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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

Read and/or download "Memoir of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy" by Joseph Cammet Lovejoy, Owen Lovejoy, and John Quincy Adams

Read and/or download "The Trial of Winthrop S. Gilman and Others for Riot, Alton, Illinois 1838" (concerning Lovejoy) by John Davison Lawson and Robert Lorenzo Howard

Indicted for crimes of Riot:  Winthrop S. Gilman, Enoch Long, Amos B. Roff, George H. Walworth, George Whitney, William Harned, John S. Noble, James Morse, Jr.,

Henry Tanner, Royal Weller, Rueben Gerry, Thaddeus B. Hurlbut, John Solomon, Levi Palmer, Horace Beall, Josiah Nutter, Jacob Smith,

David Butler, William Carr, James M. Rock, James Jennings, Solomon Morgan and Frederick Bruchy

"It has always been believed by those who had the best opportunities for knowing that Lovejoy was killed by Dr. James Jennings. Jennings, it is said, was cut to pieces in a bowie knife fight in a Vicksburg bar room several years later. One of his comrades, Dr. Beal, while attached to a scouting party of Texas Rangers, was captured by Comanche Indians and burned alive. I think the last survivor of the mob died some years ago."   Dimmock's Lovejoy p. 23

                                                                              Warehouse in Alton, Madison County, Illinois                                  Lovejoy Monument, City Cemetery, Alton, IL

Lovejoy grave, Alton City Cemetery.  Photo courtesy of Angie Johnson

Lovejoy grave, Alton City Cemetery.  Photo courtesy of Angie Johnson

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       Finding Lovejoy's Grave

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)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 -

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

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

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

4. 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.

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

6. 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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Finding Lovejoy's Grave

Source:  Memoranda of the Experience, Labors, and Travels of a Universalist Preacher By George Rogers (himself); 1845 (Not in copyright)

......"Finding that I could not reach Princeton in time for my appointment, I got into another boat and went up the river to Alton, Ill. where I remained until the following Wednesday with J. P. Owen of the Upper village, in whom and his wife I found a brother and sister indeed. Alton occupies a high and very broken site on the east shore of the Mississippi about two miles above the mouth of the Missouri:  it is doubtless a busy but very unsightly place its buildings are devoid of elegance its main business street is narrow and in wet seasons excessively miry. Upper Alton is distant from Lower about three miles. A Baptist College is there located, it is a massive fabric of brick in a better style of architecture than college buildings usually exhibit. I read while at Alton the life of Lovejoy, who some years ago was killed by a mob at that place on account of his persevering advocacy of negro emancipation. It was a misfortune for the memory of Lovejoy a misfortune for the cause to which he was a martyr that he died with arms in his hands [weapons], and if public report belie him not with the blood of one of his murderers on his skirts, it had been better for him to die praying for his murderers in imitation of his Lord rather than in resisting unto blood; nevertheless, I deny not that his course was justifiable on legal and even on simply moral grounds. In company with Mr. Owen I visited the burial ground in which he was interred. It is large, and has once been well enclosed, but the paling is now in a ruinous state; the yard is much overrun with scrub oak bushes. The stone slabs and monuments are broken and lie strewn about, and the whole scene is adapted to bring to the meditative heart the chilling truth that the dead soon lose their places in the remembrance of the living. Among other ruins I noticed a beautiful obelisk lying prostrate and broken - it was evident that some vandal agency had been employed in effecting such dilapidations and to me it is a mystery how surviving friends, after testifying their respect by the erection of costly tombs and columns, should suffer the sacred precincts to be thus desecrated for lack of a little cost or care to keep up the enclosure. It was with some difficulty we were enabled to identify Lovejoy's grave -  the memoir describes it as lying between two oak trees with the head to the north and the foot to the south. We at length turned over a decayed piece of board on which we found his initials - this was the head board of Lovejoy's grave! It is little larger than an ordinary shingle -  the letters on it will soon be obliterated, and then as no mound or other token distinguishes the spot as a grave. It will be hard to designate the spot where sleeps the martyred Lovejoy! Alas, for him, if worldly ambition was his object he hath his reward." 

