Madison County ILGenWeb - Elijah P. Lovejoy

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The Murder of Elijah Lovejoy, Alton, Illinois in 1837

"He died a martyr on the altar of American liberty"

Offsite Links: Illinois State Historical Library Lovejoy Memorial

Elijah Lovejoy Warehouse in Alton, Madison County, Illinois Lovejoy Monument, Alton, IL

Who Was Elijah Lovejoy? The New Editor (Elisha Chester) Speaks Out A Friend's Description of Events The Alton Tragedy in Detail

Doctrine of Anti-Slavery Men What is Meant by Emancipation? Recounting of the Murder, Following Owen Lovejoy's Speech Monument Plans Shooter Arrested

Constitution of the United States of America - Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Who was Elijah Lovejoy?

Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist and newspaper editor who was murdered by a mob in Alton, Illinois for his abolitionist views. He had a deep religious upbringing, as his father was a Congregational minister and his mother a devout Christian. He attended Waterville College in his home state of Maine, and graduated at the top of his class, with first class honors. Afterwards, he traveled to Illinois, and after realizing that the area was largely unsettled, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1827. There, Lovejoy worked as an editor of an anti-Jacksonian newspaper and ran a school. Five years later, influenced by the Revivalist movement, he decided to become a preacher. He attended the Princeton Theological Seminary and became an ordained Presbyterian preacher. Once he returned to St. Louis, he set up a church and became the editor of a weekly religious newspaper, the St. Louis Observer. He wrote a number of editorials, critical of other religions and slavery. In May 1836, he was run out of town by his opponents after he chastised Judge Luke E. Lawless, who had chosen not to charge individuals linked to a mob lynching of a free black man.

Lovejoy moved to Alton, Illinois, where he became editor of the Alton Observer. On three occasions, his printing press was destroyed by pro-slavery factions who wanted to stop him from publishing his abolitionist views. On November 7, 1837, a pro slavery mob approached a warehouse belonging to merchant Winthrop Gilman that held Lovejoy's fourth printing press. Lovejoy and his supporters exchanged gunfire with the mob. The leaders of the mob decided to burn down Gilman's warehouse, so they got a ladder and set it alongside the building. They attempted to climb the ladder to set fire to the warehouse's wooden roof, but Lovejoy and one of his supporters stopped them. After the mob set up their ladder along the side of the building for a second time, Lovejoy went outside to intervene, but he was promptly shot five times with a shotgun, dying on the spot. Lovejoy was hailed as a martyr by abolitionists across the country, and he has since been immortalized through the naming of monuments or buildings in his honor. His brother, Owen, subsequently entered politics and became the leader of the Illinois abolitionists. Lovejoy also had a cousin, Nathan A. Farwell, who served as a U.S. Senator from Maine. (Source: Wikipedia.com)

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Alton Observer, Thursday, December 28, 1837/No. 148 Main St., Cincinnati/Elisha W. Chester, Editor and Publisher

Is furnished at $3.00 a year, payable in six months; $3.50 after six months; or $2.50 paid strictly in advance. No subscription received for less than one year, unless paid in advance. No subscription discontinued, unless all arrearages are paid up, except at the option of the publisher. The Alton Observer is published for the present as above. In the matter it is, from necessity, essentially the same at the Cincinnati Journal, being published at the same place and the Editor being the same. General Agent of the Observer, Rev. T. B. Hurlbut, Upper Alton, Illinois, to whom all communications should be addressed and payments made. E. W. Chester

After a long and painful silence, the cause of which out readers but too well know, the Alton Observer once more makes its appearance. The hand that threw a brilliant light over its pages no longer wields the editorial pen. The mind that teemed with thought, the heart that sowed with love, the soul that communed with God in the arduous work of conducting this paper, devoted to the cause of religion and benevolence; no more shall enliven us with the scintillations of genius. Cut off in the midst of his years and usefulness by the violent hands of those for whom he prayed and whom he would gladly have blessed. Elijah P. Lovejoy has gone, early, but ready, to his reward. We contemplate him now a purified spirit of light and love, dwelling in the glorious presence of Him in whose service he lived and died. He apprehends the violence there. "There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest."

