FRAGMENT OF THE ROPE THAT HANGED JOHN BROWN.

A preserved relic of the rope used to hang John Brown, attributed by accompanying family provenance.

John Brown’s execution in 1859, following his raid on Harpers Ferry, stands as one of the defining preludes to the American Civil War, transforming him into both a divisive traitor and a martyr for the abolitionist cause. His death not only inspired the famous marching song “John Brown’s Body,” but also hardened sectional divides and intensified the nation’s march toward conflict.

The preserved relic is accompanied by:

1. Autograph note signed ("Mrs E. Torrey") by Anna Maria White Torrey (1834 - 1928). Providence, Rhode Island, n.d. 1 page, on Torrey family letterhead. With original envelope. 

Anna Maria White Torrey (1834 - 1928), wife of Ellsworth Torrey (1829 - 1913), writes in part: “This is a piece of the rope John Brown was hung with about the time of the Civil War, [1861]”—with the date corrected in pencil by a later family member to 1859—‘John Brown’s body lies a mouldering in the ground.’ Given to Mr. Ellsworth Torrey by a friend in Kansas.”

Original envelope bearing the family identification in ink: “A piece of the rope that hung John Brown during the Civil War (1861)” with the date likewise corrected in pencil to “1859,” and an additional later pencil annotation, “Piece of rope that hung John Brown.”

2. Two newspaper clippings kept with the relic: a circa 1926 Associated Press obituary titled “JOHN BROWN’S DAUGHTER DEAD,” reporting the death of Mrs. Annie Brown Adams and noting that she witnessed her father’s 1859 hanging; and a short printed notice summarizing Brown’s trial and quoting his oft‑repeated remark, “I am worth more to the cause hung than I am alive!”

According to the enclosed note, this fragment of the rope used to hang John Brown was given to Capt. Ellsworth Torrey of Providence, Rhode Island (1829 - 1913) from a friend in Kansas; thence by descent in the Torrey family. Torrey, formerly a New England sea captain, removed with his family to the Texas Panhandle circa 1876 and established there a large cattle operation (reported at roughly 25,000 head by 1880).

Interesting, according to regional lore, the Torrey family once had an encounter with Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney) and his men. The story goes that around 1878, several of the Kid’s followers rode to the Torrey ranch and demanded a meal from Mrs. Anna Maria White Torrey and her two daughters. After being served, the men reportedly insulted their hosts, and Ellsworth Torrey felt compelled to drive them off his property. Learning of this, Billy the Kid later intercepted Torrey at Tascosa and, at gunpoint, compelled a public apology. Unarmed, Torrey complied. The episode is said to have prompted the family’s relocation back east circa 1880. The accompanying provenance note included in this lot is in the hand of Anna Maria White Torrey, traditionally identified as the same “Mrs. Torrey” who fed the gang at the ranch. For a published account of the Torrey family’s Texas years, see the Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas Online entry for Ellsworth Torrey.

John Brown was executed by hanging at Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia), on 2 December 1859, following his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October. The family’s original inscription misdates the event to “1861,” but was later corrected in pencil to the accurate year “1859”. The lyric quoted in the note: “John Brown’s body lies a‑mouldering in the ground” is, of course, from the famous Union marching song that quickly fixed Brown’s martyrdom in public memory during the Civil War.

[Civil War, Union Confederate] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Relics, Militaria]