Upon the first subject of inquiry to which their attention was directed by the resolutions, to wit: Whether "the invasion and seizure of the armory and the arsenal of the United States at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, by a band of armed men, was attended by armed resistance to the authorities and public force of the United States, and by the murder of any of the citizens of Virginia, or of any troops sent there to protect the public property."
The committee find, from the testimony, that this so-called invasion originated with a man named John Brown, who conducted it in person. It appears that Brown had been for some previous years involved in the late difficulties in the Territory of Kansas. He went there at an early day after the settlement of that Territory began, and either took with him or was joined by several sons, and, perhaps, sons-in-law, and, as shown by the proofs, was extensively connected with many of the lawless military expeditions belonging to the history of those times. It would appear, from the testimony of more than one of the witnesses, that, before leaving the Territory, he fully admitted that he had not gone there with any view to permanent settlement, but that, finding all the elements of strife and intestine war there in full operation, created by the division of sentiment between those constituting what were called the free-State and slave-State parties, his purpose was, by participating in it, to keep the public mind inflamed on the subject of slavery in the country, with a view to effect such organizations as might enable him to bring about servile insurrection in the slave States.
To carry these plans into execution, it appears that, in the winter of 1857–58, he collected a number of young men in the Territory of Kansas, most of whom afterwards appeared with him at Harper's Ferry, and placed them under military instruction at a place called Springdale, in the State of Iowa, their instructor being one of the party thus collected, and who, it was said, had some military training. These men were maintained by Brown; and in the spring of 1858 he took them with him to the town of Chatham, in Canada, where he claimed to have summoned a convention for the purpose of organizing a provisional government, as preliminary to his descent upon some one of the slave States. The proceedings of this convention, with the form of the provisional government adopted there, were taken amongst the papers found with Brown's effects after his capture, and were before the committee, and will be found in the appendix to this report. So far as the committee have been able to learn from the testimony, the convention was composed chiefly of negroes who were residents in and about this town of Chatham, in Canada. The only white persons present were Brown and those who accompanied him. The presiding officer of the convention was a negro, and a preacher. At the close of the convention Brown returned with the party he had taken there back to Ohio, and permitted most of them to disperse, upon the agreement that they would be at his command whenever called for. Two of them, however, to wit: John E. Cook, afterwards executed in Virginia, and Richard Realf were sent on the following missions: Cook was sent to Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, with directions to remain there and thereabout subject to the future call of his chief. Realf was sent to the city of New York, as shown by his testimony, for the following
