William Van McConnell
Crockett, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(April 18, 1855 -- March 17, 1919) A native of Crockett, William V. McConnell was the son of Irish-born blacksmith John McConnell. After helping his father with that trade, McConnell opened a mercantile store on the square and developed there a family business that lasted nearly a century. McConnell was a charter member of the First Christian Church. After the death of his first wife, Jennie McLean (1868-1888), McConnell married her sister Daisy (1875-1935). Recorded - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William Van McConnell was born in Crockett in 1855, the son of an Irish immigrant blacksmith, and after learning that trade he opened a mercantile store on the town square. The family business he built there lasted nearly a century, and he helped charter the First Christian Church. Widowed young, he married his late wife's sister Daisy, a common pattern in an age when families closed ranks around loss.
Why it matters
His life traces the immigrant-to-merchant climb that built Main Street America, turning a blacksmith's son into a fixture of a small Texas town's commercial and civic life.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · William Van McConnell
- · John McConnell
- · Jennie McLean
- · Daisy McConnell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of R. E. McConnell Property
Crockett, TX
John McConnell emigrated from Ireland to Crockett in 1847 and opened a blacksmith shop on this spot before expanding, with his sons, into the hardware business. An active civic leader, he served as county treasurer and city alderman. His son Robert Emmett McConnell built a home here in 1901 and carried on both the family enterprise and its public service, leading on the city council during a period of rapid growth for Crockett.
Houston-Leon County Coal Company
Lovelady, TX
Founded in 1900 to mine lignite — a soft coal between peat and bituminous — this company opened a slope mine here and built the company town of Wooters. The early years were a struggle to find buyers, but power plants, gins, and other East Texas customers eventually took the fuel, and by 1916–1925 the operation employed some 200 workers, a diverse workforce that included men recruited straight off ships arriving in Galveston. Natural gas undercut the market, and the company dissolved in 1932.
Harry Frederick Moore
Crockett, TX
Harry F. Moore began his banking career in Ohio, married Anna Laura May in 1885, and by 1891 had settled in Crockett, Texas. He helped organize the First National Bank and served as its president for 22 years beginning in 1904, setting a standard later followed by two of his sons. Beyond banking he helped found banks in neighboring towns and was active in his church and Masonic lodge.
Augustus "Gus" LeGory
Crockett, TX
Gus LeGory came to Texas from Mississippi in 1855 and, after serving in the Civil War, returned to work with a Trinity River steamboat company before building his own overland and river freight business. In 1870 he opened a Crockett saloon and went on to promote the town through banking, coal production, and agriculture. He married Eliza Wortham in 1875 and raised six children, living to age ninety.