Dangerfield Newby
- History Fix Podcast
- 11 hours ago
- 17 min read
Episode 150: How the Real "Django Unchained" Fought for Love, Not Spite
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On October 16, 1859, all was not quiet in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. On this night, a pack of belligerent raiders attacked the arsenal there, determined to arm themselves for a rebellion that would take down any soul who stood in their way. The townspeople sprang into action to protect themselves, to protect their families. These raiders were armed and dangerous. They had taken hostages. They had killed. Soon, a shot was fired, taking down George Turner who was only there visiting a friend in Harpers Ferry. And the man who fired the shot? Dangerfield Newby, a free Black man from Ohio. This simply would not stand. The townspeople attacked with whatever weapons they could muster. Harpers Ferry manufactured guns but the people had little ammunition. They stuffed their rifles with whatever they could fit into the barrels. For one man that was 6 inch spikes and one of those spikes found its mark, striking the throat of Dangerfield Newby and killing him instantly. For over a day the villain’s body lay in the street, desecrated by the angry townspeople whom he had sought to destroy before being unceremoniously dumped into an unmarked mass grave. This was the story of Dangerfield Newby for many years, an intruder, an aggressor, a villain, rightfully taken down by the power of the people who rose up in self defense. But this is not the full story. Because, while Dangerfield’s body lay in the street molested by man and beast alike, his pockets were emptied. And in one of those pockets was found a letter, folded and unfolded many times, well read, worn and possibly tear stained. This letter was written by Dangerfield’s wife Harriet, terrified and pleading. In it she reveals a completely different side to the story of Dangerfield Newby. Let’s fix that.
Hello, I’m Shea LaFountaine and this is History Fix where I tell surprising true stories from history you won’t be able to stop thinking about. This week I have the story of a very dynamic character for you, my favorite type of character. The story of Dangerfield Newby forces us to rethink everything we think we might know about villains. Because for a very long time, he was cast that way. And it’s really only with hindsight that we see an entirely different side to the story, that we see justification for his participation in the raid on Harpers Ferry. And it’s in hindsight that we see justification for the raid itself. What was viewed for so long as a brutal attack, was actually a necessary action needed to spur a country into correcting a great evil. So, let’s get into it shall we.
If you’ve ever seen the Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained you should know that the character of Django is at least loosely based on Dangerfield Newby. In the movie, set just before the Civil War, Django teams up with a German bounty hunter, a white man, who frees him. Together, they travel around the American south, taking out notorious criminals. This work eventually leads them to the plantation of a notoriously evil enslaver named Calvin Candie who is played by Leonardo Dicaprio. And it’s there on that plantation that Django discovers his wife enslaved. He had been separated from his wife some time ago and he sort of rediscovers her here in this really horrible place. So Django makes it his mission from then on to rescue his wife from this terrible man. So, keeping that in mind, now let me tell you the story of Dangerfield Newby.
Dangerfield was born enslaved in Culpeper County, Virginia around 1820. Of course we don’t know the exact date because these sorts of records were not kept for Black people. His father was a white landowner named Henry Newby and his mother, Elsey, was enslaved. But she was not enslaved by Henry Newby. She was enslaved by his neighbor, a guy named John Fox. But John Fox was pretty laissez-faire about things I guess because he allowed Elsey to live with Henry and together they had several children, actually several is an understatement. Some records indicate they had 11 children together, the oldest of whom was Dangerfield. It was illegal in Virginia for Henry and Elsey to get married because interracial marriage was not allowed but they lived as if they were married. Later, Henry moved Elsey and his children to Bridgeport, Ohio where there was no slavery, effectively freeing them. And John Fox who actually enslaved them apparently never attempted to reclaim them. I told you, laissez-faire. But, as the oldest of 11 children, Dangerfield was already grown when he moved with his family to Ohio and he was already married with seven young children. Unfortunately, however, he could not take them with him. His wife Harriet was enslaved by another guy named Jesse Jennings back in Virginia. And because the children stayed with the mother, his children were also enslaved by this Jennings guy.