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Monument to Lovejoy, The New York Times, December 3, 1856

The Alton Courier has the following: "We learn from J. A. Miller that he has been employed by a Committee living in various parts of the State, to furnish plans of a monument to be erected in our City Cemetery to the memory of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, who fell a martyr to free speech, in this city, in November 1837. Two plans have been drawn - one is for a monument 100 feet high, pyramidal in form, 7 feet in diameter to the top, 12 feet in diameter at the base, standing on a platform 40 feet in diameter, and 4 feet high. It is to be of Illinois stone, with marble slabs inserted at the base for inscriptions. Such a monument will cost, as estimated, $8,000. Another plan has been prepared of a monument 75 feet high, of pyramidal shape, built of blocks two feet thick, and from four to eight feet long, similar in other respects to the first named. The cost of such a monument is estimated at $6,000. The Committee is to meet at Washington, D. C. early next Winter, to decide upon a plan and other preliminaries.

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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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Godfrey and Gilman, Alton Telegraph, August 1, 1878

Godfrey and Gilman, in whose store Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered in 1837, erected the two fine residences on the southeast corner of Third and Market Streets, and resided there at the time of the great tragedy. This property was purchased by Hon. George T. Brown in 1839, and afterwards passed into the possession of his sister, Mrs. Child.

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Lovejoy Monument Association, Alton Telegraph, September 26, 1878

Hon. Horace White, Chairman of the Lovejoy Monument Committee, has appointed three members of that organization as a sub-committee to raise funds for and complete the erection of a stone wall around the circular lot donated by the Alton Cemetery as a site for the proposed Lovejoy monument. The Lovejoy Monument Committee was appointed at the Abolition re-union held at Chicago in 1874. Owing to the hard times the committee have deemed it inexpedient as yet to attempt to raise funds for the erection of a monument, but design making a general effort in that direction in the near future. Meanwhile, the Cemetery Association, having donated a beautiful lot for the proposed monument, and it being deemed judicious to surround the site with a stone wall, to prevent the erosion resulting from heavy rains, Mr. White has appointed Thomas Dimmock of St. Louis; General Beem of Chicago; and W. T. Norton of Alton, as a sub-committee to attend to this work. Their authority and appeal for means to complete the work assigned them, will be found on the local page of this paper. The design is to surround the lot with a substantial wall: remove the remains of Lovejoy to the new site (if there be no objection thereto), transfer the present tablet erected by Mr. Dimmock, and beautify the lot to the best advantage the means contributed will permit. The improvement will be made with a view to the future erection of a monument, and yet be complete and permanent in itself should the desired consummation be long delayed. The amount needed to build the wall is estimated at $400, and something more will be required to beautify the site. This small sum, for so laudable an object, ought to be raised promptly and without difficulty. The lot is directly opposite the south entrance to the cemetery, the most elevated point on the ground, overlooking the river. To improve this lot in the manner proposed would be a general benefit to the cemetery, one which every lot owner is interested in seeing accomplished. This effort to do tardy justice to the memory of the heroic martyr, who died in this city in defense of freedom and the liberty of speech, is one in which our citizens should feel a peculiar interest. It commends itself. We feel that no appeal is necessary, further than the above plain statement of what is proposed to be done at present. Now let all act.

