Kennedy Farmhouse

The Kennedy Farmhouse was used by John Brown and his followers as a staging area for hisOctober 17, 1859raid on the nearby U.S. Arsenal atHarpers Ferry,Virginia.

In July 1859, John Brown, using the pseudonym Isaac Smith, rented the Kennedy farmhouse from the heirs of Dr. Robert Kennedy. Located in southernWashington County,Maryland, Brown used the farmhouse to store arms and supplies, to shelter his followers and to plan his raid on the U.S. Arsenal atHarpers Ferry, which was only about five miles away. In addition to Brown, at one time twenty-two people occupied the house, including a daughter, a daughter-in-law, two sons, and eighteen other men, five of whom were African Americans. The raid was launched late onOctober 16, 1859and was put down two days later when U.S. Marines stormed the firehouse into which Brown and his raiding party had taken refuge with their hostages. After the raid, a search of the Kennedy Farmhouse uncovered additional arms, maps and letters that revealed the extent of Brown’s plans and the identity of some of his supporters in the North.

After passing through the hands of many owners, in 1950 the National Negro Elks purchased the Kennedy Farmhouse, hoping to restore it and open a museum in the house. Unable to raise the necessary funds, the property was sold in 1966. In 1972 South T. Lynn leased the property for a year, and then he and three others bought it. Over the years that followed, Lynn and the late Harold Keshishian bought out the interest of the other two owners. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974, which provided opportunity to acquire funding to restore the building. Utilizing funds from a number of sources, the farmhouse was fully restored under the direction of the Maryland Historical Trust.