José María Vigil was born October 11, 1829, at Guadalajara. Early left an orphan, during the period of his education he was in straitened circumstances. He attended the seminario in Guadalajara and studied law in the university of that city, but failed to secure his degree, on account of his Liberal views. He began literary work in 1849, and in 1851 his drama, Dolores ó una pasion (Dolores, or a passion), was well received at the Teatro Principal, at Guadalajara. In 1857 he published a collection of his poems, under the title Realidades y Quimeras (Realities and Chimeras). In 1866 he published two volumes of verse and drama—Flores de Anahuac (Flowers of Anahuac). These writings were varied in style, and included original compositions and translations from Latin, French, English, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Through this period, Vigil also edited literary periodicals—La Aurora Poetica (The Poetic Dawn), and La Mariposa (The Butterfly).
Señor Vigil’s political career began in 1855, when Comonfort occupied the Plaza of Guadalajara. With other youths, Vigil then began the publication of La Revolucion (The Revolution), in which were expounded the ideas of the later Constitution of the Reform. From then, on through the period of the Intervention, he led an active public life, writing and editing, and in other ways of fearlessly working for democratic principles. On December 31, 1863, he retired as the French entered Guadalajara, and sought a refuge in San Francisco, California, where he edited El Nuevo Mundo (The New World), devoted to the cause he loved. In 1865 poverty compelled him to return to Guadalajara. There he might have received desirable public appointments, had he been willing to receive aught from the Imperial government. He conducted an opposition and patriotic publication, which was more than once suppressed.