Freedom's Martyr

Freedom's Martyr. Elijah P. Lovejoy. , Considered by many to be the first casualty of the Civil War, abolitionist editor and Presbyterian minister Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was killed defending the freedom of the press., Editor of the St. Louis Observer, Lovejoy wrote powerful anti-slavery editorials that gained national attention. But his views were very unpopular in Missouri, a slave state., In 1836, Lovejoy moved his press to Alton and renamed it the Alton Observer. Pro-slavery groups repeatedly attacked Lovejoy, destroying and throwing his press into the Mississippi River three times. On November 7, 1837, Lovejoy was shot and killed during a riot while protecting his fourth printing press. No one was ever convicted for any act committed during this event., Lovejoy's example inspired John Brown and sparked the ideas debated by Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas 21 years later., Lovejoy's tragic death for freedom in every sense marked his sad ending as the most important single event that ever happened in the new world." , Abraham Lincoln, [Captions:] , "I can die at my post but I cannot desert it." , , Elijah P. Lovejoy, Lovejoy's fourth press arrived in Alton on November 6, 1837, and was placed under guard in the Godfrey-Gilman warehouse. A mob attacked around midnight, setting the roof ablaze and shooting Lovejoy.", The broadside, pictured above, announced the September 27, 1837, meeting of the state abolitionist group. Lovejoy printed it in Alton shortly before his death., A recovered piece of one of Lovejoy's presses is on display at The Telegraph offices at 111 E. Broadway near the Ryder Building exhibit. . This historical marker is in Alton in Madison County Illinois