Biography

10/04/1815 - 10/26/1871

George C. Connell (R1) Philadelphia County 1860-1864 (R4) Philadelphia (Part) County 1865-1871

Early Life:

George C. Connell, born October 4, 1815, Ryerson Station, Greene County, Pennsylvania; son of Joseph Richards and Hannah Matilda McDonald; rural education; schools, Washington, Pennsylvania, Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Madison College; moved, Philadelphia, 1843; engaged, real estate business; read law, office of Henry Wallace; co-founder, brother Horatio P. Connell, Sr., national landmark Mount Moriah Cemetery, 1855; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1860-1871; married, Elizabeth Pennock Connell, children, Joseph Richards Connell, Horatio Pennock Connell, Elizabeth Walker Connell, George Connell, William Connell, Emily Paschall, Mary Graham Connell, Cornelia Connell, Emma Pennock Connell, Isabel Read Connell, Mary Graham Connell; died, October 26, 1871 (aged 56), at home, stricken with paralysis, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Philadelphia County, 1860-1864. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 4th district, Philadelphia (Part) County, 1865-1871; committee assignment, Constitutional Reform, Finance (Chairman, seven years), Railroads.  

Legacy:

Son, Horatio Pennock Connell, Sheriff of Philadelphia County, member, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives.  

“He lived long enough to see the flag he loved wave over not a single slave – to see the Declaration mean all that its words implied” Obituary: Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Friday, October 27, 1871.

Mount Moriah Cemetery was established by an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature and incorporated on March 27, 1855. Mount Moriah Cemetery closed its gates in April 2011 and had no owner when the last member of the board of directors died. The Orphans Court of Philadelphia granted the Mount Moriah Cemetery Preservation Corporation, a receivership in 2014.

Cited:

Cox, Harold "Senate Members "C". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1871) Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 428, 430, 436-438.

Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Friday, October 27, 1871.

Scharf, John Thomas (1884). History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co. p. 2360. Retrieved 23 August 2019. moriah.

History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 : Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive 

History and notable burials Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia) - Wikipedia

George C. Connell (1815-1871) - Find a Grave Memorial