One of the first families to arrive in Brownwood was William Connell, who had been a resident of Texas since 1834. He was the son of Sampson Connell and Millie Cook Connell of Tennessee. William sewed in the Volunteer Army of Texas from Sept. 28 1835, to Sept. 13th as a private in the 1st Division. He also served as a private in Captain Billingsly's Company of Rangers from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 1836 in the Army of the Republic and in each service was honorably discharged. He received a grant of 320 acres in Saba County in December 1845. He served in the Confederate Army and was the Treasurer of Brown County in 1864 . Governor Davis then appointed Mr. Connell to serve in that office until February 1876.
William was born December 10, 1816, married Loumisa Wills on Aug. 2, 1943 in Washington County, and they had 11 children. William died May 17, 1882 and Loumisa died Apr. 29, 1899, both were buried in the Connell Cemetery.
The Connell Cemetery was the first cemetery to serve the families of Brownwood and has been in use since 1861 and probably before that date. The last burial in the cemetery was Edward Bruce McCallum (1874-1949).
In 1893, the Cemetery was deeded to Brown County but never maintained. Beginning in 1983, Boy Scout Troop 14, cleaned the cemetery as an Eagle Service Project to help earn their Eagle Scout badge but finally it was too much for the scouts. After many years of total neglect and vandalism, the descendants of Mr. William Connell have made needed repairs and established a fund for the perpetual maintenance of the Cemetery. Mr. George T. Connell of Dallas wrote June 22, 2001 "Had it not been for Joe and Colleen Scott and Mr. and Mrs. Roy Deen, we would still have the briar patch where a beautiful Cemetery is today" . A Texas Historical Marker was approved and placed at the Cemetery in 1997.
No new graves after 1949. Prior graves listed in RURAL CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS IN BROWN COUNTY published in 1980 by Hazel Wetzel.