“Burn them out!” someone yelled. Another joined in, then another, and soon much of the crowd was chanting the phrase.[1] The unruly, drunken mob[2] surged toward the large brick warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman, and Company. The mob had already tried and failed to set fire to the building’s wooden roof. One of their number now began to ascend the ladder for a second attempt.[3]

Inside, fourteen men stood guard over a printing press, prepared to defend it with their lives.[4] Elijah Lovejoy, the man whose press was the target of the mob’s anger, stood with them. Lovejoy had been printing the Observer, an antislavery newspaper, in St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois for four years. Proslavery mobs had already destroyed three of his presses, and he was not about to let this one fall into their hands. When someone called for volunteers to push the ladder over, Lovejoy and two others stepped forward, fully aware that by doing so, they were risking their lives.[5]

Moonlight illuminated the three men as they stepped out of the warehouse toward the ladder. Hidden behind a nearby woodpile were two members of the mob.[6] Spotting Lovejoy and his companions, they released a barrage of bullets, five of which hit Lovejoy.[7] He had strength enough to run inside and up a flight of stairs before he breathed his last.[8] “I can die at my post,” he had said, “but I cannot desert it.”[9]

Lovejoy’s early life gave no particular indication of the heroic deeds that were to come. The son of a Congregational minister, he passed a quiet childhood near the Maine village of Albion. In 1823, he entered nearby Waterville (now Colby) College, graduating in 1826 at the head of his class.[10] Shortly thereafter, Lovejoy left Maine and headed west to St. Louis, where he taught for two years before becoming the editor of the St. Louis Times.[11]

In early 1832, Lovejoy experienced a religious conversion and traveled to New Jersey to study at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he completed three years’ worth of studies in just 13 months.[12] Upon graduation, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He then returned to St. Louis, where he established a religious newspaper, the Observer, in November 1833.[13]

Newspapers were big business in the early 1830s, with more than 900 being published in the United States.[14] Religious newspapers were becoming increasingly popular; about 100 of them were scattered across the country.[15] The Observer was a typical religious paper. Most articles addressed theological issues, and editorials denounced such evils as Sabbath-breaking,[16] intemperance, Catholicism, and slavery.[17]

Slavery in Missouri was widespread; in 1830, approximately 18% of Missouri residents were slaves.[18] Missouri slaves were generally well-treated compared to their Southern counterparts. They worked not on large plantations, but rather on small family farms, often alongside their masters.[19] However, they were still slaves – property, subject to being bought, sold, and abused.

During Lovejoy’s tenure as editor of the Times, he had been silent on the subject of slavery, expressing no strong personal conviction on the subject. For a time, he had employed a slave, William, in his office. William later recalled, “Mr. Lovejoy was a very good man, and decidedly the best master that I had ever had.”[20]

After his conversion, Lovejoy began to see the evil of slavery. At one time, he had been interested in colonization (sending slaves back to Africa as colonists), but he now rejected that proposal.[21] He also rejected abolitionists’ demands for immediate emancipation. Instead, he took a middle ground, believing that slaves should be freed only after they had received sufficient preparation for freedom.[22] However, he steadily inched closer to an abolitionist point of view.[23]

Lovejoy gradually began to take a stand against slavery in the Observer.[24] In June 1834, seven months after the Observer was established, he wrote in his first antislavery article, “Slavery is a curse, politically and morally, to every state where it exists.”[25] A month later, he declared, “Slavery as it now exists among us, must cease to exist.”[26]

As Lovejoy printed editorial after editorial denouncing slavery, he acquired many enemies in the St. Louis area. His bitter, prejudiced anti-Catholic articles also angered many St. Louis residents, one-third of whom were Catholic. In September 1835, while attending a Presbyterian meeting 60 miles from St. Louis, Lovejoy narrowly escaped a plot to tar and feather him.[27] Hearing of proslavery mobs in St. Louis, all his friends advised him to delay his return until the city was safer – all, that is, but his wife, who advised him, “Go if you think duty calls you.” So Lovejoy went.[28]

He found St. Louis “in a state of dreadful alarm and excitement.”[29] Several newspapers in the city were printing bitter, slanderous articles against him. Nine of the Observer’s most ardent supporters asked him to cease his antislavery articles.[30]

Faced with this opposition and the Observer’s financial problems (Lovejoy had mortgaged the paper in order to pay his employees), Lovejoy resigned from the Observer. The proprietors handed the paper’s assets over to the mortgagee, who, to Lovejoy’s surprise, asked him to stay on as editor. Lovejoy happily accepted the offer.[31]

No harm was done to the Observer or its editor through the fall and winter of 1835-36. However, just when it seemed that the matter would finally be put to rest, the issue exploded.

