JQ NE^^' YORK STATE ^lUSEUM 



acter of the man whose name it commemorates. I could well under- 

 stand how such a man, formed in the mold of the old Scotch Cove- 

 nanters and English Puritans, brooding over the horrors of slavery, 

 foreseeing the impending struggle' for liberty, maddened by the 

 murder of his son and friends in Kansas, with the mighty northern 

 hills looking down upon him, the rush of strong rivers, and the 

 songs of resounding tempests, and the mystery of the illimitable 

 wilderness all about him, should easily come to think himself inspired 

 to descend like a mountain torrent, and sweep the black curse from 

 out the land. I reverently raised my hat, and sung, ' John Brown's 

 body lies a-mouldering in the grave ; his soul goes marching on.' " 



The John Brown farm is now owned and kept up by the State of 

 New York. 



Mines and Quarries. 



Adirondack village and Iron Works, One of the most interest- 

 ing and dramatic chapters in the history of the Adirondacks is that 

 dealing with Adirondack village and the Iron Works. S. R. Stod- 

 dard in " The Adirondack " says : "The history of the Adirondack 

 (village) is brief and sad. Messrs. Henderson, McMartin and Mcln- 

 tyre, who, in 1826, owned and operated iron works at North Elba, 

 were shown a piece of ore of remarkable purity by an Indian, which, 

 he said, came from a place where ' water run over dam, me find 

 plenty all same.' The services of the Indian were secured at once, 

 at the rate of two shillings and what tobacco he could use per day, 

 to conduct them to the place spoken of, where they found, as he had 

 said, where the water literally poured over an iron dam. A tract 

 of land embracing the principal ore beds in that vicinity was 

 promptly secured, forges built, and the road cut from the lower 

 works to Lake Champlain. But the expense of transportation to 

 market swallowed up all the profits and the enterprise proved a 

 linancial failure. The work, however, was persevered in until the 

 death of Mr Henderson, who was killed in 1845 by the accidental 

 discharge of his pistol."^ Three years after his death the iron works 

 were abandoned. 



Another blast furnace was installed in 1853 but operated only 

 till 1856. A few years ago, after an idleness of nearly sixty years, 

 some thousands of tons of ore were taken out and shipped, via 

 North Creek to the Port Henry blast furnaces in Essex county. 

 Whether mining of the ore is now being carried on, the writer does 

 not know. It is magnetic iron ore and the deposits are extensive. 



iR. S. Stoddard. The Adirondacks, 1893, p. \'7^-'7'7. 



