American reformer and jurist and a governor of Illinois, John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902) became nationally prominent when, in 1893, he pardoned three anarchists convicted of the Haymarket bombing and, in 1894, was critical of the Federal government's intervention in the Pullman strike.

John Peter Altgeld was born at Nieder-Selters, Germany, on Dec. 30, 1847, and was brought to the United States by his parents when he was 3 months old. He grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, quitting school at the age of 12 when his father insisted that he work full time on the family farm.

In 1864 Altgeld volunteered for military service in the Civil War. After brief duty on the eastern front, he returned to Mansfield and entered high school against his father's wishes. He did so well in his studies that at 19 he was teaching school himself. At 21 Altgeld went west, working on a railroad-building crew in Arkansas until illness forced him...