Historical souvenir of Greenville, Illinois : being a ... - University Library

128 Historical Souvenir of Greenville, Illinois.
at the dedication of the Lovejoy
Monument at Alton, November 7,
1S97, at which time W. A. Northcott,
another Greenville man, was
the orator. Mr. Harned for many
years bore the distinction of being
the only surviving witness of the
Itilling of Lovejoy, although James
H. White and Mrs. L. K. King, both
residents of Greenville, lived in
Alton at the time of the killing,
although they were children. Mr.
Harned who died March 27, 1904,
dictated, in November 1897, to the
author, the following account of the
killing.
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyed P. Davis,
Mr. Davis is a member of the firm of Davis and Jackson, druggists.
"My father, William Harned, ran
the Mansion House in Alton. The
house was built in 1S34, and was
first run by Col. Bodkins, then by
Louis Kellenberger and then my
father took it in 183 5. There at
that time I met Abraham Lincoln,
Stephen A. Douglas, Governor
Reynolds, Governor Cole and most
of the prominent men of Illinois in
that day. It is the only vestige of
a hotel now left, that stood at that
time. It is still standing and is
used for a boarding house. I saw
Alton in its infancy, spring up
quick and fast. On up to the time
Lovejoy came in 1836, there was
but little said about abolition, in
that frontier town. It was too unpopular
a subject. After Lovejoy
came and started his press, you
could hear whisperings of discontent
against the abolitionists.
"Lovejoy was a mild, pleasant
and fine looking gentleman. One
night I heard a commotion two
blocks away and ran down there to
find a mob in his oflSce, breaking up
his press and throwing it out of
the window, and there in the center
of the street, men were breaking it
up and throwing it into Piasa Creek.
John W. Harned
An eye-witness of tlie killing of Elijah
P. LovejoY in 1837. Residence recentlv sold bv Thomas W. Stewart to Judge C. J. Lindly.