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Lovejoy Monument Sealed - Time Capsule Enclosed, Alton Evening Telegraph, Friday, June 30, 1899

The Lovejoy monument was completed today by the directors of the Lovejoy Monument Association, who witnessed the placing in the monument the sealed box containing the records of Lovejoy's life, his martyrdom, the work of building the monument, and copies of current newspapers, with relics and other things that may be interesting to the curious mind hundreds of years hence. The formality of sealing the monument took place at 10 o'clock this morning. The directors were present and with them was Hon. Thomas Dimmock, St. Louis, who has always been one of the most interested in all things pertaining to Lovejoy and was an active member of the board of directors. On the north face of the square granite pedestal of the monument was left an opening about one foot square. Into this the box was put and sealed with stone and cement. Over the seal was placed a bronze plate suitably inscribed, and the monument was finished. Hon. Thomas Dimmock made a brief and eloquent address. To the directors he said that they have the personal thanks of himself for what they had done to honor the memory of the great martyr, Lovejoy. In the main the monument's erection is due to their efforts and the business-like way in which they have conducted the affairs of the association. Their connection with it would be a memory and a pleasant recollection for them and their children. For himself, the speaker said, he is now far down the sunset slope of life's hill, but nothing that he had done in all his career in public life could give him the gratification that the memory of his connection with the monument, to perpetuate the memory of the great Lovejoy, gives him and he considers it the crowning achievement of his public life. Mr. Dimmock's address was impromptu, but was delivered with his characteristic eloquence that gave it all the fire of a polished speech. Remaining in the treasury is $500. The association voted to turn the monument over to the cemetery board, and also voted to have the monument repointed. The balance of the fund on hand was ordered to be turned over to the cemetery board for the purpose of caring for the monument. The following is a list of the books, pamphlets and documents deposited in the Lovejoy monument this morning:

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1837 NEWSPAPER ON DISPLAY  - "DISCREET" SILENCE OF NEWSPAPER REGARDING LOVEJOY TRAGEDY EXPLAINED - APOLOGY ISSUED

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, November 28, 1911

Gates-Clark Dry Goods Co. have on exhibition at their store a copy of the Alton Telegraph of November 29, 1837. The owner of the paper requested that his name be kept private by the firm, for what reason is not explained. The paper is in excellent state of preservation, and looks as if it had been printed only a few days before. The person in whose keeping it was must have taken good care of it, and for many years the paper must have remained untouched by anyone, as it is not at all worn. The quality of the white paper used in those days was much better than that any newspaper used now, and it is very doubtful that in almost 75 years a copy of a paper of today would be safe to handle, if it was to be preserved intact. Among the names of advertisers appearing in the old sheet are names which are familiar to many through the names being borne by their descendants still living in Alton, but they are few. The issue following soon after the killing of Lovejoy in Alton, which occurred November 7, contains an editorial apologizing for the lack of comment on the tragic event of a few weeks before. It developed that the friend of Lovejoy who was on the paper was not entrusted with expressing the paper's sentiments. The newspaper, in common with other people who had witnessed the result of indulging in free speech in those days, preserved a discreet silence, or appeared in an apologetic way. The Lovejoy tragedy had evidently inspired the people with the belief that free speech at that time was not the part of wisdom, and free speech and liberty of the press was very much curtailed. The paper will be on exhibition for a few days in the store of Gates-Clark on Third street, in the carpet store windows. The Telegraph will be 75 years of age next January, and this issue referred to was printed during the first year of the paper, but it appears as Volume 2, the newspaper volumes then running for a period of six months instead of a year.

