one of the two black men captured and executed following the raid on the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. A fugitive slave of pure African descent from Charleston, South Carolina, Shields Green was also known as Emperor. Green was in his early twenties and illiterate when he was introduced to John Brown at the home of Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York. Douglass described Green as a man of few words, perhaps because his “speech was singularly broken.” Nonetheless, Brown admired Green's character and later asked Douglass to bring Green with him to a secret meeting on 19 August 1859 in Chambersburg Pennsylvania The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed raid on Harpers Ferry Douglass knew the raid was a doomed mission and refused to participate Green on the other hand had become an avid follower of Brown over the three weeks during which they ...
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Green, Shields
Lois Kerschen
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Green, Shields
Lorenz Graham
Shields Green was born a slave in South Carolina and spent most of his life there. As a young man he escaped and fled to the North with the help of the Underground Railroad. In Rochester, New York, Green found shelter in the home of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who has given a detailed description of Green and especially of Green's relationship to radical abolitionist John Brown. Green first met Brown at Douglass's home. Douglass wrote that Green, or “Emperor,” as he was sometimes called, was “a man of few words, and his speech was singularly broken; but his courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified character. John Brown saw at once what ‘stuff’ Green ‘was made of,’ and confided to him his plans and purposes.” Green believed in Brown and trusted him. He promised to go with Brown whenever Brown might call him.
Two months before ...
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Newby, Dangerfield
Lorenz Graham
Dangerfield Newby was born in Virginia. His mother was a slave, but his father, a Scotsman, granted freedom to his children when he died. Newby lived on a farm near Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was known as a quiet man, strong, sensible, and devoted to his wife and their seven children, all of whom were slaves. They lived near Warrenton, Virginia on their master's farm. His wife had written a letter to Newby saying that her master was planning to sell her “down river.” Newby, willing to do anything he thought might help to free members of his family, participated in the raid led by John Brown on the government arsenal at Harpers Ferry. The raid was meant to spark a massive slave revolt.
John Brown arrived in Harpers Ferry six months before his planned attack During that time Newby served Brown as a spy in ...
