CORNELL, Ezra, American capitalist and philanthropist: b. Westchester Landing, N. Y., 11 Jan. 1807; d. Ithaca, N. Y., 9 Dec. 1874. He was of Qua'ter parentage and in 1819 removed with his father, a potter by trade, to De Ruyter, N. Y. His early education was scanty, and for a time he assisted his father in farming and in malting pottery, meanwhile teaching in a dis trict school. He also learned the trade of car penter, worked as a mechanic at Homer, N. Y., and 'from 1826 to 11338 was manager of a flour mill at Ithaca. He was afterward engaged in a lumber business with his brother, but in 1842, when telegraph lines were first being put in operation, he became interested in the construc tion of a telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington. He invented a machine for lay ing the wires underground and was placed in charge of the work. This method failed, owing to defective insulation, and Cornell's suggestion that the wires should be strung on poles was adopted. He then devoted himself to telegraph
line construction and the organization of tele graph companies, and was one of the founders of the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1855. He accumulated a large fortune and in 1858 retired to a farm at Ithaca, N. Y. He was a member of the first Republican National Con vention of 1856, was a member of the State assembly in 1862-63, and of the State senate 1864-67. He is best known as the founder of Cornell University, which he liberally endowed and for which he secured special legislation at Albany. He also founded a public library at Ithaca. Consult (The Life of Ezra Cornell,' by his son, Alonzo Barton Cornell (New York 1884).