Guest Post by Nathaniel R. Ricks
HPLM Summer 2023Manuscripts Intern
In 1867, long before its heyday of partying, the village of Put in Bay on Lake Erie’s South Bass Island was just barely developing a knack for hosting tourists. Drawn to its War of 1812 connection, beautiful vistas, mild climate, easily accessible caves, and growing number of vintners, it became common in the postbellum period for individuals, families, and even large groups to visit the island for a day of merriment. Several services began offering regular excursions to Put in Bay when the lake wasn’t too stormy to navigate. On September 4, 1867, for example, a large group from the Cleveland Fire Department made the trip on the steamer Ironsides. Unfortunately, sharing their boat that Wednesday was “a gang of roughs and bullies,” wrote island resident John Brown, Jr., the kind of people in his experience “who attach themselves more or less to all excursion parties.” In a letter to his sister-in-law Isabelle Thompson Brown, John described the “sacking” of Put in Bay
After touring one of the island caves, the ruffians
“called at the School house and used insulting and obscene language to the
teacher and on leaving threw several stones against the school house.” They then “vented their passion” on the
church building, as The Sandusky Register phrased it a few days later,
“by breaking windows and stoning the building.” Brown also reported that they
broke several lights at the church and “stripped Mrs. Fry’s peach trees,” which
would have been in full fruit in early September.
Upon arriving back at the docks, the bandits stumbled
upon Salmon Brown fairly alone, watching some melons that Lemuel “Lem” Brown, had prepared to sell to
tourists. While keeping one eye on the
melons, Salmon was getting ready to lead a few other gentlemen on a quick boat
tour of the area when “ten or a dozen of these roughs came along and jumped
into the boat attempting to control it entirely.” When Salmon protested, “Some
others of the gang then pitched Salmon off the Dock into the Lake.” In blow-by-blow detail, John described for
his sister-in-law the brawl that ensued, a brawl that would leave him with a
grave injury:
Salmon got into the boat
as soon as he could and threw the line to have some one make fast, when he was
Knocked down into the boat and beaten.
By this time Lem. came to the boat from the shore through the water and
ordered the scamps out of the boat: upon
this, they set upon him, clinched him, struck and kicked him. – he finally
broke away and seizing an oar gave them a number of good strokes when one of
their number came into the water behind him and Knocked him down and held him
under the water while the mob around shouted “kill him! drown him!” Up to this time I was at the Hotel reading a
newspaper; noticing a rush at the door I looked out and saw the melons flying
from the Dock, and judging that Salmon or Lemuel were in trouble I ran down to
where the crowd was when I saw Lemuel and a man apparently much larger
struggling in the water at about waist deep, Lem appearing to have the worst of
it as he was frequently put under the water, the crowd yelling “drown
him!” I went in immediately to where
they were and seized by the nape of his neck the fellow who was holding Lem
under. I gave him such a jerk as made
him let go pretty quick when he turned on me striking at and endeavoring to
clinch me, but I had such a hold that his shirt collar became too tight and I
shortly had him on his back and under water and commenced towing him ashore. When I had dragged him to within 8 or 10 feet
of the shore some one from the crowd threw a heavy stone hitting me in the
face. My next remembrance is, that some
persons were aiding me up the bank. It
seems that I fell back into the water, and the general word was that I was
killed. This alarmed the mob and they at
once hurried aboard their Boat. I was
the worst hurt of any: the left nostril
of my nose the lower part was cut off, barely hanging to my face, a shocking
gash extending back to the bones of my face.
I was assisted at once to the Hotel, & Dr Elder sewed up the wound,
fastening it also with adhesive straps.
It has now entirely healed externally and I have yet a tolerable nose
left. There will always remain a scar,
shall not otherwise be much disfigured – Am exceedingly thankful it is no
worse. Had the stone hit me in the eye,
fairly on the bridge of the nose instead of the side, or on the head the result
would have been far different. Such a
blow on the skull would in all probability have killed me. Salmon was severely beaten with fists about
the head and face. Lemuel the same, and
in addition had a severe cut with some sharp instrument on the elbow. My coat was cut through with a knife, on the
shoulder I think it was done when the
fellow let go his hold of Lemuel and struck at me. Salmon was bitten on his cheek by the man who
Knocked him down in the boat. We are now
pretty well recovered. The bones of my
face are yet a good deal painful indicating a disturbance there which is not
yet settled. A number of my teeth were
loosened but they have become quite firm again.
If the bones of my face get well without any piece coming out I shall
every reason to feel thankful.
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| A Portion of John Brown Jr.'s Letter to his sister-in-law John Brown Jr. Papers Charles E. Frohman Collection Hayes Presidential Library and Museums |
While the attackers escaped initially, within a few more days the main “ringleaders” had been rounded up on charges of attempted murder. John Brown did, indeed, suffer the worst of the injuries sustained that day, and by November he had deteriorated to necessitate institutionalization for two months at the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum in Newburg, Ohio. His symptoms included uncharacteristically violent outbursts and mood swings, continuing headaches, panic attacks, lapses in attention, and “a sort of mental stupor,” he told his sister-in-law in later letters, “which has unfitted me for writing at all.” He experienced “flashes” of pain, “up along the left side of my brain much as a great light seemed to flash up when that stone struck me.” It seems likely that he suffered what we would call today post-concussion syndrome following a mild traumatic brain injury from the blow to his face. Exacerbated by exhaustion from tending to both the Fall grape crop and the injured Lemuel Brown, who broke a leg during the harvest, John’s mental deterioration in the fall of 1867 seems unsurprising.
After his stay in the asylum, John made a full recovery of his mental faculties, enduring at most a "dizzy feeling at times, with a tendency to faint." He also experienced a great deal of lingering anxiety, anticipating the attackers' May 1868 trial, which he did not want to attend, but was subpoenaed. He avoided writing about the incident after returning home, preferring to move on from the problem with the "pirates." Rather he focused on proving to his family and friends that he was firmly rooted in sanity once again.
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| John Brown Jr John Brown Jr Papers Charles E. Frohman Collection Hayes Presidential Library and Museums |
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