In 1901, MEP stated to journalist Sam P Davis that she had been “a friend to John Brown.” And that is how she wished to be remembered. She told a story of traveling to Chatham, Ontario, Canada to meet him and turn over a large sum of money for his cause.
In 1951-52, Helen Holderidge author of Mammy Pleasant ((c) 1953) corresponded with John Brown scholar Boyd Stutler about the meeting Mary said happened with John Brown in May 1858. For a time both doubted the claim but Holderidge’s digging into steam ship schedules caused her thoughts to change. Stutler thought there was enough in MEP’s story to consider it as well but in the end determined it was a more “apocryphal” story than factual. Neither Holderidge nor Stutler were able to access passenger records to further vet the story. Mary said she did not travel under her own name which presents challenges. However, she recalled traveling on the SS Moses Taylor leaving in early April 1858. The schedule and passenger lists are now available to review on various genealogical sites. The Moses Taylor was the second not first ship Mary and John J boarded. Mary said they left San Francisco on April 4; research identifies the SS John L Stevens leaving that day. It arrived in Panama on April 14. By 1858, a postage and passenger railroad crossed the Panama isthmus in 5 hours rather than by mule train which prior to 1855 took 3 weeks. The SS Moses Taylor left Aspinwall (Colon) Panama on April 19 and it arrived in New York City on April 27. On the SS Moses Taylor was a Mary Brown aged 39 and a Mary Smith, aged 25. One of these could have been MEP; she continued to use Mrs. Mary Smith long after her second marriage, and a few commenters, meeting her a decade later, observed that she looked half her age.
Mary and John J, after conducting some financial business in New York City, had nearly a week to travel to Chatham, Ontario which was reachable by rail; the trip took 24 to 36 hours. We can not be 100% certain because of the use of pseudonyms, but again the story is possible as she told it in 1901.
It is also confirmed with records from San Francisco and Canada that Mary and John J in September 1858 purchased four parcels of land in Chatham. They held onto these properties until the 1870s.