Connelly, Sr., John

Born: 1798-XX-XX District of Columbia

Died: 1859-12-20 Springfield, Illinois

John Connelly, Sr. married Ann Wetherell in the District of Columbia, a union that produced ten children. In 1837, the family moved to Springfield, Illinois. Connelly was a shoemaker by trade but held various public offices in Springfield. During the 1840s and 1850s, he was the city collector, assistant marshal, election judge, and register of the Springfield Land Office. In 1850, Connelly was living with his wife and children in Sangamon County and owned $600 in real estate. In 1853, he obtained an appointment as register of the United States Land Office in Springfield, and he served until President James Buchanan replaced him in 1858. After Connelly's removal from the land office, he became a general land agent, opening his own business in Springfield in 1858. He was a partner in Connelly & Ives, a Springfield real estate firm.

Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 20 April 1843, 3:2; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 18 March 1853, 2:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 28 March 1857, 3:1; 30 June 1858, 2:4; 16 March 1859, 3:1; 21 December 1859, 2:4; Illinois, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999, 28 November 1859, Sangamon County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2015); John Carroll Power and S. A. Power History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 217; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 90.