Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy | |
---|---|
U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois | |
In office March 4, 1857 – March 25, 1864 | |
Preceded by | Jesse O. Norton |
Succeeded by | Ebon C. Ingersoll |
Constituency | 3rd district (1857–1863) 5th district (1863–1864) |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Residence | Princeton, Illinois |
Alma mater | Bowdoin College |
Occupation | Minister |
Signature | |
Website | BioGuide |
Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer,
Early life and education
Born in Albion, Maine in 1811, Lovejoy was one of five brothers born to Elizabeth (Patee) and Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister and farmer. He worked with his family on the farm until he was 18, and his parents encouraged his education. His father was a Congregational minister and his mother was very devout.[1] Lovejoy attended Bowdoin College from 1830 to 1833.[2] He studied law but never practiced.[3]
Career
Lovejoy migrated to
Owen was present on the night of November 7, 1837 when his brother Elijah was murdered while trying to defend the printing press of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society from an angry mob.
Lovejoy served as pastor of the
In 1854 Lovejoy was elected a member of the
In February 1859, Lovejoy responded to the Democrats' charges that by aiding runaway slaves and opposing slavery he was a "negro stealer", saying on the floor of Congress that:
Proclaim it upon the house-tops! Write it upon every leaf that trembles in the forest! Make it blaze from the sun at high noon and shine forth in the radiance of every star that bedecks the firmament of God. Let it echo through all the arches of heaven, and reverberate and bellow through all the deep gorges of hell, where slave catchers will be very likely to hear it. Owen Lovejoy lives at Princeton, Illinois, three-quarters of a mile east of the village, and he aids every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Thou invisible demon of slavery! Dost thou think to cross my humble threshold, and forbid me to give bread to the hungry and shelter to the houseless? I bid you defiance in the name of my God.[7][8]
Lovejoy was a platform speaker in support of Abraham Lincoln in the famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas. While in Congress, he "introduced the final bill to end slavery in the District of Columbia," long a goal of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also helped gain passage of legislation prohibiting slavery in the territories.[6] He was one of the few steadfast Congressional supporters of Lincoln during the American Civil War. Lincoln wrote, "To the day of his death, it would scarcely wrong any other to say, he was my most generous friend."[4]
In an April 5, 1860 speech before the U.S. House of Representatives, Lovejoy castigated the Democrats and their racist justifications for supporting slavery, saying:
The principle of enslaving human beings because they are inferior, is this. If a man is a cripple, trip him up; if he is old and weak, and bowed with the weight of years, strike him, for he cannot strike back; if idiotic, take advantage of him; and if a child, deceive him. This, sir, this is the doctrine of Democrats and the doctrine of devils as well, and there is no place in the universe outside the five points of hell and the Democratic Party where the practice and prevalence of such doctrines would not be a disgrace.[9]
As Lovejoy gave his speech condemning slavery, several Democrats in the audience, such as
Later life and death
Lovejoy died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1864. His body was returned to Illinois for burial at Oakland Cemetery in Princeton. When he died Lincoln stated: "I've lost the best friend I had in the house [of representatives]"[12]
Personal life
Lovejoy was the cousin of Maine Senator Nathan A. Farwell.
Legacy
- The city of Princeton maintains and preserves his home, the slaves. It is open to the public to view.
- After his death, an obelisk was erected in Princeton in his honor, and a letter from U.S. President Lincoln said: "Let him have his marble monument along with the well assured and more enduring one in the hearts of all those who love Liberty unselfishly and for all."[13]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ General Catalogue of Bowdoin College 1794-1950, page 68
- ^ a b Congressional biography
- ^ ISBN 0-15-602611-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ Clifton H. Johnson, "The Amistad Incident and the Formation of the American Missionary Association", New Conversations, Vol. XI (Winter/Spring 1989), pp. 3-6
- ^ ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ^ Isaac Newton Arnold (1866). The history of Abraham Lincoln, and the overthrow of slavery. Clarke & Company. p. 225.
- ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-393-08082-7.
- ISBN 0-252-02919-4. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- United States Congress. "Owen Lovejoy (id: L000462)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Several instances of Owen in Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln the War Years
Further reading
- Moore, Jane, and William Moore. Owen Lovejoy and the Coalition for Equality: Clergy, African Americans, and Women United for Abolition (University of Illinois Press, 2019).
- Moore, William F., and Jane Ann Moore. Collaborators for Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln and Owen Lovejoy (University of Illinois Press, 2014).
- Snay, Mitchell. "Abraham Lincoln, Owen Lovejoy, and the emergence of the republican party in Illinois." Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 22.1 (2001): 82–99.
- Trefousse, Hans L. "Owen Lovejoy and Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War." Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 22.1 (2001): 14–32.
Primary sources
- Owen Lovejoy, His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings (1838-1864), edited by William Frederick Moore and Jane Anne Moore, University of Illinois Press, 2004