Owen Lovejoy came to Princeton in 1838 to minister at the Hampshire Colony Church and spent 17 years there. After arriving, he lived with the Butler Denham family on the east edge of town, and after Mr. Denham died, Lovejoy married his widow, Eunice, and continued living in the home. The Denham family and Lovejoy were abolitionists, and the house became an important station on the Underground Railroad. Lovejoy gained a reputation as a fiery abolitionist after a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, in 1837 burned to the ground the abolitionist newspaper company owned by his brother, Elijah Lovejoy, and murdered Elijah during the riot. Feeling the need for political intervention to fulfill his life's purpose, Lovejoy was elected to the Illinois Legislature in 1854 and two years later joined the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was elected to four consecutive terms. A friend of President Abraham Lincoln, he was one of the special guests invited to witness the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Owen Lovejoy's Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1997 the United States Secretary of the Interior declared the property a National Historic Landmark. While not at its original location, the current Hampshire Congregational Church sits at the end of this street.