[13], In spring 1834, Lovejoy penned a number of articles and editorials criticizing the Catholic Church. Lovejoy and his supporter Royal Weller went outside, surprised the pro-slavery partisans, pushed over the ladder and retreated back inside the warehouse. [17], On November 7, 1837, pro-slavery partisans approached Gilman's warehouse, where Lovejoy had hidden his printing press. [15], In 1837 he started the Alton Observer, also an abolitionist paper. Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), an influential abolitionist, lived in this house, a National Historic Landmark, which was used as a depot on the Underground Railroad. He served as pastor at Upper Alton Presbyterian Church (now College Avenue Presbyterian Church). In September 1826, Lovejoy graduated cum laude from Waterville College,[6] of which he was valedictorian. There are no choices 4,738 results, page 9 Margaret ____1__ young people may be able to list the many accomplishments of the Reverend Dr. Marting Luther, King jr. Before he could move the press, an angry mob broke into the Observer office and vandalized it. He was an. By October 1835, there were rumors of mob action against the Observer. He was shot and killed by a pro-slavery mob in Alto Finally, on the night of November 7, 1837, a mob attacked the building, and Lovejoy was killed in its defense. an abolitionist martyr. In April 1836, a mulatto boatman, Francis McIntosh, was arrested by two policemen and, en route to the jail, McIntosh grabbed a knife and stabbed both men. Reverend Elijah Lovejoy lived in Alton, Illinois. ... we've compiled a series of multiple-choice questions about Elijah P. Lovejoy the abolitionist that will test your understanding of this historical figure. This page was last edited on 17 January 2021, at 22:09. St. Louis Observer, St. Louis, Missouri, Elijah P. Lovejoy, publisher, founder, 1833, became the Alton Observer, Alton, Illinois . In St. Louis, Lovejoy quickly became ill, but once recovered, he operated a school with a friend, modeled on high schools in the East. In 1835, the Missouri Republican began suggesting gradual emancipation in Missouri, and Lovejoy supported this endeavor through the Observer. However, the newspaper's owners released the Observer property to the moneylender who held the mortgage and the new owners asked Lovejoy to stay on as editor. "[13] A year later, Lovejoy found the call to God he desired. On the fourth, on November 7, 1837, the mob murdered Lovejoy. Only Alderman and future mayor Bryan Mullanphy attempted to stop the crime, and no policemen or city officials intervened. Returning to St. Louis, he set up a church and resumed work as editor of the Observer. With his murder symbolic of the rising tensions within the country, Lovejoy is called the "first casualty of the Civil War."[15]. Originally from Maine, Lovejoy moved to Alton, Illinois in southern Illinois where he published the Alton Observer, an anti-slavery newspaper, and helped found the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. These conflicts of interest resulted in a "not guilty" verdict. For nearly five weeks, he walked up and down streets, knocking on peoples' doors and wheedling passersby, in hopes of getting them to subscribe to the newspaper. The judge made remarks insinuating that abolitionists, including Lovejoy and the Observer, had incited McIntosh into stabbing the policemen. He was shot and killed by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on the warehouse of Benjamin Godfrey and W. S. Gillman, where Lovejoy's press and abolitionist materials were stored. As tensions over slavery escalated in St. Louis, Lovejoy would not back down from his convictions and he had a sense that he would become a martyr for the cause. Lovejoy's father was a Congregational preacher and farmer and his mother, a devout Christian. Memorialized as the first name listed in the "Journalists Memorial" located at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC. As a result, Elijah was taught to read the Bible and other religious texts at an early age.