The purpose of the John Brown Foundation is to preserve the heritage, history, literature, art and artifacts of the City of Osawatomie, Kansas and of John Brown and the Samuel Adair family pertaining to the period known as “Bleeding Kansas,” and to educate the public regarding the role of Osawatomie and its citizens in this period.

In particular, this Foundation is dedicated to preserving the site of the Battle of Osawatomie, the Adair cabin and the John Brown Memorial Battlefield Park which surrounds the cabin; to establishing a visitor and education center for the preservation and display of relevant art and artifacts, to house publications addressing the time and its personalities and to undertaking such other endeavors in regard to these goals as may appropriate and permitted by applicable laws of the State of Kansas and the United States. The John Brown Foundation is a 501(c)(3).

Samuel and Florella Adair were pacifistic abolitionists who came to Kansas Territory from Ohio in the spring of 1855. They came to minister to the residents of Osawatomie and those nearby in the Territory and to add their efforts to Kansas’ struggle to join the Union as a free state. Samuel arrived so early in the settlement of Osawatomie that he is recognized as one of the town’s founding fathers. (Had anyone thought it important to recognize the town’s founding mothers, Florella would have been at the top of the list.)

Knowing that their aunt Florella had settled in Kansas solidified the resolve of five of her abolitionist nephews to also come to Kansas Territory. These five brothers soon arrived and settled about nine miles west of the cabin. Of a more militaristic bent than their aunt and uncle, these young men joined a group who had formed the Pottawatomie Rifles. They took part in free-state activities which lead them to be threatened by their pro-slavery neighbors. This situation and illness prevented them from gathering their crops and preparing adequately for winter. They contacted their father, Florella’s half-brother, and asked him to come to their aid and to bring weapons. John Brown arrived at the Adair Homestead in October 1855.

Had Samuel and Florella Adair not settled here, the history of Territorial Kansas would most certainly have followed a different course. John Brown became one of the most influential persons in U.S. pre-Civil War history – largely due to the reputation he earned in Kansas Territory.

Our goal is to make the Adair Homestead informative, attractive and accessible. Thanks to Miami County and the City of Osawatomie, John Brown Foundation has erected a steel structure built to the exact dimensions and design of the original cabin which is now in John Brown Memorial Park. The ghost cabin sits as near as possible on the footprint of that original cabin.

Our site’s design, completed by Hall Brothers, centers on the area immediately surrounding the ghost structure. This area will tell the story of the Adair family who lived in that cabin from 1855 to 1904 and their contributions to Osawatomie. It also explains the beginning of the Battle of Osawatomie and the deaths of its first two casualties as well as John Brown’s part in this history.