The spark that ignited the bomb was a free mulatto named Francis McIntosh. McIntosh was arrested in St. Louis for an unknown offense in April 1836 by Constable William Mull and Sheriff George Hammond. Upon being told that he would receive a harsh sentence,[32] McIntosh pulled out a knife and slashed at Mull, severely wounding him. McIntosh then plunged the knife into Hammond’s throat and ran away. Hammond attempted to pursue him, but collapsed, lifeless, after about fifty steps.

McIntosh was quickly seized by angry slavery supporters and tied to a tree on the outskirts of St. Louis. A pile of boards was then built up around him and set afire. McIntosh’s cries for mercy were in vain.[33] He was consumed by the flames in about twenty minutes.[34]

This episode horrified Lovejoy, and in an emotional editorial he condemned the act and the “spirit of mobism” behind it, asking, “Is it not time to stop?”[35] This stand prompted the vandalism of some of his printing equipment.[36] Lovejoy, having had enough of the endless violence, printed a notice in the June 21, 1836 issue of the Observer, announcing that the paper was moving across the river to Alton, Illinois.[37] In the same issue, a scathing editorial criticized the judge in the trial of the mob.[38] The appropriately-named Judge Lawless “practically told the grand jury not to find anyone guilty of the McIntosh slaying, and then he proceeded to blame Lovejoy for what happened!” The jury found all mob members innocent. [39]

Though Lovejoy’s criticism was justified, it was the last straw for proslavery forces. As the printing press sat on Alton’s wharf awaiting transport to the new office, a mob destroyed it and threw it into the Mississippi River.[40]

Lovejoy was not the only editor to have his press destroyed. In 1812, a mob destroyed a press belonging to a Baltimore paper because of that paper’s criticism of President Madison’s administration.[41] In July 1836, an abolitionist press in Cincinnati was thrown into the Ohio River.[42] In 1855, an antislavery press was thrown into the Missouri River and the editor was warned “to leave Missouri not to return.”[43]

Unperturbed, Lovejoy ordered a new press. At a public meeting, the citizens of Alton pledged their wholehearted support for the Observer.[44] Alton was a peaceful, rapidly growing community of some 2500 residents.[45] It seemed like a good place to raise a family (Lovejoy had an infant son by this time[46]), and the citizens seemed hospitable to the Observer.

The new press arrived on September 8, 1836, and Lovejoy edited the Observer in comparative peace for several months. He wrote less of slavery than he had previously, because, he said, in a “free state where the evil does not exist, I feel myself less called upon to discuss the subject.”[47] There were only about 20 slaves in Madison County (in which Alton is located);[48] probably those who had been grandfathered in when Illinois entered the Union as a free state in 1818.[49]

On July 6, 1837, the Observer printed an article calling for a statewide antislavery society. Indignant proslavery citizens held a meeting a few days later, passed resolutions criticizing the article,[50] and soon moved beyond words. On August 21, a mob again attempted to tar and feather Lovejoy, and later that night his second press was thrown into the river.[51] He ordered a third press, only to have it destroyed upon arrival.[52]

Even without a press, Lovejoy continued to stand firm against slavery. He printed a notice in the Alton Telegraph inviting abolitionists to an antislavery meeting in Alton on October 26. At the request of Edward Beecher, who helped organize the meeting, this invitation was later modified to allow all “friends of free discussion” to attend, regardless of their views on slavery.[53] This amendment proved disastrous. An Alton resident explained, “The call for members was unfortunately so wide, that the instigators and abettors of the mobs, and even the actors in them, found no difficulty in gaining entrance…an entire afternoon was spent in heated debate.”[54]

The next day was even worse. More slavery supporters attended, and instead of antislavery resolutions, the group passed a proslavery resolution. Disgusted abolitionists ended the meetings after the second day.[55]

Slavery supporters, encouraged by this turn of events, held public meetings on November 2 and 3. Lovejoy’s friends proposed resolutions supporting him, but these were replaced by resolutions urging that Lovejoy “be no longer identified with any newspaper establishment in this city”[56] – a thinly veiled call for Lovejoy and the Observer to leave Alton permanently.

