MAHONY, Dennis

Dennis J. Mahony

MAHONY, Dennis. (Ross County, Ireland, Jan. 20, 1821-Dubuque, IA, Nov. 5, 1879). Mahony settled in Dubuque in 1843. and continuing his law studies with Davis & Crawford. During the winter of 1844-1845 he taught school in Dubuque, and in the latter year established an academy in Jackson County, at a place later called Garryowen. Here he was Postmaster and Justice of the Peace. In 1847 he was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court at Iowa City, and commenced practice. In 1848 he was elected to the House from the Legislative District, composed of Jackson and Jones Counties, and was made Chairman of the House Committee on Schools. He drafted the bill which became the Public School Law of Iowa during that session. Mahony came to symbolize the opposition in Dubuque to President Abraham Lincoln's approach to the South. Among the nation's most die-hard COPPERHEADS, he went to work in 1849 as the editor of the Miner's Express.

With several associates, Mahony established the Dubuque Herald in 1852. He sold his interest three years later, and reentered the state legislature in 1858. In 1860 Mahony repurchased the paper. He was, by this time, solidly a part of the Southern faction of the Democratic Party. During this time, Mahony served on the city's first board of education. He declined nomination for MAYOR because he felt there were too many foreigners on the ticket.

During the first year of the CIVIL WAR, Mahony became increasingly harsh in his attacks on President Lincoln and the North. He considered the Civil War to be unnecessary and unconstitutional. If left alone, Mahony felt the South would return to the Union and that Lincoln's policies violated states' rights. Although personally opposed to slavery, Mahony believed it had to be accepted as long as it was allowed by law.

On August 14, 1862, Mahony was arrested at his home in Dubuque on charges of treason and jailed in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Realizing that the South would not win the struggle, he swore allegiance to the federal government and the Constitution in November 1862, after which he was released on November 11, 1862. A large portion of the people in his District felt that this proceeding was not only unjustified but a violation of the rights of a citizen. So strong was this feeling that while he was in prison, he was nominated by the Democrats of the Third Iowa District for Representative in Congress, and though defeated by William Boyd ALLISON, he carried Dubuque County by a majority of 1,457 votes. The year following his release, in 1863, he was elected Sheriff of Dubuque County, and in 1865 re-elected to the same office.

In January 1863 the Chicago Tribune called Mahony "the Dubuque Traitor; the spawn of a felon's cell." Upon his return to Dubuque, Mahony’s writings reflected a softening attitude until his wartime experiences faded. He left his job at the Herald in August, 1863. In 1866 he went to St. Louis and became Chief Editor of the St. Louis Times.

Mahony wrote Prisoner of the State (1863) and while living in New York The Four Acts of Despotism. He returned to Dubuque, purchased the Dubuque Telegraph, and worked as the editor until his death.

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Source:

"Dennis Mahony," Online: http://iagenweb.org/boards/dubuque/biographies/index.cgi?read=189491

Gallagher, Mary Kevin B.V.M. Seed/Harvest: A History of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Dubuque, Iowa: Archdiocese of Dubuque Press, 1987

Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2008

Oldt, Franklin T. The History of Dubuque County. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, p. 294, 299