McConnell, William O.

MCCONNELL, COOK, ANDRUS, CRAWFORD, NELSON, HUDDLESTUN

Posted By: Janelle Martin (email)
Date: 5/18/2009 at 18:44:17

History of Hamilton County Iowa, Vol. II p.17

William O. McConnell, who owns and operates the "Long View Stock & Seed Farm" is not only one of the leading agriculturists of his community, but has for some years been actively identified with the political life of the county, and is now a member of the board of commissioners. He was born in the vicinity of Hooks Point, Hamilton County, on the 26th of August, 1856, and is a son of Francis J. and Armilla (Cook) McConnell, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of the state of New York. At the age of eight years the father emigrated to the United States, where he was reared and educated and learned the molder's trade, which occupation he followed until he removed to Iowa, when he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. The parents were married in the state of New York and there resided until 1856, when they came to Iowa and settled on some land in the vicinity of Hooks Point. They remained there for about one year and at the expiration of that time, in 1858, Mr. McConnell bought a farm, on what is now section 30, Independence township, on which was a small house constructed from native lumber. He devoted the remainder of his active years to the further improvement and cultivation of this place, which is now the property of our subject. He was one of the foremost citizens of his community and took an active and helpful interest in all public affairs, particularly of a political nature, and served with efficiency for a number of years as coroner and also as official sealer of weights and measures. Both he and the mother passed their latter years on the homestead, his death there occurring on the I4th of December, 1889, and hers on January 17. 1887. They were the parents of six children, our subject being the eldest.

Reared at home, the education of William O. McConnell was begun in the district schools and completed in the Webster City public school, which he attended for three terms. He terminated his student days at the age of eighteen years and began earning his own living. For a year thereafter he engaged in teaching, but at the end of that period he accepted a clerkship in a dry-goods store at Webster City, where he was employed for eighteen months. He subsequently obtained a position in a grain store, but two years later he likewise withdrew from this and resumed his teaching, continuing to be identified with this profession until he was married. Very soon thereafter he and his bride settled on the old homestead, which he operated for a year. He subsequently rented another farm, located elsewhere in the county, where he continued his agricultural pursuits for three years, and then returned to the home place, which he now owns. Mr. McConnell's farm comprises two hundred and twenty-three acres, one hundred and seventy-five of which is tiled and under high cultivation. His principal crops are corn and oats, a large portion of which he markets, and for several years he has been raising a very superior quality of both cereals for seeding purposes. All of his land is substantially fenced, one hundred and fifty acres of it hog tight, and evidences by its general appearance careful cultivation and systematic supervision. In connection with the cultivation of his fields, Mr. McConnell makes a specialty of the breeding and raising of high-grade Durham cattle, Poland-China hogs and Norman horses. He also buys and prepares cattle for the market and annually feeds all of the hay he raises. He is one of the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of the county and his farm is provided with an excellent equipment. The residence was built by his father in 1879 and as it has always been kept in repair is in good condition and thoroughly comfortable, but the majority of the other buildings have been erected during the ownership of Mr. McConnell. In 1898, he built a barn with a solid rock foundation, fifty-two by sixty-four feet, and five years later he erected another, twenty-six by thirty- two feet, with cement foundation and floors. A drilled well and natural springs provide water for all purposes in both the house and barns. Mr. McConnell is interested in various local enterprises, and owns stock in the First National Bank of Webster City, the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company and the Farmers Elevator Company at Kamrar. He is also a stockholder and promoter, as well as a member of the board of directors of the National Sewer Pipe Company, a recently organized industry. Of recent years he has been acting as agent for The Iowa Mutual Tornado Insurance Company of Des Moines, and The Webster County Mutual Fire Insurance Association.

On the 23d of January, 1884, Mr. McConnell was married to Miss Allie Andrus, who was born in the state of New York, May 24, 1865, and is a daughter of John P. and Sarah J. (Crawford) Andrus. The parents were born, reared and married in the Empire state, whence they removed to Iowa in the spring of 1869 and located on a farm of eighty acres east of Webster City. They resided in this county until 1898, when they removed to Fort Dodge, where Mrs. Andrus was killed in a runaway in 1908. The father subsequently went to Tama City and opened a restaurant, which he conducted until March, 1911, when he became a resident of California, where he was married in 1912. Mrs. McConnell, who is the second in order of birth in a family of five, has become the mother of nine children: Mabel J., who was born in 1884, the wife of Charles Nelson, a farmer of Boone township, by whom she has had two children; Bessie May, who was born on May 17, 1887, and married Chadd Huddlestun, a resident of this county, by whom she has had one child; Frank J., whose birth occurred August 24, 1889, unmarried and living at home; Grace L., who was born on the 19th of November, 1891, engaged in teaching in this county; Harry E., who died in infancy; Amanda P., whose natal day was October 5, 1896; Harold P., who was born on the 15th of August, 1899; Ralph W., whose birth occurred on September 19, 1901; and Earl A., who was born on October 5, 1907. The youngest daughter and the son, Harold, are attending school.

The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. McConnell is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a republican in politics, and served for a year as township clerk and assessor and for several terms as treasurer of the school board, and he is now a member of the board of county commissioners. Mr. McConnell has led a life of enterprise and well directed activity as is evidenced by the excellent appearance of his farm and his circumstances. That he fully merits the prosperity with which he has been rewarded is generally conceded by his fellow townsmen, who through long years of acquaintance have found him to be a reliable business man, progressive citizen and loyal friend.