Isham Railey McConnell

Other Events and Attributes:

• Wikipedia:: Wikipedia on Isham Railey McConnell
• Census: 1920, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; He was recorded while living with his parents.; : 3; Address:
  Rose Hill Street
• Census: 1930, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; He was recorded while living with his parents.; : 13; Address:
  142 Rose Hill Street
• Military: 20 Oct 1942 to 7 Mar 1946; He was in the Army as an engineer during World War II
• Residence: 1990, Bedford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; Address:
  97 North Rd
• History: 2002; The following obituary was published in the Boston Globe. Isham R. McConnell, Architect Studied With Frank Lloyd Wright, 86 Isham Railey McConnell, an architect who studied with the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright and later designed Wright-inspired homes in the suburbs west of Boston, Massachusetts, died in his Bedford, Massachusetts, home Saturday, October 26, 2002, at the age of 86. "Isham's year with Frank Lloyd Wright was to influence his architecture throughout his career," said his wife, the former Judith Lindau. Mr. McConnell focused almost entirely on building contemporary homes, most of them in Bedford, Lexington, Concord, and Sudbury. His wife said he felt each of his projects should be fresh and original. Each home or addition was designed to fit the natural landscape, using only natural materials, with a strong emphasis on lighting. Among his proudest works was the writing studio he built in Bethany, Connecticut, for his wife's brother-in-law, R.W.B. Lewis, the late Yale professor who received a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Edith Wharton. Lewis wrote the book in the studio that Mr. McConnell designed, an octagonal building reached from the main house by a catwalk. Mr. McConnell, whose family had deep roots in the South, was born and spent his youth in Versailles, Kentucky, where his family owned a large farm. His creative interests appeared early in his life. After dropping out of the University of Kentucky, he became a student in 1939 at Wright's now famous community of young aspiring architects, Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Later that year, he studied under Wright at Taliesin West, in Arizona. His wife said studying under Wright was the defining influence in her husband's professional life. Mr. McConnell served in the Pacific during World War II as an Army engineer, and moved to the Boston area in 1949 to earn his architecture degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He met his wife when they took the same class at MIT. He worked for several architectural firms in Boston before settling in Bedford in the late 1950s. In his later years, Mr. McConnell expanded his hobby of stamp collecting into a small business, corresponding with people all over the world. He was also well known for the Kentucky Derby party he threw annually at his rambling, book- lined Colonial farmhouse, connecting with his Southern roots by serving mint juleps to his friends and neighbors. "Isham had such a full engagement with life," said Maxwell King, the executive director of the Heinz Endowments, who had lived in a cottage on the McConnell farm as a young Harvard student. "He loved art and architecture and politics and newspapers, and he loved most of all to talk about all of it with his friends. "He was the most charming and entertaining dinner companion imaginable, and his passion for life and its pleasures was infectious."

Notes:

Name:

Isham married Judith Lindau on 08 Jul 1957. Judith (daughter of Norman C. Lindau and Margaret Susan Kelton) was born on 25 Apr 1925 in Bedford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Julia McConnell was born on 22 Aug 1966 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; died on 18 Mar 1992 in Somerville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; was buried in Rural Glen Cemetery, Hubbardston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA.
2. Laurence Railey McConnell

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1920, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; He is listed as a farmer.; : 42; Address:
  Rose Hill Street
• Census: 1930, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; He is listed as a farmer.; : 54; Address:
  142 Rose Hill Street

John married Louise S. Railey on Yes, date unknown. Louise was born about 1878 in Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1920, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; : 42; Address:
  Rose Hill Street
• Census: 1930, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky; : 52; Address:
  142 Rose Hill Street