So Dangerfield moved to Ohio, became a free man, but his wife and seven children were still enslaved back in Virginia. His plan, immediately, of course, as a free man now is to work to earn enough money to purchase their freedom. He works as a blacksmith in Ohio and was also known to beg for money in an attempt to raise the funds, an attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful. There are two different accounts of why this fails, though. According to one, Jesse Jennings, his wife’s enslaver, had agreed to sell his family to him for $1,500, which is something like $60,000 today. But once Dangerfield had acquired the money, Jennings raised the price. Another account says that Jennings agreed to sell them for $1,000 but that Dangerfield was only able to raise $742 which was only enough to purchase his wife and youngest child. This would have left the other 6 children in captivity and without their mother which they were unwilling to do. I don’t know which of those is correct but either way, despite working non stop to save the money to purchase his family, despite desperately trying to do it the air quotes “right way,” because in reality nothing about this is right, Dangerfield was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile he is getting letters from his wife, Harriet, that are becoming increasingly more dire. Before we get into those, I just want to point out that the fact that both Dangerfield and Harriet were literate, could read and write, is incredibly rare. At the time, which we’re in the 1850s here in case I failed to tell you that, right before the Civil War. At the time it was illegal in Virginia for Black people to learn to read and write. I’m not sure how they learned. I can only theorize. We know Dangerfield’s father, Henry Newby, was white and he was obviously at least a little sympathetic towards his enslaved children since he moved them to Ohio and freed them. It’s possible he taught Dangerfield to read and write. As for Harriet, she was enslaved on another plantation. Maybe Dangerfield taught her? We really don’t know. But it is very remarkable that they could read and write and so incredible that we have some of Harriet’s letters, we have this paper trail that almost universally does not exist for enslaved people in the 1850s. And these letters shed a lot of light on the situation. They start out harmless enough, just Harriet keeping Dangerfield informed of what’s happening in her world. But you’ll see that the tone soon starts to shift. Here I’m going to read you three letters written by Harriet Newby to her husband.
The first is dated April 11, 1859. She writes quote “Dear husband, I mus now write you apology for not writing you before this but I know you will excuse me when tell you Mrs. gennings has been very sick she has a baby a little girl ben a grate sufferer her breast raised and she has had it lanced and I have had to stay with her day and night so you know I had no time to write but she is now better and one of her own servent is now sick I am well that is of the grates importance to you I have no newes to write you only the chrildren are all well I want to see you very much but are looking fordard to the promest time of your coming oh Dear Dangerfield com this fall with out fail monny or no money I want to see you so much that is one bright hope I have before me nothing more at present but remain your affectionate wife, Harriet Newby,” end quote.
Eleven days later on April 22 she writes again a similar letter, mostly just updates. She writes quote “I received your letter to day and it give much pleasure to here from you but was sorry to -[hear] -- of your sickeness hope you may be well when you receive this I wrote to you several weeks a go and directed my letter to Bridge Port but I fear you did not receive it as you said nothing about it in yours you must give my love to Brother Gabial and tell him I would like to see him very much I wrote in my last letter that Miss Virginia had a baby a little girl I had to nerse her day and night Dear Dangerfield you Can not amagine how much I want to see you Com as soon as you can for nothing would give more pleasure than to see you it is the grates Comfort I have is thinking of the promist time when you will be here oh that bless hour when I shall see you once more my baby commenced to Crall to day it is very dellicate nothing more at present but remain your affectionate wife. - Harriet Newby,” end quote.
