Connett Family

MAJ. WILLIAM CARROLL CONNETT

1797-1864

William C. Connett was born in Mason County, Kentucky June 3, 1797. When a boy he moved to Hardin County, where he spent several years before enlisting for service in the War of 1812. After the war he returned to May's Lick, Mason County, and operated a hotel. He then moved to Fayette County where he farmed and raised hemp. He operated a ropewalk in Lexington until it was destroyed by fire. He then moved to Buchanan County, Missouri, arriving in March 1839, with his family and $500 in gold.

He contracted to purchase two thousand acres of land near the county seat of Sparta, south of the present city of St. Joseph. He built his log cabin and started the raising of hemp. As his operations prospered they were expanded and he became the owner of sixty negroes. He was a large man physically and very energetic. He refused to be weighed, but it was thought that he would tip the scales at three hundred fifty pounds. He achieved material success and was once asked why he continued to work and acquire more property. When you die, Major, your boys will just spend the money. “Well,' he replied, "if they enjoy spending it as much as I enjoy making it, let them go to it.'

He had married on June 7, 1817, Miss Matilda Thornberry of Fauquier County, Virginia, of a family of Scotch descent. There were nine children: Malvina who married Judge E. P. Duncan, Isabelle who married Columbus Roundtree, Elzerie who married Samuel Wildbahn, Miranda who married Walter G. Reid, and Matilda who was married to Mr. Hodges and later to Mr. Hughes. There were originally four sons: Hamilton, who died young, Squire, William C., and Horace.

Major Connett died December 30, 1864. The three sons then formed a partnership-S. S. Connett & Brothers-to carry on their father's farming and stock raising business. A profitable meat-packing business was established and the family were among the largest taxpayers in the county. When it appeared that Emancipation was imminent, William C. Connett took the negroes to Texas with the intention of exchanging them there for land. Although such an exchange was accomplished by some residents of the border states, Mr. Connett was too late in his effort and the property value was lost.

The large family residence still standing on Highway 371 was built, with separate quarters for the families of the three Connett sons and their wives who were sisters. The large pork-packing operation carried on in the vicinity of Garfield Avenue and Twenty-second Street. At the peak of their packing operations, they were able to process twelve hundred hogs a day. When Swift & Company came to St. Joseph in the 1890s, the Connett packing operations were no longer profitable, so they established a brickyard. Many of the St. Joseph buildings are constructed of Connett brick. This activity was finally discontinued and the property on Twenty-second Street was sold to the Excello Feed Mill.

JUDGE SOLOMON. L. LEONARD 1811-1861

Solomon Langdon Leonard was born in Ohio in 1811. His middle name was that of a forebear who served in the American Revolution. His parents died when he was very young and he grew up in Kentucky. He was an excellent Greek and Latin scholar and was a schoolteacher before he began the study of law.

He was married to Miss Leanna Hall and in 1839 they came to Platte County, Missouri, where they lived on a farm near Platte City and he practiced law. In 1841 they moved to Buchanan County and lived on a farm several miles east of St. Joseph. In 1844 he was appointed judge of the Circuit Court and held that position until 1852.

After that he joined General Bela M. Hughes in a law partnership. He was a hard worker and quite successful. In the first year of the Civil War he made a trip south and was accidentally drowned in Indian territory, later Oklahoma, in October 1861

There were ten children and three of the daughters married the three Connett sons. One of the Connett family has said: “If there had been enough Connett boys, I guess they would have gotten all of Judge Leonard's girls, but there were only enough boys to get half of the girls.

SQUIRE S. CONNETT, 1819-1883

Squire S Connett was born at May's Lick, Mason County, Kentucky, in 1819 and in his youth learned the hemp-manufacturing business. He came to Buchanan County with his father in 1839. In 1857 he married Celina A. Leonard, daughter of Judge Solomon L. Leonard. There were no children. After the death of Mr. Connett, his widow married his brother, Horace T. Connett, widower of her sister.

WILLIAM C. CONNETT, 1830-1883

William C. Connett was born in Kentucky in 1830 and came to Buchanan County in 1839. In 1855 he married Perilla L. Leonard, daughter of Judge Solomon L. Leonard. There were seven children: Leanna M. Coles, Cora L. Arnold, Ada E. Reed, William C. who became a lawyer in St. Louis, Mo.; Squire S. who managed the farm operations; Solomon L. and Carroll S. who operated the brickyards after the packing plant was closed.

HORACE T. CONNETT, 1832-1905

Horace T. Connett was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1832 and came to Buchanan County with the family in 1839. In 1861 he married May E. Leonard, daughter of Judge Solomon L. Leonard. There were four children: Celina E. Baker; Charles H. who moved to California; John A. who became a St. Joseph attorney; and Wesley L. who engaged in the insurance business in St. Joseph.

ELZERIE CONNETT, 1810-1878

Elzerie Connett married Samuel Wildbahn in 1859. He was born in 1810 in Pickaway County, Ohio. In 1844 he moved to Lexington, Missouri, and in 1845 to St. Joseph. In 1846 he enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican War. At the end of the war he returned to St. Joseph for a short time and in 1849 went to California for a year. He then returned to St. Joseph. He met Elzerie Connett at a ball held at the Tavern in Sparta, near the Connett home. They were married on October 16, 1859, and removed to Texas, where they remained through the Civil War. The family then returned to St. Joseph and Samuel operated the Davidson Flour Mill near Faucett, Missouri, while the family occupied a log house nearby. In 1866 he purchased a farm of 160 acres where he lived until his death in December 1878. There were four children: Mattie A. born in Travers County, Texas, in 1860; Laura L. in 1862; Cassie in Buchanan County, Missouri, in 1866; and Squire T. in 1869.

Mattie A. was married on December 15, 1880, to William S. Ashton. They had two children: Thomas W. Ashton and Anna Laurie who married Guy Chestnut, later a presiding judge of Buchanan County. Thomas W. Ashton moved to Texas, and had a son, Leon T. Ashton. Annie Laurie had a son, Guy Chestnut, Jr.