joan
Abshire and available through the Marlborough Historical Society. Published 2008.
273:"Controversy clangs again; West Virginia 'a-bell-itionists' want John Brown Bell returned"
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stormed the building. Brown and 10 of his men were later hanged for murder and treason.
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town of 310 that is about 60 miles (97 km) from
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30:The bell on display in Marlborough, Massachusetts
313:Rawlins Building Association, Marlborough, Mass.
307:13th Rifle Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers
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224:"For whom should John Brown's bell toll?"
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327:Individual bells in the United States
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271:Thompson, Elaine (January 8, 2009).
309:1910 by Lysander Parker, Post 43,
252:The Marlborough Historical Society
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128:At one time the bell was kept in
277:Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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285:– via The Free Library.
222:Lynch, Matt (July 22, 2008).
337:Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
130:Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
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188:Controversy over ownership
144:Marlborough, Massachusetts
110:Marlborough, Massachusetts
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183:Plaque on the bell tower
228:Marlborough Enterprise
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149:In 1859, abolitionist
248:"The John Brown Bell"
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112:, is a distinguished
87:42.34747°N 71.54549°W
159:Harpers Ferry Armory
92:42.34747; -71.54549
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40:General information
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114:American Civil War
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118:Liberty Bell
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65:Coordinates
49:Marlborough
321:Categories
282:2020-10-14
257:2020-10-14
233:2020-10-14
205:References
151:John Brown
78:71°32′44″W
75:42°20′51″N
45:Location
157:on the
124:History
56:Country
311:G.A.R.
155:a raid
108:, in
153:led
104:The
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