Original Adair Cabin Site

SITE

1907 W 347th St.
Osawatomie, Kansas

This steel structure marks the original location of the Adair Cabin, which served as a home to Samuel and Florella Adair and a headquarters for John Brown during his time in Kansas. The Adairs moved from Ohio to Kansas in 1854, settling in this cabin located one mile west of the town of Osawatomie. In 1912, the Adair Cabin was carefully moved to the center of John Brown Memorial Park, and it is available for public tours from the Kansas State Historical Society.

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HISTORY

The simple formation, named the “Ghost Cabin,” was fabricated to the exact dimensions of the original 1854 cabin. An archeological excavation of the Adair Cabin was conducted in 2014, uncovering several artifacts, including a fork labeled with Florella’s initials, “FBA,” and a teacup.

The original location of the Adair Cabin was where Fredrick Brown, John Brown’s son, was killed by a proslavery Baptist minister, Martin White, on August 30, 1856. A marker at the entrance to the driveway of this historic site pays tribute to Frederick Brown. When John Brown received news of his son’s death, he rushed from his camp to protect the town of Osawatomie from the proslavery attackers. Brown and his supporters were greatly outnumbered and eventually fled the battle in an attempt to draw the proslavery men away from the town. Despite Brown’s intention, the proslavery settlers burned the majority of Osawatomie to the ground. However, when a group of proslavery men approached the Adair Cabin, the home was saved in large part because of Florella’s bravery, who insisted that only sick women and children resided inside. Claiming to be “gentlemen,” the proslavery men spared the cabin from the fate suffered by the rest of the buildings in town. In total, five antislavery men, including Fredrick Brown, alongside six pro-slavery men, were killed in the fighting.

In addition to serving as a refuge for John Brown and his supporters, the Adair Cabin also operated as a stop along the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was an interconnected network of people and places that led enslaved peoples along a safe route to freedom in the northern United States, often extending into Canada. The Adair Cabin was included in this secretive network, offering protection for enslaved peoples fleeing from the neighboring proslavery state of Missouri and traveling northward through Kansas.