Kennedy Farm


Kennedy Farm, Chestnut Grove Road, Samples Manor vicinity, Washington County, Maryland

This building, also known as the Kennedy Farmhouse, was the headquarters from which John Brown (1800-1859) planned and executed his raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry in October 1859. Along with a small band of followers, he rented the two-story Kennedy farmhouse, located approximately seven miles from Harpers Ferry, from the heirs of William Booth Kennedy. During the three months leading up to the raid, Brown divided his time between Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and this farm, living under the alias of Isaac Smith. The Kennedy Farmhouse served as the center of operations where Brown stockpiled weapons and tools and pondered maps and vital statistics. Other than the engine house at Harper's Ferry where Brown staged his final defense, the Kennedy Farmhouse, a National Historic Landmark, is the building most closely associated with the raid.


“. . . I JOHN BROWN AM NOW QUITE CERTAIN THAT THE CRIMES OF THIS GUILTY LAND: WILL NEVER BE PURGED AWAY; BUT WITH BLOOD. I HAD AS I NOW THINK: VAINLY FLATTERED MYSELF THAT WITHOUT VERY MUCH BLOODSHED; IT MIGHT BE DONE . . .” . . . IT CAN BE SAID . . IT ALL STARTED HERE . . .


Text taken directly from their website, for further information, on “John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry” visit West Virginia Division of Culture and History website. www.wvculture.org

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