Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister, journalist,
newspaper editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
, and
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
. Following his murder by a mob, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause opposing
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...
.
He was also hailed as a defender of
free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
and
freedom of the press.
Lovejoy was born in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
and graduated from what is today
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...
. Unsatisfied with a teaching career, he was drawn to journalism and decided to 'go west'. In 1827, he reached
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri. Due to the
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
of 1820,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
had entered the United States as a
slave state
In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
. Lovejoy edited a newspaper but returned east for a time to study for the ministry at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. On his return to St. Louis, he founded the ''St. Louis Observer'', in which he became increasingly more critical of slavery and the powerful interests protecting slavery. Facing threats and violent attacks, Lovejoy decided to move across the river to
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, a
free state. But Alton was also tied to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
economy, easily reachable by anti-Lovejoy Missourians, and was badly split over pro-abolitionist and anti-abolitionist views.
In Alton, Lovejoy was fatally shot during an attack by a pro-slavery mob. The mob was seeking to destroy a warehouse owned by
Winthrop Sargent Gilman
Winthrop Sargent Gilman (28 March 1808 – 1 October 1884) was head of the banking house of Gilman, Son & Co. in New York City. Born and raised in Ohio, he had parents and ancestors from New England. Part of the family had already established the ...
and
Benjamin Godfrey
Benjamin Godfrey (December 4, 1794 – August 13, 1862) was an American merchant and philanthropist from Massachusetts who is known for his work in the Illinois region. Running away to Ireland at a young age, Godfrey worked on ships in his early ...
, which held Lovejoy's
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
and abolitionist materials. According to
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
, the murder "
ave
''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
a shock as of an earthquake throughout this country." The ''
Boston Recorder
The ''Boston Recorder'' was a Congregationalist newspaper established by Nathaniel Willis ( Nathaniel Parker Willis's father) and Sidney E. Morse in 1816 in Boston, Massachusetts. It published weekly newspapers from 1817 to 1824. The paper prim ...
'' wrote that "these events called forth from every part of the land 'a burst of indignation which has not had its parallel in this country since the
Battle of Lexington
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...
.'" When informed about the murder,
John Brown said publicly: "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery." Lovejoy is often seen as a martyr to the abolitionist cause and to a free press. The
Lovejoy Monument was erected in Alton in 1897.
Early life and education
Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born at his paternal grandparents' frontier farmhouse near
Albion, Maine (at that time, part of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
), the eldest of nine children of Elizabeth (Pattee) Lovejoy and Daniel Lovejoy. Lovejoy's father was a
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
preacher and farmer, and his mother was a homemaker and a devout Christian. Daniel Lovejoy named his son in honor of his close friend and mentor,
Elijah Parish, a minister who was also involved in politics. Due to his own lack of education, the father encouraged his sons – Elijah, Daniel, Joseph Cammett,
Owen
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
, and John – to become educated. Elijah was taught to read the Bible and other religious texts by his mother at an early age.
After completing early studies in public schools, Lovejoy attended the private
Academy at Monmouth and
China Academy. When sufficiently proficient in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
mathematics, he enrolled at
Waterville College (now Colby College) as a sophomore in 1823. Lovejoy received financial support from minister
Benjamin Tappan
Benjamin Tappan (May 25, 1773 – April 20, 1857) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio and a United States senator from Ohio.
Education and career
Born on May 25, 1773, in Northampton, ...
to continue his studies there. Based on faculty recommendations, from 1824 until his graduation in 1826, he also served as headmaster of Colby's associated high school, the Latin School (later known as the
Coburn Classical Institute
The Coburn Classical Institute was a college preparatory school in Waterville, Maine, which operated from 1828–1970.
Waterville Academy
In its early years, Waterville College (now Colby College) had maintained a Latin school in the college bui ...
). In September 1826, Lovejoy graduated ''cum laude'' from Waterville, and was class
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
.
Journey westward
During the winter and spring, he taught at China Academy in Maine. Dissatisfied with teaching, Lovejoy considered moving to the
American South or westward to the
Northwest Territory. His former teachers at Waterville College advised him that he would best serve God in the West (now considered the
American Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
).
