...was one of the rational and intellectual forces behind the Abolitionist and Free-State movement in the area. He and his younger brother John Otis attended the Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, headed by Dr. Lyman Beecher. His daughter, Harriett Beecher Stowe is most famous for "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The Sharps rifles, used in Free-state circles, were carried effectively as "Beecher's Bibles."
After assisting with a self-supporting school and farm for freed blacks, the Wattles brothers and their families headed for the Kansas territory. They first settled in Douglas County in the early 1850's, but felt distanced from the core of activity centering around Sugar Mound. They moved to this area in 1857, establishing a small community called Moneka, just north of Mound City. Here Augustus built a stone house, and John Otis built a frame home of native timber.
Following the raid of Missouri on Dec. 20, and a brief stay at Fort Bayne area where most of the raiding party and captives were kept outside in the snow and cold, John Brown lead the group north about 10 miles to the home of Augustus Wattles. By all accounts, the party arrived in the middle of the night, both famished and freezing.
We peeked in the windows of the stone home, catching a whiff of the wood smoke as Mrs. Wattles prepared the group a warm meal. (see Nectar of the Jayhawkers)
The group, including Brown and some of his men, 11 slaves, and two white hostages, were huddled around the stove. From the foot of the stairs, we saw James Montgomery emerge. He and some of his men had camped out that night at Wattles' home.
"How is this Captain Brown?" we heard Montgomery ask, "Whom have you here?"
Brown seemed to savor his accomplishment, and boasted, "Allow me to introduce to you a part of my family. Observe I have carried the war into Africa." With a dramatic flair, he waived his hat over the group.
One slave woman was given a chair. She sat back uncomfortably and rubbed her extended stomach as she ate. She was nine-months pregnant, and would deliver a baby boy within the next few days.
As the hungry visitors gobbled down their meal, the discussion continued, but with seemingly less enthusiasm on the part of Wattles and Montgomery. After learning that a slaveowner had been killed in the raid, the tone of the conversation changed. Wattles, Montgomery, and Brown continued the discussion as they moved to another room. Brown sat at a writing desk, scribbling, as he was severely censured by Wattles.
Brown was reprimanded by both Wattles and Montgomery for having broken the Sugar Mound Peace Agreement. For both Wattles and Montgomery, the most immediate and important step towards the elimination of slavery was the establishment of Kansas as a free state. They feared that the raid would jeopardize the tenuous, and recently-found strength of the free-state movement in the area. This did not seem to be the response Brown had anticipated. After listening to their frustrations and concerns, Brown rose to reply. "I have considered the matter well; you will have no more attacks from Missouri; I shall now leave Kansas; probably you will never see me again; I consider it my duty to draw the scene of the excitement to some other part of the country.
"Gentlemen, I would like to have your attention for a few minutes. I usually leave the newspaper work to (John Henry) Kagi, but this time I have something to say myself." Brown delivered to them his hastily sketched rationale for the Missouri raid in his famous "Parallels."
That night, the freed male slaves, the two white male captives, and Brown's raiders spent the night outside of Augustus' home, covered in wagons. The female slaves and children were taken to the home of John Otis Wattles.
Augustus' home would have been a likely target for retaliatory action from Missouri, and the hosts took every precaution.
For the fugitive slaves, their next stop was the rustic cabin of Samuel and Florella Adair in Osawatomie, where they arrived on Christmas Eve, 1858.