Her final letter that we know of is dated August 16, 1859, exactly two months before the failed raid on the arsenal. Harriet writes quote “Dear husband, your kind letter came duly to hand and it gave me much pleasure to here from you and especely to hear you are better of your rhumatism and hope when I here from you again you may be entirely well. I want you to buy me as soon as possible for if you do not get me somebody else will the servents are very disagreeable thay do all thay can to set my mistress againt me Dear Husband you not the trouble I see the last two years has ben like a trouble dream to me it is said Master is in want of monney if so I know not what time he may sell me an then all my bright hops of the futer are blasted for there has ben one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles that is to be with you for if I thought I shoul never see you this earth would have no charms for me do all you Can for me witch I have no doubt you will I want to see you so much the Chrildren are all well the baby cannot walk yet all it can step around enny thing by holding on it is very much like Agnes I mus bring my letter to Close as I have no newes to write you mus write soon and say when you think you Can Come. Your affectionate wife, Harriet Newby,” end quote.
Okay so it’s here in this last letter where we see a very definite shift in Harriet’s tone. The first two, it’s such and such had a baby, I had to nurse the baby, somebody was sick, I can’t wait to see you. In this one, things are getting dire. She talks about the servants trying to set her mistress against her. Her mistress, Mrs. Jennings who was very sick and whom she had to stay beside day and night, nursing her back to health, and nursing her new baby girl too. That Mrs. Jennings. I don’t know what the servants are telling her but Harriet is under the impression that Mrs. Jennings is turning against her despite all of that. She also says that quote “master is in want of money.” She fears that he will soon sell her to get that money. And so she worries, of course, that if she is sold to another plantation elsewhere, because Mrs. Jennings is dissatisfied with her and Mr. Jennings is in want of money, then A. she will be separated from her 7 children, the youngest of whom is not yet walking. And B. Dangerfield may not be able to purchase her freedom anymore or even find her. Right, he had this agreement with Jennings, not whoever she ends up sold to. So she is pleading with him in this letter. Time is running out. They are going to sell me soon. You have to come get me now.
Dangerfield gets this, he reads this, I imagine his heart just sinks because there is nothing he can do. He doesn’t have the money. Jennings will not sell them for the amount he has. Guys can you imagine? Can you imagine this for a sec. Can you put yourself in his shoes? In Harriet’s shoes? This is an absolute nightmare that no human should ever have to endure. This world, this way of living, it cannot go on. It cannot. And it won’t for much longer. Because for many with their eyes open, these horrors have now been fully realized. For abolitionists all over the country, the time for action is fast approaching. This isn’t just going to fizzle out. The government isn’t doing anything. Action will be required on the part of the people, likely violent action at that.
These were the views at least of abolitionist John Brown who also happened to live in Ohio like Dangerfield Newby. John Brown was white. He was born in Connecticut in 1800 which makes him about 20 years older than Dangerfield. But, as a child, his family moved to Huson, Ohio. Their family home in Hudson was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. There his father, Owen Brown, worked tirelessly to help freedom seekers escape from slavery, offering their family home as a safe house to harbor fugitives. So, even as a young child, this was John Brown’s reality. His family helped people get to freedom. And so, naturally, as an adult, Brown became an abolitionist. He believed slavery was evil and that needed to end. In 1837, he attended an abolition meeting in Cleveland and was so moved by it and by the recent murder of anti-slavery activists Elijah P. Lovejoy that he publicly announced his dedication to destroying the institution of slavery, saying quote “Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!” end quote. But Brown was not a pacifist like many abolitionists. He believed that slavery would only fall through violence.
In 1855 he was called to act. Two of his sons had moved to settle in the western territory that would eventually become the state of Kansas and had started families there. But they soon wrote to their father for help. Many people were settling near them who were pro-slavery. They were worried that, when it became a state, Kansas would enter into the Union as yet another slave state. They summoned their father to help them prevent that from happening. Violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers soon erupted in Kansas. Two of Brown’s sons were captured and one was killed by pro-slavery forces. But he didn’t give up their cause. He travelled around the country raising money and obtaining weapons to keep fighting. In the end, their efforts were successful. Kansas voted to become a free state in 1858.
