Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/95

 ELIJAH P. LOYEJOY Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born at Albion, Maine, November ninth, 1802. His father, Daniel Lovejoy, was a Presbyterian preacher. Elijah was given a hberal education. He graduated at "Waterville College in September, 1826, and spoke a poem on "The Inspiration of the Muse." In 1827 Mr. Lovejoy determined to cast his lot for life in the great West. He went to St. Louis and established a school. He was a frequent contributor to the newspa- pers, and soon became known as a vigorous writer. A poem, " My Mother," published in the St. Loin's Republican in 1828, was much admired. In 1829 Mr. Lovejoy be- came the editor of a political paper. He advocated the claims of Henry Clay aS a candidate for President of the United States, and was making a favorable impression, as an earnest and skillful political writer, when, in 1832, a change in his religious views caused him to abandon pohtical interests. Having determined to become a preacher, he went to Princeton, New Jersey, and studied theology. He was licensed to preach at Philadelphia, in the summer of 1833, and before winter of the same year, had started a religious paper at St. Louis, which he called TTie Observer. He was a vigor- ous thinker and a plain-spoken writer, and having repeatedly expressed himself against what he perceived to be the wrongs of slavery, was compelled, by threats of mob vio- lence, to remove his paper, in July, 1836, to Alton, Illinois. The enmity which had been excited at St. Louis pursued him, and in less than a year mobs broke three presses. He procured a fourth one, and was preparing to set it up in his office, when a violent attack, by an excited mob, was made upon the building. Shots were ex- changed between the mob and a few friends of the liberty of the press, who were determined to defend it. "When, as it was supposed, the mob had retired, Mr. Lovejoy went to the door to reconnoiter. He was fired upon and received five balls — three were in his breast, and caused his death in a few minutes. The building was then en- tered and the press broken to pieces. Mr. Lovejoy left a wife — Celia Ann French, to whom he was married at St. Charles, Missouri, in 1835 — and one son. These facts are obtained from a memoir prepared by his brothers, Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy ; published by John S. Taylor, at New York, in 1838. John Quincy Adams wrote an introduction for it, in which he dwelt with spirit upon the fact that the incidents of Mr. Lovejoy's death had inspired an interest in his life and character which would not be temporary. Owen Lovejoy is now a member of Congress from Illinois. He is distinguished as a popular orator. (79)