William John McCONNELL, Congress, ID (1839-1925)

McCONNELL, William John, a Senator from Idaho; born in Commerce, Oakland County, Mich., September 18, 1839; pursued an academic course; moved to California in 1860 and engaged in mining, the cattle business, merchandising, and banking; resided in Oregon in 1862 and 1863 and taught school in Yamhill County; moved to Idaho in 1863; deputy United States marshal 1865-1867; returned to Oregon and was engaged in the cattle business; member, Oregon State senate 1882, and served as president; returned to Idaho in 1886; member of the constitutional convention of Idaho in 1890; upon the admission of Idaho as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from December 18, 1890, to March 3, 1891; was not a candidate for renomination; Governor of Idaho 1892-1896; appointed Indian inspector by President William McKinley in 1897 and served until 1901; appointed by President William Taft an inspector in the Immigration Service in 1909 and served until his death in Moscow, Idaho, on March 30, 1925; interment in Moscow Cemetery.

Bibliography

Lauterback, Margaret. “A Plentitude of Senators.” Idaho Yesterdays 21 (Fall 1977): 2-8; McConnell, William John, and Howard Roscoe Driggs. Frontier Law: A Story of Vigilante Days. 1924. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1974.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present