Voting Station

Elijah P. Lovejoy

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Publisher

The Resume

    (November 9, 1802-November 7, 1837)
    Born in Albion, Maine
    Presbyterian minister/abolitionist/newspaper publisher
    Owner, pubisher and editor of the St. Louis Observer (1832-36)
    Moved the newspaper to Alton, Illinois (1836)
    Killed by a pro-slavery mob attacking the warehouse containing his printing press

Why he might be annoying:

    Before a religious conversion, he was co-owner of a newspaper that ran ads offering slaves for sale.
    Before taking up abolition, he ran a series of anti-Catholic editorials in the Observer, ticking off a large portion of the city's population.
    Upon moving to Alton, he assured nervous city officials that he did not plan to write much about slavery now that he was in a free state.
    He then preceded to publish one anti-slavery editorial after another.
    He died to protect a printing press, which immediately after his death was broken up and thrown into the river.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He graduated at the top of his class from Waterville College.
    He graduated ahead of schedule from Princeton Theological Seminary.
    He was repeatedly threatened by mobs and his offices and printing presses were frequently damaged or destroyed.
    He refused to back down in the face of violence.
    Five days before his death, he made an appeal to the people of Alton, saying '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.'
    He died a martyr to abolition and freedom of the press.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying