Letter written by John Brown in his jail cell a few days before his execution. The original letter was given to Mary Ann Brown at the time of her visit to her husband December 1, 1859. After his execution, Mrs. Brown sent the letter to Mrs. Stearns in a Bible. The letter reads: "Charlestown, Jefferson Co., Va., 29th Nov. 1859. Mrs George L Stearns, Boston, Mass. My Dear friend, No letter I have received since my imprisonment here, has given me more satisfaction, or comfort: than yours of the 8th inst. I am quite cheerful: & was never more happy. Have only time [to] write you a word. May God forever reward you & all yours. My love to All who love their neighbours. I have asked to be spared from having any mock; or hypocritical prayers made over me, when I am publicly murdered: & that my only religious attendants be poor little, dirty, ragged, bare headed & barefooted, Slave Boys; & Girls; Led by some old greyheaded, Slave Mother. Farewell. Farewell. Your Friend, John Brown."
Attribution:
Brown, John
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the West Virginia State Archives, John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection
A page from the 1937 inventory of artworks at Tufts College, showing that the busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns were on display in the Eaton Library.
Photograph of a wagon in the distance on College Avenue in Medford near Tufts College, circa 1870. The trees lining the street gave its nickname "The Willows." The Stearns Estate bordered College Avenue.
Photograph of College Avenue, possibly in 1910. This stretch of the road was known as "The Willows" for its romantic arc of willow trees. The Stearns Estate bordered College Avenue to the north.
Poem by John Greenleaf Whittier memorializing the life of George Luther Stearns after his death. Published in the Atlantic Montly, June 1867, pp. 707-708. (Note: The pages have been combined into a single image.)
Excerpt from a map of Medford, 1855, showing South Medford, with the George L. Stearns Estate highlighted in green and Tufts College highlighted in blue near the center of the image.
Attribution:
Walling, Henry Francis; Kollner, Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
Excerpt from the Brainard map of Medford, 1880, showing South Medford. The Evergreens (Stearns Mansion) and the Willows (College Avenue) are labeled in the lower left.
Attribution:
Brainard, Charles H.; O.H. Bailey & Co
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
Photograph of the view towards Medford from East Hall, Tufts College. The Stearns Estate mansion is located in the trees to the middle right. The caption reads, "View toward Medford from East Hall, 1875. The railroad cut is in front of the stonewall in the foreground. The farm house of the Stearns estate is seen in the lower left corner, and the mansion house in the right center. The end chimneys of the Royall House are seen in the center of the picture and, to the left of the house, the pointed object is the summer house that at one time stood on a mound in the Royall garden."
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. The photograph used for the card was printed by W. Shaw Warren of Cambridgeport, Cambridge, MA.
Attribution:
Warren, W. Shaw
Attribution Statement:
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Photography Collection, The New York Public Library
Page on which are reproductions of photographs of John Brown's Northern Supporters, known as the Secret Six: George L. Stearns, Gerrit Smith, Frank B. Sanborn, T. W. Higginson, Theodore Parker and Samuel G. Howe. This six funded John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the West Virginia State Archives, John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection.
A list of objects to be delivered to Fine Arts Express by the Tufts University Gallery in September 1998. The first two in the list are the busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns, at that point identified only as "Bust of a bearded man" and "Bust of a man."
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Art Collection
Map of Tufts College in 1929, less than a decade after the Stearns mansion was torn down. In the lower right is College Avenue, labeled "To Willows + Medford," referring to the street's nickname. Arrows also indicate that the Site for New Gym and the Tufts College Press are located to the right of the railroad.
View towards Medford Square from the top of College Hill (Tufts College), ca. 1910. The tree-lined Avenue stretching left to right is College Avenue, also known as The Willows. The Boston & Maine Railroad parallels the bottom of the image, with College Hill Station appearing at the bottom left. Behind the station is Pansy Park, a pansy nursery. To the left of Pansy Park is property belonging to the Stearns Estate. Across College Avenue are the clay pits.
Photograph of Eaton Hall in the winter in 1950. Eaton Hall served as the library from its construction in 1908 until the construction of Wessell Library in 1964. The busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns were at one point on exhibit here at one point..
A map of Tufts College about ten years after it opened, from a map drawn by Charles E. Fay, with a key to the buildings given below the map. Note College Hill Station (building W) at the corner of the Boston & Lowell Railroad and College Avenue leading to the Stearns Estate just off the edge of the map. This map appeared on page 148 of The Tuftonian, Vol. 2, No. 4 (May 1942).
Map of Tufts College in 1938. In the lower right corner, you can see the new Cousens Gym north of College Avenue the rest of the undeveloped Stearns Estate. The building to the west of Cousens Gym was originally College Station, but at this time it had been home to Tufts University Press for some time.