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Abolitionist Owen Brown\u2019s Altadena Grave<\/p>\n
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[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/owen-brown” button_text=”Owen Brown Gravesite – Website” _builder_version=”4.26.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”18px” button_text_color=”#dbaf00″ button_bg_color=”#FFFFFF” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” button_alignment=”center” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” width=”91%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”||||||||” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font=”||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#000000″ header_2_font_size=”28px” header_4_text_align=”center” header_4_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font_size=”21px” header_4_line_height=”1.3em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
After decades of strife around the preservation of abolitionist Owen Brown\u2019s Altadena grave site and the until-now unrelated battles facing the La Vina development, both projects are finally set for completion in an unexpected crossing of paths for two of this community\u2019s longest running pains.<\/p>\n
By Chris Lindahl<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kHIDC_JJwrg” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”91%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”3105,3106,3107,3108″ gallery_orderby=”rand” fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ animation_style=”flip” animation_direction=”left” auto=”on” auto_speed=”4444″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in November approved a kind of grand compromise hashed out between the developer of La Vina and foes of some aspects of the development, a gated community in Altadena with 271 homes. Tim Cantwell\u00a0of\u00a0Cantwell-Anderson Inc. wanted to build out the final 18 single-family lots at La Vina, leaving behind a litany of lawsuits, county investigations and inflamed passions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Altadena preservationists said they wanted to give Brown \u2014 son of John Brown, leader of the pre-Civil War raid on Harpers Ferry \u2014 the eternal peace and rightful place in local history he deserved. That\u2019s after his grave marker went missing several times and the public was barred access to his northwest Altadena resting place by a private land owner.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#f7f7f7″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”91%” custom_width_px=”715px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n This is how it all collides:\u00a0La Vina will be completed; while open, public access to Brown\u2019s grave site should soon be achieved after\u00a0Cantwell agreed to buy the land, which is not contiguous with La Vina, to preserve it in perpetuity. The sale should be finalized this week.<\/p>\n Cantwell also agreed to fund programs to educate locals about Brown and Altadena\u2019s connection to the Civil War and westward expansion, according to\u00a0Michele Zack, an Altadena historian involved in the pact.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n She said finding a partner in Cantwell for this effort is a \u201chealing\u201d moment for Altadenans.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”|22px||22px|false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”91%” custom_width_px=”715px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Owen Brown is buried on a 6-acre piece of land at the top of Rising Hill Road near its terminus at the foothills. Some of that land was part of the homestead belonging to Own Brown and his brother Jason Brown and in front of the mountain that would be named after their father, John Brown \u2014 a white man whose attempt in 1859 to spark a slave rebellion at the Harper\u2019s Ferry, Virginia arsenal resulted in his hanging for the crime of inciting violent rejection of slavery, according to a history compiled by Zack.<\/p>\n Owen Brown was part of the raid too. After escaping and living as a fugitive for two decades, in 1881 he joined his brother and sister Ruth in Pasadena, a community founded a few years earlier by Union supporters and those involved in the temperance movement.<\/p>\n His involvement in the raid and his belief in racial equality made\u00a0Owen Brown a local celebrity. Last week was the 130th anniversary of his death from what was likely pneumonia, Zack said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/brown_03.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n A replica of the grave marker for Owen Brown, the last surviving member of John Brown\u2019s historic raid on Harpers Ferry who died in 1889, sits at Triangle Park in Altadena Calif., seen here on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. The land around Brown\u2019s grave site, which overlooks Altadena, is being purchased for preservation and money will be set aside to permanently protect the site. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”33px||” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”4px||” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n At his funeral at a Pasadena church, 2,000 mourners, both black and white, paid their respects. He was buried near his cabin in the Altadena Meadows with a concrete headstone that read, \u201cOwen Brown son of John Brown The Liberator, Died Jan. 9, 1889, Aged 64 yrs.