Robert Cornelius (1809 - 1893)

Born 1 Mar 1809 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet (Comley) Cornelius — married 2 Jul 1833 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Descendants

Died 10 Aug 1893 at age 84 in Frankford, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Robert Cornelius is Notable.

He was a pioneering daguerreotypist and in 1839 captured the first clearly recognizable image of a person in America (a self-portrait).

Robert bought what is now Wissinoming Park in 1851.

From Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania:

Robert Cornelius, son of Christian Cornelius, was born in Philadelphia, where he became one of the most prominent business men. He associated himself with his father in the manufacture of lamps and gas fixtures, and his eight-story factory became well known throughout the country, being the first complete fire-proof building built in that city. He married Harriet Comley, and both died in Philadelphia.

Sources

• Robert Cornelius on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
• http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wdstock/wissinom1.htm
• 1880 census
• 1850 census
• http://www.philaathenaeum.org/ppexhibits/exhibit3/e30001a.htm
• http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=1571&
• "Robert Cornelius." Family Search. Accessed Jan. 1st, 2019. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KZB5-VFL
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWJP-P6V : 21 August 2017), Robert Cornelius, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district ED 467, sheet 102C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1182; FHL microfilm 1,255,182.
• Jordan, John W. Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (Lewis Historical Pub. Co., New York, 1915, Vol. 3. pg. 1194-1195)
• Find A Grave: Memorial #33755033
• ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Nineteenth-Century Photography, ISBN: 9781135873264, page 238 - 240.