USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume I > Part 14
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STORY OF RIOT AND DEATH
In the meantime events moved rapidly. Agreeable to the decision at the Alexander store meeting another press had been bought and arrangements made with the steamboat company to have it arrive at night. The boat, on board of which was the press, arrived on the night of November 6th. Here follows Mr. Tanner's statement: "A company of about sixty volunteers had enrolled themselves under the laws as a military company and tendered their services to the mayor to keep the peace of the city. This number of men had met for drill that evening, at the store where the press would be landed, and they were armed with good rifles, all well loaded with ball. The sixty men inside had concluded to prolong their drill till the press was stored, so they were divided into companies and stationed at points overlooking the boxes and all had received orders that if any unauthorized person should attempt to handle the boxes, they were to shoot at the boxes, and if anybody was in the way it would appear to be the fault of the intruder. A committee of two were sent to call the mayor and have him at the store, that, at least, he might see it well done. To the first sum- mons he promised to come, but was so long in doing it that a second was sent. This was ef- fective, and the committee and mayor came in together. The press was soon transferred from the boat to the fourth story of the warehouse
belonging to Godfrey & Gilman, and our mil- itary company was left to continue their drill till morning or go to sleep as best they could.
"This brings us in detail to the morning of the 7th of November, 1837. All was quiet in the city, the press was out of harm's way in the keeping of responsible men. As night ap- proached nearly all of the men who had given their names to form that military company went to the building containing the press, one loft of which was our drill room, and were drilled. there, until nine o'clock. Then, as no one apprehended any trouble, the company was dismissed, when Mr. Gilman, one of the own- ers of the store, asked if some few of the num- ber would not volunteer to remain through the night, and he was intending to stay himself as a precaution against any one breaking into the store and committing any depredation. Nine- teen men volunteered to stay, who with Mr. Gilman made twenty in all. Within a short time appearances seemed to indicate that the mob were gathering, but no one thought of any serious trouble till Edward Keating, a lawyer, and Henry W. West, a merchant, came to the building and asked to be admitted to see Mr. Gilman, the owner. Some one not possessed of much judgment ( for they were both known to favor the mob), allowed them to come in. They, of course, soon took in the small num- ber left to guard the building and press, and they then informed Mr. Gilman that unless the press was given up to the 'gentlemen' outside, the building would be burned over our heads and every man killed. Consultation was had inside and they were promptly given to un- derstand that the press and the store would be defended.
"Early in the night, after the main body had left, the twenty men remaining in the building had elected Deacon Enoch Long to act as their captain, and as he had seen service in the War of 1812-15 we supposed him the most fit man for such a case. About as soon as the mob
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
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ALTON HOME OF LOVEJOY IN 1837
LOVEJOY'S ALTON PRINTING OFFICE IN 1837 (After a photograph in possession of the Lovejoy Monument Association)
Vol. 1-5
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could get their report, we understood by the wild shouts among them that our numbers were satisfactory to that side, at least, and that we would have work to do. A council was called by the inside party to take measures for defense, and some advised most vigorous de- fense; but our captain overruled, saying our course would be a useless sacrifice of human life, and if the mob, whose shot and stones had began to come, should persist in their attack, after being counseled of the consequences, then he would select some one man to fire into the mob and no doubt they would instantly dis- perse. He was promptly told by some that they would not be so selected ; that if they fired into that mob, which they were anxious to do, they should fire with all present. And some took themselves to different parts of the build- ing to defend on their own account, but there was thereafter no concert of action by the defenders. The building was of stone, over one hundred feet long at the side toward the vacant lot. The attacking party were covered by this stone wall. The ends of the buildings would show three stories on the street and four at the river end, owing to the formation of the land. The two upper stories were lofts or garrets, the roofs of each resting on the middle wall, and no com- munication between them without going down the stairs of one and up those of the other. In the loft of one of these stores was stored stone jugs and jars. Reuben Gerry had stationed himself in this loft, while the writer was in the other. The mob were working in the street in front of both, but more particularly under Gerry's part, for the door they were trying to force was more directly under him. In his room, and my own also, were doors fronting the street under the roof with small glass win- dows in the doors, but no other windows. Mr.