\u201d<\/p>\n His grave site went on to become a pilgrimage stop for people of all races who sometimes numbered in the thousands, according to Zack.<\/p>\n \u201cThey (the Browns) are the collective conscience of the United States that slavery was wrong, that it was inhumane and really that it was against the Constitutional provisions for free people,\u201d said Marietta\u00a0Kruells, who also worked on securing the agreement with Cantwell.<\/p>\n In the 1980s, preservation group Altadena Heritage unsuccessfully attempted to get historical status for the site, a hill known as \u201cLittle Roundtop\u201d that overlooks what is now La Vina.<\/p>\n In more recent years, people hiking to the site to pay their respects to Owen Brown were allegedly yelled at by the private landowner \u2014 who had posted \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d signs on the access trail. The owner, Michael Cichy, lost lawsuits brought against him and judges,\u00a0as recently as 2006, have twice affirmed that the public has legal access the site.<\/p>\n On top of that, the grave marker kept going missing, including in a decadelong stretch that ended in 2012 when the gravestone was\u00a0<\/span>found by artist Ian White.<\/p>\n White, using his Hollywood connections, commissioned several\u00a0<\/span>ear-perfect Fiberglas reproductions\u00a0<\/span>of the marker, one of which currently stands at Triangle Park at Altadena Drive and Lake Avenue, Zack said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe intention is to put it back, the original one,\u201d\u00a0Kruells said. \u201cBut nobody wants to have it lost again.\u201d Today, a wooden sign marks the grave site.<\/p>\n The original marker remains stored in a secure location \u2014 White and Altadena preservationists knew they needed to put off returning the marker to the grave site until the property had more friendly owners, Zack said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#f7f7f7″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”91%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The soon-to-be friendly owner is an unlikely one.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been a thorn in the side of Tim Cantwell,\u201d\u00a0Kruells acknowledged.<\/p>\n The La Vina development, named for the\u00a0<\/span>tuberculosis sanatorium\u00a0<\/span>that once stood nearby, caused division in Altadena even before county supervisors approved it in 1989. Many believed grand homes behind gates were a mismatch for modest Altadena. Trail access remained a perennial conflict \u2014 Kruells was one of several parties to bring a lawsuit against the homeowners association in an\u00a0<\/span>eventually successful attempt\u00a0<\/span>to ensure the project lived up to promises of keeping some land for public conservation.<\/p>\n But that represents just some of the trouble La Vina has caused Altadenans over the years. Construction was delayed when one of the builders, Compass Homes, went bankrupt. Residents accused subcontractors of taking appliances and furnishings from the unfinished houses, and Compass was later the subject of a District Attorney\u2019s investigation for allegedly misusing deposits from would-be homeowners.<\/p>\n And a 2002 L.A. County audit found trail access was just one of dozens of conditions the project had failed to meet. Officials admitted they should have kept a closer eye on the project.<\/p>\n Through the strife, Kruells, Zack and Cantwell now find themselves reaching for a common goal. Kruells and Zack praised Cantwell\u2019s passion for the grave site preservation effort and say they now consider Cantwell a friend.<\/p>\n Cantwell did not return several interview requests. The women said he\u2019s traveling out of the state for business.<\/p>\n Several years ago, Cantwell approached county officials with a proposal to finish the final segment of La Vina. He wanted to modify original plans that contemplated housing a private school behind the gates \u2014 which was unsuccessful \u2014 and instead build a slate of additional houses and an athletic center.<\/p>\n Kruells and Zack caught wind and suggested Cantwell be forced to meet an alternative condition because the community would no longer be benefiting from a new school, Zack said.<\/p>\n A subcommittee of the Altadena Town Council convened to find a compromise, working more than 1 1\/2 years before coming to a consensus\u00a0<\/span>approved by the supervisors\u00a0<\/span>in November.\u00a0Kruells was appointed to represent the interests of open space preservationists and Zack to represent the interests of Altadena Heritage. Other seats were filled by Town Council members.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the developer and the community have been very creative and unique in coming up with a community benefit of the purchase of the Owen Brown property, which has been neglected for years and years,\u201d David Volk, a member of the La Vina Homeowners Association, said at the November meeting. \u201cWe support the entire process the way it has come and the way we hope it will be finished.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||12px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]\u201cLa Vina divided the community,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cWe say this compromise is a resolution to our own small \u2018C\u2019 civil war.\u201d<\/h3>\n
Brown\u2019s legacy<\/h2>\n
Compromise<\/h2>\n
Owen Brown Gravesite Map<\/h3>\n