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FOUND HISTORIC PIECE OF STONE BELONGED TO LOVEJOY

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 12, 1912

Workmen excavating for the new engines of the Sparks mills on the riverfront reached to the level of the old riverbed this morning. They found a valuable relic at the depth of eighteen feet, which is a portion of the imposing stone [a flat, hard surface upon which pages printed from hot metal are imposed] of the Alton Observer, Elijah P. Lovejoy's paper. The stone is a fragment with a surface that shows the marks of the forms as they rested on the marble in making up the forms for the press. The stone was examined by a number of old printers who were asked if they knew what use the stone had been devoted to. They looked over the surface and with one accord pronounced it a piece of an imposing stone. "See," said one, "the marks where the forms have been repeatedly drawn across its surface, the marks of the make up." For years there has been a desire on the part of many who were interested in the remnants of the Lovejoy printing outfit, which was known to rest on the old riverbed, to make excavations to recover as much as possible. Recently, excavations have been in progress on the riverfront at the Sparks mill in carrying out some projects for improving the motive power of the mill. There is added interest in the find in that the piece of stone was found near the place where the Godfrey & Gilman warehouse stood at the time of the Lovejoy killing in 1837. The building was an old stone structure, a crude painting of which, made many years ago by some unknown artist, hangs in the Telegraph office today. The warehouse stood on the side of the Sparks mill, according to old timers whose recollections go back to the days of the building. There is little doubt that when the Lovejoy printing outfit was stored in the building on the night of the killing, when Lovejoy and his friends were defending the property, that this marble slab, smooth on two sides and deeply scarred by the movement of the forms over it as they would be moved about by the workmen on the paper, was thrown into what was then the riverbed. There the stones were buried deep. Gradually the river covered the stone over with deposits of various kinds and the riverbank receded southward as continued filling went on. Now the Sparks company is digging a deep ditch to carry lines of pipe out to the river, and in so doing undoubtedly uncovered the imposing stone. Whether there are any more fragments of the stone and of machinery thereabouts, remains for further investigation to reveal. Piling was encountered by the workmen when they reached a depth close to the old riverbed that was used in the years past as posts to tie steamboat cables to. A few years ago a former resident of Alton showed Charles Donnelly the position of the Lovejoy press as it lay in the river, the top of it exposed during low water. He was employed in the old mills and he often stood at the upper windows gazing upon the projecting portions of the press. He pointed out the exact spot, so well was it stamped upon his memory. This was at a point at the second track south of the mills, and where the excavations are now being made, as closely as Mr. Donnelly recollects. This establishes closely the position as is related by all the old citizens who were familiar with the facts surrounding the distinction of the Observer's press by the mob.

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LOVEJOY'S PIANO

Source: Alton Telegraph, September 19, 1912

In speaking of the many historical articles on exhibition oat Edwardsville this week, the Intelligencer says: "To many, the most interesting single article in the collection is the square piano once owned by Elijah P. Lovejoy, of Alton. After his death his widow made her home with the family of Jesse Walton, very close friends of Lovejoy. The piano passed into their possession and at Mr. Walton's death, it was sold among other effects of his at auction, where it became the property of W. C. Flagg of Moro. This was early in the 70s or late in the 60s. It is now in the possession of Mrs. E. L. Gillham of Wanda."

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IS IT LOVEJOY'S OLD PRESS? LARGE CAST IRON FRAME, WHICH REMAINS TO BE DUG OUT, DISCOVERED THIS MORNING IN PIT AT SPARKS MILL

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July 13, 1915

Doug Sparks believes he has found a piece of Lovejoy's old printing press in a fifteen foot deep excavation at the southwest corner of the Sparks Mill building, where room is being made to put in a concrete pier to carry grain scales and an unloading device. The Sparks mill is on the site of the old Godfrey & Gilman warehouse, where Lovejoy was killed in 1837. Several years ago a marble slab reputed to be the imposing stone that Lovejoy would have used, or did use, was found. Now there has appeared down in the soil there a heavy frame of cast iron, which some believe was part of the old Washington hand press that was thrown into the river over seventy-seven years ago. George S. Milnor gave orders to have the piece of iron completely removed from the hole, and efforts will be made to get it out and complete the investigation as to whether the iron is really part of the historic old printing press which a mob made away with. It is impossible to know definitely what the iron frame belonged to, as so much of it is buried in the earth that has been filled in around the place, no one could establish just what the frame came from. The iron is so deep in the ground it must have been buried many years ago. The corner of the mill building foundation comes squarely up against the frame and it is near the bottom of the foundation that the iron frame first appears.