In May 1827, he went to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to earn money for his journey, having settled on the free state of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
as his destination. Unsuccessful at finding work, he started for Illinois by foot. He stopped in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in mid-June to try to find work. He eventually landed a position with the ''Saturday Evening Gazette'' as a newspaper subscription peddler. For nearly five weeks, he worked to sell subscriptions.
Struggling with his finances, he wrote to
Jeremiah Chaplin
Jeremiah Chaplin (January 2, 1776 – May 7, 1841) was a Reformed Baptist theologian who served as the first president of Colby College (then called the Waterville College) in Maine.
Chaplin was born in Rowley, Massachusetts (now Georgetown ...
, president of Waterville College, explaining his situation. Chaplin sent the money that his former student needed. Before embarking on his journey westward, Lovejoy wrote a poem which later seemed to prophesy his death:
Career in Missouri
In 1827, Lovejoy arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, a major port in a
slave state
In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
that shared its longest border with the free state of Illinois.
Although it had a large
slave market
A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets became a key phenomenon in the history of slavery.
Slave markets in the Ottoman Empire
In the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century, slaves were traded in special ...
, St. Louis identified itself less with the plantation South and more as the "gateway to the West" and the American "frontier."
Lovejoy initially ran a private school in St. Louis with a friend, which they modeled after academies in the East.
Lovejoy's interest in teaching waned, however, when local editors began publishing his poems in their newspapers.
''St. Louis Times''
In 1829, Lovejoy became a co-editor with T. J. Miller of the ''
St. Louis Times'', which promoted the candidacy of
Henry Clay for president of the United States.
Working at the ''Times'' introduced him to like-minded community leaders, many of whom were members of the
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
. They supported sending freed American blacks to Africa, considering it a kind of "repatriation."
Opponents of the ACS including
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
noted most African Americans had been native-born for generations and considered their future to be in the U.S. Among Lovejoy's new acquaintances were prominent St. Louis attorneys and slaveholders such as
Edward Bates
Edward Bates (September 4, 1793 – March 25, 1869) was a lawyer and politician. He represented Missouri in the US House of Representatives and served as the U.S. Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. A member of the influential ...
(later U.S. Attorney General under President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
);
Hamilton R. Gamble
Hamilton Rowan Gamble (November 29, 1798 – January 31, 1864) was an American jurist and politician who served as the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court at the time of the Dred Scott Decision, Dred Scott case in 1852. Although his coll ...
, later Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court; and his brother Archibald Gamble.
Lovejoy occasionally hired slaves who were leased out by owners, to work with him at the paper.
Among them was
William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown (c. 1814 – November 6, 1884) was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian in the United States. Born into slavery in Montgomery County, Kentucky, near the town of Mount Sterling, Brown escap ...
, who later recounted his experience in a memoir. Brown described Lovejoy as "a very good man, and decidedly the best master that I had ever had. I am chiefly indebted to him, and to my employment in the printing office, for what little learning I obtained while in slavery."
Theological training
Lovejoy struggled with his interest in religion, often writing to his parents about his sinfulness and rebellion against God. He attended revival meetings in 1831 led by William S. Potts, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, that rekindled his interest in religion for a time. However, Lovejoy admitted to his parents that "gradually these feelings all left me, and I returned to the world a more hardened sinner than ever."
A year later, Lovejoy found the call to God he had been yearning for. In 1832, influenced by
Christian revivalist meetings led by
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
David Nelson, he joined the First Presbyterian Church and decided to become a preacher.
He sold his interest in the ''Times,'' and returned East to study at
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
.
While he was at Princeton, Lovejoy debated the question of slavery with an abolitionist named Bradford.
Although Lovejoy had opposed abolitionism during the debate, after returning to St. Louis he would write to Bradford repeatedly asking him to write articles for his newspaper.
After graduation, he went to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, where he became an ordained minister of the
Presbyterian Church on April 18, 1833.
