Altgeld, John Peter (1847-1902), was a reformer who served as governor of Illinois from 1893 to 1897. Under his leadership, Illinois established a board to help settle strikes, gave prisoners the right to parole and probation, and also improved its public school system.
Shortly after taking office, Altgeld, a Democrat, pardoned three of the men who had been convicted of a bombing during the Haymarket Riot of 1866 (see Haymarket Riot ). He believed they had not received a fair trial. However, he was widely criticized for his action.
In 1894, President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Chicago during the Pullman Strike (see Pullman Strike ). Altgeld opposed what he considered interference in a state matter. He protested to Cleveland but again received wide criticism.
Altgeld was born on Dec. 30, 1847, in Niederselters, Germany, near Wiesbaden. His family moved to the United States and settled in Ohio in 1848. At 16, Altgeld joined the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He became a lawyer in 1871 and served as a superior court judge in Cook County, Illinois, from 1886 to 1891. His book Our Penal Machinery and Its Victims (1884) criticized the U.S. court system for discriminating against the poor. He died on March 12, 1902.