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LOVEJOY PRESS SUSPECT HOISTED

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July 14, 1915

A cast iron frame, weighing close to a half ton, was lifted this morning from the excavation at the southwest corner of the Sparks Milling Co., and after it was raised from the ground the conviction became strong that the frame must be part of the printing press of Elijah P. Lovejoy. The frame is shaped similar to the upright part of the frame that carried the screws which were operated by a lever and which caused the pressure to be applied that did the printing. The press that Lovejoy had was one of the old fashioned hand type, and the frame found today might easily have served as the frame of such a machine. It is shaped like the outline of a bell, the bottom being straight across and would have held the bed on which the forms would be imposed. There is no exact reproduction of the Lovejoy press, but it is supposed to have resembled closely other presses of its time. The place where this frame was found was so deep in the earth that it could not have been put where it was in recent years. It rested on bedrock and against the foundation of the mill. It required much effort to get it with a block and tackle, seven men being required to lift and carry it. The frame has been partially cleaned, and later will be cleaned more thoroughly. On the top is a place where a nameplate undoubtedly was at one time, some copper pins which probably served to hold the nameplate in place still being in their positions. The nameplate which would have settled forever what the machine was, is missing. The iron frame will be kept until a further investigation can be made.

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RELATIVE OF LOVEJOY VISITS ALTON - SEES OLD PRESS - SHOWN AROUND ALTON BY OLDEST LIVING NATIVE

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 3, 1915

Alton today had as a visitor a Miss Lovejoy, a relative of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. She came here to see the old printing press frame which was recovered at the Sparks mill some time ago, and which is believed to be a part of the press that was wrecked the night that Lovejoy was assassinated by a member of a mob in1837. Miss Lovejoy called on E. P. Wade, president of the Alton National Bank. He is the oldest living native of Alton, and he undoubtedly has the best knowledge of old time places and institutions in Alton. Mr. Wade took Miss Lovejoy, who is a grandniece of the Martyr Lovejoy, for a tour of Alton. She visited the old Presbyterian Church in Upper Alton where Lovejoy preached. She saw also the monument and she was shown other objects of interest about the city connected with the death of the Abolitionist editor. Miss Lovejoy said that she was much interested in what she saw. At the Sparks mill it is held certain that the large iron frame is part of an old printing press. An investigation was made and many experts throughout the country have pronounced the casting part of an old printing press, such as was used about eighty years ago. Miss Lovejoy is from Jackrabbit, Arizona. She had read in the papers of the finding of the press, and as she was going through Alton she stopped over to take a look at the curio.

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MARKING SPOT OF LOVEJOY ASSASSINATION

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 28, 1918

As part of the Sparks Milling Co. contribution to the Illinois centennial celebration, a bronze tablet has been erected on the southwest corner of the mill building on the river front, marking the spot where the assassination of Elijah P. Lovejoy occurred, November 7, 1837. The tablet is inscribed as follows: "This tablet marks the scene of the tragic death at the hands of a pro-slavery mob on Nov. 7, 1837, of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, who gave his life for liberty of thought, for liberty of speech, for liberty of press, and for liberty for man. Placed in commemoration of his heroism by the Sparks Milling Co."  In addition to the bronze tablet, the Sparks Milling Co. will have erected on a granite base, and suitably inscribed, the remnant of the old printing press which the mob was seeking to destroy and which Lovejoy died to defend. The rusty main frame of the old hand press on which the Alton Observer was to be printed was dug up at the southwest corner of the mill building a few years ago, 18 feet under ground, when excavation was being made for the foundations of new scales on which to weigh wheat. The explanation of the frame of the printing press being there is that the press, after the killing of Lovejoy, was dragged from the warehouse of Godfrey & Gilham, which stood on the site where the old mill building stands, and was thrown into the river. The river at that time extended further inland. What was deep water in 1837 when the riot occurred is dry land, and the river bank is far to the south of where it was over 80 years ago. The plan of the Sparks Milling Co. is to set this frame of the press on a granite base, permanently fixed, and to have it on the lot at the front of the office of the milling company. There is a possibility the warehouse may have extended very close to where the office of the milling company now stands. In the Illinois Centennial observance many historic spots will be marked, but there will be none marked that will carry any greater human interest than this the Sparks Milling Co. is marking. The discovery of the old frame of the Lovejoy press was quite by accident. It followed discovery of some marble slabs which were first supposed to be tombstones, but which are now believed to have been the marble imposing stones Lovejoy intended to set up in the Observer office. In those days spoiled tombstones were often smoothed on one side and used for imposing stones in newspaper offices, and now, since the discovery of the old press frame so close by, it is practically certain the marble slabs found first, and sledged to pieces by workmen who were digging a deep trench there, were the Lovejoy imposing stones.

