James Hanway, a friend and follower of John Brown during the Kansas troubles, writes James Redpath from Shermansville in Franklin County, Kansas Territory, about a book Redpath had written entitled "The Public Life of John Brown," which was published by "Thayer & Eldridge" in 1860. Hanway reports that he'd enjoyed the book, thought it was, "on the whole... a correct life of the old man," but wished to state "the facts" Redpath had missed especially as regards the Pottawatomie Massacre of May, 1856. In this lengthy, detailed letter, Hanway, who was with John Brown, Jr. and some others who were not at the Pottawatomie Creek when the killings took place, argues that the action was fully justified under the circumstances and that Brown gave the orders, even though he personally killed none of the victims.