MONTPELIER - In Arlington, church bells rang throughout the day on Dec. 2, 1859, and for one hour in Peacham, starting at 11 a.m., as abolitionist John Brown was hanged in a field in far-off Charles ...

He predicts the war," Coffin said. And historians generally believe the hanging of Brown prompted the South to begin setting up militias, inevitably leading to the U.S. Civil War. "He goes to his ...