Lewis Leary met John Brown’s son in late August 1859 when he arrived in Oberlin, Ohio, trying to recruit men for the army of liberation his father wanted to lead into the South. Leary decided to join Brown’s movement, but lacked funds to travel to Maryland. For almost a month, he worked and saved while keep his intended actions a secret from his wife. Just before he departed, Leary told his employer that he was setting out to “free the slaves” in Virginia…then he disappeared, without even saying goodbye to his wife or infant daughter.
Thursday, October 13, 1859. Lewis Leary and his friend John Anthony Copeland arrived at Kennedy Farm where John Brown and his tiny group had spent the summer hiding out and stockpiling weapons. Leary and Copeland joined a group that totaled twenty-two – including themselves and three other African American men.
Three days later, the hopeful liberators started toward Harpers Ferry in the darkness. As John Brown seized control of the U.S. Armory and lower town, Leary, Copeland, and John Kagi – Brown’s assistant planner – were directed to hold the rifle factory. As firing and fighting broke out, Brown’s force waited or fought back from divided positions. The trio at the rifle factory found themselves under heavy fire as militia and townsfolk started attacking the unknown forces holding parts of Harpers Ferry.
Leary, Copeland, and Kagi turned back several attacks, but then their ammunition dwindled. The three ran out the back door of the factory, toward the Shenandoah River. As they tried to escape, the militiamen shot at them. Kagi died instantaneously. Copeland managed to reach a small island, but was forced to surrender. Lewis Leary reached a rock – probably near the small island – and there fell, “shot through the body.”
Rough hands dragged Leary to the shore. Angry voices clamored and shouted about lynching him on the spot. In the end, they put him in a shop, leaving him to suffering in agony from his wound for about ten or twelve hours before his death. Lewis Leary died on October 17, 1859, in an attempt to bring freedom forcibly to the enslaved of his race.
Leary’s wife – Mary – received news of his attempt at the same time she received word of his death. In later years, she said proudly, “I am the widow of Lewis Sheridan Leary [who] fell at Harpers Ferry. I remember with pride the name. I am proud that [Brown] and his followers are not forgotten who braved death for Liberty…”