Campaign button, 1896-1902, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

CONNELL, William, (father of Charles Robert Connell), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Sidney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, September 10, 1827; received a limited schooling; moved with his parents to Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pa., in 1844; worked in the coal mines; in 1856 was appointed superintendent of the mines of the Susquehanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad & Coal Company, with offices in Scranton; 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 region; one of the founders of the Third National Bank of Scranton in 1872, and in 1879 was chosen its president; was also identified with many other industries and commercial enterprises of Scranton; was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896; member of the Pennsylvania Republican committee; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1903); successfully contested the election of George Howell to the Fifty-eighth Congress and served from February 10, 1904, to March 3, 1905; died in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pa., on March 21, 1909; interment in Forest Hill Cemetery.