Eugene V. Debs

Eugene Debs married Kate Metzel on June 9, 1885. They did not have any children.

On his return from prison, Debs received a hero’s welcome. However, years of confinement had robbed him of his good health and he struggled to recover his health after his release. He still remained active inspite of his failing health and made several speeches and wrote many articles.

He was admitted to Lindlahr Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois in 1926 and died there of heart failure on October 20, 1926, at the age of 70.

Eugene Debs was born on November 5, 1855, in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Jean Daniel and Marguerite Mari Bettrich Debs. His parents were immigrants from France.

He received his early education from Terre Haute Public schools but could not complete his schooling. Forced to drop out of high school at the age of 14, he took up a job as a painter in railroad yards.

In 1871, a locomotive fireman failed to turn up for work and young Eugene Debs was pressed into service as a night fireman. He continued working as a fireman, on the run between Terre Haute and Indianapolis for the next three and half years. He also attended classes at night at a local business college.

He left his job as a railroad fireman and started working in wholesale grocery firm of Hulman & Cox as a billing clerk in 1874. The next year he became charter member and secretary of Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (BLF) and used his salary to help the local union.

He was very active in BLF and was selected to serve as a delegate of the Terre Haute lodge to the organization's national convention in 1877. The next year he became the elected associate editor of the BLF's monthly organ, ‘Firemen's Magazine’.

He became a prominent figure in the community due to his involvement with the BLF and served two terms as Terre Haute's city clerk from September 1879 to September 1883. In 1880, he was also appointed Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the BLF.

He was elected to the Indiana General Assembly as a Democrat in 1884 and served for one term.

Eugene V. Debs was one of the best-known socialists living in the United States, famous for his work with labour unions. Having worked with several smaller unions early on in his career, he was one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and played an instrumental role in the founding of the American Railway Union (ARU), one of the nation's first industrial unions.