Harpers Ferry is in what is now West Virginia (then part of Virginia).
John Brown led a party of 22 in seizing the U.S. arsenal there in October 1859.
Brown, an abolitionist born in Torrington, Connecticut, planned to arm the local slaves and start a full-scale rebellion, but his plan was foiled by state and federal troops.
Convicted of treason and murder, Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859.