Person

Donnelly, Ignatius, 1831-1901

1831-1901

Ignatius Donnelly was born in 1831 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died in 1901 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Philip Carrol Donnelly and Catherine Gavin, and brother of writer Eleanor C. Donnelly. Donnelly attended Central High School and decided to become a lawyer while working as a clerk for Benjamin Brewster, who later became Attorney General of the United States. Donnelly was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 1855, he married Katherine McCaffrey and had three children. Katherine died in 1894 and in 1898, Donnelly married his secretary, Marian Hanson. In 1857, Donnelly moved to the Minnesota Territory and settled in Dakota County. He initiated a utopian community called Nininger City, but his attempt at a cooperative farm did not last due to the Panic of 1857 and left him in debt. From 1860 to 1863, Donnelly entered politics and was lieutenant governor of Minnesota. From 1863 to 1869, he was a Radical Republican Congressman from Minnesota in the 38th, 39th, and 40th congresses, a state senator from 1874 to 1878 and 1891 to 1894, and a state representative from 1887 to 1888 and 1897 to 1898. As a legislator, he advocated for extending the Freedmen’s Bureau to include access to education and was an early supporter of women’s suffrage. In 1882, Donnelly published his best-known work titled Atlantis: The Antediluvian World and established himself as a populist writer. His personal papers are archived at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Revised on June 17, 2024, by Leah Louttit-Bunker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_L._Donnelly