The site chosen for Brown’s execution was a forty-acre field of rye and corn stubble at the edge of Charlestown. It was not only convenient to the jail but also almost bare of trees or other landmarks, “so as to prevent any one being able to recognize it thereafter,” wrote Andrew Hunter, who had helped select it. The authorities wanted to ensure that the site of Brown’s hanging wouldn’t become hallowed ground. To that end, the scaffold was erected on the morning of the execution and taken down immediately after.
