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Biography of Ignatius DonnellyName: Ignatius DonnellyBirth Date: 1831 Death Date: January 1, 1901 Place of Birth: Pennsylvania, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: politician, reformer, author Ignatius Donnelly Ignatius Donnelly (1831-1901) was an American politician, reformer, and author. He was an outstanding spokesperson for the political reform movements of the second half of the 19th century that culminated in the Populist revolt.Born in Pennsylvania of Irish parents, Ignatius Donnelly attended the free public schools and read law in Philadelphia. Interested in real estate promotion, he moved to Minnesota in 1856 and established the Emigrant Aid Journal to promote settlement. The Panic of 1857 destroyed his projected ideal community and his fortune but not his optimism. He returned to practicing law and entered politics to help promote the organization of the Republican party.Elected lieutenant governor of Minnesota in 1859, Donnelly was a tireless and fighting politician. He served three terms in the House of Representatives (1863-1869), where he strongly supported the Civil War and Reconstruction programs of the Republican party. In advocating the interests of the Northwest, chiefly land grants for railroad …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…a newspaper, the Representative. He died on Jan. 1, 1901. His biographer rightly asserts that Donnelly was the hero of the Populist movement, his name synonymous with reform, a true rebel who was never without a feeling of alienation. Further Reading The major full-length biography of Donnelly is the excellent volume by Martin Ridge, Ignatius Donnelly: The Portrait of a Politician (1962). John D. Hicks published scholarly interpretations of Donnelly's life in The Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmers' Alliance and the People's Party (1931) and in numerous articles, the last of which is in John A. Garraty, ed., The Unforgettable Americans (1960). Popular interpretations of Donnelly's career are numerous and include those of Stewart H. Holbrook in Dreamers of the American Dream (1957) and Gerald W. Johnson in The Lunatic Fringe (1957).Anderson, David D., Ignatius Donnelly, Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980.Ridge, Martin, Ignatius Donnelly: the portrait of a politician, St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1991. |