Mary Ann Day Brown

Mary Ann Day Brown
Mary Ann Brown (née Day), wife of John Brown, married in 1833, with Annie (left) and Sarah (right) in 1851
Mary Ann Brown (née Day), wife of John Brown, married in 1833, with Annie (left) and Sarah (right) in 1851.
Born
Mary Ann Day

(1816-04-15)April 15, 1816
DiedFebruary 29, 1884(1884-02-29) (aged 67)
Resting placeMadronia Cemetery, Saratoga, California
Occupation(s)Abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor, California pioneer
Spouse
(m. 1833; died 1859)
Children13, including Watson Brown
Sarah Brown in 1912, recreating the conditions of their trip to California. (Dress and covered wagon are replicas.)

Mary Ann Day Brown (April 15, 1816 – February 29, 1884) was the second wife of abolitionist John Brown, leader of a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), which attempted to start a campaign of liberating enslaved people in the South. Married at age 17, Mary raised 5 stepchildren and an additional 13 children born during her marriage. She supported her husband's activities by managing the family farm while he was away, which he often was. Mary and her husband helped enslaved Africans escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. The couple lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the abolitionist settlement of North Elba, New York. After the execution of her husband, she became a California pioneer.