An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893, page 451 CAPTAIN MICHAEL O'CONNELL, a retired Sergeant of Ordnance at the Vancouver Post, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, May 16, 1826, a son of John and Mary (Mahoney) O'Connell, natives also of that country. The parents reared a family of five children, three sons and two daughters. The father died in 1847, and the remainder of the family, excepting our subject, came to America, locating in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where the mother died in 1862. Michael O'Connell, the subject of this sketch, emigrated to America in 1850, and in 1861 received a Captain's commission, commanding Company C, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He served until 1863, when he resigned his position, and in the same year enlisted in the ordnance department. Mr. O'Oonnell has been for over thirty years an enlisted man, and during twenty-three years of that period was a Sergeant of Ordnance at the Vancouver Post, a position from which he has but recently retired. In 1889, he was elected a member of the City Council, but resigned his position before the expiration of his term. He was again elected in 1891, and is still a member. May 26, 1855, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he was united in marriage with Miss Ellen O'Connell, and both are consistent members of the Catholic Church. Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in October 2003 by Jeffrey L. Elmer * * * * Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.