(Benjamin's) brothers, John and Dave McConnel, were associated with him in this work and they had between five and six hundred head of cattle. Benjamin C. and John McConnel came to Idaho in 1869, traveling by rail to Green River, Wyoming, and by stage the remainder of the way. Dave McConnel reached Idaho in the early '60s and settled at Emmett (Gem County), on the old Merve Gill place of one hundred and sixty acres, which he afterward sold and then farmed with his brother Benjamin following the latter's arrival in Idaho. Benjamin C. McConnel, after about ten years in this state, removed to the mouth of the Boise river and the brothers each then went into business independently.

Benjamin C. McConnel bought the old Judson place, while Dave McConnel purchased the Harry Adamson ranch. There were one hundred and sixty acres in the former tract and two hundred and forty in the latter. Upon their respective places the brothers farmed and engaged in stock raising, while John McConnel left Idaho for Colorado, where he passed away in 1918, while his wife and daughter both died there of influenza in 1919.

Dave McConnel and his wife are now living in Boise, the former having reached the age of eighty years, while his wife is but a few years younger, and yet they are enjoying a fair measure of health.

Benjamin C. McConnel was united in marriage to Elizabeth Hall, a native of Iowa, while her father was born in Ohio. They were married in the Hawkeye state and one child, William, was there born to them, being about three months old when they started for Idaho. As the years passed other children were added to the family to the number of nine.
(1) William married Zenlo Cole and has one son, Arthur, twenty-one years of age, who joined the United States Navy and is stationed in China. Having lost his first wife, he married Ida Carns.
(2) Charley, the second son of the family, is unmarried.
(3) Harlan B. married Sadie Smith, who was born in Idaho City, a daughter of Macum and Sarah Smith, who were numbered among the pioneers of the state, locating at Atlanta, Idaho,in the early '60's.
(4) The next of the family is W. H., of this review.
(5) Arthur, the fourth son, married Minnie Kingsbury, a daughter of H. S. Kingsbury, one of Idaho's pioneers, and they had one child, Lorin D.
Arthur was a graduate of Fremont College and for one term was assessor of Boise county. At the time of his death in 1917 he had charge of the S. & S. Store at New Meadows. He was also associated with his brother, W. H., in cattle raising, and at one time they owned over six hundred head. They were also engaged in the land business in Boise county.
(6) Roy C. married Alma Carlson and they have two children, Carl and Vernon.
(7) James E. married Ida Wheeler and they have five children: Paul, Pearl, Benjamin, Forrest and Idella.
(8) "Bessie" Elizabeth is the wife of Smith Gilliam and has one child, Velma.
(9) May is the wife of D. S. Raymond and has one child, Orin.

Liberal educational opportunities were accorded the members of this family. W. H. McConnel and his two brothers, Charley and Harlan, were students in Heald's Business College of San Francisco, California, in 1901 and 1902. W. H. McConnel then took up the occupation of farming, in which he has since continued, and for a time he was associated with his brother Arthur in cattle raising and they developed their interests until they were the owners of a herd of about six hundred head. They were also associated in real estate operations in Boise county, handling considerable land. W. H. McConnel still remains in active connection with farming interests and the careful management of his business affairs is bringing to him well earned success.

On the 21st of November, 1906, W. H. McConnel was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Vinson, of Nebraska, and they have become the parents of two children, Harry L. and Ardis Bessie. They make their hone at No. 1817 Dearborn street in Caldwell and have many friends in the city, the hospitality of the best homes being freely accorded them.

The McConnel family passed through all of the hardships of pioneer life. They lived in this section of the country when there was constant danger of Indian attack and some of the difficulties which they encountered and the hardships which they endured are almost beyond belief as one vists the highly developed region today. The father (Benjamin) survives, an honored pioneer settler of Idaho, and is now located in the Twin Falls country. For a half century the name of McConnel has been inseparably interwoven with the history of Idaho and throughout his entire life, covering a period of forty-three years, W. H. McConnel has lived in the state.