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Slavery's Martyr
Alicia Benhoff Growing up in a religious atmosphere, in a little village in Maine, Elijah Lovejoy read the Bible and managed to master its content by the age of four. Not only did he read the Bible, but he read everything he could get his hands on. This knowledge eventually led him to the top of his class at Waterville College in Maine. Since his scholastic standing was high, the college gave him financial support, and he graduated in 1825. Upon graduation, he decided to use the little money he had to head to Boston, Massachusetts. With high hopes, Lovejoy searched for a job. He did not find work, so he decided to travel to Hillsboro,
Illinois. He soon realized there were no opportunities in Hillsboro either, and so he moved on further west to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1828 Lovejoy observed that there were no public schools in St. Louis, so he constructed his own and became its first teacher. After a year, Lovejoy became displeased with teaching and began to look for something more rewarding. After pondering for some time, Elijah arranged to buy half of the St. Louis Times. Soon after he purchased the paper, he became the new editor. Editors in Lovejoy's time were competitive rivals. Not only could one read about the name-calling battles in the newspapers, but sometimes even physical battles ensued. Since Lovejoy was not an abolitionist in his early years as editor, his paper contained a number of slave advertisements. It was not until he heard an inspirational speech claiming slavery was sinful that Lovejoy became an abolitionist. Lovejoy preached in different churches throughout the St. Louis area. Without fail, his topic was always that of antislavery. In 1832 Lovejoy became a minister in the Presbyterian Church, completing his studies in thirteen months, rather than the average of three years. Meanwhile, a group of citizens in St. Louis was trying to find an editor for their new newspaper, the St. Louis Observer. They found that Lovejoy fit all of their qualifications; he was an experienced editor and minister. The Observer often published articles discriminating against other religions and slavery; thus, the number of Lovejoy's enemies increased. People began to send him death threats. After he was attacked and his printing press thrown into the Mississippi River, Lovejoy acknowledged the people's hatred for him, leaving St. Louis for Alton, Illinois. He was not one to give up easily, though. At the first meeting of the Alton leaders, Lovejoy was financially and morally supported as the new editor of the Alton Observer. He was so grateful that he pledged, "Now having come to a free state [Illinois] where that evil does not exist, I feel myself less called upon to discuss the subject than when I was in St. Louis." Lovejoy then retorted, "But, gentlemen, as long as I am an American citizen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, and to publish whatever I please on the subject." As time passed, Lovejoy's strong antislavery sentiments began to resurface, and abolition became the main focus of his editorials. Soon afterward another mob stole and demolished Lovejoy's press again. A new press arrived one month later, but just like the other ones, it was destroyed and dumped into the Mississippi. Since Lovejoy could not safely print editorials about abolition, he decided to organize a state anti-slavery society. Realizing he could not plan it alone, he asked Edward Beecher, his only friend, to help advertise the convention to be held on October 26. Two hundred fifty-five people signed up, including slave supporter and Illinois Attorney General Usher F. Linder. The resolution discussed at the convention was that the majority of the people rejected Lovejoy's constitutional right to speak and to publish. Lovejoy disapproved of this and was determined to use his rights to stop slavery, even if he died doing it. In order for him to do this, he had to use Winthrop S. Oilman's warehouse to protect his fourth press. The night after Lovejoy's new press arrived, a huge crowd (they called themselves the anti-Lovejoy group) gathered around the warehouse armed and ready to fight. Mayor Krum went into the warehouse to negotiate with Lovejoy, hoping to prevent violence. Unfortunately, his efforts were not successful. The crowd outside grew impatient and angry. When the mayor exited the warehouse, he was astonished to see that the people had secured a ladder to the side of the building and had brought with them more firearms. He realized that they were all intoxicated, and would not recognize that they would be breaking the law if they started to riot. The rioters swore and yelled at him to go home. Rifles were fired, and a torch carrier started to ascend the ladder. During Lovejoy's attempt to knock down the ladder, he was hit by five shots and killed. Elijah Lovejoy's life was taken because he used his rights, freedom of speech and freedom of the press, to discourage slavery. Elijah Lovejoy played an important part in the abolition of slavery, and will always be remembered as a martyr for abolition.—[From John W. Allen, Legends and Lore of Southern Illinois; Robert P. Howard, Illinois; Edward Magdol, Owen Lovejoy; Paul Simon, Freedom's Champion — Elijah Lovejoy; Paul Simon, Lovejoy: Martyr to Freedom.]
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