A Narrative History of The People of Iowa with
SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN
EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY, BUSINESS, ETC.
by
EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M.
Curator of the Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa
Volume IV
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc.
Chicago and New York 1931

JOHN CONNELL, physician and surgeon, is a native of Iowa, member of one of the substantial old families of Tama County, and has made a fine record in his professional career. Doctor Connell came to Des Moines after practicing for some years at Valley Junction.

He was born at Toledo, Tama County, Iowa, October 22, 1886, son of William M. and Adelaide (Wadley) Connell. His grandfather, John Connell, was a native of Scotland, and he and "Tama" James Wilson, the distinguished Iowan who held the office of secretary of agriculture for a longer period than any other incumbent, came to the United States together. William M. Connell was also born at Toledo, Iowa, for many years was engaged in banking and the real estate business, and is now a resident of Cedar Rapids. He served as mayor of Toledo, is a Republican, a member of the Masonic fraternity and Methodist Church. His wife, Adelaide Wadley, was born in Ohio, daughter of Samuel L. Wadley, who was in the furniture and undertaking business at Toledo, Iowa. William M. Connell and wife had four children: Doctor John; Daniel, in the real estate business at Chicago; Mrs. T. L. Thomson, wife of a physician at Moline, Illinois; and Catherine, of Cedar Rapids.

John Connell grew up in Toledo, finished his high school course there and graduated in medicine at Drake University, Des Moines, in 1912. For ten years he practiced at Valley Junction, and during four years of that time served as mayor of the town. In 1922 he removed to Des Moines to afford him broader opportunities for his work. He is regarded as one of the most competent men in anesthesia at Des Moines, but also carries on a general practice. His offices are in the Southern Surety Building. He is a member of the Polk County, Iowa State and American Medical Associations, belongs to the Medical Study Club and the Des Moines Academy of Medicine.

Doctor Connell married, in 1908, Miss Edna Ball, who was born in Nebraska but was reared and educated in Tama County, Iowa. They have two children, John, Jr., born in 1910, a student in Drake University; and Margaret Adelaide, born in 1915, attending Junior High School. Doctor and Mrs. Connell are members of the Episcopal Church. He is a Knight Templar Mason, being a past master of his lodge, a past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, an has taken eighteen degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry and is a Shriner. He is a Republican in politics.

Submitted by: Debbie Clough Gerischer
gerischer.rootsweb.com/