In October of 1859 the well-known raid by John Brown and his men occurred at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Most members of the Brown group were captured at the time of the raid, but several men escaped including John E. Cook and Albert Hazlett who fled into Pennsylvania. These facts serve as the backdrop for events that occurred in Carlisle later in October.
A stranger was apprehended west of Carlisle on the morning of October 22, 1859 by men from Chambersburg who had been pursuing him. Initially identified as John E. Cook, one of John Brown's raiders, his mistaken identity would play into the history of the events following the raid on Harper's Ferry. Carlisle would become a stop on his road to the gallows.
Local newspapers had varying accounts of the man's capture. The October 26 edition of the Carlisle American reported that he was arrested with slight resistance carrying four loaded revolvers, a Bowie knife, "some little money" and an advertising circular for a book called "The History of Slavery." The stranger, who called himself William Harrison, was described as six feet tall, well built, with red hair and a thin sandy beard. He was dressed in a red muslin shirt and dirty dark pants. "He, as might be expected, is a rather hard-looking individual, though under such circumstances every man is liable as being described as looking desperate and fit for any enterprise," the newspaper reported.
The Carlisle American's rival newspaper, the American Volunteer, reported the man had just entered West High Street when he was overtaken and made no resistance to arrest. An article published October 27 stated he was armed with three revolvers and two Bowie knives. The Carlisle American reported that Harrison was brought before Squire Sponsler around noon on October 22, but refused to answer any questions, saying only he was innocent and did not want a hearing at that time. Meanwhile, Attorney W.J. Shearer was walking into the downtown from his home on South Hanover Street blissfully unaware of his impending date with destiny.
In 1905, Shearer recounted his memories of the events in 1859 at a meeting of the Hamilton Library Association. Subsequently his paper was published by the Association. Shearer mentioned being intrigued by seeing a large crowd gathered in front of Sponsler's office. He then crossed the street and entered the building. There, he found Bill Houser and Charlie Campbell of Chambersburg, two men who had been tracking the man they thought to be John Cook, along with a "tall, raw-boned" stranger seated nearby. Sponsler was in the middle of preparing paperwork on the stranger when Shearer asked what they were doing.
Houser said, "Here is Cook, one of John Brown's men. He was in Chambersburg and slipped out, and came down here, and we followed him and arrested him up the railroad." Shearer asked "Which is Cook?" Houser and Campbell said it was the stranger, but Shearer was not convinced. "No, that cannot be Cook," he told them. "I have never seen Cook, but he is described as being an effeminate looking man, with light hair and blue eyes. This is no such man." Judging by his hard hands, Shearer thought the man in custody was more of a laborer, but Houser didn't really care. "We are satisfied he is one of John Brown's men," Shearer quoted Houser as saying. His identity was a common misconception at first. Both newspapers reported that authorities believed the man in custody to be John Cook, one of the prominent leaders in the so-called insurrection six days earlier in what was then Harper's Ferry, VA.
Abolitionist John Brown and his "provisional" army of twenty-one men had launched an operation on October 16, 1859 to seize weapons kept at the federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry. Brown wanted to arm local blacks and rid the South of the sin of slavery, but his attempt failed after 36 hours when both state militia and Marines were called to the scene. John Cook was among those who escaped the government's military response. The Carlisle American reported that a person believed to be Cook was seen in Chambersburg on October 21, visiting his wife at a boarding house. It turned out this individual was probably Albert Hazlett, alias William Harrison.
“The looks of the prisoner creating suspicion, the front door of the house was watched by one man while another went for assistance," the Carlisle American reported. "The house was then searched, but meanwhile the 'bird had flown' over the fence, leaving in the yard a Sharp's rifle, unloaded, and a blanket marked E.H." The suspect was followed and subsequently arrested near the west end of Carlisle.
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