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Alexander H. Morrell's Harpers Ferry By Jeffrey Brooke-Stewart Morrell Diary - Part 1 | Morrell Diary - Part 2 | Endnotes | Morrell's Chepachet | Morrell's Harpers Ferry During November 2007, I spent some time in Harpers Ferry in order to visit buildings and locations frequented by Alexander Morrell. The old Storer College campus, Curtis Free Will Baptist Church, Harpers Ferry Cemetery, the railway bridge system and various civil war / John Brown action places were visited.
Alternately hailed as either a visionary hero or a villainous traitor, some argue that Brown's action polarized popular opinion for or against slavery, and was indirectly one of the steps towards the bloody war that followed. During the Civil War, Harpers Ferry was subject to attack by forces from both sides, and much of the town was in ruins by the end of the conflict. The armory and munitions works were largely destroyed and various federal buildings were badly damaged. During the war, and anticipating the outcome, the Home Missions Board of the New England Free Will Baptists began making plans for means to educate the freed slaves. Immediately following the end of the conflict, mission stations and schools were established in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Alexander Morrell became active in this work and served along the Shenandoah Valley. By 1865, one of the Free Will Baptist Home Mission Society's main activities was at Harpers Ferry. Dr. N. C. Brackett and Silas P. Curtis, with the assistance of Alexander Morrell and others began providing education opportunities to the freed slaves, and for this purpose, they quickly obtained the use of Lockwood House, one of the many damaged federal buildings in the town. This small undertaking developed into Storer College. The funding for this expansion came from matching grants of $10,000 each from philanthropist John Storer, and the Free Will Baptist Home Mission Society. In the ensuing years, other buildings were taken over and eventually deeded to the college.
Storer College closed in 1955, and today the National Park Service is housed on the old campus. I was keen to visit the gravesite of Morrell and pay my respects. And that led to a mystery! The US National Park service has two functions at Harpers Ferry. On the site of Storer College, and occupying many of the old college buildings, are both the headquarters of the Harpers Ferry National Park, and the Training Center for the entire US Park System. Under the co-ordination of Richard Raymond, a number of the staff on site provided help in this research, and I acknowledge my thanks to them here. My first quest was to find the location of Morrell's grave, and I quickly discovered that there are a number of conflicting pieces of information concerning this. What we know for sure is the following:
Dr. Brackett and Henry McDonald are both buried in Harpers Ferry town cemetery, and I visited their graves. So, it would appear that Morrell was buried in Harpers Ferry. But where? Richard Raymond has also provided the following information which conflicts with the above:
So where is the good man buried? We can look at some of the information and try to piece it together. (1) The timing Morrell passed away at 10 PM on December 24th. Family and friends could certainly have met on Christmas Day for a brief prayer and memorial service at the home. Morrell had preached at the local church just two weeks earlier before becoming fatally sick. Here is how Brackett describes that occasion; "…he attended church through wind and rain and, of course preached (how could he refuse when the young man urged him as a favor to himself?), and promised to preach again at night if he was able. It was his last sermon." So, it would seem to me that the young preacher at the local church would have been very willing to help the family with a December 25th morning prayer service. Harpers Ferry was located on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the family and the body could have traveled during the afternoon of December 25th from New Jersey to Harpers Ferry to arrive on December 27th. Residing in Harpers Ferry, Bracket and others after receiving word of Morrell's death, could certainly have made the necessary arrangements for a burial and service on the 27th. But that scenario leads to the questions of why the hurry, and why no record of the burial? (2) Curtis Free Will Baptist Church Various entries in articles and reports from Morrell's time mention the Free Will Baptist's church at Harpers Ferry. It is important to note that when the Free Will Baptists used such an expression as 'the church', they would have had the gathering of people in mind more than a structure. In the early days, such a church would likely have met in one of the member's homes. By January 26th 1868, the Harpers Ferry church was of sufficient strength to be included in the first Quarterly Meeting of the local Free Will Baptist Association. As the college developed, we know that they met in a chapel in the left wing of the Anthony Hall building.2 This entire Storer College endeavor was a New England Free Will Baptist mission, and many of the men and women involved on staff would have had 'home churches' somewhere else. As the years passed however, and as more families like the Morrell and Bracket families took up permanent residence in Harpers Ferry, there would have been a desire to have a local church building.
