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Dakota County History 101: Politician and Author Ignatius Donnelly (1831-1901)

Ignatius Donnelly founded his own "utopian" city before becoming a distinguished politician and an imaginative writer.

Ignatius Donnelly was born Nov. 3, 1831 in Philadelphia, PA. Donnelly grew up and was educated as a lawyer in Philadelphia before moving to St. Paul in 1856.

Upon arriving in Minnesota, Donnelly purchased 800 acres of wild land on the west bank of the Mississippi River with the idea of creating a utopian city. Donnelly built his own country estate, a hotel and established a newspaper to promote Nininger, his new city, which was located just Northwest of Hastings.

Initial growth was rapid and within a year nearly 1,000 people called Nininger home. Despite a promising start, an anticipated railroad line was located elsewhere and the land crash of 1857 destroyed property values almost overnight and doomed the fledgling community. Within a year most of the population had moved on. The city would never recover.

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With his utopian dream dead, “The Sage of Nininger” turned to politics and the pen. Donnelly was appointed lieutenant governor in 1859 and again in 1861. The Republican Party member was then elected to three consecutive terms in Congress beginning in 1862. While in Congress, Donnelly fought for minority rights and to protect farmers from monopolies.

Unable to get back to elected office after being defeated in his campaign for Senate in 1869, Donnelly turned to writing exclusively. Donnelly’s career as an author spanned from 1850 to 1895 and included works such as “Atlantis: The Antediluvian World,” “Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel,” “Doctor Huguet,” and “Caesar’s Column.” 

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Although a fine author, Donnelly was a bit eccentric; he tried to prove the existence of Atlantis and asserted that Shakespeare was a fraud and it was Sir Francis Bacon who actually wrote his plays.  Ignatius Donnelly died Jan. 1, 1901 of heart failure.

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