The McConnel and McConnell Families

About the Book

These Pioneer Families Come Alive and Become Real People This genealogy-history of the McConnel and McConnell families comes alive as we observe the individual members with our mind’s eye. We observe the early pioneers like David K. McConnel and his brothers who were among the earliest settlers in Idaho Territory during the 1860's and 1870's. We learn of one McConnel young man who loses his life early in the American Civil War. The story is told of William and Nancy Graham McConnel, parents of those western pioneers, who follow their sons and come west themselves. We learn of others who took part in the wars of the Twentieth Century. We read colorful anecdotes of these family adventures over the decades. From beginnings of early homesteads on the flood plains and in rugged mountain meadows of territorial Idaho, our pioneer McConnels and McConnells developed their cattle and sheep ranches, worked for early county governments, taught school, attended college and entered new professions, volunteered in their church congregations, and grew their families. Their story is really “our” story, your own story. You will know more about who you are, by tracing their lives over more than two centuries, to ours of today.

About the Author

Ralph A. Lawrence Compiler and Editor Ralph Lawrence has created this family history and genealogy, The McConnel and McConnell Families - True Pioneers of the American West, so that relatives and friends can know each other better, and learn about their remarkable heritage. Descending from two branches, both “one L” and “two L” McConnells, on his mother’s side of the house, through his great-grandfather George Washington McConnel and great-grandmother Mary Ellen McConnell, he has spent some 25 years tracing eleven generations beginning with the first McConnels who came to America in 1792. Many other collateral families arriving both earlier and later are included, so a more complete picture of numerous families can be seen. Ralph is a retired United Methodist minister, who served churches for 41 years in the Oregon-Idaho Conference, and has altogether been in the ministry for some 58 years. He is a graduate of the College of Idaho (B.A. Bus. Adm., D.D. Hon.) and Boston University School of Theology (S.T.B./M.Div.). He and his wife, Audrey, have an extended family of eight children, 20 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. They are both staff members of the First United Methodist Church, Cathedral of the Rockies, in Boise, Idaho. They own a home-based travel company, Classic International Journeys, and have traveled extensively world-wide. Ralph’s avocations and hobbies, in addition to genealogy, include model aviation, high school and college reunion groups, reading, photography, computers and desktop publishing.