Four Wlliam T. McConnells

There have been a line of four William Thomas McConnells in my family.... All of them have some things in common..... They have all been: bright, strong-willed, opinionated and articulate.

The first William Thomas McConnell was my grandfather, and he was called “WT”.
He was a career Democrat politician in Robertson County, KY, and held every elected office over time (he was most often the sheriff)

WT was good friends with Alben Barkley (the Vice President under Harry Truman, also known as the “Veep”)..... I would describe WT as a “demanding dictator”.... He was very impressive looking: Tall (6' 4”), ramrod straight, with white hair.... When Dad was a teenager, he was the only child left of the seven children..... Each morning WT would give his wife (Willie Kate) a punch list of tasks to be done on their farm that day...... Then he would go down to the courthouse in Mt. Olivet and chew the fat with the county leaders...... When he came home, he expected a hot meal to be on the table, and all the tasks to be completed.... [More on this in my blog post called “WT”].

The name on my Dad's birth certificate was “Will Junior”. He was the youngest of seven children...... He later changed his name to “William Thomas McConnell, Jr....As an adult he was called “Bill”..... I would describe Dad as a “workaholic charismatic leader”...... As, you can tell, I was in awe of my Dad........ I felt like a failure because I couldn't live up to my lofty view of him..... I was so glad that he named me after my Mom (Robert Redding), instead of himself....When Dad retired, he had trained four other men to replace him.....At his company (Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company) he did the following jobs:
....Treasurer
....Wrote the insurance policies that Lincoln Income sold
....Director of personnel
....Company attorney
Dad seemed to have a pretty good relationship with WT......I think WT would give him helpful advice (and Dad was WT's attorney, and handled his estate)

The next person with that name is “Bill Tom”.....As an adult, he is known as “Bill” (just like my Dad).....Bill Tom was eighteen months younger than me (and we continue to be very close)....The words I would use to describe him growing up are “Black Sheep Rebel”.... Bill Tom had MAJOR problems with obeying Dad, as a teenager...Anything Dad would tell Bill Tom to do, he would do just the opposite.....Bill Tom was always an adventurous young man, with lots of friends and always dated the prettiest girls......Fortunately, later in life, Dad became Bill Tom's close friend and mentor.

The last person with that name is “Mack”, (Bill Tom's oldest son).....I haven't spent much time with him, and don't know that much about him....He is brilliant (having inherited the “Redding brain” from my Mom) and very witty....Unfortunately, he also inherited the Redding's main problem (but he is dealing with that)....I've haven't had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Mack about anything, really,....So, I can't tell you more about him.....He hasn't had any sons (so, that looks like the end of the line for men named “William Thomas McConnell”).