''St. Louis Observer''
In 1833, a group of Protestants in St. Louis offered to finance a religious newspaper if Lovejoy would agree to return and edit it. Lovejoy accepted and on November 22, 1833, he published the first issue of the ''
St. Louis Observer
The ''St. Louis Observer'' was an abolitionist newspaper established by Elijah Lovejoy, a New England Congregationalist minister, in St. Louis, Missouri. After the newspaper's printing press was destroyed for a third time by a pro-slavery mob, ...
''.
His editorials criticized both the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
.
By 1830, sixty percent of the population of St. Louis was Catholic, and the proprietors of the ''Observer'' tasked Lovejoy with countering the increasing influence of Catholicism.
From the fall of 1833 to the summer 1836, Lovejoy regularly published articles criticizing the Catholic Church and church doctrine.
Some were written by Lovejoy, while others were contributed by other authors.
Initially, he criticized Catholic beliefs such as
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
,
clerical celibacy, and the influence of Catholicism on foreign governments.
He also argued that "
Popery
The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...
" undermined the fundamental principles of American democracy.
Local Catholics and clergy were offended by these attacks and regularly responded in articles of their own in ''The Shepherd of the Times'', a Catholic newspaper funded by Bishop
Joseph Rosati
Joseph Rosati (30 January 1789 – 25 September 1843) was an Italian-born Catholic missionary to the United States who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Saint Louis between 1826 and 1843. A member of the Congregation of the Mission, ...
.
In 1834, the ''St. Louis Observer'' began to increase its coverage of slavery, the most controversial issue of the day.
At first, Lovejoy resisted calling himself an abolitionist, because he disliked the negative connotations associating abolitionism with social unrest.
Even as he expressed antislavery views, he claimed to be an "emancipationist" rather than an "abolitionist."
In the spring of 1835, the ''
Missouri Republican
The ''Missouri Republican'' was a newspaper founded in 1808 and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its predecessor was the ''Morning Gazette''. It later changed its name to ''St. Louis Republic''.
After supporting the Whig Party, the paper bec ...
'' advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves in Missouri, and Lovejoy voiced his support through the ''Observer''.
Lovejoy urged antislavery groups in Missouri to push for the issue to be addressed during a proposed state constitutional convention.
To their dismay, the editors of both newspapers soon found that their "moderate" proposal to end slavery gradually could not be discussed without igniting a polarizing political debate.
Over time, Lovejoy became bolder and more outspoken about his antislavery views, advocating the outright emancipation of all slaves on religious and moral grounds.
Lovejoy condemned slavery and "implored all Christians who owned slaves to recognize that slaves were human beings who possessed a soul,"
and famously wrote:
Slavery, as it exists among us . . . is demonstrably an evil. In every community where it exists, it presses like a nightmare on the body politic. Or, like the vampire, it slowly and imperceptibly sucks away the life-blood of society, leaving it faint and disheartened to stagger along the road of improvement.
Threats of violence
Lovejoy's views on slavery began to incite complaints and threats.
Pro-slavery proponents condemned anti-slavery coverage which appeared in newspapers, stating that it was against "the vital interests of the slaveholding states." Lovejoy was threatened to be
tarred and feathered
Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a t ...
if he continued to publish anti-slavery content.
By October 1835, there were rumors of mob action against ''The Observer.'' A group of prominent St. Louisans, including many of Lovejoy's friends, wrote a letter pleading with him to cease discussion of slavery in the newspaper. Lovejoy was away from the city at this time, and the publishers declared that no further articles on slavery would be published during his absence. They said that when he returned, he would follow a more rigorous editorial policy. Lovejoy responded by expressing disagreement with the publishers' policy. As tensions over slavery escalated in St. Louis, Lovejoy would not back down from his convictions; he sensed that he would become a martyr for the cause. He was asked to resign as editor of ''The Observer'', to which he agreed. After the newspaper's owners released ''The Observer'' property to the moneylender who held the mortgage, the new owners asked Lovejoy to stay on as editor.
