Thomas Nast first used this symbol for the Republican Party in Harper's Weekly November 7, 1874
The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874,... [DOC] [TLE] Democratic party - Moore Public Schools [PAR] In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey ... 
their origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson in 
1792, ... on November 7, 1874 is considered the first important use