Lovejoy had moved his press across the Mississippi River to Alton after his offices were attacked three times by pro-slavery forces at his former location in St. Louis, Missouri.

Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802-1837) was an abolitionist in the 1830s, running a newspaper called the St Louis Observer in Missouri, a slave state.

On November 7, 1837, a crowd attacked the warehouse owned by Winthrop Sargent Gilman, an abolitionist who had groceries in St. Louis and aided Lovejoy in acquiring his fourth press.

[3] The following year, Lincoln gave his House Divided speech in June 1858 during his campaign for the US Senate seat representing Illinois.

Having been buried in an unmarked grave in Alton, Lovejoy's remains became lost for some time.

Dimmock led an effort to find them, discovering the site was partially covered by a roadway.

It was designed by R. P. Bringhurst, a St. Louis sculptor, and built by Culver Stone Company of Springfield, Illinois.