Reading your posting about Montgomery brought on a broad smile - he must have been such a formidable character to have even John Brown disapprove of him! Just the kind of on-the-edge man Tubman admired so deeply. I know that under Higginson's leadership Tubman would not have been able to perform to the level that she did. What was it that Frank Sanborn said - oh, yes, Higginson was too "fastidious" for Tubman and Montgomery. That sounds about right!

Thanks again for bringing up Montgomery. He deserves more attention - even if he sometimes used extra legal tactics - than he gets. I'll be looking forward to your research results on the James Montgomery, John Brown, Charles Jennifer and Jim Lane connections when you revisit the area next spring. It is interesting that you said that Lane did not want to give Montgomery command of the 1st Kansas because Montgomery could not be controlled. Many, apparently, had that same view in South Carolina. But he got results, and in the end that is what mattered.

Kate