Mary Ann Day Brown

Mary Ann Day Brown (April 15, 1816 – February 29, 1884) was the second wife of abolitionist John Brown, leader of a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), which attempted to start a campaign of liberating enslaved people in the South. Married at age 17, Mary raised 5 stepchildren and an additional 13 children born during her marriage. She supported her husband's activities by managing the family farm while he was away, which he often was. Mary and her husband helped enslaved Africans escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. The couple lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the abolitionist settlement of North Elba, New York. After the execution of her husband, she became a California pioneer. Early life Mary Ann Day was born on April 15, 1816, in Granville in Washington County, New York, to Mary and Charles Day, a farmer and blacksmith. When she was a young girl, she moved with her parents to Meadville in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. When she was sixteen, she occasionally came to abolitionist John Brown's house in New Richmond, Pennsylvania, to work on the spinning wheel. Her sister was his housekeeper. Mary was described as tall and sturdy, with striking black hair. John found her to be a hard worker and practical. A shy man, John wrote a letter to her in which he asked her to marry him. Marriage and children At the age of 17, Mary Ann Day was married on June 14 or July 11, 1833, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, to John Brown, who was a widower previously married to Dianthe Lusk.