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CONTRACT FOR LOVEJOY PRESS PEDESTAL

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 2, 1918

The Sparks Milling Co. today closed a contract with Arthur Dixon for building a granite pedestal on which to mount the piece of the Lovejoy press which was discovered several years ago at the corner of the mill building, deep in the ground. The order has been given for the granite that will enter into the structure, and as soon as it arrives here the work of setting it up will be undertaken and completed with dispatch. A bronze tablet will be suspended from the iron frame of the old printing press, which will tell what it is. The press is one of the most interesting of historic relics and will be put in the open, at the corner of the lot where the Sparks office building stands. The officers of the Sparks Milling Co. anticipate that this relic will thereupon become the shrine to be visited by many who value the right of free speech and liberty of the press, as it was this particular printing press, by its very destruction, became the seed from which grew a great public sentiment that the freedom of the press should not be infringed.

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SETTING UP LOVEJOY PRESS FRAME - IS HISTORIC OBJECT - GRANITE MOUNTING ARRIVES FROM QUARRIES

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 17, 1918

Work of erecting the granite mounting for the frame of the old press of Elijah Parish Lovejoy was started Monday by Arthur Dixon, who is working under supervision of James M. Maupin. The old cast iron frame, it will be recalled, was excavated from a great depth at the southwest corner of the Sparks mill building on the river front. It was there that the Godfrey & Gilman warehouse stood, and it was from this warehouse the press was taken and smashed and dumped into the river by the mob after they had assassinated Lovejoy. This old press has great sentimental value because it was in its defense that Lovejoy, the first martyr to the cause of freedom of the press, lost his life at the hands of a mob at Alton, November 7, 1837. The frame of the press was dug up a few years ago while excavation was being made to install foundations for a heavy track scale. Where the press was found is far from the river now, but in olden days the water was deep enough there to afford a good landing place for steamboats. The relic is to be mounted on a granite base from which rise two short columns and between which the frame of the press is to be swung. On the press frame a tablet will be placed to tell the passerby what the relic is. The Sparks Milling Co. has already set up a tablet on its mill building to mark the spot where Lovejoy lost his life. The mounting of the relic will make of it a very interesting feature of the Alton centennial celebration.

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BRICK OF LOVEJOY HOME IS GIVEN TO TELEGRAPH

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 7, 1922

A brick from the foundation of the old Lovejoy home at Albion, Me., has been presented to the Telegraph by Captain C. S. Porter of the Western Military Academy. The brick is on display in the Telegraph window. The home in Maine housed Elijah P. Lovejoy was the earlier advocates for emancipation of slaves in this country, who was killed by a mob in Alton for his activities against slavery. He published at Alton "The Observer." The brick is of the old-fashioned hand-made type. It is of an unusually hard substance, when compared with present-day brick. It is wedge shaped. One corner has been broken off.

