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 Valley region under the firm name William Connell & Co.[1][2] He later sold the company to the Lehigh Valley Coal Company.[3] He was a founder of the Third National Bank of Scranton in 1872. In 1879 he became its president.[1] He worked at the Scranton Button Company, one of the largest manufacturers of buttons in the United States, which branched out into the manufacture of telephone parts and phonographrecords.[3][citation needed] He was president of the Lackawanna Mills and director of the Lackawanna Trust and Safe Deposit Company.[3] He owned the Connell Building, the largest office in Scranton. He founded the Scranton Tribune'.[4] He was appointed sole arbitrator for the Mud Run disaster in October 1888.[3]
Connell was a delegate to the 1896 and 1908 Republican National Conventions, and a member of the Pennsylvania Republican committee.[1][3] He was a large property owner in Scranton.[2] He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses. He served from March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903. He successfully contested the election of George Howell to the Fifty-eighth Congress and served from February 10, 1904, to March 3, 1905.[1]
Personal life
Mrs William Connell
Connell married Annie Lawrence around 1851.[5] They had 11 children, including Mrs. James S. McAnulty, Mrs. Charles W. Fulton, Charles Robert, Ezra H., Alfred E., Theodore E. and James L.[1][3][4][5] His wife died in 1902.[5] He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.[2]
Connell died on March 21, 1909, in Scranton. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.[1]
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