The Alton Observer, then, has changed. It falls into other hands, and is to receive the impress of its character from other minds. How far this change, wrought by its enemies, may affect the opinions promulged [made known] by it, we leave to be discovered by the result. Our object now is simply to account for the fact that a paper belonging to Alton should be printed in Cincinnati.

And here we remark, that it is not because we recognize the right in any man or body of men, except the editor, to direct or control the movements of this paper, or any other. We plant our feet upon the Constitution of our country, and upon the indefeasible rights which pervade all earthly constitutions; and maintain that any power which abridges or interferes with the free expression of opinion on matters of public interest, whether that power is wielded by a despot or a multitude, is tyranny; and as citizens of what is called a free republic we protest, and shall continue to protest, against its exercise.

It it not, therefore, because we intent to yield to any expertise on the subject. We here reassert our claim, not to the privilege, but the right of uttering our sentiments on all subjects, freely, and in all places. That claim is now reasserted, and the charge is registered against Alton before the world, and before the Court of Heaven, to which we appeal, that sacred, precious rights have been wrested from us by violence and blood.

Until Alton shall "come to herself" and see the injustice done to her citizens, and the citizens of the state; or at least discover the fatal effects of this suicidal act upon her own interests; we must be content to procure the printing of the Observer from other places. The thousands who have subscribed for the paper must not be denied their rights on account of the folly and madness of one little community.

Perhaps it may be thought that we are unjust to the citizens of Alton, generally, in the charge which we bring against Alton as a community, for the outrage upon the office of this paper and its lamented editor. We mean not to do injustice to any; and whenever the city of Alton shall prove that she is not accountable for the crime, we shall take great satisfaction in recording and publishing the vindication. We need not remind the sagacious reader that this proof must be found in acts performed ____ [unreadable], not only to the mobs, but to the date of this article.

As a vindication of the course pursued hitherto by the editor of this paper, we give numerous extracts from various journals of the day, expressing the public sentiment of the nation. It is consoling, indeed, in the midst of our deep affliction, to have such abundant testimony from all parts and all parties in favor of the course which has been pursued in the efforts to re-establish the Observer in the place where a mob had destroyed the office. It is extensively seen and fully recognized that the gist of the struggle on our part was not abolitionism against anti-abolitionism, but the freedom of the press against mob tyranny. The question to be settled, was Whether an American citizen might be allowed to speak as a freeman. He asserted this right - and for this he died. Such is the verdict of the public through the land. The exceptions are few and of little weight. (The foregoing articles were furnished from Alton).

REV. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY

(The following notice of the late editor of the Observer has been kindly prepared by one of our friends.)

Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a native of Albion, in Maine, and was the son of Rev. Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister. He was born Nov. 9th, 1802, and would have been 35 years old the morning that he was buried. He graduated with honor at Waterville College, and soon after emigrated to Missouri, where for several years he taught school. He then became editor of the St. Louis Times, a political paper, advocating the election of Henry Clay to the Presidency, in which he showed talents of the first order. His mental powers were superior, especially in the study of languages, in the acquisition of which he had a remarkable facility, which, if he had devoted himself to the department of learning, would have made him one of the first linguists of the country. During the few first years of his residence at St. Louis, he was destitute of vital piety, though not a confirmed infidel.

