The text on each marker follows:
Owen Lovejoy Home. This two-story frame structure was the home of abolitionist Owen Lovejoy, who was born in Maine in 1811. Lovejoy moved into the house in 1838, when he became a Congregationalist minister. He was leader in the formation of the Republican Party in Illinois, and he served as a representative in the state legislature, 1855-1857, and in the United States Congress from 1857 until his death in 1864. His home was well known as a shelter for runaway slaves. Owen was a younger brother of Elijah Lovejoy, abolitionist editor, who was killed by a mob at Alton in 1837. Erected by the committee for the restoration of the Owen Lovejoy Home and the Illinois State Historical Society, 1972.
This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
The historic Lovejoy Homestead restoration completed 1972 owned & operated by the City of Princeton, Illinois. list of trustees
Owen G. Lovejoy Homestead Underground Station - This house was one of the stations in the Underground railroad movement in Illinois. Runaway slaves were harbored by the Lovejoy family until arrangements could be made for them to travel to the next station on their way to Canada. Placed by Princeton-Illinois Charter NSDAR 1976.
Owen Lovejoy Homestead has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. 1997. National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.
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From the Homestead's website at: (
visit link)
The Underground Railroad was maintained in the northern states to aid Negro slaves in their attempt to reach Canada and freedom. The Princeton station was probably the most important in Illinois because of the powerful personality of its conductor, Owen Lovejoy.
Runaway slaves came up the Mississippi River and stopped at many stations between Quincy and Galesburg before reaching Princeton. Each stop was usually about ten miles apart. Transportation was sometimes by wagon with the Negro hidden under a load of hay or straw, but many walked during the night. The trip to Canada could possibly take a year.
Reverend Lovejoy was its most famous resident and occupied the house from 1838 until his death in 1864. Lovejoy was prominent in the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad, a founder of the Illinois and national Republican party, and a congressional leader. As an outspoken abolitionist, Lovejoy openly proclaimed his willingness to assist fugitive slaves.
Lovejoy was born in Albion, Maine in 1811. In 1836, Owen arrived in Alton, Illinois to be with his older brother, Elijah, and study for the ministry. Elijah was the editor of an anti-slavery newspaper and was eventually murdered by an angry mob of pro-slavery citizens. After his death, Owen devoted the rest of his life to the abolitionist cause.
He came to Princeton, a village of about 200 people, in 1838 to assume the ministry of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church. He held that position for seventeen years, preaching his views against slavery.
Lovejoy boarded and roomed with the Butler Denham family for three years. After the death of Mr. Denham, Lovejoy married his widow and continued to help operate the farm. They raised her three daughters in addition to six children of their own.
The home became an important station on the Underground Railroad. The Denhams were abolitionists and it is believed that they sheltered runaway slaves before Owen Lovejoy’s arrival in Princeton.
Lovejoy’s reputation as an abolitionist spread, and he eventually felt the need of political power to fulfill his life purpose. In 1854 he was elected to the Illinois legislature. Two years later he won the nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives by one vote, and was elected to four consecutive terms.
After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Lovejoy was appointed a Colonel of the infantry. He took a leave of absence from Congress to serve in the war.
Lovejoy was an acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, and Lovejoy was one of the special guests invited to witness the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Lovejoy died in 1864 of Bright’s disease (a liver and kidney disorder) at the age of 53. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Princeton. His widow lived to be 89 and continued to live in the house for a number of years after his death. One of their sons owned the home and farmed the land until his death in 1931.
From Illinois Focus website at (
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To say that Lovejoy wasn't afraid to admit to his aiding of runaway slaves would be putting it mildly. On the floor of the House of Representatives in 1859 in front of many slave-owning congressmen, Lovejoy boldly proclaimed:
"I do assist fugitive slaves. Proclaim it, then, upon the house-tops; write it upon every leaf that trembles in the forest; make it blaze from the sun at high- noon, and shine forth in the milder radiance of every star that bedecks the firmament of God; let it echo through all the arches of heaven, and reverberate and bellow along all the deep gorges of hell where slave-catchers will be very likely to hear it. Owen Lovejoy lives at Princeton, Illinois, three-quarters of a mile east of the village; and he aids every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Thou invisible demon of Slavery! Dost thou think to cross my humble threshold, and forbid me to give bread to the hungry and shelter to the houseless? I BID YOU DEFIANCE IN THE NAME OF GOD!"
From the Bureau County website at (
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Rooms are furnished with period furniture. Visitors are invited to look into the hidden area above the stairs where runaway slaves were hidden. Also on the property is the Colton one-room schoolhouse built in 1849. Open 1-4 Fri. Sat. & Sun. May thru Sep. or by appointment. Adults $2.00, senior citizens $1.50, children $.50. Brochure available: City of Princeton P.O. Box 220 Princeton, IL 61356 (815) 879-9151
Located at the eastern edge of Princeton, IL on East Peru Street (Route 6) on the right when traveling west, 1 mile from downtown. The Owen Lovejoy Home now belongs to the City of Princeton and was opened as a museum in 1972. The United States Secretary of the Interior declared the property a National Historic Landmark in 1997.