After hearing these resolutions, Lovejoy rose to speak.

…I have asked for nothing but to be protected in my rights as a citizen – rights which God has given me, and which are guaranteed to me by the constitution of my country…I plant myself, sir, down on my unquestionable rights, and the question to be decided is, whether I shall be protected in the exercise, and enjoyment of those rights…If the civil authorities refuse to protect me, I must look to God; and if I die, I have determined to make my grave in Alton.[57]

By the end of his remarks, many in the audience were in tears, moved by the power and conviction with which he spoke.[58] However, despite Lovejoy’s stirring speech, the proslavery resolutions were passed, heightening public sentiment against him.[59]

The fourth press arrived at 3 AM on November 7, 1837. Lovejoy and a few others quietly unloaded it and transported it to a warehouse belonging to Winthrop Gilman, one of Lovejoy’s supporters.[60] Lovejoy and Beecher guarded the press until dawn. There were no attacks that night.[61]

The next night, however, was another story. As darkness approached, a temporary militia company of 42 men gathered at the warehouse to guard the press. At 9 PM, most of them left, leaving Lovejoy and 13 others to protect the press.[62] A mob, which included some of the city’s most respectable citizens,[63] arrived at 10 PM and began attacking the fortress-like warehouse. It was all over four hours later. With the roof afire and their leader dead, the defenders surrendered the press, which was then triumphantly dumped into the Mississippi River.

Lovejoy’s funeral, held the next day, was attended by only a few brave friends. As his body was carried through the rain to the Alton cemetery, mob members jeered and laughed. A church bell tolled, a short prayer was said, and Lovejoy’s body was lowered into the grave. The mourners turned sadly away. It seemed that everything Lovejoy had worked for was lost.[64]

However, Lovejoy’s legacy did not end with his murder and the destruction of his press. The impact of his death was felt all over the United States. Newspapers in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Louisville, and many other cities printed articles condemning the mob.[65] Soon all of America knew of Lovejoy’s murder, and he quickly became known as a martyr to dual causes: freedom of the press and freedom for the slave. It was in the latter area that his death made the most significant impact.

Although Lovejoy was killed for his stand, his death gave new life to the antislavery movement. As one scholar states, abolitionists “had to have a martyr.”[66] Lovejoy was that martyr, and his martyrdom shook the nation.

One newspaper predicted that from every drop of Lovejoy’s blood would spring a new antislavery society,[67] and this was not much of an exaggeration. Before this, abolitionists were often seen as zealous fanatics who would do anything to further their cause.[68] As a result of Lovejoy’s murder, the tables were turned. His death enraged the nation and became a symbol of everything that was negative about slavery. Americans were horrified to hear that a proslavery mob had trampled on Lovejoy’s freedom of the press and murdered him for expressing his beliefs. Many Americans now saw proslavery forces as people who were willing to kill innocent men in order to silence them, and they were no longer willing to support slavery.

Lovejoy’s death also inspired those who were already abolitionists to take a stronger stand against slavery. Lovejoy’s brother, Owen, pledged to “never forsake the cause that has been sprinkled with my brother’s blood.”[69] He became a prominent abolitionist congressman, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln,[70] and, according to one scholar, “the principal architect of the Emancipation Proclamation.”[71]

At a public meeting in Boston, a young lawyer named Wendell Phillips made a stirring speech in memory of Lovejoy. “He took refuge under the banner of liberty,” said Phillips, “and when he fell, its glorious stars and stripes…were blotted out in the martyr’s blood.”[72] Phillips later became an eloquent orator for the abolitionist movement.[73]

At a memorial service for Lovejoy, a man by the name of John Brown lifted his right hand and pledged, “From this time I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!”[74]

Yet another abolitionist who was affected by Lovejoy’s death was Edward Beecher’s sister Harriet, who read Beecher’s book about the Alton riots “from cover to cover…many times.”[75] Fourteen years later, motivated in large part by the events at Alton,[76] Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which has been called “one of the two greatest boosts the antislavery movement had” – the other being the murder of Lovejoy.[77]

According to one historian, “The shots fired at Alton on November 7, 1837, would be…the beginning of the Civil War.”[78] Lovejoy’s death catalyzed the increasing polarization between North and South, slave and free, and neither side was willing to give an inch. There was no turning back. A monumental confrontation was inevitable.

Primary Sources

Beecher, Edward. Narrative of Riots at Alton. Alton, IL: George Holton, 1838.

