Elijah P. Lovejoy
Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy (
November 9,
1802 -
November 7,
1837) was an
American abolitionist and journalist. Born in
Albion, Maine, he graduated from
Colby College in 1826. He studied at the Princeton Theological Seminary and in 1834 was ordained a minister, like his father before him. Lovejoy then joined the staff of the
St. Louis Observer before moving back across the river to become editor of the abolitionist paper the
Alton Observer of
Alton, Illinois. His printing press was seized by pro-slavery mobs and thrown into the
Mississippi River on three different occasions. He received another printing press from the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society (or possibly the Anti-Slavery Society of Illinois--records conflict), but he was attacked and murdered by a pro-slavery mob, and his printing press was thrown into the river again. He is buried in Alton Cemetery in
Madison County, Illinois.
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