James Austin CONNOLLY, Congress, IL (1843-1914)

CONNOLLY James Austin , a Representative from Illinois; born in Newark, N.J., March 8, 1843; moved to Chesterville, Ohio, with his parents in 1850; attended the common schools and Selby Academy, Chesterville, Ohio; assistant clerk of the State senate in 1858 and 1859; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and practiced in Mount Gilead, Ohio; moved to Charleston, Ill., in 1861; enlisted in the Union Army as a private in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1862 and was afterwards captain, major, and brevet lieutenant colonel; member of the State house of representatives 1872-1876; United States attorney for the southern district of Illinois from 1876 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1893; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress; again nominated in 1888 but declined to run; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1899); was not a candidate for renomination in 1898; resumed the practice of law in Springfield, Ill., where he died December 15, 1914; interment in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present