William John McConnell, served from 1890 to 1891

William McConnell was born in Commerce, Michigan, on September 18, 1839. He pursued an academic course then moved to California in 1860. There he engaged in mining, the cattle business, merchandising, and banking. He resided in Oregon in 1862, and taught school in Yamhill County.

McConnell then moved to Idaho in 1863, where two years later, he became deputy United States Marshal. He returned to Oregon and was engaged in the cattle business, then became a member of the Oregon State Senate in 1882. He also served as president of that body. McConnell then returned to Idaho in 1886, where he became a member of the Constitutional Convention of Idaho in 1890.

Upon the admission of Idaho as a State into the Union, he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from December 18, 1890, to March 3, 1891. He was not a candidate for re-nomination and became Governor of Idaho in 1892 and served until 1896.

President William McKinley appointed McConnell Indian Inspector in 1897 ,where he served until 1901. He was then appointed by President William Taft as an Inspector in the Immigration Service in 1909 where he served until his death in Moscow, Idaho, on March 30, 1925.

He was buried at the 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.

Photos provided by the Idaho State Historical Society.  Biographical information compiled by Congressional Research Service.