Dr. John Connolly

---

---

Husband Dr. John Connolly ¹

---

           Born: 1744 - Manor Twp, Lancaster Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Canada
         Buried: 

---

         Father: John Connolly (      -Abt 1747) 2 3
         Mother: Susan Howard (      -1755) 4

---

---

---

Wife

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

---

Children

---

---

General Notes: Husband - Dr. John Connolly

---

Dr. John Connolly occupied a very conspicuous but unenviable position during the struggle of the American colonies to establish their independence. What induced him to become a Tory, whether from the tainted blood of his father, or early association, or direct bribery by Lord Dunmore, will never be known. Like Burr, he may have taken a desperate plunge to retrieve a fortune lost and attain great political power.
He was born in Manor township in the year 1744, upon the farm owned by James Patterson, the old Indian trader, and his wife Susanna, who owned the land as tenants in common. By her third husband she had one son, the subject of this sketch. After this husband's death, which took place about the year 1747, she removed to Lancaster. She had a great deal of wealth, and it is presumed that she sent her son to the best schools the town afforded. She died in 1755, and it is supposed that her son was placed in charge of Col. George Croghan, who was his uncle. Where or with whom he studied medicine is not known, but he doubtless became attached to a roving and adventurous life while traveling with his uncle Croghan, whose business as an Indian trader took him among the tribes in the far West. After the conquest of Canada by the English, and the subjugation of the Indians by Col. Boquet, the French agreed to surrender all of their forts and possessions east of the Mississippi River.
Lieut.-Col. Wilkins was sent out to the Illinois to take command of that department. He arrived there on the 5th day of September, 1768, and took command, and set up a civil government. A number of the officers were from Virginia and Pennsylvania, and he seems to have been followed by a large number of Indian traders. A number of these Pennsylvania Indian traders, probably Wharton, Boynton, Gratz, and Croghan, established a very extensive store at Kaskaskia. On the 8th day of December, 1768, Dr. John Connolly came to the Kaskaskia store and purchased some loaf-sugar, Bohea tea, tallow candles, and a pint of rum, and on the 9th instant he purchased various articles for house-keeping, such as knives and forks, spoons, table-cloth, tea-kettle, etc. He purchased at this store almost daily, and among the articles were large quantities of rum. It is possible that he went with a detachment of troops as surgeon. We find, however, that on the 11th day of February, 1769, he formed a partnership with Joseph Hollingshead, formerly of Burlington, New Jersey, and purchased at the Kaskaskia store goods amounting to four thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine pounds, twelve shillings, and sixpence, and also boats and bateaux for one thousand pounds. These purchases were followed quickly by several other large purchases.
On the 1st of August, 1769, for the first time, Dr. Connolly's wife is charged with several articles upon the books of the company, and we infer that he married her in that place. She was doubtless the daughter of an Indian trader, perhaps of Dennis McCroghan, who may have been the brother of Col. George Croghan. The adventures of Connolly and Hollingshead doubtless resulted in a financial failure, for Connolly suddenly left the neighborhood in the spring of 1771, greatly in debt. He went up the Ohio to Pittsburgh, where he met Lord Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, and came to the Ohio to look after the interests of Virginia, claiming jurisdiction over the western part of Pennsylvania.
The adventurous, bold, and dashing character of Connolly, and his knowledge of the country beyond the Ohio and of numerous Indian tribes, whose language he spoke fluently, led Dunmore to make a bargain with him. He was given two thousand acres of land at the Falls of the Ohio, where Louisville now is; was made commandant, with supreme power, at Fort Pitt, the name of which Dunmore changed, calling it after himself. A majority of the most prominent settlers in that part of Pennsylvania then claimed by Virginia accepted the very liberal terms offered to them by Dunmore, and, in consequence, they seemed to prefer to live under that jurisdiction rather than under Penn's, who would not consent to allow any settlers on the land along the Ohio until they first purchased it from the Indians, which was done late in the fall of 1768 at the treaty at Fort Stanwix.
Connolly found this divided allegiance, and he took decided and violent measures to coerce the adherents of the Penns into the support of Dunmore. He undertook to abolish the Justice's Court at Hannastown by imprisoning the justices, some of whom he sent to prison at Staunton, Virginia. His violent and reckless conduct brought on Indian hostilities, which was retaliated by Cresap and others, and an Indian war was the result.
Lord Dunmore adhered to the fortunes of the king of England, and when measures were taken to punish the rebels at Boston, he was using violent measures in Virginia to coerce the people into the support of the king and Parliament. Connolly sided with Dunmore and left the Ohio, where it was becoming uncomfortably warm for him, and found his way to Boston, where he received a colonel's commission in the British service from Gen. Gage. He returned to Baltimore with his commission, and started for the Ohio and the lakes with the intention of raising a regiment among the Indians, with the intention of making war upon the frontier settlers.
When passing through Hagerstown upon horse-back, with a single companion, he was arrested by the "minute-men" and taken prisoner to Lancaster and Philadelphia, where he was thrown into jail. His commission was found concealed in his saddle-bags. After remaining in jail for several months, his half-brother, Gen. James Ewing, became security for his good behavior. He was paroled and sent to the plantation of Gen. Ewing, near Wrightsville, and part of the conditions were that he was not to go farther than six miles from Gen. Ewing's mansion. He was there but a short time when it was discovered that he was again plotting against the colonies. He was rearrested and taken to Philadelphia and put in prison. We find him before the close of the war in Canada. While he lived he was on half-pay of the "British establishment." After the close of the war he made an effort to recover his land at the Falls of the Ohio, and attempted to enlist some army officers in a scheme to capture Louisiana and set up a separate government in the West.
After the close of the Revolutionary war, Dr. Connolly visited his half-brother, Gen. Ewing, several times. Upon one occasion, in an unguarded moment, when seated at the table, he boastingly made the threat that the British army would come down from Canada and conquer the United States. Gen. Ewing sprang to his feet and seized him by the throat, and was separated from him with great difficulty by his wife. Both regretted the occurrence very much, for they loved each other, although they were so widely separated upon political questions.
Had Dr. Connolly chosen to take a stand in behalf of the republic, he doubtless would have attained a very high rank. He died in Canada, and we are not aware that he left any descendants there. [HLC 1883, 953]

1 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 953.

2 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 954.

3 —, History of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys (Philadelphia, PA: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), Pg 851.

4 Addams S. McAllister, The Descendants of John Thomson, Pioneer Scotch Covenanter (Easton, PA: The Chemical Publishing Company, 1917), Pg 95.