1860–1955

Introduction

Born: June 19, 1860, Val­pa­rai­so, In­di­ana.

Died: De­cem­ber 1, 1955, Ok­la­ho­ma City, Ok­la­ho­ma.

Buried: Be­tha­ny Ce­me­te­ry, Be­tha­ny, Ok­la­ho­ma.

portrait

Biography

McConnell mar­ried three times, to Car­rie Gor­se­line (1884, Hous­ton, Min­ne­so­ta), Mar­ga­ret Price, and Le­o­na Bel­lew (1931).

In his early child­hood, dur­ing the Am­er­ican ci­vil war, he lived with his grand­par­ents. He was the old­est of sev­er­al child­ren, and fond­ly re­mem­bered his boy­hood days when he fished, farmed, and vis­it­ed In­di­ans in a near­by camp.

As a young man, Mc­Con­nell served in the South Da­ko­ta state le­gis­la­ture, but lat­er moved to Tex­as to be near his ill fa­ther.

He was an athe­ist in his ear­ly years, but came to Christ around 1897, in­spired by fa­mi­ly Bi­ble read­ings be­gun by his wife Car­rie.

In 1899, he found­ed the Pen­te­co­stal Ad­vo­cate news­pa­per in Green­ville, Tex­as. He was in­volved in the for­ma­tive years of the Ho­li­ness Move­ment in the Am­er­ican south­west, and the or­gan­iz­a­tion of the Church of the Na­za­rene in Pi­lot Point, Tex­as, in 1908.

He al­so found­ed The Oth­er Sheep (lat­er World Mis­sion) ma­ga­zine in 1913, and man­aged the Na­za­rene Pub­lish­ing House (1916–18).

He taught for 18 years at Pen­i­el Col­lege in Pen­i­el (later an­nexed by Greenv­ille), Tex­as, and as Dean of Theo­lo­gy at Ok­la­ho­ma Ho­li­ness Col­lege (lat­er Be­tha­ny-Pen­i­el), re­tir­ing in 1939.

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