Beecher was a prominent Illinois abolitionist and one of Lovejoy’s main supporters. His detailed account of the events of 1837 was indispensable in reconstructing those events, especially the various public meetings.

Brown, William Wells. The Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave. 1848. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1969.

Brown, an African-American novelist, was a slave for much of his life. At one point, his master hired him out to the Times office, where Lovejoy taught him to read and write. His statements about Lovejoy’s character helped me to understand Lovejoy’s feelings about slavery before his conversion. In addition, it helped me understand what slavery in Missouri was like while Lovejoy was living there.

Darby, John F. Personal Recollections. 1880. St. Louis: Hawthorn, 1978.

Darby was mayor of St. Louis during the McIntosh incident, and his account of the episode, along with the Observer’s account, was one of my primary resources in writing about it. Darby’s account had an obvious proslavery bias, which helped me to overcome my own antislavery bias when presenting the episode.

Lincoln, William S. Alton Trials. 1838. Miami: Mnemosyne, 1969.

This book contains the proceedings of the trials of the mob members and the defenders of Lovejoy’s fourth press. The witnesses’ testimonies helped me better understand the events leading up to and including the martyrdom of Lovejoy.

Lovejoy, Elijah. Alton Observer 8 Sept. 1836 – 19 April 1837.

The advertisements, notices, articles, and editorials – from minutes of religious meetings to ads for beet sugar – in Lovejoy’s paper helped me to understand the focus and content of the Alton Observer. After Lovejoy’s death, a group in Cincinnati published the Observer for a time. In their first issue, the Observer reprinted articles from papers across the nation expressing outrage and horror over Lovejoy’s murder, which were helpful in understanding public reaction to Lovejoy’s murder.

--. St. Louis Observer 3 Sept. 1835 – 10 Aug. 1836.

During Lovejoy’s time in St. Louis, his views on slavery underwent a dramatic transformation. Antislavery articles written by Lovejoy helped me to understand his views on slavery and how they changed over time. In addition, information about the move to Alton was printed in the St. Louis Observer and gave me useful information about that transition.

Lovejoy, Joseph and Owen. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. 1838. Robert Tabscott and Robert Holt, eds. St. Louis: The Lovejoy Press, 2002.

This book was probably the most important source I used. Written by Lovejoy’s brothers the year after he died, the book contains many of Lovejoy’s editorials, letters, and speeches, as well as editorial comments by his brothers. It was useful in researching nearly every event in Lovejoy’s life, and it was essential in reconstructing his early life.

Lovejoy, Owen. His Brother’s Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838-64. William and Jane Moore, eds. Urbana, IL: U of Illinois P, 2004.

These letters, speeches and other resources, as well as the Moores’ editorial comments, helped me to understand just how much of an impact Lovejoy’s death had on his younger brother Owen, who became a prominent abolitionist.

Phillips, Wendell. Speeches, Lectures, and Letters. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1863.

Wendell Phillips, a then-unknown lawyer, was deeply moved by Lovejoy’s death and made a powerful speech regarding it. This speech transformed him into a nationally-known abolitionist.

Tanner, Henry. The Martyrdom of Lovejoy. 1881. New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1971.

Tanner’s book was very helpful as an eyewitness account of the events of fall 1837. However, because it was written nearly fifty years after Lovejoy’s death and contains some fairly major discrepancies, I used it mostly to gain an additional perspective on a certain incident, not as the main source for an event.

United States. Census Bureau. Abstract of the Returns of the Fifth Census. 1832. 6 Feb. 2006.
16 Feb. 2006 <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/ documents/1830a-01.pdf>.

This record of the 1830 census provided county-level population data on whites, free blacks, and slaves. I found it especially useful for my study of slavery in St. Louis, as well as for studying slavery throughout Missouri and Illinois.

Secondary Sources

Bartlett, Irving H. Wendell Phillips: Brahmin Radical. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961.

This biography of Phillips contained an abundance of information about Phillips’ response to Lovejoy’s murder. I found this information very useful, as well as the book’s information about Phillips’ later speeches and accomplishments.

Birney, William. James G. Birney and His Times. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1890.

Birney’s paper, the Cincinnati Philanthropist, was the paper whose press was destroyed right after Lovejoy’s first press. I relied on the book for information on that incident. Birney was a prominent abolitionist, so the book also helped me to gain perspective on the abolitionist movement.

