at the time, the community was looking for a new minister. lovejoy decided to go to princeton and that decision put into motion a series of events that culminated in owen lovejoy becoming the most famous underground railroad operator in illinois, indeed one of the most famous operators across the north. when lovejoy arrived in princeton, he was initially made the temporary minister of the hampshire colony congra guessal church, but within a year he was appointed as the regular pastor at a salary of $600 a year, which was a rather good salary for a minister in those days in illinois. when he arrived in princeton he was introduced to a handful of people who were tied to the anti-slavery cause, particularly the bryant brothers, john, arthur and cyrus, another brother of theirs was famous american poet, william cullen bryant, who at that time resided in the east, of course.

lovejoy was also introduced to other bureau county residents who were actively involved with the underground railroad, the holbrooks, smiths and pinkertons. lovejay wasted no time proclaiming his anti-slavery views, but his abolitionist advocacy was unenthusiastically received by the majority of his parishioners. in fact he was warned to stop speaking against slavery or possibly face violent consequences. but gradually, due primarily to lovejoy's persistence, many of the people in bureau county changed their minds about the institution of slavery. by the mid 1840s, princeton became one of the most important underground railroad stops in the state. there were four primary underground railroad routes through illinois, all of them twisted and zigzagged and sometimes made hairpin turns in order to confuse pursuers.

one ugrr route traced the course of the rock river. this line proceeded from the cities of rock island and moline on the mississippi river, moved where the rock river turns north toward wisconsin. a second route left southern illinois, starting in cairo. this route split apart in chester, illinois. one leg moved through the middle of the state toward jacksonville, springfield and havana. it usually swept east of peoria, through ttaswell and woodford counties and eventually turned toward chicago. the other leg of the cairo line ushered fugitives toward alton and followed the course of the illinois river northward. the other followed the course of the illinois river and the third along the illinois river out of st. louis but oftentimes moved well away from the river to remote underground railroad outposts. the fourth escape route, the

so-called quincy line, carried freedom seekers through western illinois from quincy to galesburg to princeton, but along this line, there were numerous satellite stations on farms and in rural hamlets, in and close to places like menden, mccomb, farmington, canton, tulon, and geneceo. the quincy line possessed ideal conditions that helped runaway slaves escape within the region, each of four rivers, the lemoyne, spoon, edwards and green, provided natural water courses for fugitives to follow. if escaping slaves stayed close to the river or their tributaries, all freedom seekers needed to do was move against the current of the water and they'd ultimately be heading in a northerly direction. a second geographical feature of much of northern illinois and iowa was the existence of tall

prairie grass, the tallest prairie grass in the world grew there, still does in our backyard, a little patch, big, blue stem which stood as high as six, six and a half and in some summers as high as seven feet. by mid summer and well into the fall, fugitive slaves literally disappeared inside this grass, three distinctive prairie ranges dominated the landscape of western illinois. the bushnell prairie, the carthage prairie, and enormous hancock prairie that started in adams county and ranged into and through 11 counties of western illinois. fugitive slaves heading out of the slave state of missouri crossed into these illinois counties, taking advantage of the numerous underground stations that operated inside the grassy region in the 1830s, '40s, '50s and '60s. slaves working on barges and

steamboats as deckhands, barbers, cooks, maids, valets and waiters, also fled from these river crafts. if they'd leave, they'd have a decent chance of escaping safely. this is not to suggest that fugitive slaves were home free once they arrived in western illinois. many freedom seekers never made contact with underground railroad agents. these fugitives made their way to freedom alone, depending on their own wit, guile, and sheer determination. still others were tracked down and returned to bondage. slaveowners hired detectives or full-time slave trackers to go after escapees. many trackers used what were called negro dogs, specifically trained to hunt down runaway slaves. these vicious dogs could tear a slave to pieces if not restrained. bounty hunters were also quick to turn in a runaway slave for handsome rewards.

owen lovejoy, unlike most underground railroad operators, was remarkably open about his ugrr involvement. lovejoy made virtually no attempt to hide what he was up to. in addition, lovejoy advocated the use of violent tactics. one of his daughters, ida, recalled that in the late 1850s when a group of runaway slaves pulled up to the lovejoy homestead, lovejoy asked them if they had any weapons. they said they only had clubs. he told them not to hesitate to use them. one of his daughters, ida, said that her grandmother asked owen lovejoy later that day if that had been good advice, and she remembered her father saying, vehemently, "yes, i am sure."

