8. Soule had himself locked up in order to talk with Brown
When Soule arrived in Charlestown in mid-November, he had himself arrested. How he did so is disputed, but he likely either created a public disturbance, or was drunk, or both. At any rate, once in jail he persuaded the jailer to allow him to speak with Brown. The conversation did not go well, at least not in the point of view of those conspiring to free him. John Brown did not want to be rescued. He knew he was going to the gallows and he believed his martyrdom would inspire more people to take up his cause. He refused to be persuaded otherwise. John Brown wanted to die, secure in his religious beliefs that it was his destiny.
The jailer, a man named John Avis, released Silas shortly after his conversation with Brown, and Silas informed his fellow conspirators, including Hinton, that they had wasted their time. He used a similar ruse to attempt to free two of Brown’s conspirators but that too failed, for similar reasons. John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859, his conscience apparently clear despite the several murders which should have weighed upon it, committed over the course of his lifetime. The execution was not open to the public, though it was witnessed by 2,000 soldiers. His desired martyrdom came from some, but did not lead to the mass uprising in support of his ideals which he had envisioned.