Status Updates From Weird and Tragic Shores: Th...

But he was in the US, and his prospects were grim. So bad were his personal circumstances that he was forced to borrow sums as small as seventy-five cents, and under the date of May 2 there is the following entry in his journal: 'Started down the Bowery, sold damaged old hat to make a raise of 37 c[en]ts.'

After ten hours of search, they found [John Brown's] body. He lay face up on the ice, his hands at his side, the snow around him showing signs of his struggle to get up before he had finally surrendered to sleep and death. Burial in the winter posed a problem, and they left him where he died, covering him with ice and snow. With the coming of June thaws, Brown's body would sink into the bay.