The John Brown House in Akron, Ohio, is closely tied to the life of the famed abolitionist. Built around 1830, it was purchased by Colonel Simon Perkins in 1844 and rented to Brown and his family while Brown entered a wool-growing partnership with Perkins after financial hardship. The Browns used the house from 1844 to 1854, during the decade before John Brown became nationally known for his antislavery actions and the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. Preserved today by the Summit County Historical Society near the Perkins Stone Mansion, the house is a link to Akron’s role in the story of abolition and the Underground Railroad era.