During a revival of religion in that place in 1832, he was converted, and soon abandoning his profession, he studied divinity at Princeton, where he was licensed to preach. Being earnestly invited by some friends of religion in St. Louis, to edit the "St. Louis Observer," he consented, and arrived Nov. 11th, 1833, and soon commenced its publication. His course as an editor was marked with great boldness and a firm adherence to what he considered the course of duty. He soon became in developing the character of Romanism and so fearlessly disclosed its abomination as to excite the hatred of many of the Catholics in that city. Especially after the consecration of their Cathedral, in which the troops and the flag of the United States were engaged, his bold rebukes excited the bitter hostility of the Catholic populace. He was denounced as an Abolitionist, and his office was entered and his types destroyed. His powerful and patriotic appeal to the public produced a reaction in his favor. He was at this time a Colonizationist, and strongly opposed to the Abolition societies and presses, and rebuked them with great plainness. But when the murder of McIntosh, a colored man, who was burned to death by the mob took place, and the charge of Judge Lawless was published, the severity of his rebuke so exasperated the mob, that they attacked and destroyed his office. He then removed his paper to Alton. Previous, however, to his going there, he had a meeting with a number of citizens in which he explained his course to them. When questioned as to his course in reference to slavery, he said that in his opinion it was a subject that ought faithfully to be discussed in our religious and political Journals, and as an editor he should never relinquish his right to discuss that or any other subject as he might think it his duty to do so. "I do not know," said he, "that I shall feel it my duty to discuss it here as fully as at St. Louis. There, where its enormities were constantly before me, I felt bound to life up my voice against it. This I claim as my Constitutional right - a right which I shall never relinquish to any man or body of men. To discuss the subject of slavery is not the object of my paper, except as a great moral subject in connection with others. My object is to publish a religious journal, which shall be instructive and profitable to my fellow citizens. As to the subjects I shall discuss and the manner of doing them, I shall ever claim the right of determining for myself, always accepting counsel from others with thankfulness."

The night after the press was landed, it was destroyed, having been left on the bank of the river during the night. A public meeting of the citizens was then called to express their sentiments on this outrage, at which they took a noble stand that raised the reputation of Alton abroad as a law-abiding city. At this meeting, Mr. Lovejoy reiterated in substance the remarks just quoted. He said he did not come there for the purpose of publishing an abolition paper, but one strictly religious in which he claimed the right to discuss any subject, always holding himself responsible to the laws of his country. He did not ask the citizens of Alton to grant him the right to publish such a paper or any other. He claimed this as the right of an American citizen. It has been stated by some of the abettors of the mob that Lovejoy violated a pledge made to the citizens, by becoming avowedly the supported of abolition doctrines, but though he was not an Abolitionist when he commenced publishing at Alton, yet he never pledged himself not to discuss the subject of slavery, but avowed his right and intention to do it. The statement that he pledged himself not to do so is extremely improbable in itself considered as well as contrary to the recollection of many who heard him. Lovejoy was not a man to promise that he would not discuss any subject, and especially a subject whose evils he had so long seen, and for speaking of which he had been driven by violence from his former home. The paper was immediately published, the title being changed from St. Louis to Alton Observer. The progressing interest felt by Lovejoy in the subject of slavery, although he had not yet united himself as a member with any anti-slavery or abolition society, yet was so strongly expressed in his paper as to lead to its destruction by a mob on the 22d of Aug. 1837. Soon after this he openly avowed his adherence to the cause of Immediate Abolition, and issued a call for a convention for the organization of a state Anti-slavery society.

On the 26th of Oct. the Convention assembled at Upper Alton. A large number of persons not friendly to the object of the call came in, professing to adopt the sentiments of the call and enrolled themselves as members and succeeded in passing resolutions in opposition to the intentions of those who called the meeting. At this meeting, U. F. Linder, Esq. and Rev. John Hogan, a Methodist minister, took very prominent parts and succeeded in their underhanded and dishonorable designs. The next day however, the friends of the Abolition cause met at the house of Rev. T. B. Hurlbut and about sixty delegates being present, they organized a state Society and elected their officers.

