(BROWN, JOHN.) Autograph Letter Signed to John Brown from Mahala Doyle, widow and mother of 3 men killed at Pottawatomie. 2 pages, on single 4to leaf, written on both sides; with the original mailing envelope addressed "To John Brown, Commander of

(BROWN, JOHN.) Autograph Letter Signed to John Brown from Mahala Doyle, widow and mother of 3 men killed at Pottawatomie. 2 pages, on single 4to leaf, written on both sides; with the original mailing envelope addressed "To John Brown, Commander of the army at Harper's Ferry, Charlestown, Jefferson County, Va. care of the jailer Charles Town." Chattanooga, Tennessee, 20 November 1859 E4,000/6,000 LETTER QUOTED IN ROBERT PENN WARREN'S "JOHN BROWN, THE MAKING OF A MARTYR" ( 1929). In Spring 1856 Brown and 5 of his sons joined a free-state military com-pany in guerrilla war to defend the area of Lawrence, Kansas. Brown, incensed by news the town had been pillaged and 5 free-soilers murdered, conceived a "radi-cal, retaliatory measure" against the "slave hounds." The result was a bloody attack at Pottawatomie on the Doyle family and others. In the ensuing "retalia-tion," Brown and his sons killed Mr. Doyle and 2 of his sons. Mrs. Doyle writes to Brown: "My son John whose life I begged of [you] is grown up and is very desirous to be at Charlestown on the day of your execution, would cer-tainly be there if his means would permit it, that he might adjust the rope around your neck if Gov. Wise would permit it." [SEE ILLUSTRATION]