Ignatius Donnelly (1831-1901)

Ignatius Donnelly was born in Philadelphia in 1831, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants. After attending a prestigious public high school, he decided to enter the legal profession and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He established a legal practice in Philadelphia, and married in 1855. Donelley resigned his law clerkship in 1857 and moved with his family to Minnesota, settling in Nininger, where he tried to establish a utopian community. This community and its cooperative farm failed, leaving Donnelly heavily in debt. To supplement his legal income, he turned to literary pursuits and to politics. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1859-1863, and was then elected as a Republican to Congress, serving from 1863-1869. His bid for reelection was unsuccessful, and he returned to Minnesota. In 1874 he was elected as a member of the State senate, and served one term. In 1878 he returned to the practice of law and to his literary pursuits, publishing his most famous work, "Atlantis: The Antediluvian World" in 1882. The book was popular and sold well, as did its sequel, "Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel", published a year later. In 1900, Donnelly was nominated by the People's Party as their Vice Presidential candidate. Donnelly died in Minneapolis on January 1, 1901.


This item is a part of the background information for the 1919 Bishops' Program of Social Reconstruction section.

American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives