OWEN LOVEJOY
WELCOME.
The Lovejoy Society is dedicated to making available source material and contextual information on the life of Owen Lovejoy and his family.

WHO WAS OWEN LOVEJOY?

Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864) was:

  • the brother of Elijah Lovejoy (who was the martyr for the freedom of the press)
  • a Congregational minister in Princeton, Illinois from 1839-1856
  • a fearless leader in the Underground Railroad
  • an effective political coalition builder
  • an eminent opponent of the Slave Power
  • an enthusiastic family man
  • a gifted orator
  • a compassionate, congenial, practical, undaunted man
  • a leader of the Radical Republicans in Congress 1856-1864
  • “the true hero of the antislavery movement”
  • Abraham Lincoln’s best friend
WHAT THE LOVEJOY SOCIETY DOES

  • Provides primary resource material to researchers.
  • Conducts Symposiums with scholars. (List of Activities)
  • Provides occasional Lovejoy Society Newsletters. (List of Activities)
  • Provides workshops, lectures, speeches and materials on local church antislavery heritage, black and white resistance to slavery, women in the Illinois Antislavery Movement, the words of Owen Lovejoy.

LIST OF LOVEJOY SOCIETY ACTIVITIES

Lovejoy Society Symposiums

March 24, 1996. 'The Little Abolitionists" Colloquium, Papers by: Dr. Iver Yaeger, Rev. Robert Saunders, Mrs. Julia Edgerly, Rev. Jane Ann Moore, Dr. Howard Christofersen, Rev. W.F. Moore.

March 16, 1997. "Congregationalism and the Rise of Lincoln" Participants: Rev. Jack Ray Robinson, Conference Historian, IL. UCC; Rev. Richard Taylor, V.P., Congregational Christian Historical Society; Rev. William F. Moore; Rev. Dr. Jane Ann Moore; Rev. Theodore Erickson.

Sept. 11 and 12, 1998. "Lincoln-Lovejoy Symposium", Presenting are Dr. Clifton Johnson, Dr. Mitchell Snay, (Dr. Rodney Davis, responder); Dr. Hans Trefousse, (Dr. Bruce Tap, responder); Rev. William Moore, (State Historian Thomas Swartz, responder).

March 18, 2000. "Antislavery Religion and the Rise of Abraham Lincoln", Papers by Dr. Allen Guelzo, Dr. Deborah Van Broekhoven, Dr. Tony Stoneburner, Tom Schwartz, Bill Moore.

LOVEJOY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

Each newsletter includes a major speech by Owen Lovejoy with editorial comment.

March 1996, Vol. I No. 1 "Supremacy of the Divine Law" a sermon preached at Princeton, IL Jan.1842 with the text from Acts 5:29, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

June 1996, Vol. I No.2 "Religion and Politics" a sermon preached in Princeton, IL Jan. 20, 1843 on the text from II Samuel 23:3 He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God." Also includes a list of 35 major speeches of the Hon. Rev. Owen Lovejoy M.C.

December 1996 Vol. I No. 3 "After Election Speech" in Princeton, November 19, 1862 as reported in the Geneseo Republic. Also an article by the editor, "From Garrisonian Fanaticism to Protestant Humanitarianism in the Illinois Antislavery Movement."

March 1997 Vol. II No. 1 A typical Lovejoy Stump Speech 1840's given at the North-Western Convention of the Liberty Party 1846, and a Pastoral Letter to Churches of the Rock River Association, along with a list of the Congregational antislavery churches supported by the American Missionary Association as printed in New Conversations 1989.

June, 1997 Vol. II No. 2 Senator Lyman Trumbull's tribute on the death of Hon. Owen Lovejoy, March 28,1864, and an essay by the editor "Increased Devotion" on the relationship of Elijah and Owen Lovejoy in American History.

January 1998, Vol. III No.1 The Amistad Issue with comments on Steven Spielberg's film Amistad and Lovejoy's first major speech as a congressman, Feb, 17, 1858: "Human Beings, Not Property."

February 2000 Vol. IV No. 1 A Lovejoy sermon on "The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees," date unknown, used with special permission of the private collection of Owen Bryant Lovejoy and excerpts of the "No Power on Earth" speech given on February 6, 1855 in the Illinois State Capitol building when Lovejoy was a State Legislator, a few days before the critical vote in the legislature of Lincoln for U.S. Senator.

November 2000 Vol. IV No. 2 An article by the editor on "'The Orator of the West' in the East: Owen Lovejoy in Illinois and Massachusetts" with extensive quotes from his speeches reviewed in the Christian Freeman and Lowell Daily Courier and other newspapers.

December 2000 Vol. IV No. 3 An article by Lovejoy Society member Dr. Jane Ann Moore, on "David Todd: Member of the Oberlin Vanguard to the West, Apprentice, Colleague and Partisan of Owen Lovejoy, and Comments on a panel "Abolitionists in Illinois" by Graham Peck.

