James R. McConnell came to this country when about ten years of age, having been born in Belfast, Ireland, April 3, 1847. He received a common school education and taught for several terms. With his brother he was engaged in the dry goods business for several years in Aurora, Indiana, where he resided for many years, returning to Aurora in 1890, since when he has been living upon the farm where his wife was born.
Brother McConnell was a noted ritualist in Masonry, and while in Lexington was elected Master of Lexington Lodge, No. 1, and at about the time of the rennaisance of Redmanship in this Reservation. When Mendenhall began his canvass for charter members of Miantonomo Tribe, No. 1, Brother McConnell was one of the first approached, and the lending of his name and influence to the movement assisted in no small degree in the establishment of the Order in Kentucky. At the institution of Tribe No. 1 he was elected its first Senior Sagamore, and succeeded to the stump of Sachem one month later, the Tribe having been instituted on the 5th of Cold Moon, G. S. D. 403, just prior to the close of the term.
A charter member of the Great Council, he was elected its first Great Senior Sagamore, and was raised to the stump of Great Sachem at the second session of the Great Council, held at Augusta in 1896, and was the first Great Sachem to serve a full great sun. During his administration several new Tribes were added to the roster of the Great Council, and he visited nearly every Tribe in the Reservation. At the expiration of his term as Sachem, he was elected Great Prophet, and served in that capacity the full term, and afterwards served upon several important committees, attending every Great Council until his removal to Indiana. He is now a member of Walla Walla Tribe, No. 229, of Aurora, Indiana, and ranking as a Past Great Sachem in the Great Council of that Reservation.
WILLIAM EDWIN FITE
PAST GREAT SACHEM WILLIAM EDWIN FITE
1897-8
Brother Fite was born October 20, 1867, near Rome, Adams County, Ohio. He was educated in the public schools and at the National Normal University, Lebanon, Ohio. His early life was spent on the farm. He has been a teacher of much ability, and has been principal of schools at Wheelersburg and Bethel, Ohio. He was granted a State Life Certificate by the Ohio Board of School Examiners in 1890; was employed as Superintendent of Schools of Augusta, Kentucky, in 1893, and was granted State Certificate in Kentucky in 1894. Was principal of Minerva Male and Female Academy 1896-1898, when he gave up teaching to enter the insurance business, in which he has been engaged to the present time.
Brother Fite was a charter member of Rising Sun Tribe, No. 161, of Bethel, Ohio, instituted in May, 1893, in which Tribe he gained the honors of a Past Sachem. While engaged at teaching in Augusta he assisted at the institution of Paughcaughnaughsinque Tribe, No. 6, and became a charter member of that Tribe, aiding materially in its progress. He was a charter member of the Great Council of Kentucky and was elected its first Great Junior Sagamore, succeeding as Great Senior Sagamore, and was elected Great Sachem at Ashland, serving the Great Council with distinction, and at the close of his term was elected Great Prophet. Having moved from the Reservation before the expiration of his term in the latter chieftaincy, he was succeeded by Past Great Sachem Thos. A. Hornsey. He was a member of the Committee on Laws which formulated the first code adopted by the Great Council, and served at times on various other important committees. He was appointed by Great Sachem Winter as a Special Deputy for the purpose of visiting various Tribes in the Reservation, and through his instrumentality many weak Tribes were made strong and placed upon the highway to success.
Brother Fite now resides in Jackson, Ohio, and is engaged in the insurance business. He is an active member in the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Masons, as well as the Improved Order of Red Men.
