into game pouches." another report says the skin was tanned.: 47 yet another says that "the skins of john brown's sons" were tanned and used to make saddle seats for the "chivalry" of virginia. according to the best documented version, winchester medical students made moccasins of it. a man present in winchester in 1861 before the arrival of union troops, whom the newspaper called reliable, reported this, adding that the student or students had given him a scrap of the skin, which he displayed. a student, after a triumphal parade of the slippers and a bloviating description of the processes by which they were produced, heroically exclaimed, 'that's the way we se've you d—d yankees when you come 'mongst us an' don't walk afteh ouh style!" not only did this student have a scrap of skin to give away, pieces of the skin were in demand and apparently distributed widely in the area; pieces had to be kept "minute" because there was such a demand for them. a doctor in winchester had another piece in his "private museum". another piece was sent by a union general to a doctor in new york, who displayed it to a reporter. according to the general, it had been given "to my present aid in richmond last april by a captain sommers of the confederate states army, and a friend of the doctor who has the skeleton, and who flayed and tanned the skin." yet another piece was reported to have been sent to one member of the family, in an envelope. skinning a human corpse was an indication of scorn and disrespect. nat turner's body was skinned. the remainder of the body, an exhibit the union officers coming into winchester in march 1862 had no reason to know about this. however, union troops, needing space for barracks, offices, and especially hospitals, used "all the buildings that could be commandeered into service: ...hotels, churches, and private homes.": 165 they soon found the vacant medical college, recently used as a military hospital by general jackson. like most medical schools, that in winchester had a one-room "museum" or collection of anatomical specimens and curiosities. a letter to the new york world from winchester, dated march 15, reported: in the medical college, here, is preserved the body of john brown's son, killed at harper's ferry, first skinned, and only the frame and muscles retained. it stands at full length in one corner of the museum, labelled 'john brown's son—thus always with abolitionists'. another report, dated three days later, says that "the muscles, veins and arteries all preserved, the top of the cranium sawn off, and the lips purposely distorted in disrespect." this report, however, identifies the body as that of john brown, contradicting the earlier statement that the specimen was labeled. it was immediately pointed out that the body of john brown, as was widely reported, had been buried in 1859 at the john brown farm in north elba, new york. other reports specify that it was the left half of the skull that had been removed, along with the brain. according to dr. jarvis johnson, it was "one of the most beautiful specimens he ever saw". "the anatomical preparation of the body was perfect." the arteries had been stained with red dye, and the muscles looked as solid as wood. when found, the exhibit was standing, leaning against the wall, the arms extending upwards from the elbows. four of the finger joints on one hand and all the toes on one foot had been stolen by souvenir hunters. an unidentified "doctor in virginia" had written governor wise asking that john brown's body be "held for dissection in order to further degrade brown".: 279 the intervention of dr. jarvis j. johnson dr. jarvis j. johnson the most detailed account is in a sworn (notarized) statement from dr. jarvis j. johnson (1825–1899), of martinsville, indiana, who was with general banks when union troops entered winchester, and was the first doctor to enter the building. after we had entered the city, i took possession of the medical college situated therein. in the museum of the said college i found a large symmetrical and anatomical human body or frame. it had been well prepared for preservation and contained all the muscles, arteries and nerves. by permission of general banks, i took charge of the specimen and removed it to the academy hospital in winchester , which hospital was then under my control. after its removal to the said hospital a number of prominent citizens of winchester called upon me at the hospital, and each and all declared that it was the remains of a son of john brown. that the said son had been killed at harper's ferry, va., in october, 1859, at the time of the insurrection. one of the professors of the said college also called upon me in person, and demanded that i return the specimen. he then gave me all the details of the manner in which the body had been prepared, and said that he did it himself. he told me that after young brown was killed at harper's ferry, that he had the body sent to winchester, and that upon consultation with the other professors of the college, it was decided to prepare the body of young brown that it might be preserved in the museum of the college as a specimen, and as an object of interest and note. the professor strongly appealed to me in the name of my profession, and in the interest of the same, and as a friend of science to return to him the said body. he said that when the war was over, the college, which had been burned, would be rebuilt and that it should again be deposited therein. he cited the fact that the sons of john brown had been killed while engaged with their father in the attempt to overthrow virginia's cherished institution of slavery, and hence virginia was entitled to the body as an object of warning and curiosity. in answer to the demand and appeals of the professor i said that the memory of john brown and his sons, and their heroic battle at harper's