Mc4 Garrett Davis McConnell

Garrett Davis McConnell Mc4 was the son of William McConnell Mc5 and Rebecca Shrewmaster widow Buckler and widow of Campbell Masoner He was probably entitled to bear the McConnell Coat of Arms but may never have known it.
Born: 1846 in Robertson Co/?Ruddles Mill, Bourbon Co KY. Died: of tuberculosis 1 Aug. 1881 in Milford, Ky., at the age of 35 Buried:    Garrett McConnell is listed as a carpenter in the census of 1870, a craft which his grandson, Garrett Henry Hester was good at as well.     Garrett Davis McConnell seems to have been named after Garrett Davis, a lawyer and politician of Bourbon Co. Ky. Married: Christiana Workman Wo4 25 Mar 1868 Rob. Co., Ky	Namesake: GARRETT DAVIS.1 Among the list of the illustrious dead of Kentucky, no name has passed into history, bearing with it greater honors as a statesman, a patriot, and an honest and faithful servant of the cause of liberty, the Union and his State, than the lamented Garrett Davis. Living, as he did, from the early morn until the eventide of the nineteenth century, at a time when the nation most needed men of stalwart principle and sterling integrity, Garrett Davis filled the busy years of his faithful life full of noble deeds and heroic, unfaltering labor for the nation's good, and that of his native State, and fearlessly battled for what, in his unprejudiced mind, seemed right. The following brief statement of facts concerning his useful and eventful life, are gleaned from a published volume of Memorial Addresses on his Life and Character, delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives of the Forty-second Congress of the United States, Dec. 18, 1872, upon which occasion eulogies were delivered by Senators Stevenson of Kentucky, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Thurman of Ohio, Sumner of Massachusetts, Bayard of Delaware, Trainbull of Illinois, and many other noted statesmen. Garrett Davis was a native of Kentucky; he was born at Mount Sterling, Sept. 10, 1801. His father and mother emigrated from Montgomery Co., Maryland, to the county of the same name in Kentucky. His mother was a Miss Garrett-a family widely known in Maryland, and it was from her family that he derived his baptismal name. His father was a man of marked character; to energy and industry he added strong will and great personal popularity. He was for many years the Sheriff of his adopted county, and several times represented his district in the lower branches of the General Assembly of Kentucky. Garrett Davis was one of three brothers. The brilliant talents of two of them, also long since departed this life, are still remembered in Kentucky. Garrett enjoyed the advantages of what is known in Kentucky as a common school education. His early years were, however, fraught with a constant study of books, and he thus acquired a ,good English education, and a practical knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages; at an early age he determined to study law, and with a view of gaining practical knowledge, he sought and obtained employment as a deputy in the Circuit Court Clerk's office of Montgomery County. In 1823, he removed to Bourbon County, where he continued to prosecute his legal studies, and where he occupied a clerical position similar to that held in Montgomery County. About the year 1824, he commenced the practice of his profession in Paris, and to it be consecrated the earlier years of his life with enthusiastic devotion. His first wife was the daughter of Robert Trimble, a distinguished Jurist, who became subsequently a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. His second wife was a Mrs. Elliott, widow of a prominent lawver, also of Paris. Mr. Davis was an assiduous law student, and his industry received its reward. His business rapidly increased, and he soon rose to a high position at a bar which then numbered some of the most eminent lawyers of the Commonwealth. He regarded the law as the noblest science of intellectual triumph, and loved the administration of justice. All who have encountered him as an opponent in the trial of an important cause, will bear willing testimony to his high qualities as an able and strong lawyer. His last argument but one, in the Supreme Court of the United States, in the reported case of Missouri vs. Kentucky, is a lasting memorial of his legal learning and professional power. Mr. Davis always took an active and prominent part in the political contests of Kentucky, from his earliest manhood--always an ardent Whig, and frequently the selected standard-bearer of his party. In its most excited struggles, his clarion voice rang throughout this Commonwealth in defense of the principles of that patriotic and gallant organization. He was the trusted and true friend of Henry Clay, and enjoyed to a pre-eminent degree his confidence and regard. He represented Bourbon County in the lower branch of the General Assembly of Kentucky for many years. Always conservative in his views, he took a prominent and successful part in shaping the legislation of the State. For eight consecutive years he was chosen over able and distinguished competitors by the electors of the Ashland district, their Representative to the House of Representatives of the United States, and then voluntarily retired. The debates of that body during that period attest to his power and strength as a ready and skillful debater. He was nominated as Lieutenant Governor on the Gubernatorial ticket with John J. Crittenden, but at his earnest request was excused by the convention. In 1861, amid perils and dangers of a revolutionary struggle, he was elected as an old line Union Whig, to succeed John C. Breckinridge in the United States Senate. He was the strongest opponent of secession, and at the period of his election, an earnest advocate of the rigid prosecution of the war to restore the Union. The result of the war, so far as it resulted in the overthrow of the rebellion, was as agreeable to him as to any other union man. But the changes in the form of government, the constitutional amendments, the acts of reconstruction, and other governmental acts which, by the dominant party, were deemed necessary in order to make the Government conform to the altered condition of things, were very repulsive to him, and he opposed them bravely and earnestly, though sustained by a hopeless minority. In 1867, he was re-elected to the United States Senate, a proud tribute to his fidelity and zeal in upholding the honor and guarding the interest of his State. For twelve years he occupied his seat in the Senate. Constitutional questions, novel and startling in their character, were during his time discussed and adopted, and Garrett Davis was never silent when duty prompted him to speak, and he was never known to quail before the power of an overwhelming political majority, and amid the bitterest party contests of the past, his honesty was never impeached or his spotless purity of character ever questioned. With him as a Representative, the conscientious discharge of his duty was paramount to every other consideration. His actions were prompted by conviction, and his convictions were the creations of a well-ordered mind, greatly strengthened by a pure and manly spirit, and throughout life he maintained the same elevated standard. In the death of this truly great and good man, Kentucky lost one of its most illustrious sons, his country, one of its purest and ablest statesmen. Such a man was Garrett Davis, and what higher praise could human statesmanship deserve? He died at his home in Paris, upon the 22d of September, 1872, and all that was mortal of the beloved Kentucky statesman rests beneath the blue grass sod of Bourbon County, in the Paris cemetery.
Garrett McConnell  and Christiana Workman had 3 children: (Mc3) Ellena McConnell, b.5 Mar.1869, d. 1954 near Mt. Oliver, Ky. (Mc3-2)  Lucinda "Lutie" McConnell, b.21 Jan. 1872, married Harry Bowman (Bone) (Mc3) John McConnell, b. 12 Sept 1874, married Ruth and had Marguerite McConnell, who was kidnapped from the hospital but found after 2 years and died at the age of 5 in Denver, Colorado.	ROBERTSON CO: KY's 111th county, named for George ROBERTSON, chief justice of the court of appeals, was formed 1 Aug 1867 from portions of Nicholas County, Mason County, Bracken County, Fleming County and Harrison County. It is located in the Outer Bluegrass region of the state. The elevation in the county ranges from 550 to 1009 feet above sea level. In 1990 the county population was 2,124 in a land area of 100 square miles, an average of 21.2 people per square mile. The county seat is Mount Olivet. It is the least populous county and the least densely populated county in the state. The primary explorer and early protector of this region was Simon KENTON. The last battle of the Revolutionary War at Blue Lick was fought here on August 19, 1782; among the casualties was a certain Andrew McConnell. Duncan HARDING state representative pushed for the creation of the county. possibly John McConnell about 1943 in front of Hester house Hittville, Ky.

