John Ludlum McConnel (1826-1862) was an American author who was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. He studied law under his father, and was graduated at the law-school of Transylvania university, Lexington, Kentucky. A self-taught lawyer and a veteran of the Black Hawk War, McConnel became a wealthy landowner in Jacksonville and served in both houses of the Illinois legislature. He held a number of other public offices, including auditor of the United States Treasury from 1855 to 1859. In 1846 he was enlisted as a private for the Mexican war, became 1st lieutenant of his company, and was promoted to captain after the battle of Buena Vista. His works include: Talbot and Vernon (1850), Grahame; or, Youth and Manhood (1850), The Glenns (1851) and Western Characters; or, Types of Border Life in the Western States (1853).