Lovejoy, Elijah Parish

Lovejoy, Elijah Parish a Presbyterian minister. noted for his and slavery activity, was the son of the Rev. Daniel Lovejoy, and was born at Albion, Maine, November 9, 1802; graduated at Waterville College, Maine, September 1826; and taught for a time in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1832 he was converted, and united with the Presbyterian Church, and entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J. The following spring he obtained license to preach from the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and began preaching in Newport, Rhode Island, and in New York City. In 1833 he established the St. Louis Observer, a weekly religious newspaper, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1836, on account of a bitter dislike for the Observer's opposition to slavery and the prevailing principles on divorce, a mob destroyed Mr. Lovejoy's printing-office. The same year he removed to Alton, Illinois, where he established and maintained by solicited contributions "The Alton Observer." Continuing in his anti-slavery movements, resolutions were passed against him, and his press was twice destroyed by a pro-slavery mob. While defending a third press near his premises at Alton, he was mortally wounded, November 7, 1837.