in may of 1843, lovejoy was indicted in bureau county for helping two fugitive slaves, nancy and agnes, make their way to freedom. the trial did not start until october. however, during the spring and throughout the summer, the case received widespread attention both regionally and across the state. lovejoy during the summer self-confidently inserted an advertisement in the chicago newspaper "the western citizen" an anti-slavery publication. it read "notice of the canada line of stages cheap, cheap." the subscriber would respectfully inform the ladies and gentlemen of color of the south who wish to travel north for the benefit of their condition or an excursion of pleasure to the falls of niagara, the above line of stages will be an action an efficient operation during the summer. passengers will be carried all the way through for nothing. for further particulars inquire of the subscriber at his

residence at princeton bureau county, signed owen lovejoy, general agent. when the case finally came before the court, witnesses for the state testified that lovejoy used his house to help runaway slaves. one witness told the jury that he had seen the slave nancy with lovejoy in his rig and lovejoy told him that she was an escaped slave, but lovejoy's lawyer, during cross-examination made the point that nancy's owner had brought her into illinois from missouri, that once she arrived in the free state of illinois, she was no longer a slave. on october 7th, judge caton instructed the jury on the strict language of illinois law. he explained that "if a slave master voluntarily brought a slave within the state, the slave became free." the judge went on to say that if any illinois residents harbored such a person the individual who

aided the fugitive slave had not committed an offense against illinois law. the jury must have been won over by both lovejoy's lawyer and the judge's presentation for when the trial ended, lovejoy was acquitted. the most famous underground railroad story associated with owen lovejoy unfolded in the late 1840s. a fugitive slave by the name of john buckner had escaped from missouri and taken up residence as a farmhand on the property of enos matson. the farm was close to princeton. the fugitive buckner like many other runaway slaves decided to stay with someone who would employ him until he could accumulate enough money to make his way to canada. in 1849, buckner was mowing in matson's meadow when two men, one of whom was his former owner, approached buckner with

guns pulled. after buckner was aprprehended the slave catcher was marched toward princeton, the slave tracker's plan to take him to the illinois river where they could transport him down the river to st. louis by boat. a friend of lovejoy's, hensdale phelps, saw them on the road. phelps took a shortcut to lovejoy's house and told him what was going on. lovejoy immediately went to a justice of the peace and got a warrant for the two slave trackers to be arrested for rioting. when buckner and the two men arrived in princeton, the sheriff put the two missouri slave trackers under arrest, and a court hearing was hastily called. as the proceeding got under way, a group of pro-slavery men brought a wagon to the courthouse. one of these men, a tavern owner, rushed into the court waving another warrant calling for buckner's arrest. the sheriff ordered the man to leave the building, shouting, pushing, scuffling broke out and during this melee, someone cut buckner loose and he was hustled out of the building.

a hired man who worked for lovejoy put buckner on a horse and told him to head off to lovejoy's homestead. the crowd rushed out of the courthouse, quickly moved towards lovejoy's house, and when owen lovejoy arrived he calmly shut the gate to the property and started to deliver an anti-slavery lecture. while lovejoy was speaking, a rioter on horseback bolted from the barn and people yelled, "there goes john! there goes john!" the pro-slavery people in the crowd immediately went after the rider. lovejoy continued to give his speech. shortly thereafter, a horse-drawn carriage left the barn. sitting next to the driver was an individual covered about i a sun bonnet. lovejoy went on with his speech, the driver and buckner, who had been camouflaged, escaped in another direction. we do not have enough time to relate all of the accounts and stories about lovejoy's underground railroad activities

but let me present one last story which lovejoy discussed on the floor of congress. he had been accused of buying a ticket for an elderly slave and putting him on a railroad passenger car to chicago. by the mid 1850s, the old chicago burlington and quincy railroad had been built and track extended from chicago to the mississippi river. western illinois underground railroad conductors started putting fugitive slaves on real trains headed for lake michigan, as soon as the railroad line was completed. toward the end of one of lovejoy's speeches on the house floor, he alluded to this episode and towards the end of his remarks he said, "a single word as to the charge of negro stealing. anyone who chooses may transform himself into a bloodhound, i will never do this. owen lovejoy lives in princeton, illinois, three-quarters of a

mile east of the village and he aids every fugitive slave that comes to his door. thou invisible demon of slavery, i bid you defiance in the name of my god." i should turn now to a discussion of owen lovejoy's political career. in the 1840s, lovejoy joined that wing of the anti-slavery cause that wanted to take the abolitionist movement in a political direction. he supported the liberty party in 1840 and 1844, and in 1848 he backed the efforts of the free soil party, a vastly expanded version of the liberty party. in the '48 election lovejoy was an unsuccessful candidate for congress on the free soil ticket. in 1854, he was elected to the illinois state legislature. now by that time the passage of the kansas-nebraska act had nullified the missouri

