Elijah Parish Lovejoy

Elijah Parish Lovejoy was the first pastor of Upper Alton Presbyterian Church, now College Avenue Presbyterian Church. A minister, teacher, newspaper editor, and martyr to free speech and the abolition of slavery, he was fatally shot on Nov. 7, 1837, defending his printing press from an angry pro-slavery mob. His death attracted national attention, including that of young lawyer Abraham Lincoln, who two months later spoke against "mob law" as contrary to the "fabric of freedom." In 1863, twenty-two years later, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in the presence of Elijah's brother, Owen, a senator from Illinois.

Alton, Illinois · United States