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OLD SHOTGUN KILLED LOVEJOY COMES TO LIGHT

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 16, 1922

A treasured firearm of the nineteenth century was presented this week to Daniel J. Murphy of Elsah, who for many years has been identified with the affairs of Madison and Jersey Counties, having served as President of the National Bank of Jerseyville for a number of years, and also as President of a Granite City bank. The firearm is claimed to be the gun which was used in Alton on November 7th, 1837, by the person who shot and killed Elijah Parish Lovejoy while he was defending his fourth printing press from a mob of St. Louis pro-slavery advocates. The gun which is claimed to have caused Lovejoy's death, is a double barreled shotgun, nearly five feet in length. It was made by Parker & Field of London, England. The gun for many years was possessed by the late George W. Burke of Jerseyville, a pioneer of Jersey County. Burke, during the Civil War, was a "station keeper" in Jersey County of what was termed the "underground railroad." Fleeing slaves from the South, most of whom were on their way to Canada, would stop in Jerseyville and were cared for by Burke until an opportune moment when they could be sent on to the next station with provisions to last during the journey. It is said that this gun was obtained by one of the guards keeping watch over the warehouse containing Lovejoy's press, and that later the gun was given to Burke, who was one of the well known men throughout this section of the country. The relic, which is now 85 years old, was presented to Mr. Murphy this week by Mrs. Jennie Kingsley, a step-daughter of the late George W. Burke. A piece of Lovejoy's printing press which was thrown into river at Alton in the early thirties, is mounted in front of the Sparks Mill office.

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LOVEJOY SHAFT NOT TAKEN OVER UNLESS GIVEN

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 16, 1923

An important meeting of the Alton Cemetery Association trustees is called for Wednesday evening. Some important matters have developed which will be discussed and acted upon. Perhaps a meeting of lot owners will be called also, to consider some of the points that are up. It has been learned that the state of Illinois probably will not make any repairs or assume responsibility for maintaining the Lovejoy monument in city cemetery unless the monument is turned over to the state. The cemetery association trustees would be willing to turn over any claim they have on the monument provided the state would take responsibility for its upkeep thereafter. Senator H. G. Giberson has reported to the cemetery board that he found it impossible to get a special appropriation through the legislature to pay for necessary repairs on the monument and the walks surrounding it, but that a transfer of the monument to the state would accomplish the desired results. Inasmuch as the monument stands on property belonging to the cemetery, it is assumed that the cemetery association trustees can take the action necessary for accomplishing the transfer....

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CITY CEMETERY BOARD TO GIVE MONUMENT SITE

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 19, 1923

The trustees of the Alton City cemetery held a meeting last evening to pass upon the question of making a deed to the lot on which the Lovejoy monument stands, vesting the title to the lot and monument in the State of Illinois. Records of the cemetery association do not show that the title to the property was ever vested in the state....if the cemetery trustees will deed the lot on which the monument stands to the state of Illinois, the state government will take hold of the monument and look after repairs and keep the monument in good condition. The state gave $25,000 to the monument to be added to what the citizens of Alton give and since then has done nothing to it. The monument is in need of repairs. The cemetery association is without the necessary funds to maintain the monument and the result is no repairs have been made....

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STONE FROM LOVEJOY HOME TO BE ACCEPTED

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 22, 1923

On the morning of May 30th, Decoration Day, there will be a short ceremony at the Sparks Milling Co. office grounds that will be of interest to those interested in history. On that morning a large stone from the home of Elijah P. Lovejoy, a stone from the home where he lived and played as a boy, will be set beside the relic of the Lovejoy printing press in the Sparks Milling Co. office yard. This stone was brought back to Alton by Capt. Sumner Porter of the Western Military Academy, who was visiting at Albion, Me., last summer. He presented it to the Rotary Club and on May 30th at 9 o'clock in the morning a service will be held where the stone is set and the Rotary Club will present the stone to the Madison County Historical Society, the president of that society, W. D. Armstrong, receiving it. It was thought best to place the historical stone close to the Lovejoy press relic where it will be accessible to view of many who may be interested. Persons who are interested in Lovejoy are invited to attend this service on Decoration Day morning at 9:00 o'clock at the Sparks Milling Co. office.

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