William Connell (September 10, 1827 – March 21, 1909) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Early life

William Connell was born on September 10, 1827, in Sydney in the Nova Scotia colony of British Canada. His parents were of Scotch-Irish descent. He moved with his parents to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in 1844. He worked in the coal mines, and in 1856 he was appointed superintendent of the mines of the Susquehanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad & Coal Company, with offices in Scranton.

Career

Upon the expiration of that company's charter in 1870, he purchased its property and became one of the largest independent coal operators in the Wyoming Valley region under the firm name William Connell & Co. He later sold the company to the Lehigh Valley Coal Company. He was a founder of the Third National Bank of Scranton in 1872. In 1879 he became its president. He worked at the Scranton Button Company, one of the largest manufacturers of buttons in the United States, which branched out into the manufacture of telephone parts and phonograph records. He was president of the Lackawanna Mills and director of the Lackawanna Trust and Safe Deposit Company. He owned the Connell Building, the largest office in Scranton. He founded the ''Scranton Tribune'. He was appointed sole arbitrator for the Mud Run disaster in October 1888. Connell was a delegate to the 1896 and 1908 Republican National Conventions, and a member of the Pennsylvania Republican committee. He was a large property owner in Scranton. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses. He served from March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903. He successfully contested the election of George Howell to the Fifty-eighth Congress and served from February 10, 1904, to March 3, 1905.

Personal life

Connell married Annie Lawrence around 1851. They had 11 children, including Mrs. James S. McAnulty, Mrs. Charles W. Fulton, Charles Robert, Ezra H., Alfred E., Theodore E. and James L. His wife died in 1902. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Connell died on March 21, 1909, in Scranton. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.

Legacy

His summer estate, Lacawac, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Sources