Celia Lovejoy, the Wife of Abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy

by

John J. Dunphy

(published in 5–5–13 edition of The Telegraph of Alton, IL)

Elijah Lovejoy, who was murdered in Alton, Illinois by a pro-slavery mob in 1837, is frequently cited as the first martyr of the abolitionist movement. In a very real sense, however, Lovejoy’s wife also suffered martyred. Celia Ann Lovejoy’s life following her husband’s murder was replete with hardship and suffering. Ironically, Celia’s distress resulted not from persecution by slavery’s supporters but through abandonment by her own family as well as Elijah’s siblings.

Born in Salisbury, Vermont in 1813, Celia Ann French was a resident of St. Charles, Missouri when she married Elijah Lovejoy on March 4, 1835. She was 21 and he was 32. Their child, Edward Payson Lovejoy, was born the following March. Celia was strong and resilient during the early years of their marriage. When Elijah’s printing press was destroyed in St. Louis, Celia was visiting her family and unaware of what had transpired. When informed by her husband that the mob had destroyed much of their furniture as well, Celia replied, “It does not matter what they have destroyed since they have not hurt you.” In a latter to his mother that related this incident, Lovejoy remarked, “Such is woman! And such is the woman God has given me.”

Celia might have assumed that her husband’s decision to move his newspaper to Alton meant that his printing press — as well as their home — would never again experience mob assault. Since Illinois, unlike Missouri, was a free state, she reasoned, Elijah could criticize slavery without fear of reprisal. As we know, however, many Alton residents detested abolitionists, and Lovejoy’s editorials in the Alton Observer brought a torrent of threats as well as the repeated destruction of his printing presses. In his biography of Lovejoy, Paul Simon observed, “A sensitive person by nature, the emotional storms that surrounded her husband frightened Celia Ann Lovejoy.” Her fear for the lives of her husband and child ravaged her nerves to such a degree that “she became seriously ill.”

The toll that living in constant fear for her family’s safety exacted from Celia is confirmed by a memoir written by Lovejoy ally Thaddeus Hurlbut of Upper Alton in 1874. On the last day of his life, Hurlbut recalled, Elijah Lovejoy brought his wife, now pregnant with their second child, to Upper Alton in an attempt to relieve her nerves. “From prolonged excitement by day and terror by night, she had become exhausted and prostrate,” he wrote. “After getting her pleasantly and comfortably located,” Lovejoy visited Hurlbut and discussed the best means to defend his newest — and final — printing press.

Elijah Lovejoy’s murder emotionally destroyed Celia. She couldn’t even bring herself to attend his burial. The Lovejoys’ second child evidently died as an infant. Celia and Edward lived with Elijah’s family in Maine for a time before moving to Cincinnati. Celia’s mother came to live with them in Cincinnati, but their relationship was stormy. She came from a slaveholding family and had never approved of Celia’s marriage to an abolitionist. Royal Weller, who had been wounded while helping to defend Elijah Lovejoy’s final printing press and later moved to Detroit, visited Celia in Cincinnati. Weller was very kind to Celia, and she came to see him as someone who would protect her in hostile world. In December of 1841, the clerk of Wayne County, Michigan issued a marriage certificate to Weller and Celia.

Weller was the administrator of Elijah Lovejoy’s estate. A few years after marrying Celia, he sued Owen Lovejoy, Elijah’s brother, in an attempt to reclaim some items that Owen had taken from Elijah Lovejoy’s home after his death. Although unsuccessful, the lawsuit angered Lovejoy’s family and ensured that Celia would be estranged from her in-laws for the rest of her life. Celia and Weller eventually separated, although there is no record of an actual divorce. She reclaimed the surname Lovejoy.

Celia and her son, Edward, lived a nomadic existence for some years before settling in Iowa. Edward recalled that his mother suffered from “bronchitis and hysteria.” Edward moved to California in 1857, and Celia joined him two years later. Edward believed that she was the first woman to arrive in California on the overland stage. She died in Edward’s arms on July 11, 1870, all but forgotten by the veterans of the abolitionist movement who had so idolized her husband.

John J. Dunphy is a writer and owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton. His latest book, Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials, includes interviews with veterans of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, who apprehended and prosecuted Nazi war criminals after World War II.