Dickerson, Donna Lee. The Course of Tolerance: Freedom of the Press in Nineteenth-Century America. New York: Greenwood, 1990.

This book included a chapter on violence against abolitionists, which was useful for its information on the abolitionist Cincinnati Philanthropist, whose press was destroyed by a mob, and on the reaction to Lovejoy’s death from both pro- and antislavery newspapers.

Dillon, Merton L. Elijah P. Lovejoy, Abolitionist Editor. Urbana, IL: U of Illinois P, 1961.

I found Dillon’s biography to be a very thorough account of Lovejoy’s life, and consulted it throughout my research for specific facts and information that I was unable to find in other sources.

Emery, Michael and Edwin. The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media. 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.

I found several useful statistics in this book, which helped me to understand the prevalence and nature of newspapers during the time Lovejoy was publishing the Observer.

Frazier, Harriet C. Slavery and Crime in Missouri, 1773-1865. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2001.

This book contained a detailed account of the McIntosh incident, which helped me in reconstructing the events of the last day of Francis McIntosh’s life. In addition, it contained useful information about the trial of the mob.

Gill, John. Tide Without Turning: Elijah P. Lovejoy and Freedom of the Press. Boston: Starr King Press, 1958.

Gill’s dramatic portrayal of Lovejoy’s life gave me new perspectives on incidents that other books related dryly, giving me ideas of new ways I could write about those events. This helped me to make the paper more interesting and enjoyable to read.

Hair, James T. Gazetteer of Madison County. 1866. Evansville, IN: Unigraphic, 1973.

This book was useful for specific statistics and historical facts on both Alton, which is in Madison County, and the county as a whole.

Harris, N. Dwight. The History of Negro Servitude in Illinois. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1904.

While slavery was not common in Illinois, indentured servanthood was widespread, and conditions for Negro servants were often little better than slavery. Harris’ book helped me understand this phenomenon and how it may have affected Lovejoy.

Jameson, Melvin. Elijah Parish Lovejoy as a Christian. Rochester: Scranton, Wetmore & Co., 1910.

Lovejoy’s Presbyterian faith strongly influenced his beliefs, writings, and actions on the subject of slavery. This book, as its title suggests, was very useful for information about his religious convictions.

Lovejoy: The Vigil. Dir. Bobby Miller. Writ. Robert Tabscott. DVD. 1987. Elijah Parish Lovejoy Society, n.d.

This documentary dramatically portrayed major events in Lovejoy’s life, which brought Lovejoy’s life alive to me and helped me to make my paper interesting to read. It also included helpful analysis of the importance of Lovejoy’s life and death and why he is important to Americans today.

Magdol, Edward. Owen Lovejoy: Abolitionist in Congress. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1967.

The foundation of Owen Lovejoy’s remarkable political career was the memory of his brother. In this comprehensive biography, Magdol explained just how deeply Owen was affected by his brother’s death and chronicles his later political career, which helped me to understand Owen’s relationship to Elijah and his major political accomplishments.

Marriner, Ernest Cummings. The History of Colby College. Waterville, ME: Colby College P, 1963.

This book, a history of Lovejoy’s alma mater, provided useful detailed information about Lovejoy’s college years as well as background information about the institution.

May, Samuel J. Some Recollections of Our Antislavery Conflict. Boston: Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1869.

May’s insights on the history of the antislavery movement helped me as I gathered background information on abolitionism. In addition, the book’s section on Lovejoy helped me to understand the impact that Lovejoy’s death made on the abolitionist movement.

Moore, William F. “Increased Devotion: Essay on the Relationship of Elijah and Owen in American History.” Unpublished essay.

This essay touched briefly on Owen’s reaction to his brother’s death, and then focused on Owen’s later political career, explaining how the memory of his brother guided his antislavery views – information that was very helpful in my paper.

Moore, William F. and Jane Ann. E-mail interview. 28 Feb. 2006 – 3 Mar. 2006.

The Moores, historians who have done extensive research on Owen Lovejoy, answered questions for me via a series of emails over several days. They gave me a lot of useful information about Owen, including details about how he was affected by his brother’s death and his later career as a politician and abolitionist.

Mott, Frank Luther. American Journalism: A History 1690-1960. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1962.

This book, along with Tebbel’s Compact History of the American Newspaper, helped me understand the early history of newspapers, get a glimpse of what newspapers were like in Lovejoy’s time, and gather useful statistics on newspapers.

Reynolds, David S. John Brown, Abolitionist. New York: Knopf, 2005.

