Existing comment:
Lewis Sheridan Leary
1835-1859
"brave to desperation"
Descended from a Revolutionary War soldier, Lewis Sheridan Leary was born a free man in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1835. At the age of 22, he moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where he worked as a harness maker and saddler. In the strong abolitionist community of Oberlin, Leary joined a debating society and confirmed his belief that "Men must suffer to a good cause." At a sparsely attended public lecture in Cleveland, Ohio, the young man heard John Brown advocate a similar position. Inspired by the old abolitionist's words and committed to the antislavery cause, Leary joined Brown's "Provisional Army of the United States." In the fall of 1859 he left his wife and six-month old daughter in Ohio under the pretense that he had to travel to find work. Leary met John Brown again on October 12, 1859.
[Note that the picture caption doesn't match his actual middle name.] |