William J. McConnell (born September 18, 1839 in Commerce, Michigan - died March 30, 1925 in Moscow, Idaho) was Governor of Idaho from 1893 until 1897. Prior to that he represented Idaho as one of its first United States Senators after statehood. As a young man McConnell moved to California to engage in mining, cattle, merchandizing, and banking. He then lived in Oregon from 1862 to 1863, where he taught school, and then moved to Idaho Territory in 1863. From 1865 to 1867 he served as a deputy U.S. Marshal.
McConnell returned to Oregon and worked in the cattle business. In 1886, McConnell returned to Idaho and became a member of the state constitutional convention in 1890.
In November 1890 McConnell was elected by the Idaho Legislature to serve in the United States Senate for the remainder of the Fifty-first United States Congress which ended in March 1891. In that same election the Idaho Legislature chose former Idaho Territory Congressional delegate Fred Dubois to serve the full six-year term from that point forward.
McConnell was elected Governor of Idaho in 1892 and then again in 1894. He was appointed Indian Inspector by President William McKinley in 1897, serving until 1901. In 1909, McConnell was appointed as an Inspector of the Immigration Service in Moscow, Idaho, by President William Howard Taft, and served in that position until his death.
Preceded by: (none) U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Idaho January 5, 1891-March 3, 1891 Served alongside: George L. Shoup Succeeded by: Fred Dubois Preceded by: N. B. Willey Governor of Idaho January 1893-January 4, 1897 Succeeded by: Frank Steunenberg Governors of Idaho Shoup • Willey • McConnell • Steunenberg • Hunt • Morrison • Gooding • Brady • Hawley • Haines • Alexander • Davis • Moore • Baldridge • Ross • B. Clark • Bottolfsen • C. Clark • Bottolfsen • Gossett • Williams • Robins • Jordan • Smylie • Samuelson • Andrus • Evans • Andrus • Batt • Kempthorne • Risch United States Senators from Idaho Class 2: Shoup • Dubois • Borah • Thomas • Gossett • Dworshak • Miller • Dworshak • Jordan • McClure • Craig Class 3: McConnell • Dubois • Heitfeld • Heyburn • Perky • Brady • Nugent • Gooding • Thomas • Pope • Clark •