THE REV. DR. JANE ANN MOORE'S RESEARCH PROJECTS

"Congregational Anti-Slavery Women in Illinois," a two-day workshop, presented to the women of the Illinois Conference, United Church of Christ, at Pilgrim Park, Princeton, Illinois, October 1993.

Co-author, Scenes From the Life of Owen Lovejoy, Workbook for Children and Adults, 1997 "David Todd-Member of the Oberlin Vanguard to the West; Apprentice, Colleague and Partisan of Owen Lovejoy." Illinois State Historic Preservation Conference on Illinois History, Springfield, Illinois, Oct. 13-14, 2000.

"Harriet Wiswall, Civil War Nurse at Vicksburg--A Circle of Families in Princeton," Illinois State Historical Preservation Conference, Springfield, Illinois, Oct. 4-5, 2001.

"How Harriet Wiswall Saw Woman's Role Changing: Elizabeth Lovejoy Wiswall Hammond, Cordelia A. P. Harvey Chester, and Frances Dana Gage." 2001 Illinois History Symposium, Illinois State Historical Society, Nov. 30, 2001.

"Letter of Courtship and Marriage on an Antislavery Couple: Ichabod Codding & Maria Gooding Codding 1855-1866," Illinois State Historical Preservation Conference, Oct. 2, 2002.

"Owen and Eunice Lovejoy's Family: During Antislavery and Civil War Times." Illinois State Historical Society Conference, Dec. 6, 2002.

Co-author, "'Bound With Those Who Are Bound': Granville's Commitment to Free the Slaves." 150th Anniversary of the Granville Congregational Church, June 22, 2003.

"Owen Lovejoy and the Concept of Black and White Equality." Illinois State Historic Preservation 2003 Conference on Illinois History, Oct. 9-10, 2003.

"Black Abolitionists and Illinois Antislavery Movement Leader Owen Lovejoy." Illinois State Historical Society, Dec. 4-5, 2003.

Co-editor, His Brother's Blood: Speeches & Writings, 1838-1864, by Owen Lovejoy, to be published by the University of Illinois Press, Urbana, in the fall of 2004.

THE REV. WILLIAM F. MOORE'S RESEARCH PROJECTS

"Did Lincoln Learn Lovejoy's Catechism?" presented at the Lovejoy Society Symposium, Pilgrim Park, Princeton, IL, 1995.

"From Garrisonian Fanaticism to Protestant Humanitarianism in the Illinois Antislavery Movement," presented at The Illinois History Symposium, Dec. 1996.

Co-Author, Scenes From the Life of Owen Lovejoy, a Workbook for Children and Adults, 1997.

"Productive Areas for Research on the Relationship Between Abraham Lincoln and Owen Lovejoy," presented at the Lincoln-Lovejoy Symposium, Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, Princeton, Illinois, September 12, 1998.

"The 'Orator of the West' in the East: Owen Lovejoy in Illinois and Massachusetts." Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Conference, October 13, 2000.

"The Early Republicans and the Formation of the Republican Party in Illinois," at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Conference, October 5, 2001.

"Owen Lovejoy's Transformation from the Liberty Party to the Free Soil Party," at the Illinois State Historical Society, December 1, 2001.

"Owen Lovejoy's Role in the Election of Abraham Lincoln." Conference of Illinois History, October 4, 2002.

"Owen Lovejoy's Cooper Union Speech", an address given to the McLean County Historical Society October 19, 2002.

"The Nasty Election of 1862" a paper for the Illinois Historical Society Conference, December 6, 2002.

"Defying the Fugitive Slave Laws with the Underground Railroad," Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2003, Conference on Illinois History September 9-10, 2003.

"A History of the Writings About and References to the Deeds and Words Of Owen Lovejoy," Illinois State Historical Society, Symposium, December 4-5, 2003.

Co-editor, His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838-1864, by Owen Lovejoy, to be published by the University of Illinois Press, Urbana, in the fall of 2004.

RESEARCH CENTERS VISITED

Sabbatical Research on Owen Lovejoy, January 1992, Illinois archives: Illinois Historical Survey, Illinois State Historical Library, Chicago Historical Society, Bureau County Historical Society, Chicago Theological Seminary Archives.

Sabbatical, January through March 1999, home of Owen Bryant Lovejoy at Black Mountain, N.C. Amistad Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans. Historical Society, Vicksburg, Mississippi. Oberlin College Archives. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA. Boston Public Library; Congregational Library, Boston. Andover Historical Society, Andover, MA. Philips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. Maine Historical Society, Augusta, ME. Smith College, Northampton, MA.

Other trips: Public Library, Albion, ME; Public Library, Old Town, ME; Hallowell, ME; Colby College, Watertown, ME; Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME; Bangor Theological Seminary. New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, NH. Richard Slater Storrs Library, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA; Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA; Longmeadow, MA; Tufts University, Medford, MA; Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Center, MA. Cornell University Archives, Ithaca, NY. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH. Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. Northern Illinois Survey, DeKalb, IL; Evanston Historical Society, Evanston, IL. Many Illinois Public Libraries, County Historical Societies, and archives in Illinois and several in Ohio.