Michael J. Connell
History of Montana,by Joaquin Miller, 1894
USGENWEB Montana Archives
May be copied for non-profit purposes.

Michael J. Connell, Butte, Montana--Success is the watchword 
of the man of affairs, and when that is achieved, 
it is evidence that it is not all of life to live. The rapid 
development of the frontier and mining settlements 
in a most forbidden and unsightly location, far remote from 
established centers of travel and civilization, into
a great city is one of the most remarkable evolutions which 
awaken one's interest in the agencies that have 
contributed to so wonderful a result and especially in the 
personality of those who have witnessed the 
foundation-laying of a commercial metropolis.

Michael J. Connell, whose appearance indicates marked ability 
and unquestioned force, am an of strong character, 
clear, active mind, has, from a modest beginning, made his way 
to the front in the business life of Montana, 
by broad, honorable business methods and an unconquerable 
determination to succeed. He was born in Ireland, 
in September 1854 at Knock-alohert, a lovely spot in that 
picturesque section embraced in the Barony of Duhallow. 

Adjoining Knock-Alohert stands the Green-Hall school in which 
his father and grandfather had always taken such 
a lively interest and in which he received his early education. 
The boy was fortunate in having excellent parents 
of culture in the community, his father, John Connell, being the 
leader of thought and advancement in that section 
of country and whose calm, sound advice has been as a guiding 
star during the agitation and strife of recent years.
Early in life, Mr. Connell evinced a restless nature and a 
desire to travel and so, at the age of sixteen, he came 
to New York, and soon after secured employment in the dry-goods 
house of C.F. Hovey and Company, Boston where he 
remained five years during which time he acquired a thorough 
knowledge of the business methods employed by that 
sterling old house.

Again growing restless and believing the opportunities for 
ambition were better in the Western cities than the 
East, he came to Montana, arriving at Deer Lodge in July 1875 
where he had secured a position with E.L. Bonner 
and Company. When he first came to Deer Lodge, he engaged a 
room at the McBurney Hotel, thinking the charges 
were somewhat similar to equal accommodations in the East. To 
his astonishment he found that he was charged 
$4 per day for room only and that his living expenses were 
about thirty per cent more than his earnings. 
After that he accommodated himself with sleeping quarters in 
the store. His first year with the Deer Lodge 
firm proved his business ability to such an extent that he was 
given charge of the business with one-third 
interest in the profits. Soon after, Butte City began to demand 
the attention of the mining world and lay 
bare its great ledges of silver and copper, convincing him that 
it would be a more desirable point for 
business than the easy going town of Deer Lodge. A branch was 
soon started under the Deer Lodge firm name
which under Mr. Connell's management in a few years far exceeded 
the business of the main store. Mr. 
Connell is a firm believer in the corporate system of conducting 
business, and the Bonner Mercantile 
Company which absorbed the above concern, was about the first 
business incorporation in Montana, which 
continued until 1891, at which time he purchased his partner's 
interest and the M.J. Connell Company was 
organized. Better facilities being needed, electric lights, 
elevators, steam heat, modern precaution against 
fire, were added with other improvements which make the M.J. 
Connell block the finest and best equipped 
business building west of Chicago. 

In personal appearance, Mr. Connell is tall, clean-cut and quite 
dark.

In 1890 Mr. Connell married a Boston lady, Mary Agnes Keane and 
although they have since spent much 
of their time in traveling in this country and Europe they have 
one of the most delightful homes 
in the city, to which they always fondly turn and where they are 
loved and welcomed.

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