McDonogh, John, 1779-1850

Merchant and philanthropist, from New Orleans, La.

Business and philanthropist.

John McDonogh was a businessman, planter and educational philanthropist. A successful land speculator, McDonogh purchased large tracts of land in Louisiana and Florida. He created an emancipation plan to allow his slaves to buy their own freedom, and in June 1842, about eighty of them were sent to Liberia on a ship provided by the American Colonization Society.

John McDonogh was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, planter and landowner of properties in several south Louisiana parishes. He was born Dec. 29, 1779 in Baltimore, Md., where he began work as a merchant's apprentice at the age of seventeen. In 1800, he was sent to New Orleans, La., as a merchant's agent. In New Orleans, he established himself as a successful commission merchant and began purchasing large tracts of land. In 1818, he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. McDonogh, a slaveholder, devised a manumission plan in 1822 by which his slaves could buy their freedom. He was also active in the American Colonization Society. McDonogh died in 1850, leaving his estate to the cities of Baltimore and New Orleans for the construction of schools for underprivileged children.