On the following Sabbath, President Beecher preached in both towns with great plainness and effect on the subject of slavery. On Monday 30th, several members of the convention, and some of the principle citizens of Alton, met in the store of Alexander and Co. to consult on the expediency of establishing the press again in Alton and defending it. After much deliberation, it was advised that Mr. Lovejoy go on and re-establish the press, and that it was the duty of the friends of free discussion to stand to the last in his defense. This was the uniform counsel of the friends of order to the last.

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The Alton Tragedy (as printed in the Alton Observer from the Cincinnati Journal, December 28, 1837, written by Rev. T. B Hurlbut)

The following account of the late scene at Alton is reported from the Cincinnati Journal, and is made up by extracts from letters, the first bearing date November 8th. Other information corroborates the account which is more particular in its details, than any other, that has been given to the public.

My Dear Brother Chester,

I take up my pen to address you under peculiarly solemn circumstances. I have just returned from viewing the lifeless corpse of two of our citizens, and from the bedsides of two others who were wounded. Of the two former, our brother Lovejoy was one, and of the latter, our mutual and worthy friend Mr. Roff. Yes, Lovejoy has fallen a victim to the violence of a band of armed ruffians, fallen nobly too, in defense of these inalienable rights which were given to him by God, and guarantied to him by the Constitution.

I grieve and am mortified when I say it, in such scenes have been acted ever in Alton without the last week, as would disgrace any town on the coast of Algiers. Steam boats have been boarded indiscriminately by armed ruffians. Traveler's goods and boxes of furniture have been seized and broken open, in quest of printing presses, and their persons and lives have been threatened, for remonstrating against, scenes similar to this have been acted over on almost every boat that has touched our shores within the last week or ten days.

On Monday night, the obnoxious press, so long looked for arrived. Its friends had taken the precaution to have it landed late in the night, when it was supposed a mob would hardly be raised. They took the further precaution to have about 50 armed men secreted in the wareroom, ready for the service of the Mayor, at any moment. While the press was landing, the spies of the enemy were seen lurking about, and the sound of their horn was raised, shrill and long. But whether the enemies of peace and order were buried too deep in the arms of Bacchus and sleep, or whether they feared the formidable preparations that were made to receive them I know not. There were no further molestation than the throwing of a stone or two, while the press was removed into the wareroom of Messrs. Godfrey, Gilman & Co. Things remained quiet yesterday, saving the threats and imprecations that were heard along the street, against Mr. Lovejoy and the press. Mr. L's life was threatened openly and repeatedly. Soon after dark, there were unwonted gatherings in certain coffee houses. Here the spirit of vengeance which had been ranking in their breasts, was excited to desperation by spirit behind the counter. By about 10 o'clock, they were prepared for the work.

Accordingly, they repaired to the warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. They commenced the attack by hurling volleys of stones through the windows and doors. Mr. W. S. Gilman appeared in the door of the 2d story, and addressed the mob in his peculiarly kind and impressive manner. He earnestly and affectionately advised them to desist from violence; told them the property was left with him on storage; that he was bound to protect it. Assured them that nobody in the building had any ill will against any of them, and that they should all deprecate doing any of them, any injury. At the same time, he assured them that the press would not be delivered up, but that he and his associates would defend it at the risk and sacrifice of their lives. He was answered by a fresh volley of stones. Those inside then disposed of themselves at the different doors and windows, and prepared to defend it to the last. They all agreed that no gun should be fired till the doors were burst open, or till there was some firing from without. Volley after volley of stones were hurled into the windows and against the doors, then a gun was fired into the window from the mob. Presently a 2d gun was fired. The balls were heard to whistle thro' the window, but neither of them did any injury. At this juncture one of the party within, with the consent, and by the advice of the rest, leveled his gun upon the mob. One man fell mortally wounded. His associates took him up and carried him away to a physician, and the mob dispersed. The young man died in about half an hour. The mobites have today taken a great deal of pains to send abroad the impression that this young man was a stranger, and was present only as a spectator and took no part in the riot. But I have ascertained that there is no truth in this statement. He was a carpenter by trade, and was at work yesterday for Mr. Roff, and was heard repeatedly to boast during the day, of the part he intended to act last night. I have just been told also by a very respectable citizen, that he saw him just before he was shot, very actively engaged in throwing stones into the windows. I learn that his name was Bishop, recently from Genossee Co., New York.

In about an hour after the mob had had time to revive their spirits, and recruit their courage in the aforesaid coffee house, they returned with increased numbers, and armed with guns and muskets, &c. and recommenced the attack with renewed violence. They formed on the east side of the store, where there are no doors or windows and occasionally a fire was given from each party. Whisky was brought and distributed profusely among them, and all were exhorted to be "good men and true." Occasionally, one of the mob was heard to sing out "if any more guns and whiskey is wanted, away to the French Coffee House." Baffled in the attempt to gain admittance into the store by the doors and windows, they resolved unanimously, with a shout which cleft the air, to fire the building, and "shoot every damned abolitionist in it, as they should attempt to escape." Accordingly, a ladder was made, and combustibles prepared, and a man ascended to the roof. Presently it was in a blaze. Meantime, the company within sent out a detachment of 4 or 5 of their number to prevent it. Mr. Lovejoy was one of the number. The man on the ladder was fired at, and wounded. Just about this time, Mr. Lovejoy was deliberately aimed at by a man who stood a few yards from him, and shot down. He jumped up after he was shot, went into the counting room exclaiming, "I am shot, I am a dead man," and fell down and expired in a few minutes. Those within perceiving the building on fire and that it, together with its valuable contents, must inevitably be destroyed, and the press which they were defending with it, proposed to capitulate. They were assured by those without, that if they would withdraw from the building and leave their arms behind them, not one of them should be molested. They accordingly left the building, and as they were going out of the door and turning the corner, almost every one of them was fired at. Mr. Roff received a ball in one of his legs; his clothes were perforated with several holes, and one shot entered his nose near his eye, which bled profusely. Mr. Weller, of the firm of Gerry & Weller, received a ball in his leg, but it is thought the bone is not fractured. Several others have their clothes perforated with balls. They were pursued and fired after in every direction, till none of them could be found. The mob then entered unmolested, threw out the press and demolished it.

At about 2 o'clock, they dispersed. It is said several of the mobites were seriously wounded. There were 18 men in the building, with about 36 stand of arms, besides small arms. They were not desirous of destroying life, or they might have shot down 50 of the rioters as easily as one. The Mayor was heard to express the opinion today that there were of the rioters from 150 to 200 of whom from 50 to 80 were armed. Our young and worthy Mayor exerted himself, and did what he could to disperse the mob. But his kind admonitions were only returned by curses. A certain grog-seller in town stood a short distance from the Mayor and vociferated [speak or cry out loudly] that "if any one of their number was arrested by the civil authorities, he was authorized to say, he should be rescued by force and arms." What is civil authority here! and what can civil authority do!

The immediate cause which emboldened the mob was the same here as that which preceded the famous riots of your own peaceful city. A public meeting was got up and resolutions were passed, not driving Mr. Lovejoy from the city, but just strong enough to excite and embolden the mob to do it. The late Attorney General of our goodly State took a very conspicuous part in this meeting. He came out in an inflammatory speech in which he abused, by every epithet he could command, Mr. Lovejoy and his associates, and the ministers of religion generally. He denounced Mr. L. at one time as a very wicked fellow, at another as a fanatic who was utterly beside himself and ought to be taken care of. But he did not yet hand him over to the tender mercies of the mob. O no! I will testify for him, that he said expressly that "he would not advise that individuals, property, or person be sacrificed until the peace of the city required it." But at the same time, he plainly intimated by the turn of his eye, and the peculiar expression of his countenance, that that time was not far distant. A reverend clergyman of our city followed in a speech in which he attempted to explain the doctrine of expediency, reminded the meeting that St. Paul's friends thought it expedient on one occasion to let him down in a basket from the wall and let him go. Whatever may have been the intention of the speaker, it was manifest that the audience were willing to construe it as a good precedent for them to dispose of Mr. Lovejoy.

