In 1827, Lovejoy arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, a major port in a
slave state that shared its longest border with the free state of Illinois. Although it had a large
slave market, St. Louis identified itself less with the plantation South and more as the "gateway to the West" and the American "frontier." Among Lovejoy's new acquaintances were prominent St. Louis attorneys and slaveholders such as
Edward Bates (later U.S. Attorney General under President
Abraham Lincoln);
Hamilton R. Gamble, later Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court; and his brother Archibald Gamble. A year later, Lovejoy found the call to God he had been yearning for. In 1832, influenced by
Christian revivalist meetings led by
abolitionist David Nelson, he joined the First Presbyterian Church and decided to become a preacher. Although Lovejoy had opposed abolitionism during the debate, after returning to St. Louis he would write to Bradford repeatedly asking him to write articles for his newspaper. By 1830, sixty percent of the population of St. Louis was Catholic, and the proprietors of the
Observer tasked Lovejoy with countering the increasing influence of Catholicism. From the fall of 1833 to the summer 1836, Lovejoy regularly published articles criticizing the Catholic Church and church doctrine. Some were written by Lovejoy, while others were contributed by other authors. Initially, he criticized Catholic beliefs such as
transubstantiation,
clerical celibacy, and the influence of Catholicism on foreign governments. He also argued that "
Popery" undermined the fundamental principles of American democracy. Local Catholics and clergy were offended by these attacks and regularly responded in articles of their own in
The Shepherd of the Times, a Catholic newspaper funded by Bishop
Joseph Rosati. In 1834, the
St. Louis Observer began to increase its coverage of slavery, the most controversial issue of the day. At first, Lovejoy resisted calling himself an abolitionist, because he disliked the negative connotations associating abolitionism with social unrest. Even as he expressed antislavery views, he claimed to be an "emancipationist" rather than an "abolitionist." In the spring of 1835, the
Missouri Republican advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves in Missouri, and Lovejoy voiced his support through the
Observer. Lovejoy urged antislavery groups in Missouri to push for the issue to be addressed during a proposed state constitutional convention. To their dismay, the editors of both newspapers soon found that their "moderate" proposal to end slavery gradually could not be discussed without igniting a polarizing political debate. Over time, Lovejoy became bolder and more outspoken about his antislavery views, advocating the outright emancipation of all slaves on religious and moral grounds. Lovejoy condemned slavery and "implored all Christians who owned slaves to recognize that slaves were human beings who possessed a soul," and famously wrote:
Threats of violence Lovejoy's views on slavery began to incite complaints and threats. Pro-slavery proponents condemned anti-slavery coverage which appeared in newspapers, stating that it was against "the vital interests of the slaveholding states." Lovejoy was threatened to be
tarred and feathered if he continued to publish anti-slavery content. By October 1835, there were rumors of mob action against
The Observer. A group of prominent St. Louisans, including many of Lovejoy's friends, wrote a letter pleading with him to cease discussion of slavery in the newspaper. Lovejoy was away from the city at this time, and the publishers declared that no further articles on slavery would be published during his absence. They said that when he returned, he would follow a more rigorous editorial policy. Lovejoy responded by expressing disagreement with the publishers' policy. As tensions over slavery escalated in St. Louis, Lovejoy would not back down from his convictions; he sensed that he would become a martyr for the cause. He was asked to resign as editor of
The Observer, to which he agreed. After the newspaper's owners released
The Observer property to the moneylender who held the mortgage, the new owners asked Lovejoy to stay on as editor.
Lynching of Francis McIntosh Lovejoy and
The Observer continued to be embroiled in controversy. In April 1836,
Francis McIntosh, a
free man of color and boatman, was arrested by two policemen. En route to the jail, McIntosh grabbed a knife and stabbed both men. One was killed and the other seriously injured. McIntosh attempted to escape, but was caught by a white mob, who tied him up and burned him to death. Some of the mob were brought before a grand jury to face charges. The presiding judge, Judge
Luke Lawless, refused to convict anyone; he said the crime was a spontaneous mob action without any specific people to prosecute. The judge made remarks suggesting that abolitionists, including Lovejoy and
The Observer, had incited McIntosh into stabbing the policemen. ==Marriage and family==