Timothy O’Connell

TIMOTHY O’CONNELL WAS BORN NOVEMBER 4, 1852, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to William O’Connell and Mary Cashmann. Sixteen-year-old O’Connell lived in a boarding house in South Fork, Klamath County, California in 1870 and listed his occupation as gardener. By 1880, he had moved to Austin, Nevada and working as a laborer, presumably in mining, but his birthplace is listed as Ireland. Although it’s not known for certain, this could be attributed to the enumerator assuming his nativity. Because the 1890 U.S. census was largely destroyed in a fire, it is assumed that he still resided in Austin.

With the discovery of the famous Mizpah vein and subsequent birth of Tonopah, he cast his lot with the new mining town and grew up with it, leaving the mines to engage in the grocery business, in which he was highly successful. He was joined by his wife, Margaret Emma Barret, four sons, and one daughter, relocating to Tonopah from Berlin, Nevada in 1902. He took an active interest in public affairs and could often be found advocating everything that tended for the good the new community. Finally, after being pressed to action by his many friends, he consented to have his name placed before the people for the office of commissioner of Nye County. The esteem to which he was held was reflected by the handsome majority he received, although his opponent was one of the best- known men in the county. During his short tenure, it was plainly noticed that the business methods practiced in his own personal affairs were to be applied to public matters.

After attending only three commission meetings, O’Connell suffered a stroke about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 16, 1911, which paralyzed him. On February 22, the Tonopah Daily Bonanza reported that he was “showing considerable improvement” but had not yet been able to leave his home. He was subsequently taken to San Francisco for more advance treatment and in the hope that a change of climate would add a few years to his life, but his constitution was so weakened that it resulted in no benefit and he passed away quietly at age of 58 on March 19, 1911.

O’Connell’s wife and son, John, returned to Tonopah with his body and the train was met by Nye County Commissioners Cuddy and Humphreys. His funeral was scheduled for Wednesday, April 5 from St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

The entire town paid homage to O’Connell, and an article printed in the April 5 edition of the Tonopah Daily Bonanza noted that when the funeral procession started from St. Patrick’s, “the sky was over-clouded, the elements having dropped tears earlier in the day.” Leading the procession was the entire body of county officials. The schools closed down at noon, as well as the county offices and many of the local businesses, out of respect for the deceased county commissioner.

Timothy O’Connell’s legacy in Tonopah was not measured by the length of his time in office, but by the trust placed in him at a pivotal moment in the town’s development. In a young and rapidly growing community, his sound judgment, steady temperament, and devotion to the public good marked him as a natural leader. Though his service was cut tragically short, he represented the kind of civic-minded citizen upon whom Tonopah depended as it sought stability, order, and permanence during its formative years.

Timothy O’Connell