One of the few civilians to witness the hanging was journalist David Strother, better known by his pen name, Porte Crayon. He had covered "John Brown’s war" from the first shots at Harpers Ferry.

John Brown hoped to end slavery when he raided a federal armory ... to change history through one significant act of violence, and historians believe the hanging had a profound effect on him. Booth ...

The hanging would make Brown an abolitionist martyr. John Brown's dedication to the abolition of slavery prompted Frederick Douglass to write the following: "Did John Brown fail? John Brown ...