VI 25 1850's John Brown, fanatical abolitionist who was hanged in 1859 for leading a raid on Harper's Ferry (Virginia, later West Virginia) in October of that year, visited Woonsocket seeking support for the Abolitionist cause. He wrote a letter to his wife from his prison cell in which he mentions Woonsocket's Edward Harris' generosity towards him. The visit was mentioned in the Woonsocket Patriot by Samuel Foss, editor, in his commemoration of Brown's passing.

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