The oral and written records of my Chandler family forebears say that John Brown stopped over at the family farm at Fort Scott many times.
Four family members died within a year there, and three of them were relatively young, in their forties I believe. Wish I knew what happened to them.
The remaining family scattered to the four winds - some to Nebraska, some to Oregon, and several ended up back in Lake County, Illinois. My great-great grandfather joined the Union Army at sixteen there, and fought all the way through the war through the big closing battles of Franklin and Nashville.
He took a slug in the gut on the drive to Atlanta, and surprisingly, survived. But he suffered from stomach problems the rest of his life.
He and his family were among the first pioneers of Sac County, Iowa.
My Great-great-grandfather got off the boat from Stettin, Prussia in 1848, and settled in as a tailor in Watertown, Wisconsin. He and his wife had five children before the Civil War.
He enlisted in the 5th Wisconsin Infantry as a three year man, and saw some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He did not re-up after the Wilderness and went back home to have four more children.
Several years ago, while at a seminar for prosecuting attorneys, I met a guy from North Carolina who was a fellow Civil War buff. He told me the regiment his great-great grandfather fought in, and we did some research. We believe in one or two battles, there is a fair chance our ancestors shot at each other.