Lynching of Francis McIntosh
Lovejoy and ''The Observer'' continued to be embroiled in controversy. In April 1836,
Francis McIntosh, a
free man of color and boatman, was arrested by two policemen. En route to the jail, McIntosh grabbed a knife and stabbed both men. One was killed and the other seriously injured. McIntosh attempted to escape, but was caught by a white mob, who tied him up and burned him to death. Some of the mob were brought before a grand jury to face charges. The presiding judge, Judge
Luke Lawless, refused to convict anyone; he said the crime was a spontaneous mob action without any specific people to prosecute. The judge made remarks suggesting that abolitionists, including Lovejoy and ''The Observer,'' had incited McIntosh into stabbing the policemen.
Marriage and family
Lovejoy also served as an evangelist preacher. He traveled a circuit across the state, during which he met Celia Ann French of
St. Charles, located on the Missouri River west of St. Louis,
now a suburb of the city. She was the daughter of Thomas French, a lawyer who came to St. Charles in the 1820s.
The couple were married on March 4, 1835.
Their son Edward P. Lovejoy was born in 1836.
Their second child was born after Elijah's death and died as an infant.
In a letter to his mother, Elijah had written about Celia:
My dear wife is a perfect heroine... never has she by a single word attempted to turn me from the scene of warfare and danger – never has she whispered a feeling of discontent at the hardships to which she has been subjected in consequence of her marriage to me, and those have been neither few nor small.
Move to Illinois
In the summer of 1836, Lovejoy attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
and met several followers of abolitionist
Theodore Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...
.
At the assembly, Lovejoy was frustrated by the church's hesitation to fully support petitions for abolition and drafted a protest submitted to church leadership.
By this time, he had fully embraced the label of "abolitionist."
In the face of all the negative publicity and two break-ins in May 1836, Lovejoy decided to move ''The Observer'' across the Mississippi River to
Alton, Illinois
Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...
.
At the time, Alton was large and prosperous, many times larger than the frontier city of Chicago.
Although Illinois was a free state, Alton was also a center for
slave catcher
In the United States a slave catcher was a person employed to track down and return escaped slaves to their enslavers. The first slave catchers in the Americas were active in European colonies in the West Indies during the sixteenth century. I ...
s and pro-slavery forces active in the southern area. Many refugee slaves crossed the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
from
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. Among Alton's residents were pro-slavery Southerners who thought Alton should not become a haven for escaped slaves.
John Glanville Gill
John Glanville Gill was an American Unitarian minister, scholar in history, and civil rights activist. While working on research for his dissertation about Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an editor and abolitionist, he lived and worked in Alton, Illinois i ...
, ''Tide Without Turning: Elijah P. Lovejoy and Freedom of the Press'' (1958).
On July 21, 1836, Lovejoy published a scathing editorial criticizing the way that Judge Luke Lawless had handled the murder trial of Francis McIntosh.
Arguing that the judge's actions appeared to condone the murder, he wrote that Lawless was "a Papist; and in his charge we see the cloven foot of Jesuitism."
He also announced that his next issue would be printed in
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
* Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
*Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
.
Before he could move the press, an
angry mob
Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majorit ...
broke into ''The Observer'' office and vandalized it. Only Alderman and future mayor
Bryan Mullanphy attempted to stop the crime, and no policemen or city officials intervened. Lovejoy packed what remained of the office for shipment to Alton. The printing press sat on the riverbank, unguarded, overnight; vandals destroyed it and threw the remains into the Mississippi River.
''Alton Observer''
Lovejoy served as pastor at Upper Alton Presbyterian Church (now College Avenue Presbyterian Church). In 1837, he started the ''
Alton Observer
The ''Alton Observer'' (1837) was an abolitionist newspaper established in Alton, Illinois, by the journalist and newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy after he was forced to flee St. Louis, Missouri. Lovejoy left St. Louis, where he edited the ''St. ...
'', also an abolitionist, Presbyterian paper.
Lovejoy's views on slavery became more extreme, and he called for a convention to discuss forming an Illinois state chapter of the
American Anti-Slavery Society, established in Philadelphia in 1833.
