ISAAC NEWTON CONNETT. Members of the Connett family have been important factors in the social and material history of Washington county for nearly a century. The immediate subject of this sketch, whose name appears at the opening thereof, was born in Morris township in 1826. Both his father James Connett, and his grandfather, whose name was also James, immigrated to Morris township from New Jersey in 1801. Upon locating in Morris township the senior James Connett, grandfather of subject, purchased what is known as the "Connett farm," six months after its entry, located one and one-half miles northeast of Prosperity. It is one of the best in that section. James Connett, Sr., was a weaver by trade, to which he gave his sole attention, and at one time he did all the weaving of linen and woolen goods in the southern part of the county. His death occurred in 1845. James Connett, Jr., father of Isaac N., was born in 1797, in the town of the nativity of T. De Witt Talmage Bainbrook, N. J. He remained with his father until about seventeen years of age, receiving such an education as the times and surroundings afforded, which were by no means such as are enjoyed at present. After leaving the paternal roof, young Connett worked about in various places at sundry things until 1821, when he married Miss Rebecca Cary, a daughter of Henry Cary, who had removed to Washington county, from Morristown, N. J., in 1802. Isaac Newton Connett was the second in a family of three children born to this union. His brothers, Henry and Oliver, died at the ages of four and nineteen, respectively. The father died in 1882, and the mother in 1872. Educated to practical farm life, Isaac N. Connett has made farming his lifetime vocation. His success attests to his energy and practical judgment. He has seen Washington county evolve from almost a wilderness to its present prosperous state. He speaks of hearing his mother tell of how, in the days of their early location there, travelers were actually compelled to construct their own roads in many instances. Mr. Connett was in 1847 united in marriage with Lucinda Lindley, of Morris township. She is descended from a family of early pioneers, who settled in Washington county as early as 1783, the first members having immigrated from New Jersey. Her grandfather was one of three brothers who were all Revolutionary soldiers, and who in later years came to Washington county and constructed a fort called Lindley's Fort, near where Isaac Connett now resides. This fort was at that time the strongest fortification between Wheeling (W. Va.) and Brownsville (Penn.). It withstood all the attacks of the Indians, the barricades never having in any part been broken down. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Connett have been born four children, all of whom are living, viz.: Flora Samantha, who married, in 1868, S. B. McVay, of Morris township; Hannah Rebecca, married, in 1872, to Joseph Shafer, of Knox county, Ohio, where they now reside; Sarah Cordelia, married, in 1879, to Wiley Parkinson, of Greene county, Penn. (Mr. Parkinson died in 1885, and Mrs. Parkinson now resides with her parents); Clara Bethany, the youngest, was married, in 1884, to Joshua Heironimous, of Madison county, Ohio (Mr. and Mrs. Heironimous now reside at Plymouth, Iowa, where he is telegraph operator in the office of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which position he has held a number of years). Prior to 1884 Mr. Connett was allied with the Republican party, since which time he has given his influence and support to the Prohibition cause. In the sense of an office-seeker he is not a politician, though he takes an active interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his county and community. A continuous residence of fifty-eight years at the same place has proven him worthy of the esteem in which he is held.

Text taken from page 1033 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]