The following court extract from http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/court/court3.htm
shows a William McConnell and an early connection between Simon Kenton and the McConnells:

COUNTY: Fayette(Lexington District Court)
CASE: Christoper Greenup v. John Coburn
DATE: October Term 1799
CASE TYPE: Land
ON: James Major, 1780, 400 acres TW; John Floyd(N); James Parberry, assignee of Major; Benjamin Netherland, assignee of Parberry; John Maxwell(N); Col. Shelby(N); William Pendleton; General Robert Todd(W); James Greer(N) 1776; John Todd(N); John Bradford(N); William Pendleton(N); Francis McConnell, 1780 PE; William McConnell(N); John Floyd, assignee of Chas Cummins; David Perry(N); Robert Patterson(N), who was assignee of James Courter, assignee of James Buford.
OGI: None. Plat map
CITATION: 1 Hughes 200

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Alexander McConnell v. Simon Kenton
DATE: October Term 1799
CASE Type: Land
ON: Col. Preston(N); John Maxwell(N); ------ Douglas(N); James Keene(N) and grantee from Alexander McConnell; Joseph Frazier(grantee from Keene); Mary Frazier(N).
OGI: Simon Kenton PE Dec 1779 1400 acres; Alexander McConnell. HAL to Francis McConnell; Simon Kenton was first known in KY by the name �Butler�.
Plat Map
CITATION: 1 Hughes 257 [very long case]

This was one of countless cases in early Kentucky caused by the uncertainty involved in land claims. Many of the early settlers who bore the Indian attacks during the Revolution were later turned out by the courts because of the law that allowed the sale of the land by the State of Virginia to people in the East although it had already been settled and claimed in the Western counties. Thousands were deeply embittered by such developments and had to move on.
The above are abstracts of appellate cases which were heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which was created when Kentucky was granted statehood in in 1792. Appellate cases can often provide genealogical information, even if the only such information is the location of the parties involved and when they were there. Many of the cases in the early appeals time frame are associated with land disputes. Primarily, the issue involved warrants for surveys on land that was already claimed by preemption. The cases were brought to prevent another individual from settling on land through treasury or military warrants which had been settled earlier by what was commonly known as "squatting".

The abstracts present the essential information in these appellate cases, as found in the Opinion of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The case files themselves, which would contain the actual depositions, petition and answer(s), and other materials are no longer extant for Kentucky appellate records until 1863, due to a fire. Copies of the full opinion (to be scanned and sent via e-mail attachment) in any case can be requested from me at billco@ARN.NET .