US Congressman. Elected as a Democrat to represent Alabama's 7th District in the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Congresses, he served from 1843 until his death in office. McConnell was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised in Fayetteville, Lincoln County, where he was initially apprenticed as a saddler. Around 1831 he was appointed Postmaster of Fayetteville through the influence of a family friend, US Congressman (and future President) James Knox Polk, who later encouraged his political ambitions. Moving to Talladega, Alabama in 1834, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1836. Prior to his election to Congress he was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives (1838) and the State Senate (1839 to 1843). While in Washington McConnell became notorious as a boisterous drinker and spendthrift, and towards the end of his second term his lifestyle had taken its toll. Two days before his death he met with President Polk at the White House and borrowed $100 from him, part of which he used to pay his bar tab at the St. Charles Hotel, where he was staying. He then locked himself in his room and committed suicide. He was 37. Polk noted in his diary, "I had sympathy for him even in his dissipation...he was a true Democrat and a trusted friend". Interment was at Congressional Cemetery.
US Congressman. Elected as a Democrat to represent Alabama's 7th District in the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Congresses, he served from 1843 until his death in office. McConnell was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised in Fayetteville, Lincoln County, where he was initially apprenticed as a saddler. Around 1831 he was appointed Postmaster of Fayetteville through the influence of a family friend, US Congressman (and future President) James Knox Polk, who later encouraged his political ambitions. Moving to Talladega, Alabama in 1834, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1836. Prior to his election to Congress he was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives (1838) and the State Senate (1839 to 1843). While in Washington McConnell became notorious as a boisterous drinker and spendthrift, and towards the end of his second term his lifestyle had taken its toll. Two days before his death he met with President Polk at the White House and borrowed $100 from him, part of which he used to pay his bar tab at the St. Charles Hotel, where he was staying. He then locked himself in his room and committed suicide. He was 37. Polk noted in his diary, "I had sympathy for him even in his dissipation...he was a true Democrat and a trusted friend". Interment was at Congressional Cemetery.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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