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Owen Lovejoy House
NHL-NPS Photo |
Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), an influential abolitionist, lived in this house, a
National Historic Landmark, which was used as a depot on the Underground
Railroad. Born in Maine, Lovejoy moved to Princeton in 1838 where he was
a minister for a Congregationalist Church. Only one year before, Lovejoy
had witnessed the shooting death of his brother Elijah, an abolitionist
newspaper publisher, by an angry proslavery mob in Alton, Illinois. Even
more committed to the cause after his brother's death, Lovejoy used the
pulpit to further the abolitionist cause and believed that slavery could
be abolished through political action. After two unsuccessful attempts
at running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1840s, Lovejoy
was elected to the House in 1856 where he gained a reputation for his
fiery antislavery speeches. During the 1840s and 1850s, Lovejoy also used
his home to harbor slaves on their way north and faced prosecution several
times. It was widely known in Illinois that Lovejoy was "in charge"
at Princeton and that fugitives passing through Princeton from slavery
to freedom were riding the "Lovejoy Line." He was quite proud
of his opportunities to help slaves flee to freedom and admitted this
publicly, not as a boast, but to defy the supporters of slavery. In an
1859 speech in Congress that drew national attention Lovejoy addressed
his role in the Underground Railroad directly with, "Owen Lovejoy...aids
every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Proclaim it then from
the housetops. Write it on every leaf that trembles in the forest, make
it blaze from the sun at high noon...I bid you defiance in the name of
my God!"
The Owen Lovejoy House is located in Princeton, Illinois on East
Peru Street, near the corner of 6th Street. It is open for tours Friday-Sunday
from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, May-September. Appointments can be made to see
the house at other times during the summer and from October-April. For
more information call 815-879-9151.
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