Secret Six

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This article is about the historical Secret Six. For information on the comicbook fictional groups with the same name, see Secret Six (comics).

For information about Chicago businessmen who took up the cause against Al Capone, see Secret Six: Taking Down Al Capone

The Secret Six, or the Committee of Six, were six wealthy and learned men who secretly funded the American abolitionist John Brown. They were Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Howe, Theodore Parker, Gerrit Smith, Franklin Sanborn and George Luther Stearns.

Brown was planning to capture weapons from a federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), and lead a slave rebellion in the South. However, it is unclear whether these men knew of Brown's ultimate plan.

In 1859, Brown's plan failed. During and after his trial, the New York Times and the New York Herald began to link their names with Brown's. On November 7, Smith had himself confined to an insane asylum. Sanborn, Howe and Stearns fled to Canada. Parker remained in Europe. Higginson was the sole member to remain in America. He arranged to have Brown rescued from his jail cell, but Brown wanted no part of it.