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...The next morning, after Mr. Lovejoy's death, his remains were removed, by a few of his friends, from the warehouse in which he died, to his family. It was manifest, as the hearse moved through the street, that the malignity of his enemies, not satisfied by having spilled his heart's blood, still burned against him. I myself saw their sneers, and overheard some of their profane jests. One who was known to have taken a conspicuous part in the tragedy remarked, that "if he had a fife, he would play the dead-march for him." The next morning, his friends assembled and quietly deposited his remains in the narrow house of the tomb. There were no public exercises except a prayer at his funeral, it being deemed that silence was the most expressive sermon for the occasion. He is now where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest. He rests from his labors, and his works will follow him.

There is now comparative quietness in our city. The mob, having triumphed over the laws, have undisputed control. No steps have yet been taken to arrest the offenders, although they are well known. Indeed, they boast openly in the streets of their deeds of valor. Report says, there has been quite a contention between two or three of the leaders, as to who was entitled to the honor of shooting Lovejoy. There is, probably, no city on the civilized globe, there, when the evidence of guilt is so abundant, and so palpable, no efforts would be made to bring the offenders to justice. The magistrates who are not in the interest of the mob, feel, like all the rest of us, that they are at their mercy.

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The Doctrines of anti-slavery men (as written in the Alton Observer, December 28, 1837, Elisha Chester, Editor)

Abolitionists hold that "all men are born free and equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." They do not believe that these rights are abrogated, or at all modified by the color of the skin, but that they extend alike to every individual of the human family.

As the above-mentioned rights are in their nature inalienable, it is not possible that one man can convert another into a piece of property, thus at once annihilating all his personal rights, without the most flagrant injustice and usurpation. But American slavery does this. It declares a slave to be a "thing," a "chattel," an article of personal "property," a piece of "merchandise," and now actually holds two and a half million of our fellow men in this precise condition.

Abolitionists, therefore, hold American slavery to be a wrong, a legalized system of inconceivable injustice, and a sin. That it is a sin against God, whose prerogative as the rightful owner of all human beings is usurped, and against the slave himself, who is deprived of the power to dispose of his services as conscience may dictate, or his Maker requires. And as whatever is morally wrong can never be politically right, and as the Bible teaches, and as abolitionists believe, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people," they also hold that slavery is a political evil of unspeakable magnitude, and one which, if not removed, will speedily work the downfall of our free institutions, both civil and religious.

As the Bible inculcates [impress upon the mind by repetition] upon man but one duty in regard to sin, and that is, immediate repentance, abolitionists believe that all who hold slaves, or who approve the practice in others, should immediately cease to do so.

Lastly. Abolitionists believe, that as all men are born free, so all who are now held as slaves in this country were born free, and that they are slaves now is the sin, not of those who introduced the race in this country, but of those, and those alone, who now hold them, and have held them in slavery from their birth. Let it be admitted, for argument's sake, that A. or B. has justly forfeited his title to freedom, and that he is now the rightful slave of C., bought with his money, how does this give C. a claim to the posterity of A. down to the latest generation? And does not the guilt of enslaving the successive generations of A.'s posterity belong to their respective masters, whoever they be? Nowhere are the true principles of freedom and personal rights better understood than at the South, though their practice corresponds so wretchedly with their theory. Abolitionists adopt as their own, the following sentiments expressed by Mr. Calhoun in a speech on the tariff question, delivered in the Senate of the United States in 1833: "He who earns the money - wh digs it out of the earth with the sweat of his brow, has a just title to it against the Universe. No one has a right to touch it, without his consent, except his government, and it only to the extent of its legitimate wants: to take more is robbery." Now, this is precisely what slaveholders do, and abolitionists do but echo back their own language when they pronounce it "robbery."