ferry for the freedom of the slave, were held in too high esteem for me to leave the body upon the slave soil of virginia.: 299–300 it is garbled misinformation that jarvis himself preserved the body. however, what to do with the preserved body of brown's son was a problem for dr. johnson. it could not be buried in winchester. no cemetery would have accepted his body, and if had been buried it would have been dug up just as soon as union troops departed if not before, since the professor very much wanted his specimen back. since the body, as dr. johnson saw it, had to leave virginia, "i afterwards, in the summer of 1862, shipped the said body by express via franklin, ind., that point being the nearest express office to my own home, then at morgantown, morgan county, ind. the said specimen has been in my possession, and under my control ever since, and i have no doubt whatever, but that it is the son of the heroic john brown.": 299–300 johnson's statement is supported by two notarized affidavits. the first is from lieutenant fletcher d. rundell, a union soldier who entered winchester with johnson. the second is from 11 prominent citizens of martinsville—3 doctors, 3 lawyers, 3 bankers, a druggist, and a clerk. they stated that it was well known in martinsville that johnson brought back from winchester the body of one of john brown's sons, although they had no way of confirming the identity of the corpse. an army nurse also wrote in support. one newspaper article says that johnson only wanted the excellent specimen, that john brown had nothing to do with it. the same article says that the exhibit "has been lying in the knights of pythias hall, and, it is whispered, was used in the mystic ceremonies of the order. the best of care had not been bestowed upon it, and it was infested with worms and insects. knowledge of its ill-usage was sedulously kept from mr. brown. when he intimated that he would like to see the body, he was considerately kept in waiting until it could be removed from the lodge-hall to the residence by way of a back street, and there placed in better condition for the examination." no other source confirms any of this, nor do any of the visitors to martinsville. john's visit was invited, not a surprise. the body had not been removed for safekeeping there are references to the "bones" of oliver having been removed from the college for safekeeping by hunter mcguire, so they were therefore not destroyed in the fire the union soldiers set.: 125 this information, never given by anyone who had actually seen these rescued bones, is so confused, and the information from union sources so consistent, that it may be disregarded. john brown's son's body was not a skeleton. no union source ever reported that it had been burned. the body of oliver brown was never in winchester (see john brown's raiders). watson's body was removed from the college by dr. jarvis, and it was authenticated in 1882 by watson's brother john jr. burning the college the winchester medical school was burned to the ground by union soldiers under general banks on may 16, 1862, just before retreating as stonewall jackson's army came down the shenandoah toward the city. soldiers prevented fire trucks from extinguishing the blaze. as put by a former student: winchester, va., sept. 7, 1894.james monroe,dear sir: — the postmaster asked me, as the oldest living graduate of the old winchester medical college, to answer your note. the college was burnt by general banks' army in may, 1862. he himself regretted it, but his new england doctors and chaplains did it—applied the torch with their own hands. they proclaimed that theirs was a campaign of education. ...only one of the professors now lives—dr. hunter mcguire, of richmond. i am, sir, respectfully yours, d. b. conrad.: 177–178 john brown as a villain virginians' hatred for john brown is easier to understand today, as so much has been published on it. "the people of virginia are bitterly incensed against 'old brown,' and even did the law fail to claim his life, he could not possibly escape beyond the borders of the state.": 104 the "rush of volunteers was absolutely immense.": 51 wise claimed that he saved brown from being lynched. slavery was central to their economy and society. southerners believed the official line that slavery was good for the enslaved, that they were contented and well cared for. john brown was another northern abolitionist making their slaves unhappy, but he was using violence. his openly stated intent was to encourage and help them to flee, giving them weapons. as governor wise and virginia saw it, this was treason. their nightmare was another revolt like that of nat turner, and john brown was making it happen. john brown, a hero dishonored the soldiers burned the college because of what had been done with watson brown's body, and to a much lesser extent because of the black boy tortured and killed, and the three black raiders dissected. according to the richmond whig of june 7, 1862, "it was openly avowed that this was done because it was ascertained that the body of one of john brown's sons had been dissected in the college by the students there.": 298 to understand the union soldiers' reaction, one needs to realize how important john brown, executed for treason in virginia, was to the north. he was their martyr, a saint. brown was the union's great hero, the icon in the fight against slavery. as frederick douglass put it, he was willing to live for the slave, but brown died for the slave. union soldiers' marching song was john brown's body. from 1859 until 1865 he was the most famous american. it was lincoln's assassination that dislodged john from this position. the body was, furthermore, labeled "thus always to abolitionists", and watson's lips were "deliberately made to look ridiculous." according to dr. johnson, he was told by the doctor who