Elijah Parish Lovejoy

Elijah Parish Lovejoy ( born November 9, 1802 in Albion, Massachusetts, † November 7, 1837 in Alton, Illinois) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist and opponent of slavery ( abolitionist ). He was murdered by a mob favorable to slavery. From the abolitionists, he was venerated as a martyr.

Life

Lovejoy's father was pastor of a church committed to Congregationalism, so Lovejoy grew up as a Christian believer. He attended Waterville College (now Colby College) in his home state of Maine. Later he moved west and settled in 1827 in St. Louis, Missouri down. There he worked as a journalist at the St. Louis Observer, a newspaper that opponents of President Andrew Jackson was. He also led a school. Lovejoy later studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and was ordained minister. When he returned to St. Louis, he was a journalist for the Observer and wrote against slavery.

As 1836 slavery advocates destroyed his printing press for the third time, he moved to Alton, Illinois. In 1837 he established the Alton Observer. In this newspaper he continued to write against slavery. On November 7, 1837 he pressed a lynch mob set fire to his building, destroyed his press and murdered him.

Elijah Lovejoy was buried in the Alton Cemetery. His brother Owen went into politics, became a deputy in the House of Representatives of the United States and led to the abolitionist movement of Illinois.

Private

1835 Lovejoy married Celia Ann French and had two children with her.

Legacy and honors

• Abraham Lincoln mentioned the murder in a speech in January 1838 ( Lyceum address).
• Built in 1897 Alton's citizens a monument in his honor.
• The Library of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is named after him.
• The Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, which is awarded for journalism is assigned by Colby College.
• Elijah Lovejoy has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame next to the Delmar Boulevard.