compromise, and that had the effect of opening up kansas and nebraska territories to the possibility of eventually becoming slave states. the kansas-nebraska act as many of you know was negotiated through congress by illinois senator steven douglas. the effect of the kansas-nebraska act seriously affected the political coalitions across the united states. people who were moving towards a new party struggled with what name they might call this party, fusion party, people's party, independents, and anti-nebraska were considered. but the republican party became the most prominent. anti-slavery, northern democrats, some of whom called themselves free democrats,

former supporters of the liberty party and the free soil party, along with a good number of know-nothing party loyalists, helped establish the republican party. many of these people were part of what was then called the anti-nebraska movement. thus some northern democrats came to be called anti-nebraska democrats. in 1856 a group of illinois anti-nebraska newspaper editors called for a convention of people opposed to the kansas-nebraska act to be held in bloomington may 29th. this gathering is remembered as the time and place that the republican party was officially established in illinois. on july 2nd at the republican convention for the third congressional district the delegates chose owen lovejoy as their candidate but only by a slim margin. lincoln expressed great disappointment that his friend, leonard sweet, had not received the party's nod. many republicans found lovejoy's

radical abolitionist position too risky. some of them even considered voting for an alternate candidate, but over that summer, lincoln became convinced that lovejoy's popularity within his part of the state would make it unwise for the party not to back him, and they did decide to fully back him, and when the general election was held, lovejoy was overwhelmingly elected, he defeated democratic candidate barry osgood. lovejoy, now 46 was as radical as any anti-slavery man ever elected to congress. slaveholders considered his name anathema. in 1856, although democrat james buchanan had won the white house and the democrats controlled congress, as the majority party, they still had to deal with a formidable group of political rivals.

lovejoy made his first lengthy speech in the house chamber on february 7th, 1858, "let the mason-dixon line disappear, let the country be one united whole," he said, "the rights of all equally respected." he attacked the bred scott decision and supreme court justice roger tawny's interpretation of the constitution. if human beings are property, lovejoy pointed out, why had the federal government declared the slave trade as piracy? "the new york times" made the speech the lead story called "human beings not property." the speech became the basis of lovejoy's re-election campaign. on april 5th, 1860. lovejoy delivered his most controversial speech about slavery in degrees. it resulted in a tumult wuls fray on the house floor. he was barely finished with the

first paragraph before a southern congressmen rose with clenched fists and swirling canes, northern republican congressmen leaped to their feet to defend lovejoy. lovejoy left the podium and walked towards the southerners, which was technically against the house rules. he continued his fiery remarks attacking the immorality of slavery. he later told his wife "i poured on a rainstorm of fire and br brimstone as hot as i could." as he the uproar continued insults were shouted throughout the room. at one point barksdale of mississippi shouted at lovejoy "you shall not come upon this side of the house!" congressman singleton called out "and a negro thief in the bargain." george and martin crawford stepped away from his desk and cocked his pistol. the fray continued but lovejoy

finally decided to gradually move back to the podium, but he called out "no one can intimidate me." finally once he was back at the podium the house chair was able to establish a degree of order. lovejoy finished his speech by saying that slaveowners ruled the same as pirates, "every slave has a right to freedom, every slave has a right to run away. i cannot go into a slave state and open my lips in regard to the question of slavery." "no," yelled martin of virginia "we would hang you." that night and for the next few days washington was abuzz with what had happened. telegraph operators relayed the news of the yuproar across the nation. lovejoy told a friend a few days later, the fire eaters made a row and helped me to notoriety. in the summer of 160 abraham lincoln won the presidency on

the third ballot of his party's convention in chicago. lovejoy made over 100 speeches for lincoln during that campaign and later said he never worked harder for anyone in his life than he did that year for lincoln. lovejoy himself easily won re-election to the house, was congratulated by party leaders for being instrumental in helping lincoln's victory and election to the white house. in 1862, lovejoy returned to his congressional district. it had been reconfigured. this posed real problems for him politically, indeed he only held onto one of his old third county districts, a third county -- counties, excuse me. lovejoy faced a very difficult campaign and when the final votes were counted, he was barely re-elected to congress. during the civil war lovejoy returned to illinois in order to help raise five illinois army volunteer companies. he strongly backed efforts to

arm black troops during the war. he worked hard to prevent radical abolitionists from being too critical of lincoln's war policy. in february of '62 he introduced a bill for the establishment of a department of agriculture. lovejoy was also one of the primary architects of the homestead act. this bill gave 160 acres of land to any man or woman who paid a small registration fee and lived on the homestead for five years and during this same time frame lovejoy helped pass legislation that finally ended the slave trade in the district of columbia. in the winter of 1863, lovejoy started to experience poor health. even though his physical well-being continued to decline seriously over the next several months he pressed hard for the war effort. he vigorously supported lincoln's plans for re-election,

but on the 16th of march, 1864, ailing badly from liver and kidney disease, owen lovejoy died in brooklyn heights, new york. when portrait artist francis carpenter informed lincoln and the white house of lovejoy's death, the president responded, "lovejoy was the best friend i had in congress." thank you. we have time for a few questions. i hope it will not be like english class when no one raises their hand. yes? >> i'm curious if you could talk about underground railroad routes. there was no central coordinator in cincinnati, explaining how to go. was this just by happenstance those routes were followed?

