Connell, John, died on Feb. 11, 1886 at his home, No. 356 Fulton Street, (formerly of 393 W. Kinzie st.), after an illness of about ten days. The cause of death was pneumonia. He was born in Sligo, Co. Sligo, Ireland in the year 1825, where he remained until his 20th year, when he went to Scotland and worked on one of the early railroad lines of that country. He returned in three years, went to England, and returned again to Sligo, where he married. Af ter another short sojourn to England, during which he was mixed in the political excitement of the time, he set sail for America in 1854, where he came at once to Chicago. For many years he worked in the elevators of Sturges & Buckingham, where his office was to keep the machinery in order. About 1869 he left this position and found employment at the North Chicago Rolling Mills. Mr. Connell was a friend of Mr. Agnew, and when that gentleman was elected sheriff, John became assistant jailer and turnkey. While on duty one night, he was knocked down by some prisoners, who took the keys away from him, let others out of their cells and escaped, greatly to the mortification of the old man, who resisted bravely until over come by their number. Sheriff Kern appointed him bailiff in the criminal court. When Harrison was elected, Mr. Connell obtain a position as inspector of sewers, which position he retained until taken ill. He organized Fr. Mathew's Total Abstinence Society and the Catholic Total Abstinence Society on the north side and was prominent in the land league and the A.O.H. Mr. Connell was an honest man but very strong in his party prejudices. His funeral occurred on Sunday from his late residence to St. Columbkille's Church thence by cars to Calvary cemetery. He leaves a widow (Ann), eight children, and a brother, Michael Connell. February 20, 1886 (2) The Chicago Citizen, 1883-1909, obituaries, marriage and social notices, and (1) The Chicago Daily News, 1878-1902, funeral notices. Both in Tom Cook’s Index Chicago’s Irish Families, 1830-1900.