This biography of John Brown helped me to understand how Brown was impacted by Lovejoy’s death. I also gathered information about Brown’s later abolitionist activities, which were at least partially motivated by the memory of Lovejoy’s murder.

Ryun, Jim, Ned, and Drew. Heroes Among Us. Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 2002.

I first became interested in Lovejoy when I read the Ryuns’ account of his life. The Ryuns’ vivid portrayal of the November 7 mob helped me to write about the event in a way that was interesting and dramatic. Also, one of the footnotes led me to a helpful analysis of Lovejoy’s impact in Simon’s Freedom’s Champion.

Scott, John Anthony. Woman Against Slavery: The Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1978.

This book helped me to understand Stowe’s relationship to her brother, Edward, how she was impacted by Lovejoy’s death, and how the memory of that event affected the views she expressed in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Simon, Paul. Freedom’s Champion: Elijah Lovejoy. Rpt. of Lovejoy, Martyr to Freedom. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1994.

Freedom’s Champion is a reprint of Lovejoy, Martyr to Freedom. It is some 50 pages longer and completely revised. I found it to be very thorough and helpful for a variety of different topics. In particular, chapter 9, “The Nation is Stirred,” was very useful as I researched the national impact of Lovejoy’s martyrdom.

---. Lovejoy, Martyr to Freedom. St. Louis: Concordia, 1964.

Simon’s well-researched biography of Lovejoy was indispensable to my research, and was especially helpful in choosing the more accurate of two conflicting accounts, which was something I had to do on multiple occasions.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 1853. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat, 1968.

According to the title page, Stowe wrote this book to present “the original facts and documents upon which the story [Uncle Tom’s Cabin] is founded.” The book is a collection of antislavery arguments, newspaper articles and advertisements, and stories of atrocities committed against slaves and their supporters. The story of Lovejoy’s murder is included, and it helped me tremendously in understanding the profound impact that Lovejoy’s death left on Stowe.

Tabscott, Robert. “Elijah Parish Lovejoy.” Freedom School: Stories and Commentaries. Audiocassette. Elijah Parish Lovejoy Society, 1993.

Tabscott is a historian specializing in African-American history, especially in the St. Louis area. He is the head of the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Society, which published this collection along with Lovejoy’s Memoir and The Vigil. In this recorded essay, he explained the significance of Lovejoy’s death and its relevance to us today.

---. “Lovejoy, the Yale Band, and Illinois College.” Manuscript.

Tabscott is in the process of writing a book on Lovejoy. He graciously sent me this chapter from his manuscript, which helped me understand Lovejoy’s relationship to Edward Beecher (president of Illinois College) and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

---. Telephone interview. 28 February 2006.

I had asked Dr. Tabscott for an e-mail interview, but when I called to confirm that this would work out, he gave me an impromptu telephone interview instead. His thoughts on the impact of Lovejoy’s death on the antislavery movement were very useful in my paper.

Taft, William H. Show-me Journalists: The First 200 Years. Marceline, MO: Heritage House, 2003.

Taft’s book introduced me to important personalities and events in Missouri journalism. It was especially helpful for its account of George S. Park, whose press was thrown into the Missouri River in 1855 because of his antislavery views.

Tebbel, John. The Compact History of the American Newspaper. New York: Hawthorn, 1969.

From this book I gleaned statistics on American newspapers and a “big picture” perspective on early American newspapers, particularly those in the West.

Trexler, Harrison Anthony. “Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865.” 1914. Slavery in the States: Selected Essays. New York: Negro UP, 1969.

Slavery in Missouri was very different from slavery in, say, Virginia. This book helped me to see slavery the way Lovejoy did, and understand exactly what slavery, as Lovejoy knew it, was like.

von der Ahe, Ruth. “Early History of Alton, Illinois.” Diss. Washington U, 1941.

This dissertation was helpful to me as I researched what Alton was like when Lovejoy lived there, and Lovejoy’s reasons for moving to Alton. It was also useful in understanding the huge impact that Lovejoy’s martyrdom had on the town’s economy and reputation.

Wolf, Hazel Catherine. On Freedom’s Altar: The Martyr Complex in the Abolition Movement. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1952.

This book, which was somewhat critical of abolitionists, helped me to explain the impact of Lovejoy’s death in a balanced way. In addition, it introduced me to some other “martyrs” for the abolitionist cause and gave me insights on the abolitionist movement as a whole.