Gerry had opened the door in his room over the head of the mob, and was amusing himself and them by rolling the jugs and crocks out of
the door down on their heads. The mob for a time tried throwing up stones, but they did not go up with the same effect that the jugs went down, and one of their number was selected to cross the street and shoot whoever might be throwing down the jugs. By the time the party had got to his appointed place where he could command Gerry's door, my rifle was through the glass forming the top of my door and resting on the sash, perfectly covering the man in the street. I knew him well and saw him clearly, for it was a beautiful moonlight night. Two men had come up to the room where I was to get a good sight of the mob, and the street was full. They were asking me not to shoot, for we were getting the worst of the fight already. My promise was readily given not to shoot unless the man raised his gun to shoot Gerry ; if he did, he could never perform the act. But Gerry knew of the pre- parations to shoot him, and did not know of my position, neither could I let him know ; so he kept out of sight and saved the life of one who bragged the next day that he was the one who shot Lovejoy, perhaps not one hour later. I soon heard Mr. Gerry going down stairs and immediately went down myself and we met on the floor below ; and while we were discussing the situation with the view of returning to our stations, he to roll jugs and I to cover him, we heard the report of a gun close to us from the inside and the exclamation that a man on the outside was shot. Our captain had put in force his saving theory and had selected one man to fire, and that shot had killed a man by the name of Bishop on the outside. The ball had en- tered the top of his shoulder while he was stooping to pick up a stone and gone nearly through him lengthways. I heard one call and ask 'Who fired that gun?' and - answered 'I did.' I went to the window and saw four men pick up Bishop, and carry him to Dr. Hart's office nearly opposite, but I subse- quently learned the man was dead when they
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THE PRO-SLAVERY RIOT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1837, ALTON, ILL. DEATH OF REV. E. P. LOVEJOY. FROM WOODCUT MADE IN 1838.
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reached the office with him. The shooting of this man seemed to have the effect con- templated by our captain, and the mob with- drew. But the lull was short; they soon re- turned reinforced, and with savage yells threat- ened to fire the building and shoot every 'd-d Abolitionist,' as we were all then called, as we might leave the building. Even at this time no orders were given for any con- centrated fire on the mob ; but many shots were fired, but with poor effect. The mayor came into the building and we asked him to take us outside to face the mob and order them to dis- perse, or else in their hearing order us to fire, and we would pledge our lives to clean them out, but he prudently and cautiously declined, saying he had too high a regard for our lives to do that, but at the same time he justified our right of defense. When he returned to the mob from us he could do nothing.
"About this time the mob had approached the building with a long ladder and operating on the side of the house next the vacant lot, where there was no opening in the long wall, they had got the ladder to the roof and a man on the ladder with material to set the house-on fire on the roof. When volunteers were called to go out and shoot the man off the ladder, the men on the lower floor-Mr. Lovejoy, Amos B. Roff and Royal Weller-stepped out of the door towards the river, and as they stepped clear of the door to get at the side of the build- ing, Mr. Lovejoy received five bullets in his body and limbs from behind a pile of lumber near by where men were concealed, probably for the purpose. Mr. Roff was also shot in the leg ; and Mr. Weller was shot in his leg, and had a bullet through his hat that just cleared his head. Mr. Lovejoy walked in and up stairs one story to the office, saying as he went, "I am shot ! I am shot ! I am dead !" He was met at the door of the room by all on that floor, and died without a struggle and without speak-
ing again. The two that were wounded also got back up stairs to the same room. Very soon there appeared on the river side of the building the same two men who were in the beginning admitted and let out of the building -Keating and West-and calling the atten- tion of whoever was in sight, displayed a white handkerchief and called for Gilman, and said that the building was on fire, but the boys would put it out if he would give up the press ; that was all they wanted, and would not de- stroy anything else, nor hurt any one if the building was surrendered.
"Mr. Gilman then concluded that inasmuch as there was great value in the building of goods, and also the interests of many firms all over the state were jeopardized, and Mr. God- frey, his partner, not present, that to save all these interests it was his judgment that the buildings and press had best be abandoned to the mob. Others, under the circumstances, could say nothing, and so it was resolved to give it up and the spies were so ordered to no- tify their fellows. Accordingly our guns were secreted in different places, and all of the num- ber left the building in a body, except Lovejoy, dead; Roff and Weller wounded, and S. J. Thompson, who remained till the mob entered ; and as the men passed by that vacant lot, it seemed as if a hundred bullets were shot at them from the mob congregated at the other and higher end of the lot, and being thus elevated the balls sung harmless by to the river. The escaped congregated in a hard- ware store on Second street, a little removed from the scene of action, and after a time went to their several homes, and the work of destruction was completed on the press.