[4]. Working at the Times introduced him to like-minded community leaders, many of whom were members of the American Colonization Society, that supported sending freed American blacks to Africa. Richard Lovejoy, writer and descendant of Elijah P. Lovejoy. The leaders of the mob set up a ladder against the warehouse. His editorials criticized slavery and other church denominations. There is a Lovejoy Health Center named for him in Albion, ME, the place of his birth. [9] Unsuccessful at finding work, he started to Illinois by foot. Reverent Lovejoy (aka Elijah Parish Lovejoy)- He was a famous abolitionist and Presbyterian minister during the early 19th century. Lovejoy struggled with his interest in religion, often writing his parents about his sinfulness and rebellion against God. [2] Lovejoy's father was a Congregational preacher and farmer, and his mother was a homemaker and a devout Christian. [1]:97–98 "The Boston Recorder declared 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. Chaplin sent the money that his former student so needed. His abolitionist stance was published in the newspaper the St. Louis Observer. It closed in 1988 and became the Lovejoy Lofts condominiums in 2004. Elijah P. Lovejoy (1838). After an economic crisis in March 1837, Alton citizens wondered if Lovejoy's views were contributing to hard times. However, the presiding judge, Judge Lawless, refused to convict anyone and considered the crime a spontaneous mob action without any specific people to prosecute. “Is the individual swallowed up in the citizen?” he asked. Reverend Lovejoy ( Simpsons) (Presbyterian)Reverend Elijah Lovejoy. In 1832, influenced by the Christian revivalist movement led by abolitionist David Nelson, he joined the First Presbyterian Church and decided to become a preacher. Another sixty years passed before John Glanville Gill published the first full-length biography of the slain abolitionist minister and editor. Missouri was a slave state, and in 1835 a letter signed by a number of important men in St. Louis requested him to moderate the tone of his editorials. Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. Lovejoy accepted and on November 22, 1833, the first issue of the St. Louis Observer was published. They sent a boy up with a torch to set fire to the wooden roof. The noted abolitionist Reverend Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802-37) is believed to have owned this press. The issues involved in the death of the Rev. There is a Lovejoy Elementary School in Alton, IL. [20][page needed]. The Slave’s Friend (children magazine), founded by abolitionist Lewis Tappan College Avenue Presbyterian Church (formerly Upper Alton Presbyterian), which was founded by Elijah Lovejoy, merged with United Presbyterian Church in Wood River, IL in 2016. while southern states took steps to protect the practice, a growing antislavery movement was brewing in the north. '"[1]:98 When informed at a meeting 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. Among these new acquaintances were Edward Bates, Hamilton R. Gamble, and Archibald Gamble. After spending the afternoon there, they headed to the Cambridge home of Reverend Joseph C. Lovejoy, brother of the martyred abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. Lovejoy occasionally hired slaves to work with him at the paper, one of whom, William Wells Brown, later recounted his experience in a memoir. [3] Due to his own lack of an education, he encouraged his sons—Elijah, Daniel, Joseph Cammett, Owen, and John—to become educated men. Lovejoy's views on slavery began to incite complaints and threats. Many escaped slaves crossed the Mississippi River from Missouri, a slave state. The Lovejoy supporters were not happy to have his enemies at the convention, but relented as the meeting was open to all parties. The supporters in attendance were surprised to see two pro-slavery advocates in the crowd, John Hogan and Illinois Attorney General Usher F. Linder. abolitionist outcries had been an impact on northern minds and were beginning to sway more and more toward their side. [13], Lovejoy was considered a martyr by the abolition movement. [18][19] According to the Alton Observer, the mob fired shots into the warehouse. Gill was himself a former Alton minister who, like Lovejoy, also suffered persecution for his commitment to human rights. [6] On the night of February 16, Hayden and Smith brought Minkins to the Bigelows' house in Concord to hide. Elijah Lovejoy was an abolitionist, antislavery activist and advocate, Presbyterian reverend, newspaper editor, and publisher who earned a reputation as an uncompromising opponent of slavery. From 1814 to 1860, more than three hundred freedom suits were filed by slaves to gain freedom, often based on their having lived in free territory with their masters. Some of his supporters were later buried near him. Lovejoy became a national symbol for the abolitionist movement and is remembered today not only in the history books but with a large monument in Alton that overlooks the city. In May 1836, after pro-slavery forces in St. Louis destroyed his printing press for the third time, Lovejoy left the city and moved across the river to Alton, in the free state of Illinois. Get an answer to your question “1.How did Elijah Lovejoy and William Lloyd Garrison contribute to the abolitionist movement? He is also honored in the name of the current Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, formed from the merger of Elijah Parish Lovejoy Presbytery and the Presbytery of Southeast Missouri on January 3, 1985. [13], Lovejoy and The Observer continued to be embroiled in controversy. According to John Quincy Adams, the murder "[gave] a shock as of an earthquake throughout this country". abolitionist reverend. His death deeply affected many Northerners and greatly strengthened the abolitionist (anti-slavery) cause. Reverend Lovejoy or Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a reverend who published anti-slavery articles in various newspapers. