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The Sabbath and the Railroad

From the early days of the reform movement, Sabbatarians had protested Sunday travel. When the railroad came to Galesburg, Jonathan condemned the disregard for the Sabbath that seemed to follow the tracks. Track layers worked on Sundays, and trains arrived and departed on Sundays. 

Sabbatarians considered the railroad one of the most serious threats to keeping the Lord's Day. They organized conventions protesting and censuring railroad operations on Sundays. Jonathan attended two such meetings in 1853: one in Peoria and another in Chicago.