This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Greer, McConnell,Crouch, Ingram, Heistand, Brown, Carter, Bisson Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/DVz.2ACEB/1775 Message Board Post: 1905 HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY, ILLINOIS, page 831 "MCCONNELL, William, merchant and farmer, Charleston, Ill., was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1832, the son of Robert and Helen (Greer) McConnell, natives of Ireland, where the father died. When he was but fourteen years old, young McConnell accompanied his mother to America. For several years they resided in Guernsey County, Ohio. In 1860 Mr. McConnell came to Charleston and opened a meat market, acquiring in the purchase of cattle, in which business he continued for several years, a very successful trade. Being industrious and saving, he soon purchased a fine 200-acre farm in Hutton Township. This property is operated by a tenant. He bought his present home in Charleston in 1898. On November 6, 1864, Mr. McConnell was married to Sarah, daughter of William and Harriet Crouch of Baltimore, Md., and of this union seven children have been born: Maggie, wife of M. Ingram; John, a farmer; Nan, the wife of George Heistand; Belle, former wife of R. Brown; Mary, wife of W. O. Carter, Mansfield, Ohio; Minnie, wife of Dr. M. W. Bisson, Abingdon, Ill., and William, of Terre Haute, Ind. In his political views Mr. McConnell is a Democrat.