Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1897-11-13
THE LOYEJOY MONUMENT.

| THE LONEJOY MONUMENT
The heavy rain Of Sunday and the
muddy condition of the streets inter
fered somewhat with the programme
for the dedication exercises.
The exercises, which were to have
been held at the cemetery, were, ow-
ing to the inclement weather, held
at Temple theater with the programme
as follows Music. Invocation-Rev.
NJ, Jameson; "America,' by chorus;
"The Rise of the Monument" :"
Edward p. Wade; address, Hon.
Thomas Dimmock; presentation, Miss
Herb; Concord Hymn" chorus; ad-
dress for the colored citizens, Rev. j.
W. Wilkerson tribute to the late Hon.
Charles a. Herb, first president of the
Lovejoy association, by Senator d. L.
Sparks; Battle Hymn of the Repub-
lie" chorus; address for the state of
Illinois Lieut.-Gov. w. A. Northcott.
representing Gov. Tanner; "Old Hun
dred, chorus; Benediction Rev H. X.
Sanborne
There were several relatives of Love
joy present. They were Mrs. j. A. An
drews, of Boston, Mass, a niece of the
martyr. Z. T.. and c. p. Lovejoy, of
Princeton, H., nephews, and w. o.
Lovejoy, of Princeton, ILL.,, a second
cousin. Mr.. }. p. Larned, of Green
vile, H., who is the only survivor of
the eye-witnesses to the murder of
Lovejoy, was also upon the stage.
The address of the day was made by
Thomas W. Dimmock, of st. Louis.
Mr.. Dimnock was in former years a
resident of Alton, and to him is due
the preservation of the grave of Love
joy, which was originally but simple
affair, and III the years after the first
wave of excitement following the kill
ing was altogether lost. Mr. DimmocS
sought the Old negro sexton who had
buried the martyr, and with him To-
Gated the grave, which he marked with
a marble scroll.
He was followed by Rev. j. r. Will
kerson, a negro divine, chosen by his
people to represent them at the dedica-
tion. Rev, Willlerson expressed at
length the deep gratitude which his
people felt for Lovejoy, who had dared
TO odvocate their liberty at the peril Of
his life, and with a high sense of justice
the sole actuating motive. THE ne
gro he said, will never cease to re-
member him, to be grateful to him, to
reverence him, us one of the greatest of
the benefactors of his race"
Elijah p. Lovejoy was editor Of the Alton OBJ
server the successor to a paper which had been
published in ST. Louis, where the slavery feel
Ing was so strong as to compel the removal Of
the Office to Alton though not through any
fear on Lovejoy's part for through the
many trying Ordcals to which he was
put, he always manifested bravery
born of honest purpose and stead
fast convictions. The ndignitieS he suf-
fered in st. Louis by the destruction of his
presses were repeated here, for Alton then had |
its quota OF sympathizers with the cause of
slavery. On Sunday morning, July u, 1896, his |
press arrived, and that night it was destroyed |
However citizens came to the rescue, a new |
press was purchased. and on September ap- |
peared the first number of the famous Alton |
Observer On July of the following year he |
published an editorial in substance that God |
would not longer endure slavery and that |
SUUO,OOO of slaves were carrying out for free
dom. This was roundly condemned, and u
mass meeting was held. but nothing came |
of it, In August he was assaulted one night |
while taking home some medicine to his sick |
wife. He was told the intention was to tar and |
feather him. He told them to take the medi- |
cine home, and to do as they wished with him.
for lie was in the hands of God. The answer |
was more than the aSSaulterS could stand. and |
they allowed him to go home. Later, three
more presses We're destroyed, but Lovejoy was
determined and defiant. Then came the last |
press. 1t arrived from Cincinnati by boat on
November o. late at night, on the |
next night, between 10 and II o'clock the mob
came to the old Godfrey, Gilman Il Co.'S |
warehouse, and William Carr demanded the |
press w. s Gilman refused to give it up |
Then the mob began throwing stones and firing
pistols. Mayor krum endeavored to dsperse |
the mob, but to no avail A man got on the |
warehouse roof to set it atire, and Loyeioy went
out to dislodge him. In the bright moonlight
he was recognized, and five bullets were sent |
into his body. He died within five minutes |
Lovejoy was buried on November ., and Rev.
Thomas Lippincott delivered the funeral ora
tion.
For years the body of Lovejoy lay in
a neglected part Of the cemetery. Time
passed on until but one man could find
the spot. This was William Brudon,
who for years had been sexton. Here
it was that Mr.. Thomas Dimmock, of |
st. Louis, came to the rescue, and he
had Brudon disin ter the martyrs bones
and place them in vault. Later he
secured lot, and Lovejoy's dust was
again buried, this time marked with
modes. marble scroll. This is but
short distance north Of where the mon
ument is located. For nearly ten years
past the colored people have annually
visited his grave, and piled high the
flowers in loving remembrance.
To whom this monument is due is not
exactly known, but Col William Arm.
strong was one of the first to agitate
the matter. The late Hon. Charles A.
Herb was in the senate at that time,
and through his efforts the legislature
appropriated S25 900 for the monument,
on condition that the citizens OF Alton |
would contribute S5,00O This they
did, and the monument was assured.
or the plans offered, the one of r. p.
Bringhurst, the st. Louis sculptor, was
accepted. Later the contract was
awarded to the Culver Stone Co., OF
Springfield, and a year ago work was
begun on the monument