Cornell Family Tree


My thanks to Tom Cornell and Richard Cornell, two relatives who I met on the Wide World Web for expanding my knowledge of our roots.
Our ancestors appear to have come from Essex County, England to America in about 1638, initially settling in New York.


George Cornell
b. 1516, Saffron, Walden, Essex, England, Married Margaret Dagnet, d. 1563, Saffron, Walden, Essex, England


George Cornell
b. 1539, Saffron, Walden, Essex, England, Married Susan Casse, d. 1616, Stanton, Harcourt, Oxfordshire, England


Richard Cornell
b. 1565, Bumstead Tower, Essex, England, Married Mary Terry, d. June 22, 1631, Bumstead Tower, Essex, England

At least three Children


Thomas Cornell
b. March 24, 1593/94, Fairstead Manor, Essex, England, Married Rebecca Briggs, d. 1655, Portsmouth, Newport, R.I.

When the Cornells arrived in the New World in the late 1636, they landed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But like a lot of others who came after the initial Pilgrim settlers they discovered the Puritans were, well, a little too Puritan from a religious point of view. In 1638 the family packed up and followed a woman named Ann Hutchinson and other dissenters to the area that became Rhode Island. The Cornells helped establish Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the second town in the colony. On Sept. 6, 1630 Thomas Cornell Sr., was grated a license to operate an inn in Portsmouth.

When Thomas Cornell Sr. died about 1655, the family continued to run a boarding house. Rebbeca lived there with son Thomas and his family. Thomas Jr. was well known in the community and a deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly.

On February 8, 1673, Rebecca Cornell was found burned to death in her room. The coroner initially ruled her demise as "an unhappie accident," possibly caused by the careless smoking of her pipe.

On the February 12, 1673, John Briggs, Rebecca Cornell's brother, who also lived in Portsmouth, had a dream. The next day he went to authorities and said the ghost of his sister had come to him and showed him a wound in her stomach that didn't match up with the accidental death verdict. In those days, dreams carried more weight as evidence than they do today. So authorities dug up Rebecca's body. Sure enough, there was a stomach wound that had been overlooked.

A new investigation began. It was learned that Thomas didn't always treat his mother kindly. She had told others she planned to sell the property and move in with another son in the spring. If she had done that, Thomas and his rather large family would have been out of a place to live. So Thomas was brought to trial for the murder of his mother. Although the evidence was primarily based on heresay and a brother-in-law's bad dream, Thomas was found guilty. On May 23, 1673 he was hanged in front of the Colony House in Newport, Rhode Island. A daughter, born after Thomas' death, was named Innocent Cornell. She was an ancestor of the infamous Lizzie Borden.



Richard Cornell
b. July 8, 1624, Saffron Walden, Essex, England, Married Elizabeth Jessup, d. Aug. 11, 1694, Rockaway, Long Island

Richard Cornell, March 27, 1656, Flushing, Queens, N.Y.
Sarah Cornell,
June 20, 1657, Flushing
Elizabeth Cornell,
June 16, 1661, Flushing
Joshua Cornell,
Nov. 3, 1664, Flushing
William Cornell,
Feb. 1, 1666, Flushing
Jacob Cornell,
Aug. 31, 1669, Flushing
John Cornell,
July 5, 1672, Flushing
Samuel Cornell,
Nov. 18, 1673, Flushing
Thomas Cornell,
Dec. 10, 1675, Flushing
Mary Cornell,
Dec. 14, 1676, Flushing, m. Richard Betts, William Creed
Rebecca Cornell,
Dec. 14, 1676, Flushing


Jacob Cornell
b.
Aug. 31, 1669, Flushing, Queens, New York, Married Hester Paine, d. Dec. 1, 1758

Jacob Cornell, June 10, 1700
Daniel Cornell,
Oct. 1, 1702
Mary Cornell,
Sept. 30, 1704
Richard Cornell,
Sept. 3, 1708
Samuel Cornell,
May 4, 1710


Daniel Cornell
b.
Oct. 1, 1702, Rockaway, Long Island, New York, Married Mary Vail, d. Aug. 31, 1769

Had 14 children, most born in Westchester New York. Childre include:

Richard Cornell, 1744. m. Mary Merritt
William Cornell, 1749, m. Ann Arnott
Samuel Cornell. 1752, m. Sarah Mansfield
Sylvanus Cornell, 1752, m. Johanna Unknown
Letitia Cornell, 1753

Elizabeth Cornwalles Cornell, 1755
Daniel Cornell,
March 18, 1757
Thomas Cornell,
April 4, 1758
Gabriel Cornell, 1759, m. Abigail Knapp

Elijah Cornell, 1761
Jacob Cornell, 1762
Benjamin Cornell, 1763
John Cornell, 1764
Jane Cornell, 1765


Daniel Cornell
b. 1757,
New York, m. Zeuriah Wise, d. 1829, Ontario, Can.