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The news of his death stirred the people of the North profoundly and led to a great strengthening of abolitionist sentiment. Five years later, he studied at the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and became an ordained Presbyterian preacher. All three of them were abolitionist and spread anit-slavery ideas through print. He began an abolitionist newspaper in Illinois. 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. On the fourth, on November 7, 1837, the mob murdered Lovejoy. Lovejoy did not think he could do well in Illinois's scantly settled land, so he headed for St. Louis, where he settled the same year.[11]. Elijah P. Lovejoy, in full Elijah Parish Lovejoy, (born November 9, 1802, Albion, Maine, U.S.—died November 7, 1837, Alton, Illinois), American newspaper editor and martyred abolitionist who died in defense of his right to print antislavery material in the period leading up to the American Civil War (1861–65). There was such fear at the time of Lovejoy's death that no service was held, and the town newspaper he had led did not even report his death, though many other newspapers around the country decried this murder. 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. His associate Edward Beecher, brother of Henry Alton had been settled by pro-slavery Southerners who thought Alton should not become a haven for escaped slaves. What happened by the 1850s? His views were influenced by Nelson, an abolitionist. What did Reverend Lovejoy become? Joseph P. and Owen Lovejoy, The Martyrdom of Lovejoy, An Account of the Life, Trials, and Perils of Rev. Lovejoy was away from the city at this time and the publishers declared that no further articles on slavery would appear during Lovejoy's absence and, when he returned, he would follow a more rigorous editorial policy. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Updates? Lovejoy packed what remained of the office for shipment to Alton. a mob in 1837. [10] Lovejoy promptly embarked on his journey to Illinois, reaching Hillsboro, Montgomery County, in the fall of 1827. Reverend Lovejoy or Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a reverend who published anti-slavery articles in various newspapers. Corrections? Reverend Lovejoy or Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a reverend who published anti-slavery articles in various newspapers. [5] His cousin Nathan A. Farwell later served as a U.S. Despite its new location, his press was destroyed by mobs several times in one year. Lovejoy was hit five times with slugs from a shotgun and died immediately; Weller was wounded. Omissions? was destroyed four times. He continued his critical writings to include editorials on tobacco and liquor as well. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, List of journalists killed in the United States, "Winthrop S. Gilman Dead: An Original Abolitionist and Successful Business Man and Banker", "Elijah Parish Lovejoy Was Killed By a Pro-slavery Mob", John Glanville Gill. The church is now named LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church, after its founder. ...” in History if there is no answer or all answers are wrong, use a search bar and try to find the answer among similar questions. Lovejoy was born at his grandfather's frontier farmhouse near Albion, Maine, as the first of the nine children of Elizabeth (Pattee) and Reverend Daniel Lovejoy. He worked as an editor of an anti-Jacksonian newspaper, the St. Louis Observer, and ran a school. With already negative attention on him, Lawless' opinion did nothing to help Lovejoy and in May, Lovejoy decided to move the Observer to Alton, Illinois.[13]. After completing his early studies in public schools, Lovejoy attended the Academy at Monmouth and China Academy. Senator from Maine. Elijah Parish Lovejoy Was Killed By a Pro-slavery Mob November 7, 1837 On November 7, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy was killed by a pro-slavery mob while defending the site of his anti-slavery newspaper, The Saint Louis Observer. His activity in support of abolition had been prominently on display in two local forums. Reverend William speaks from his heart giving powerful messages, motivating advice, and quoting Bible verses. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. After the Reverend Elijah Lovejoy, editor of an Abolitionist newspaper in St. Louis, moved it in 1836 to Alton, Illinois, the citizens of Alton destroyed in on three occasions. After becoming proficient enough in Latin and mathematics, he enrolled at Waterville College (now Colby College) in Waterville, Maine, as a sophomore in 1823. Elijah P. Lovejoy, in full Elijah Parish Lovejoy, (born November 9, 1802, Albion, Maine, U.S.—died November 7, 1837, Alton, Illinois), American newspaper editor and martyred abolitionist who died in defense of his right to print antislavery material in the period leading up to the American Civil War (1861–65). It is the story, for example, of abolitionist newspaperman Elijah P. Lovejoy, murdered by a pro-slavery mob in 1837, and the U.S. soldiers who twenty-four years later fought to … Rev. After the Reverend Elijah Lovejoy, editor of an Abolitionist newspaper in St. Louis, moved it in 1836 to Alton, Illinois, the citizens of Alton destroyed in on three occasions. The printing press sat on the riverbank, unguarded, overnight and was destroyed and thrown into the Mississippi River. The large Catholic community of St. Louis was offended by these attacks, but Lovejoy did not back down. 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. Frederick Douglass was a slave that then became a free man who could write. The Rights of All (formerly Freedom’s Journal), founded 1829, by Reverend Samuel E. Cornish . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). For the television presenter, see Tim Lovejoy. (person wanting to abolish slavery) and believed slavery was a sin against God. Although McIntosh attempted to escape, he was caught and a mob tied him up and burned him to death. Some of the mob were brought before a grand jury to face charges. That same year, Lovejoy began editorializing on slavery, the most controversial social issue of that time. Frederick Douglass was a leader of the abolitionist movement who had escaped from slavery and was a great orator and wrote very important antislavery writing. He also started an abolitionist paper called the Alton Observer. Observing the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, the Reverend Owen Lovejoy denied that the Constitution and the laws made under its authority must in all circumstances be obeyed. He ended by declaring that he would not be driven away, but would continue his work in Alton. [7] During the winter and spring, he taught at China Academy. Elijah Lovejoy’s younger brother, Owen Lovejoy, became an abolitionist leader in Illinois, friend of Abraham Lincoln, and Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1802-1837), a native of Albion, Maine, was murdered in Alton, Illinois by a pro-slavery mob on November 7, 1837 while defending his right to promote the abolition of slavery in the United States. The presiding judge also doubled as a witness to the proceedings. There is a plaque honoring Elijah Parish Lovejoy on the external wall at the Mackay Campus Center at his alma mater, Princeton Theological Seminary. [8] Agreeing, Lovejoy in May 1827 moved to Boston to earn money for his journey, having settled on Illinois as his destination. Elijah P. Lovejoy, Alton, 1837, Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, 1946, "Angry mobs, deadly duels, presses set on fire: A history of attacks on the press", http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/journalists-memorial/, Correspondence & manuscripts, 1804-1891, at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Frontenac, Missouri meetinghouse where Lovejoy once preached, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, List of lynching victims in the United States, William "Froggie" James and Henry Salzner, Thomas Moss, Henry Stewart, Calvin McDowell (TN), Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M. Holmes, Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, National Museum of African American History and Culture, "The United States of Lyncherdom" (Twain), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy&oldid=1001024503, Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders, American anti-abolitionist riots and civil disorder, Articles needing additional references from November 2017, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from March 2020, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.