"The next morning, on returning to the scenes of the night, the dead body of Lovejoy lay where it fell and the dead body of Bishop in Dr. Hart's office. Friends procured a hearse and removed the body of Mr. Lovejoy
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to his late residence, his wife being stricken by the blow to utter helplessness. Owen Love- joy met the corpse of his brother at the door."
Mr. Lovejoy was buried, I think, the day following. Rev. Thomas Lippincott made the prayer at his funeral, and never a word or in- timation but that the death was a natural one. It was a rainy, drizzly day-fit one for such a funeral. No word or allusion to mob violence, and so Lovejoy was buried without inquest or word to tell the manner of his death. After the body was taken home from the place of death, Owen Lovejoy, the brother of the martyred, standing over the dead body, vowed that from henceforth he would fight the cursed
OWEN LOVEJOY [From photograph in possession of wife]
institution that had killed his brother. The country knows well how that vow was kept.
The name's of the twenty men that night in the building, according to Mr. Tanner's rec- ord, were: Elijah P. Lovejoy, killed ; Royal Weller, wounded; Amos R. Roff, wounded ; William Harned, James Morse, Jr., John S. Noble, Edward Breath, George H. Walworth, J. C. Woods, George H. Whitney, Reuben Gerry, W. S. Gilman, Enoch Long, Geo. T. Brown, Samuel J. Thompson, D. F. Randall, H. D. Davis, D. Burt Loomis, Thaddeus B.
Hurlburt and Henry Tanner. "I also find else- where," he says, "the names of R. D. Farley and J. N. Brown, who are credited with hav- ing been among the defenders, but perhaps in- correctly. They were at least among those en- rolled for the defense."
THE DEFENDERS OF THE PRESS
"Many of the defenders of the press, named by Mr. Tanner, lived to old age, but few of them remained in Alton. The last sur- vivor was D. Burt Loomis, who died in 1897. He served through the Civil war and was later a member of the Minnesota legislature. Jo- seph Brown, brother of George T., a lad of sixteen, molded the bullets for the defenders at the request of his employer, Royal Weller, and took them to the building early in the evening. I find the names of a few more of the sixty men enrolled to defend the press in the following order, issued to the captain of one squad of men in the building at the time the press was received on the night of No- vember 6th, when the mob was expected to make an attack :
"Order-The first story, Mr. Tanner, cap- tain: Your men are George Kelley, Owen Lovejoy, Royal Weller, J. W. Chickering, William T. Temple, David Horner, A. F. Lindsley and T. Guild. You will hold fire un- til the second and third stories have fired and don't waste a single charge. Have a light and other preparations to reload.
"J. W. CHICKERING, O. S."
Perhaps this warlike order is the most sig- nificant document extant as showing the de- termination and deliberation of the defenders. It is time justice was done to those men of Al- ton who rallied to the defense of the liberty of the press at the risk of their lives. The "shot heard 'round the world" was fired as truly at Alton as at Concord.
ALTON TRIALS
Although no inquest was held to inquire into the death of Lovejoy the grand jury of
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the municipal court of Alton took cognizance of the riot and found indictments against twelve of the defenders of the press and eleven of the rioters. A report of these trials was written out in full, at the time, by Wil- liam S. Lincoln, then resident in Alton, with his brother John. They were sons of Gov- ernor Levi Lincoln of Massachusetts. His re- port makes a volume of one hundred and fifty-eight pages. It was printed in New York in March, 1838. The title page of this volume is a curiosity. It reads as follows :
"ALTON TRIALS of "Winthrop S. Gilman,
"Who was indicted, with Enoch Long, Amos B. Roff, George H. Walworth, George H. Whitney, William Harned, John S. Noble, James Morse, Jr. Henry Tanner, Royal Weller, Reuben Gerry, and Thaddeus B. Hurlburt,
"For the Crime of Riot Committed on the night of Nov. 7, 1837, while engaged in defending
"A Printing Press From an Attack Made Upon it at that Time By an Armed Mob.
