The site is operated by the Kansas Historical Society, and includes the log cabin of Reverend Samuel Adair and his wife, Florella, who was the half-sister of the abolitionist John Brown.

Brown lived in the cabin during the twenty months he spent in Kansas and conducted many of his abolitionist activities from there.

When Kansas Territory was established in 1854, newspapers in the North encouraged settlement in the area to ensure that the new state would be free.

Both Samuel and Florella were graduates of Oberlin, a progressive coeducational and biracial college in Ohio.

He provided the walnut lumber and native stone construction materials used for the church building, which was dedicated July 14, 1861.

The log cabin required a dramatic change in lifestyle for the college-educated woman, who had to learn how to do without things to which she was accustomed.

During the American Civil War, Samuel was sent to Fort Leavenworth to serve as a military chaplain.

He helped establish the first mental institution in Kansas, which became Osawatomie State Hospital.

John Brown's son, Frederick, died nearby, the first victim of the Battle of Osawatomie.