Freedom's Martyr

Abolitionist editor and Presbyterian minister Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, considered by many to be the first casualty of the Civil War, was killed while defending freedom of the press. As editor of the St. Louis Observer, he wrote powerful anti-slavery editorials that drew national attention, but his views were deeply unpopular in Missouri, a slave state. In 1836, he moved his press to Alton and renamed the paper the Alton Observer. Pro-slavery groups repeatedly attacked him, destroying his press and throwing it into the Mississippi River three times. After his fourth press arrived in Alton on November 6, 1837, it was placed under guard in the Godfrey-Gilman warehouse. Around midnight on November 7, a mob attacked, set the roof on fire, and shot Lovejoy to death while he protected the press. No one was ever convicted for any act committed during the riot. His example inspired John Brown and helped spark the ideas debated by Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas 21 years later.

Alton, Illinois · United States