2303 North Geyer

The American Home Missionary Society in New York sent Elijah Parish Lovejoy, a protege of Reverend William Potts, to St. Louis to succeed Potts as Des Peres Presbyterian Church's first pastor in its new location and church building. By the start of the Civil War, this church served as a microcosm of the state of Missouri, with members split between pro- and anti-slavery factions. Regardless of their feelings on slavery and the war, most members also had supporters of both the Confederacy and the Union in their families and in their neighborhoods.

The well-known abolitionist, Elijah Lovejoy, also served as editor of the St. Louis Observer, which was both a religious newspaper and one that increasingly advocated for the rights of African Americans and end of slavery. In 1835, Lovejoy composed an editorial for the St. Louis Observer that criticized the St. Louis Times for an article they published calling for mob actions against a group of women simply because they had organized a Sunday school for enslaved Black people.

By 1836, his opposition to slavery intensified, and Lovejoy made his support for abolition increasingly clear in his editorials. As a result, Lovejoy soon found himself a target of pro-slavery factions in St. Louis, starting with an attack by a mob who destroyed his presses and threw the bulk of his printing equipment into the Mississippi River. In July 1836, Lovejoy moved his paper across the river to Alton, Illinois, believing that because Illinois was a "free state," he could more safely publish his abolitionist views. He quickly discovered that this was naive. On four occasions, pro-slavery groups destroyed his presses and threw his printing equipment into the Missouri River. The setbacks and mob actions only strengthened the resolve of Lovejoy and his abolitionist supporters. The St. Louis Observer grew subscribers nationwide, and some supporters responded to the mob's actions by sending money to purchase new equipment.