Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/412

 CORNELL

CORNELL

returned to Ithaca and for two years conducted a line of steamboats on Cayuga lake, which he sold in 186-1 at a large profit, and joined in the organization of the First national bank of Ithaca. He became its cashier and subsequently vice- president, serving as a director for twenty-five

years. In July, 1868, he was elected a di- rector of the Western Union telegraph com- pany and held the office of vice-presi- dent and acting presi- dent of the corpora- tion. He introduced tlie free delivery of telegrams in New York city before let- ters were delivered by the post-office depart- ment. His political

^ y^^ /f^ y) career began as chair-

^^III^^^^^'^L^V'^^-t-^!^^^ man of the Republican V — committee of Tomp-

kins county in 1862, which position he lield for eight years. In 1864 he was elected supervisor of the town of Ithaca and re-elected in 1865. In 1866 he was chosen a member of the Republican state committee, of which organization he was made chairman in 1870. In 1868 he was the unsuc- cessful candidate of his party for lieutenant-gov- ernor, and in 1869 was appointed by President Grant surveyor of customs for the city of New York. He declined the appointment of U.S. assistant treasurer in 1870, was elected to the New York assembl}- in 1873 and on its organ- ization in 1873 was elected sj^eaker. In 1877 President Grant appointed him naval officer for the port of New York, from which post he was arbitrarily removed in 1878 by President Hayes for refusing to resign the chairmanship of the Republican state committee. This action resulted in his election as governor of the state in 1879. He resigned as chairman of the Repub- lican state committee and his administration was entirely free from partisanship. He greatly re- duced the public expenditiu'es, exercised the veto power with great judgment, and was commended for his judicious appointments to the public service. He was deprived of the renomination by the fraudulent methods of disappointed office seekers, which resulted in the defeat of the state Republican party by 200,000 votes and the national party defeat in 1882. Mr. Cornell then took up his residence in New York city, where he devoted himself to the business of the Western Union telegraph company, of which he was the senior director. He was a member of the Grant monument association, a trustee of Cornell uni-

versity from 1865, and was interested in various commercial and financial enterprises.

CORNELL, Ezra, philanthropist, was born at Westchester Landing, N.Y., Jan. 11, 1807. His first American ancestor, Thomas Cornell, came to Boston from England in 1636 with the second Winthrop expedition. The family re- moved to De Ruyter, N.Y., in 1819 and he had but few education- al advantages. He learned the ma- chinist's trade and removed to Ithaca in 1828, where for ten 3'ears he man- aged an important milling industr3^ In 1843 he became associated with S. F. B. Morse in the development of the electro - magnetic telegraph as super- intendent of con- struction of the line between

Washington and

Baltimore, which Qi.^^^^-^'i-e^ he completed in ^ 1844. He helped

to extend the lines to New York in 18^5, to Albany in 1846, and to Montreal, Canada, in 1847, when he organized the Erie & Michigan tele- graph company, of which he was a director and president, 1847-55. He became one of the largest owners of telegraph property in the United States, was one of the principal founders of the Western Union telegraph company in 1854 and for twenty years was the largest individual

NOW KNOW« AJ ^^ORRILL HAU..

shareholder. In 1857 Mr. Cornell retired from business and devoted himself to public service and the promotion of philanthropic enterprises. He was elected a member of the state assembly from Tompkins county in 1861 and was re- elected in 1863. In 1863 he was elected to the