So, you know, one battle had already been won in Kansas, but there were many more to fight in the pursuit of freedom. By early 1859, Brown began leading raids, mostly in the midwest, to free enslaved people. We know he met both Harriet Tubman, whom he called General Tubman, and Fredrick Douglass. They supported his ideology and inspired him to keep up the fight. Harriet Tubman actually helped John Brown plan the attack on the Harpers Ferry arsenal, although Fredrick Douglass vehemently (vee-uh-ment-ly) opposed this plan. The plan was to attack the US military arsenal there where a bunch of weapons were kept. And then use those weapons to start a rebellion where they would attack enslavers and free the people they enslaved. Brown recruited 22 men to help him with this raid including his two surviving sons. Five of the 22 men were free Black men and one of them, you guessed it, was Dangerfield Newby. And I have to imagine that, after failing to raise the money to rescue his family in time, and with time running out according to the letter from his wife, Dangerfield pivoted to a new plan. If he can’t buy her, he will take her by force. This John Brown guy is trying to take down enslavers and free enslaved people in Virginia. This is exactly what Dangerfield needs. If he helps Brown and if they are successful, there is a chance he will be able to rescue his family.
This all goes down on October 16, 1859. The men split up. Some of the men, led by John Brown’s son Owen Brown, go to the estate of Colonel Lewis Washington who was a distant relative of George Washington, THE George Washington, and a notorious enslaver. They capture him, they take him hostage. The rest of the men, led by John Brown, go to capture the armory, to seize the weapons to use in this rebellion. This whole plan hinges on seizing the weapons before officials in Washington DC can be notified, because this is a military arsenal, right? So the men stop a train that’s headed for DC to try to keep them from finding out about the raid. But ultimately Brown lets the train go and the conductor immediately tells the authorities about what’s happening at Harpers Ferry. So, I guess that was a mistake. But, anyway, it’s during this stopping of the train that the first casualty occurs. A baggage handler, a free Black man, is shot in the back and killed when he refused to follow the orders of Brown’s men. An unfortunate loss considering this guy, a Black man, was exactly who they were trying to help.
While the train is on the way to DC, they manage to capture several white enslavers but by the end of the day on the 16th, the townspeople start to fight back, raising a militia. Brown's men capture the armory but the militia has them surrounded. Dangerfield Newby was the first casualty, struck in the neck by a 6 inch spike as he attempted to retreat to the engine house. According to Jon-Erik Gilot writing for Emerging Civil War quote “A witness would recall that Newby’s “throat was cut literally from ear to ear,” remembering the wound as more hideous than he’d seen on any battlefield,” end quote. Dangerfield was killed instantly and his body remained where it fell in the street for over 24 hours. According to an article in the National Era abolitionist newspaper from October 27, 1859, his body was quote “exposed to every indignity that could be heaped upon it by the excited populace… The treatment the lifeless bodies of those wretched men received from some of the infuriated populace was far from creditable to the actors or to human nature in general. Though dead and gory, vengeance was unsatisfied, and many, as they ran sticks into his wound. or beat him with them, wished that he had a thousand lives, that all of them might be forfeited in expiation and avengement of the foul deed he had committed,” end quote. So they are describing the desecration of his corpse. That the townspeople beat his body with sticks and ran sticks into his wound. I read somewhere else that his ears were cut off and kept as souvenirs, cause that’s normal. But then again, you know, the Baltimore Sun newspaper reported on the incident quote “no one seemed to notice him particularly, more than any other dead animal,” end quote. Which isn’t much better honestly, but, I don’t know, I guess it is. We do know he was left there for quite some time though and there are reports of animals messing with his body as well. According to Joseph Barry in The Strange Story of Harpers Ferry published in 1903, hogs were observed eating the body. It’s possible that “Hog Alley” in Harpers Ferry was named because of this. Eventually Dangerfield’s body, along with 7 of Brown’s other fallen men were thrown into a packing box and buried in a pit without any kind of ceremony or marker. The final two out of 10 of Brown’s men who died were taken to Winchester Medical College and dissected by students there.
