Narrative of the Riots at Alton

'Edward Beecher... describes Lovejoy as the first martyr in America to the great principles of the freedom of speech and of the press...see Edward Beecher, Narrative of Riots at Alton.' - Cast Down: Abjection in America, 1700-1850 (2016)'An electrifying tremor all across the North...Lovejoy died defending his fourth printing press, three others having been destroyed...the events in Alton brought Edward Beecher ...to a decision for abolitionism.' - A religious history of the American people (2004)'Not until 1837 , when Elijah Lovejoy was murdered by an anti - abolitionist mob in Alton , Illinois , did the tension of the slavery issue surface in Jacksonville.' - The Social Order of a Frontier Community, Jacksonville, Illinois, 1825-70 (1983)'Edward Beecher...in 1837...defended the freedom of the press in the case of Elijah P. Lovejoy, an antislavery agitator at Alton...when Lovejoy's presses were destroyed by the mob, Beecher helped to obtain and secrete a new one.' - The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1908)'The press came at night and Mr. Lovejoy and Mr. Beecher went to the landing, superintended its storing in the warehouse and guarded it till morning...the warehouse was attacked by the mob and Mr. Lovejoy were killed.' -Illinois State Historical Society (1905)Why is Elijah Lovejoy of Alton regarded as the first American martyr for freedom of speech and of the press? What dangers did he overcome to defend these fundamental rights from a violent mob that repeatedly destroyed his printing presses?In 1838, Edward Beecher (1803 -1895), president of Illinois College who had helped Lovejoy obtain his last printing press, would write an account of the murder of Lovejoy by a pro-slavery mob in his book titled 'Narrative of the Riots at Alton.'In introducing his book, Beecher writes: 'It often happens that events, in themselves of no great importance, are invested with unusual interest in consequence of their connection with principles of universal application, or with momentous results. Of this kind are the events which preceded and led to the death of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy: the first martyr in America to the great principles of the freedom of speech and of the press.'Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1802 -1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. After having moved his newspaper from St. Louis, Missouri to Alton, Illinois, he was fatally shot during an attack by a pro-slavery mob. They were seeking to destroy a warehouse owned by Winthrop Sargent Gilman and Benjamin Godfrey, which held Lovejoy's press and abolitionist materials.According to John Quincy Adams, the murder '[gave] a shock as of an earthquake throughout this country'. 'The Boston Recorder declared that these events called forth from every part of the land 'a burst of indignation which has not had its parallel in this country since the Battle of Lexington.'' About the author: Edward Beecher D.D. was born August 27, 1803, and died July 28, 1895. He was an American theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. In 1830, he became the first president of Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illinois, where he remained president for 14 years. He was a close friend of Elijah P. Lovejoy and helped organize the first anti-slavery society in Illinois. His wife, Isabella, wrote to his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, to inspire her to write 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.'