"Written Out from Notes Taken at the Time by a Member of the Bar of the Alton Municipal Court.
"Also "The Trial of
"John Solomon, Levi Palmer, Horace Beall, Josiah Nutter, Jacob Smith, David Butler, William Carr and James M. Rock
"Indicted with James Jennings, Solomon Morgan and Frederick Bruchy,
"For a Riot Committed in Alton, Nov. 7, 1837, in unlawfully and Forcibly Entering the Warehouse
of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. and Breaking Up and Destroying "A Printing Press.
"Written Out from Notes of the trial taken at the Time of Trial
"by William S. Lincoln, A Member of the Bar of the Alton Municipal Court."
It will be noticed that the indictments made no mention of the death of Lovejoy on the one side or of Bishop on the other. Neither was any additional indictment found against "Dr.
Jennings of Virginia," who, Hon. Joseph Brown in his "Reminiscences of Alton" as- serts was the man who shot and killed Love- joy. One of the witnesses at the trial added to the probability of this statement being cor- rect by stating that "Jennings had skipped out." Neither was Jennings ever arrested or brought to trial, as were the others indicted, except Morgan and Bruchy, who had perhaps followed Jennings.
At the opening of the court on the 16th day of January, 1838, Hon. William Martin, judge, the case of the defenders of the press came on for trial. The prosecuting attorneys were F. S. Murdock, city solicitor; U. S. Linder, at- torney general, and Samuel G. Bailey. The attorneys for the defense were G. T. M. Davis, Alfred Cowles, and G. W. Chickering.
The clerk proceeded to impanel a jury. The regular panel having been exhausted talesmen were returned by the sheriff and at last a jury was obtained, sworn to try the issue, consist- ing of the following persons : James S. Stone, Timothy Terrill, Stephen Griggs, Effingham Cock, George Allcorn, Peter Whittaker, Hor- ace Buffum, Washington Libby, Luther John- son, George L. Ward, Anthony Olney and Jacob Rice.
Upon the first calling of the jury W. S. Gil- man, through his counsel, moved for a separ- ate trial from the other individuals included with him in the indictment. This petition was granted by the court and a plea of not guilty was entered. The indictment presented by the prosecution was endorsed upon the back, "A true bill, Thos. G. Hawley, foreman." Murdock, for the government, maintained in his opening speech that the offense committed by the defendants, consisted "not in defending their property but in doing it in a manner not sanctioned by law." At the close of the open- ing speech by the prosecution the following witnesses were presented who testified sev- erally and in detail: Edward Keating, Henry W. West, Sherman W. Robbins, Anson B.
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Platt, Samuel Avis, John H. Watson, Joseph Greeley, for the people; William L. Chappell,
in the indictment were not sufficient, and praying that the defendants be dismissed. The John M. Krum (mayor), and Samuel J. · motion was argued, at length, affirmatively, Thompson, for the defense.
The defense also introduced the record of the common council, showing that certain in- dividuals had called upon the mayor, repre- senting that the peace of the city was at stake, and that he (the mayor) believed their repre- sentations to be true, and submitted to the council "the propriety of authorizing him to appoint special constables to aid in the main- tenance of order." The record does not show that any action was taken on the mayor's sug- gestion. The testimony of the witnesses, the cross examinations, the speeches of counsel and the rulings of the court take up seventy- nine pages of Mr. Lincoln's report. The ad- dresses of the counsel for the defense, in such a ridiculous indictment, were necessarily far- fetched and sophistical, but that of the at- torney general was in addition, very unneces- sarily bitter in its vituperation of "the damn- able doctrine of Abolitionism." At the close of his address the case was given to the jury, which after fifteen minutes' absence, returned a verdict of "Not guilty" against the defend- ant, Mr. Gilman.
At the opening of the court, the next morn- ing, the prosecution, in view of the verdict acquitting Mr. Gilman, entered a nolle prose- qui with the court's permission, as to the other defendants, and they were discharged.