So what happened to the rest of the men? Brown had them retreat to the armory’s engine house, this is when Dangerfield was killed, trying to retreat. The rest of them barricaded themselves in the engine house which became known as John Brown’s fort. They are surrounded by this militia of townspeople and there’s no escape. Brown tries to surrender. He sends his son Watson out to surrender and they shoot him. He later died of his injuries. By the morning of October 18th, President James Buchanan had ordered the military to march to Harpers Ferry led by future Civil War general Robert E. Lee. Lee tries to get Brown to surrender but he refuses. He already tried that, remember, and they shot his son. So he’s like “no way, we’re not coming out.” So the military storms John Brown’s Fort, this engine house where they’re all holed up and takes Brown and the remaining men alive.
John Brown was convicted of treason in November and hanged on December 2nd at 59 years old. His execution was witnessed by both Robert E. Lee who would soon lead the Confederacy in the Civil War and John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who would soon assassinate future president Abraham Lincoln. Before dying, Brown handed the executioner a slip of paper that read quote “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood,” end quote. A prophetic statement. Although the raid on Harpers Ferry had failed, it inflamed tensions between the north and the south and laid bare the irreconcilable issues regarding slavery that were plaguing the country. It almost certainly impacted the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln and served as a sort of practice run for the Civil War that would follow a year and a half later.
After his execution, John Brown’s wife took his body to their family farm in upstate New York and buried him. In 1899, forty years after their deaths, the eight men thrown unceremoniously into that pit in Harpers Ferry, including Dangerfield Newby, were exhumed and reburied beside Brown in New York. But what of Harriet, Dangerfield’s wife? Despite her longing to see her husband again, remember she writes quote “I want to see you so much that is one bright hope I have,” and quote “you Can not amagine how much I want to see you Com as soon as you can for nothing would give more pleasure than to see you it is the grates Comfort I have is thinking of the promist time when you will be here oh that bless hour when I shall see you once more,” and quote “for there has ben one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles that is to be with you for if I thought I should never see you this earth would have no charms for me,” end quote. Tragically, Harriet never saw Dangerfield again. And tragically, just as she feared, she was soon sold south to Louisiana. But I won’t leave you with such a sad ending because her story doesn’t end there. While in Louisiana, she met a man serving in the Union army from West Virginia named William Robinson. They got married and moved to Virginia where they raised three children together, plus her seven children from her marriage to Dangerfield. They were able to stay together despite it all. Today, many of Dangerfield and Harriet’s descendants still live in the DC area.
It’s easy to see this group of 22 men as the bad guys, right. They came into this town, Harpers Ferry. They started taking people, prominent people, hostage. They captured the armory. They started killing people. They killed the mayor. And the people of Harpers Ferry, they’re like, what did we do? You know? We didn’t do anything to you guys why are you attacking us? Brown’s men, Dangerfield Newby, they seemed like the aggressors and in a lot of ways they were. But you have to look at their motives. Why ARE they doing this? They aren’t doing this to take down Colonel Lewis Washington or the mayor or that Black guy on the train platform. They’re doing this to take down an institution that rips husbands from wives and mothers from their babies. They’re doing this for liberty, for freedom, for justice for all. They’re doing it for the same reasons General George Washington sneak attacked British forces the day after Christmas. If Washington wasn’t an aggressor, a villain, then neither was John Brown and neither was Dangerfield Newby. A man will do a lot of things to protect his family. Put yourself in Dangerfield Newby’s position for a moment, reading that letter from your wife as she begs you to rescue her, to rescue your children, your baby who can’t even walk yet, folding it up and tucking it into your pocket, with a pit in your stomach, knowing full well you’ve done everything to raise the money and you’ve come up short. What would you have done? To what end would you go? And does your decision in that unthinkable situation make you a villain or a hero?
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