 elijah parish lovejoy (november 9, 1802 â november 7, 1837) was an american presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. he was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in alton, illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials. lovejoy's father was an congregational minister and his mother a devout christian. he attended waterville college (now colby college) in his home state of maine. from 1824 until his 1826 graduation, while still an undergraduate, he also served as headmaster of colbyâs associated high school, the latin school (later coburn classical institute). he traveled west and in 1827 settled in st. louis, missouri. he worked as an editor of an anti-jacksonian newspaper, the st. louis observer and ran a school. five years later, he studied at the princeton theological seminary in new jersey and became an ordained presbyterian preacher. returning to st. louis, he set up a church and resumed work as editor of the observer. his editorials criticized slavery and other church denominations. in may 1836, after anti-abolitionist opponents in st. louis destroyed his printing press for the third time, lovejoy left the city and moved across the river to alton in the free state of illinois. in 1837 he started the alton observer, also an abolitionist paper. on november 7, 1837, a pro-slavery mob attacked the warehouse where lovejoy had his fourth printing press. lovejoy and his supporters exchanged gunfire with the mob, which fatally shot him. he died on the spot and was soon hailed as a martyr by abolitionists across the country. after his death, his brother owen lovejoy entered politics and became the leader of the illinois abolitionists. ==early life and education== lovejoy was born at his grandfather's frontier farmhouse near albion, maine, as the first of the nine children of elizabeth (pattee) and reverend daniel lovejoy.lawson and howard, p528. lovejoy's father was a congregational preacher and farmer and his mother, a devout christian. daniel lovejoy named his son "elijah parish" in honor of his close friend and mentor, the reverend elijah parish, who was also involved in politics.dillon, p3. due to his own lack of an education, he encouraged his sonsâdaniel, joseph cammett, owen, john an
1802_births 1837_deaths 19th-century_American_newspaper_editors 19th-century_Presbyterian_ministers 19th-century_journalists American_abolitionists Assassinated_American_activists Colby_College_alumni Deaths_by_firearm_in_Illinois Free_speech_activists Journalists_killed_in_the_United_States Lynching_deaths_in_Illinois People_from_Alton,_Illinois People_from_Kennebec_County,_Maine People_murdered_in_Illinois Presbyterian_Church_(U.S.A.)_teaching_elders Princeton_Theological_Seminary_alumni St._Louis_Observer_people Writers_from_Illinois Writers_from_Missouri