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Emancipation - What is meant by it? (as written in the Alton Observer, December 28, 1837, Elisha Chester, Editor)

Simply, that the slaves shall cease to be held as property, and shall henceforth be held and treated as human beings. Simply, that we should take our feet from off their necks. Perhaps we cannot express ourselves better than to quote the language of another southerner. In reply to the question, what is meant by emancipation, the answer is -

It is to reject with indignation the wild and guilty fantasy, that man can hold property in man.

To pay the laborer his hire, for he is worthy of it.

No longer to deny him the right of marriage, but to let every man have his own wife, as saith the apostle.

To let parents have their own children, for they are the gift of the Lord to them, and no one else has any right to them.

No longer to withhold the advantages of education and the privilege of reading the Bible.

To put the slave under the protection of law, instead of throwing him beyond its salutary influence.

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Recounting of the Murder of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy (as written in the Daily Standard, Syracuse, New York, April 11, 1860), Following the Statements of His Brother, Owen Lovejoy

In the speech which created so much excitement in the House of Representatives last Thursday, Mr. [Owen] Lovejoy, of Illinois, is reported to have said: “You shed the blood of my brother twenty years ago, and now I am here, free to speak my mind.” The Cleveland Herald give an explanation of this language in the following account of the murder of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, at Alton, Illinois, in the year 1837:

The Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was the editor of the Alton Observer, an anti-slavery paper, printed at Alton, Illinois right over the river from Missouri.

The press of the Observer was three times destroyed by a mob; the last time on November 7^th, 1837, at which time Mr. Lovejoy was killed. On the night of the 7^th, a mob collected around the warehouse in which the press was – it having arrived by the river the day before – and threatened violence if it was not delivered up to them. Mr. Lovejoy and a number of friends were in the warehouse and prepared to defend the press. The mob were told from the warehouse that the press would not be given up, and the mob commenced the attack.

A shot fired from the building took fatal effect on one of the mob, named Lyman Bishop, and the mob for a time withdrew. They, however, rallied again with increased force and set the warehouse on fire. Then, to escape death by burning, the inmates were forced to leave, and in doing so the Rev. Mr. Lovejoy, at the door of the building, received four balls in the breast, and fell a corpse. The mob bro’t out the press, and having smashed it, threw the pieces in the river.

That is the outline of the affair. The mob was from the Missouri side, and the whole outrage perpetrated under the lead and direction of slavery. The thrilling effect of Mr. Owen Lovejoy’s remarks to Mr. Clark, of Missouri, can be better seen in the full glare of the history of that Alton outrage, and hence we have looked up and revived the important facts.

The blood of Lovejoy stained the name of Alton for many years – for its municipal authorities were powerless before the demand of slavery, and that city, to this day, has not recovered from the blow the death of that man gave her.

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Shooter Arrested, The Utica Morning Herald, New York, September 22, 1862

Dr. Thomas Mordecai Hope, of Alton, Illinois, who boasts that he was the man who shot the anti-slavery martyr, Lovejoy, was arrested a few weeks since for using treasonable language.

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Plans for a monument, The Skaneateles Democrat, New York, January 19, 1865

A meeting has been hold at Alton, Illinois, to take measures for erecting a monument to Elijah P. Lovejoy, the first American martyr in the cause of liberty.

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Tanner, The Evening Courier, Buffalo, New York, March 23, 1874

The possessor of the patent on the celebrated "Tanner brake" was formerly a well-know citizen of Alton, Illinois. He was one of Lovejoy's defenders, was in the building the night when the gentleman fell a victim of mob violence. Mr. Tanner now resides in Buffalo, New York.

Tanner, The Evening Courier, Buffalo, New York, January 21, 1875

Mr. Henry Tanner was residing in Alton, Ill. in 1837, when the early abolitionist, E. P. Lovejoy, was killed, and was one of the twelve men indicted for defending him against the mob.

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