Daniel Cornell went to Ontario before 1794 when he was granted 500 acres in Beverly Township. He may have been the Daniel Cornell at Chemung in Chemung Co. (Then Montgomery Co.) in 1790. He filed for a Revolutionary War pension in 1819 and 1829 and stated that he was at Ft. Montgomery on the Hudson when it was destroyed by the British (Oct. 1777). It is in Orange County.

Daniel was living in Ninepartners in Duchess, Co., N.Y. when he married Zeuriah Wise about 1779.

Daniel’s brother Gabriel moved to Ontario from Warwick, N.Y. about 1800, with his entire family and settled near Daniel.

In his later years Daniel returned to the U.S. and for a time lived in New York and later Ohio. He unsuccessfully tried in 1819 and again in 1829 to get a Revolutionary War veteran’s pension. (Pension application)

Daniel Daniel died in Canada about 1829 from for injuries caused when he was struck by the tongue of a horse-drawn bobsled.

Daniel’s seven sons included John D., Benjamin Benony, Heli, Sylvanus, Daniel Jr., George N. and Samuel. His three daughters were Esther, Hannah and Zeuriah C.

Children John D., Benjamin Benony and Esther apparently stayed in Canada. Some of the others came back to the states. Heli is buried in Indiana. Sylvanus, George N., Daniel Jr. and Samuel all died in Ohio.


John D. Cornell b. 1780, m. Sarah Darby, d. after 1861, Ontario, Can.

John Cornell’s four sons were Jacob, Benony, Daniel and John Jr. His five daughters included Sophia, Phoebe, Mary, Hannah and Elizabeth.


Benony Cornell
b. 1814 Copetown, Ont., Can., m. Susan Shaver, d. 1894, Actinolite, Hastings Co., Ont., Can.

Benony was a blacksmith. He and his wife, Susan Shaver, had six sons including George, Salem, Alis, Nelson, Barnabus and Sylvester. Their daughters were Margaret, Sophrona, Catherine, Deborah and Elsie. Some of the children died young.


Salem Cornell
b.
April 1, 1844, in Hamilton, Ont., Can., m. Emma Switzer, d. July 12, 1894, Harrison Twp., Jewell Co., Kan.

Salem arrived in Boone County, Iowa from Canada in 1869. He may have had relatives living in that area. About 1872, he filed a homestead in Jewell Co., Kan., then returned to Iowa and married Emma Switzer. Salem and Emma had four sons: Adelbert, Harvey Nelson, Ernest Earl and Charley, who died when about 2 years old. Salem was a farmer. He died the same year as his father, Benony.


Adelbert Cornell b. 1875, Jewell Co, Kan, m. Bessie Viola Matthews, d. 1967, Middleton, Idaho. (See Matthews Family}

Adelbert married Bessie Viola Matthews April 19, 1899 at Burr Oak. Adelbert taught school in Jewell County. But he packed up his family in January, 1910 and moved from Burr Oak to Middleton, Idaho. (See Personal Account)

He operated a creamery in Caldwell, Idaho for several years. They later purchased the Boise Valley Herald, the weekly Middleton newspaper.

Adelbert and Bessie’s children were Irving, Clyde, Vance, Clark, Lois and Boyd.


Clyde B. Cornell
b. 1902,
Jewell Co, Kan, m. Edith M. Terry, d. 1978, Kuna, Idaho.

Clyde Cornell published or worked for weekly newspapers in southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon most of his life. In 1941 he moved his family to a small farm near Kuna, Idaho where he spent the rest of his life. Clyde and Edith published the Kuna Herald newspaper from 1956 until their retirement in 1968.

Clyde and Edith's children are Lila Claire (Stover), Particia Joan (Hilty) and Clyde Wayne.


Clyde Wayne Cornell
b. 1945,
Boise, Idaho, m. Sara Lynne Case, 1967

I spent most of my life as a newspaper writer and editor, including more than 20 years at a Nampa daily, the Idaho Press-Tribune and 14 years as book editor at Caxton Press, in Caldwell, Idaho. My mate Sara and I are now retired and reside in Caldwell, Idaho.

We have three daughters: Melanie Ann, Jennifer Lynn and Tara Kristine.


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