So it is not unreasonable to assume that by 1885, Morrell and Bracket and others were developing plans for such a structure, including its location, size and style etc. It clearly took some time to complete these plans and to find the necessary funding for the undertaking, and it was 1892 before work began.3
The red brick building was completed in 1894 and was named the Curtis Freewill Baptist Church in recognition of the important role that Silas P. Curtis of New Hampshire played in the forming of the college. The church was dedicated for worship on May 27th 1896.4 The structure was used for worship up until 1955. The Park Service has just recently completed a wonderful restoration of the interior. It is currently used for Park meetings and special presentations.
(3) Alexander Morrell and the Curtis Church The Curtis church has a number of fine stained-glass windows. The dominant window (to the
right in the above church photograph) is a striking multi-colored memorial to Alexander Morrell. The dedication of such a very special memorial is another testimonial to the special place that
Alexander Morrell held in the hearts of the Storer College team.
Small side windows recognize churches that supported either the funding of Storer College or more specifically the Curtis church. Of special interest to Rhode Island readers is that one of these windows recognizes the Elmwood Avenue, Providence, church. The C.E. at the top of the window probably refers to the Christian Endeavor group of the Elmwood church.
Rev.
This marker is the only stone in the churchyard, and there is no indication in the records that Morrell is buried here. (4) The mystery
The exact location of the burial place for Alexander Morrell remains a mystery. I find it inconceivable that such a dear and close colleague as Nathan Brackett made a mistake in
recording (just weeks after Morrell's death) that Morrell was buried in Harpers Ferry. He must be buried there. The following is speculation, but a possible scene emerges of the family arriving from Irvington
and gathering at Harpers Ferry station sometime on December 27th, being met by Bracket and other Free Will Baptist colleagues and friends. The casket could have been unloaded from the
train and placed on a small horse drawn wagon and taken the few hundred yards from the station up the hill and into Harpers Ferry cemetery, which overlooks the town, valley and railway system.
There, at a previously prepared site, the group might have held a short prayer and committal service at what was planned to be a temporary grave.
A temporary site because we know from Brackett, that Morrell had made it known that upon his death he wanted to be buried at Harpers Ferry. The future Free Will Baptist churchyard was
quite likely the place Morrell had in mind, had his death not occurred before the structure was built. Perhaps Brackett, knowing that the church was being planned, had arranged for a
temporary burial in the town cemetery and planned for the body to be re-interred at the new churchyard later. Alternatively, the site of the future church building and church yard may have been known in
1885, and the body may have been taken there and buried in an unmarked grave, awaiting a future stone as Brackett noted. Since death occurred in Irvington, New Jersey, the death certificate was issued there and not in
Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, West Virginia. This fact, plus the possible temporary nature of the burial, and the Christmas holiday period, might have caused a slip in recording the burial in the town cemetery.
So Morrell probably either remains in an unmarked grave in the Harpers Ferry town cemetery or below the Curtis Free Will Baptist Church marker. Perhaps we will never know where he lies, but research continues. 1. Obituary by N.C. Brackett and other records. 2. Free Baptist Cyclopaedia, page 625.
3. National Register of Historic Places Inventory Survey of June 1980. 4. Communication from Guinevere Roper of the Park Service.
5. Communication from Nancy Hatcher of the Park Service reads: "According to The Pioneer Press, donations were provided by: Mr. R. W. Callaway, Chas. Cavalier, Mr/Mrs. W. W. Grimes,
Mr/Mrs Chas. Trail, Mr/Mrs M. E. Franklin, Ms P.V. Burrell, Ms. Cora S. Brown, Prof/Mrs. Brackett, Mr/Mrs.S.W. Lightner, Ms. Albert Bailey, Henry J. Jenkins, Ms. Mary A. Givens, and Ms. Mary Toler." |
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