>> well, the answer to that question is, sometimes these underground railroad activities were fairly well-coordinated. many of these people in a certain region of a state were familiar with each other. as anti-slavery societies and state anti-slavery organizations started to form across the north these organizations would meet periodically at least once a year, and that would give people the opportunity, people who were anti-slavery, to meet one another, become familiar with one another, and not all, but many of those people took the more radical step of involving themselves with the underground railroad. and of course, this meant that they were able to make plans or semi-plans on how they might prautd operate. so i would answer your question by saying that in some cases, they were reasonably well organized, but in other instances and in other parts of the country, they were not, and sometimes a fugitive slave would

be aided by an underground railroad operator, be sent on his or her own way, travel alone for a while, then come into contact with somebody who is not necessarily an abolitionist, but had some degree of sympathy in terms of what these people were experiencing, would give them a little aid, they'd go along their way for a while, and sometimes they would find another underground railroad operator. but please understand, we'll never know the total number of fugitives escaped. but we know that many, many of them made their way to freedom, as i mentioned in my remarks, on their own. sometimes these trips took incredibly long times. yes? >> what was the impact of the federal fugitive slave act of 1850 on the underground railroad and lovejoy? >> fergus borgowich, a good

friend of mine who is an underground railroad scholar, has written a book "bound for canaan," i think the best book written about the underground rail read in years. and fergus is currently working on a book about the great debate of 1850. in 1850 southerners were so upset with abolitionist activities and underground railroad actions that one of the key components of the compromise of 1850 was a much stronger anti-slavery fugitive slave law. the first fugitive slave law was passed by congress in 1793, the same year that the cotton gin was patented, i always thought there might be a connection, but a much stronger fugitive slave law was passed in 1850 by the united states congress, signed by president fillmore. this came as a body blow to abolitionists. people who had been involved

with the anti-slavery movement considered this a very real setback. it also made many of them very, very angry, and in many ways, i believe that between 1850 and the time the civil war breaks out the effect of that fugitive slave law was to instill into abolitionists a higher degree of resolve and indeed underground railroad activity was strengthened after that. remember this, the underground railroad heads out of the south in every direction. if you live in illinois, we tend to think of fugitive slaves rightfully headed northwards towards canada. in fact fugitive slaves escaped in any direction they could. they went into arkansas and texas and down into mexico. they escaped on boats into the caribbean sea, and seacraft that went up along the sea, the

eastern seacoast. in some cases, fugitive slaves who were taken abroad by their masters waited until they were in foreign lands to escape. fergus? >> owen, one of the nicest compliments in researching the underground railroad is how many people it actually assisted and the numbers thwart a lot of us. >> yes. >> i'm curious what you might be able to say based on your research about the volume of people who might have been assisted by lovejoy on other routes in that vicinity? >> i smile, fergus, because my brother-in-law, dr. maurice eaton, is a statistician at the university of minnesota. when i was writing my book on the western illinois underground railroad i started to develop two or three different ways i could analyze the numbers. when i read them to my brother-in-law he said "my goodness, that's terrible, don't use it." i've been always a little leery

at guessing at the numbers but we do know this. we can look at certain regions where there were underground railroad operators who kept specific records. a knox college trustee by the name of samuel geld wright kept a wonderful diary of his life living in western illinois. and it's a real piece of gold for a person who does the kind of research that you and i take part in. and in wright's diary he actually alludes to hard numbers. in one of his entries he says, i aided a fugitive slave today in making 21 in number who have patted through this region since i have lived here. i probably would be better off asking you if you might want to answer your own question, but i'm a little leery of making an estimate on those numbers, but i'll say this. as you well know, it's one of the things that fascinates all

of us who have studied this subject. yes? >> we have today, we have a feeling for the underground railroad. >> yes. >> during the time especially in the 1850s, how much did the people in the country know about the underground railroad, was it talked about in newspapers? >> absolutely. absolutely. there are a number of ways to dig into the subject and fergus is right, this is a very difficult subject to research because for the most part, these people were secretive about what they were up to. with some exceptions, like owen lovejoy. but the fact of the matter is, there were numerous accounts of fugitive slaves escaping. there were some sections of newspapers had reward posters, advertisement after advertisement, talking about it, but in addition, newspapers were keen on giving accounts of fugitive slaves who were escaping. a court case that was