On the 19th of January the case of the People vs. the defendants indicted for riot was called in the same court. The attorneys for the people were F. B. Murdock and Al- fred Cowles; for the defendants, U. S. Lin- der (attorney general), Seth T. Sawyer and Junius Hall. It seems decidedly incongruous, in this day, that the attorney general of the state should appear in defense of men charged with riot-but so it was. At the calling of the case the counsel for defendants presented a demurrer reciting that the matters contained
but the court overruled the demurrer. The defendants then entered a plea of "Not guilty." The following individuals were then ac- cepted as jurors : Timothy Terrill, John P. Ash, William S. Gaskins, George Allcorn, John Clark, William T. Hankinson, Richard P. Todd, Alexander Botkin, - Wheeler, Daniel Carter, Samuel W. Hamilton and Wal- ter LaChelle.
A jury having been obtained City Solicitor Murdock opened the case for the People. The witnesses who testified were Broughton, Henry W. West and Mayor John M. Krum for the People. The report here seems a little involved. It says: "Winthrop S. Gilman was then called by the defense," which does not seem logical. Other witnesses called by the prosecution were Sherman W. Robbins, Samuel Miller, Aaron Corey, Joseph Greeley, Edmund Beall, John H. Watson and Webb C. Quigley.
On the part of the defendants Seth T. Sawyer, Alexander Botkin, Judge William Martin and - Shemwell were called and sworn.
Following the testimony came the addresses of the counsel, Messrs. Sawyer and Linder closing for the defense and Cowles for the prosecution. The jury, after considerable de- lay, returned a verdict of "Not guilty ;" Alex- ander Botkin, foreman.
The verdict was contrary to all the facts and evidence in the case and was a travesty on justice. The closing words of Alfred Cowles to the jury, in pleading for a verdict against the rioters, are so prophetic that they are worthy of preservation. He said: "I am no Abolitionist. I have no sympathy with their party, no communion with their creed. But I am a friend to law, an enemy to mobs and an advocate of good order. I am opposed to the lawless acts of an unprincipled, an in-
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furiated and a licentious mob. I am opposed to any resort to brute force, much more when it is resorted to to break down the barriers which the constitution throws around us all. Put down the freedom of thought! Suppress the freedom of speech! Restrain the free- dom of the press! Lawless force cannot do it. The effort will be useless, the trial will be as idle as was that when Canute, the Dane, planted his throne upon the seashore and com- manded the waves to roll back. The effort was idle but not more so than this one. The press still speaks out in tones of thunder and it will continue to speak out in tones which cannot be resisted and in a language not to be misunderstood or disregarded. You cannot put down the press by force! I warn you! I warn you all against such inconsiderate acts. Let Abolitionists think if they please ; let them speak if they choose; let them print if they will. Freedom of thought is the birthright and freedom of speech the charter of every American citizen. Let him use his privileges ; let him exercise his rights responsible to his peers and the laws of the land.".
This last clause is almost a quotation from Lovejoy's last speech in which he said: “I have the right to speak freely and publish my sentiments subject only to the laws of the land and the abuse of that right."
Mr. Cowles continued : "This verdict will determine, for weal or for woe, the fate of this community. If lawless force can be re- strained; if it is ascertained that mobs shall not rule over us; if it is determined that li- centiousness shall not prevail; that crime shall not be legalized among us, then all shall be well; but if the verdict of this jury is to sanc- tion the deeds of violence and murder which have disgraced this city, then who will stay or who will come among us?" (The jury sanctioned them.) "Remember that the eyes of this community, of the whole country, are upon you ; that the record of this trial will go to the world, and that upon yourselves it de-
pends whether you are honored through com- ing ages as men who, in an hour not without its dangers, fearlessly asserted the province of the law; or whether your names shall go down to all after time as fixed figures for the hand of scorn to point his unerring finger at. I have an unyielding hope, an unshaken con- fidence that this jury will apply the law and the evidence as they should be applied. I have a firm belief that you will act well your duty to yourselves, your country and your God : and that you will, as far as lies in you remove the stain which now rests upon this com- munity. I throw the responsibility upon you. I have faithfully laid before you the law and the testimony. I have discharged with what ability I ought, the duty which devolved upon me. I wash my hands of the consequences. I throw from my shoulders the weight of re- sponsibility which has rested till now upon them, and lay it, where the law places it, upon your heads. In your hands is the fate of the accused, the cause of good order, the interests of society and the maintenance of the laws."
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