Provenance note and label for unspent cartridge from John Brown's Raid: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A provenance note (a) and label (b) related to an unspent cartridge from John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. The note was written by Civil War veteran Benjamin Holt Ticknor to document its chain of custody. The note, written on the back of Ticknor’s business card, reads [This bullet / was carried on the John / Brown raid by / Francis Jackson Merriam / and was by him given / to Dr. David Thayer / by whom he was se- / creted after his / escape. Given by Dr. / T. to me, today / Aug. 31 1889. / B.H.T.] in iron gall ink. The front of the card reads [Mr. Benjamin Holt Ticknor].

The label, also in iron gall ink, is paper on card and reads [A / "John Brown" / Bullet] with John Brown's name underlined. There are no marks on the back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1889
• Written by: Benjamin Holt Ticknor, American, 1842 - 1914
• Subject of: John Brown, American, 1800 - 1859
• Subject of: Francis Jackson Meriam, American, 1837 - 1865
• Subject of: Dr. David Thayer
• Type: notes
• Medium: iron gall ink on paper and cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W (a): 3 3/16 × 1 11/16 in. (8.1 × 4.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (b): 1 3/4 × 2 11/16 × 1/16 in. (4.5 × 6.8 × 0.1 cm)
• Place depicted: Washington County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Antislavery
• Topic: Resistance
• Topic: Slavery
• Topic: U.S. History, 1815-1861
• Topic: Violence
• Object number: 2023.84.3ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.