Many residents of Alton began to question whether they should continue to allow Lovejoy to print in their town. After an
economic crisis in March 1837, Alton citizens wondered if Lovejoy's views were contributing to hard times. They felt Southern states, or even the city of St. Louis, might not want to do business with their town if they continued to harbor such an outspoken abolitionist.
Lovejoy held the Illinois Antislavery Congress at the Presbyterian church in Upper Alton on October 26, 1837. Supporters were surprised to see two pro-slavery advocates in the crowd,
John Hogan and Illinois Attorney General
Usher F. Linder. The Lovejoy supporters were not happy to have his enemies at the convention, but relented as the meeting was open to all parties.
On November 2, 1837, Lovejoy responded to threats in a speech, saying:
Mob attack and death
![Lovejoyat1837AltonIllinoisRiot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Lovejoyat1837AltonIllinoisRiot.JPG)
Lovejoy had acquired a fourth press and hid it in a warehouse owned by
Winthrop Sargent Gilman
Winthrop Sargent Gilman (28 March 1808 – 1 October 1884) was head of the banking house of Gilman, Son & Co. in New York City. Born and raised in Ohio, he had parents and ancestors from New England. Part of the family had already established the ...
and Gilford, major grocers in the area. A mob, said by ''Appleton's'' to be composed mostly of Missourians, attacked the building on the evening of November 6, 1837. Pro-slavery
partisans approached Gilman's warehouse, where Lovejoy had hidden his printing press.
The conflict continued. According to the ''Alton Observer'', the mob fired shots into the warehouse. When Lovejoy and his men returned fire, they hit several people in the crowd, killing a man named Bishop.
[ After the attacking party had apparently withdrawn, Lovejoy opened the door and was instantly struck by five bullets, dying in a few minutes.
]
Elijah Lovejoy was buried in Alton Cemetery; his grave was unmarked to prevent vandalism. The ceremony was kept small. In 1864, Thomas Dimmock "reclaimed from oblivion" Lovejoy's grave. Dimmock had "succeeded in establishing the location of the grave... in a roadway where vehicles were passing over it... Mr. Dimmock had the bones disinterred and... laid in a new grave where they would be free from trespass." He also arranged for a gravestone and helped found a committee to create a monument to the editor. Dimmock was principal orator at the dedication of a later monument erected in 1897 to commemorate Lovejoy.
The ''Chicago Tribune'' said of the grave marking and association to fund a monument:
Alton riot trial
Francis B. Murdoch, the district attorney of Alton, prosecuted charges of riot related to both assailants and defenders of the warehouse in January 1838, on Wednesday and Friday of the same week. He called the Illinois Attorney General, Usher F. Linder, to assist him.
Murdoch (with Linder) first prosecuted Gilman, owner of the warehouse, and eleven other defenders of the new press and building. They were indicted on two charges related to the riot at a trial opening January 16, 1838, for "unlawful defence", so defined and charged because it was "violently and tumultuously done." Gilman moved to be tried separately; his counsel said he needed to be able to show his lack of criminal intent. The court agreed on the condition that the other eleven defendants would be tried together. Although the proceedings lasted until 10 p.m. that night, in the case of Gilman, the jury returned after ten minutes to declare him "Not Guilty." The next morning the "City Attorney entered a 'Nulle Prosequi' as to the other eleven defendants", effectively dismissing the charges against them.
A new jury was called to hear the case against the assailants of the warehouse. The attackers allegedly responsible for destruction of the warehouse and Lovejoy's death were tried beginning January 19, 1838. Concluding it was not possible to assign responsibility among the several suspects and others not indicted, the jury gave a verdict of "not guilty". The jury foreman had been identified as a member of the mob and was wounded in the attack. The presiding judge doubled as a witness to the proceedings. These conflicts of interest are believed to have contributed to the "not guilty" verdict.
Legacy and honors
*Lovejoy was considered a martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
by the abolition movement. In his name, his brother Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. After his brother Elijah Lo ...
became the leader of the Illinois abolitionists. Owen and his brother Joseph wrote a memoir about Elijah, which was published in 1838 by the Anti-Slavery Society in New York and distributed widely among abolitionists in the nation. With his killing symbolic of the rising tensions within the country, Lovejoy is called the "first casualty of the Civil War."
*Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
referred to Lovejoy's murder in his Lyceum address in January 1838.
* John Brown was inspired by Lovejoy's death, declaring in church, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery."
*John Glanville Gill
John Glanville Gill was an American Unitarian minister, scholar in history, and civil rights activist. While working on research for his dissertation about Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an editor and abolitionist, he lived and worked in Alton, Illinois i ...
completed his Ph.D. at Harvard in 1946 on ''The Issues Involved in the Death of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, Alton, 1837''. This thesis was adapted and published in 1958 as the first biography of Lovejoy, entitled ''Tide Without Turning: Elijah P. Lovejoy and Freedom of the Press''.
* Awards and scholarships
**The Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award was established by Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...
in his honor. It is awarded annually to a member of the press who "has contributed to the nation's journalistic achievement." A major classroom building at Colby is also named for Lovejoy. An inscribed memorial rock from his birthplace was installed in a grassy square at Colby.
**In 2003, Reed College
Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...
established the Elijah Parish and Owen Lovejoy Scholarship, which it awards annually.
* Memorials and plaques
**In 1897, the 110-foot tall Elijah P. Lovejoy Monument was erected at Alton's City Cemetery; $25,000 had been appropriated by the state legislature, and $5,000 raised by residents of Alton and other supporters.
**A plaque honoring Elijah Parish Lovejoy was installed on an external wall at the Mackay Campus Center at his alma mater, Princeton Theological Seminary.
**He is the first person listed in the "Journalists Memorial" located at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC.
**Elijah Lovejoy is recognized by a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors notable people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to the culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years ther ...
.
*Numerous places and institutions were named after him:
**The majority African-American village of Brooklyn, Illinois
Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three miles northeast of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, it is the oldest town incorporate ...
, located just north of East St. Louis
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
, is popularly known as 'Lovejoy' in his honor.
** The Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, Presbyterian Church (USA), formed on January 3, 1985, from the merger of Elijah Parish Lovejoy Presbytery and the Presbytery of Southeast Missouri.[
**Lovejoy Health Center in Albion, Maine, his birthplace.
**The Lovejoy School in Washington, DC was named in his honor in 1870. It closed in 1988. It was adapted and converted to the Lovejoy Lofts condominiums in 2004.
**Lovejoy Elementary School in Alton, Illinois.
**LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church, ]Wood River, Illinois
Wood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois. The population was 10,657 according to the 2010 census.
Geography
Wood River is located at (38.863047, -90.088527).
According to the 2010 census, Wood River has a total area of , of which (or 9 ...
** Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...
See also
* Censorship in the United States
Censorship in the United States involves the suppression of speech or public communication and raises issues of freedom of speech, which is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Interpretation of this fundament ...
* List of journalists killed in the United States
Numerous journalists have been murdered or killed in the United States while reporting, covering a military conflict, or because of their status as a journalist. At least 39 of these have been directly targeted as a result of their journalistic i ...
* List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
* Rev. John R. Anderson who worked for Lovejoy and witnessed his murder
Notes
References
Citations
Works cited
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* (first published in Chicago, 1881; reprint edition 1971)
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Further reading (most recent first)
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* (Biography for middle-grade readers.)
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External links
Biography from the Alton, Illinois web
, Reprint, ''Alton Observer'', November 7, 1837
St. Louis Walk of Fame
See also papers of nephew Austin Wiswall, officer with 9th United States Colored Troops, captured and held in prison at Andersonville, Georgia
Andersonville is a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 237. It is located in the southwest part of the state, approximately southwest of Macon on the Central of Georgia railroad. ...
.
Anne Silverwood Twitty, ''Slavery and Freedom in the American Confluence, from the Northwest Ordinance to Dred Scott''
Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 2010, via ProQuest subscription (Preview online)
"Old Des Peres Presbyterian Church" (1834)
Frontenac, MO, where Lovejoy preached in its early years
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovejoy, Elijah P.
1802 births
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