Currier and Ives | John Brown on His Way to Execution, 1863

In the weeks after Brown’s death, newspapers were filled with accounts of his final days and execution. The New York Tribune published a story claiming that Brown had kissed a slave child he encountered on his way to the gallows. Although this story was false, it was widely repeated and became the subject of a painting by Louis Ransom. This 1863 Currier and Ives lithograph based on Ransom’s painting further cemented the legend.