Elijah Cornell (1771 - 1862)

Born 17 Oct 1771 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 27 Mar 1862 at age 90 in Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Deborah King [send private message]

Biography

Elijah was a Friend (Quaker)

Elijah Cornell was born in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts, the second son of Massachusetts farmers. Of Puritan origins, the family had early joined the Society of Friends. At the age of nineteen, Elijah was apprenticed to a potter, a trade he pursued for most of his life. In 1805, he married Eunice Barnard, whose family primarily included seamen and farmers. Elijah was thirty-four; Eunice was seventeen. They were married for nearly fifty-two years and had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to adulthood.

After losing money in a ship venture with his older brother, Elijah Cornell decided in 1807 to go west. There was still cheap wild land available in central New York, and Quakers from Columbia and Dutchess County had formed a settlement in De Ruyter, Madison County. The Cornells, with infant Ezra, made the three-week journey overland by team and wagon, purchasing 150 acres on Crum Hill, about three miles east of the village, for $375. In 1810, they returned east, but they came back to De Ruyter in 1818. Conditions of pioneer farming were difficult. Ezra and his younger brother Elijah had to clear land so they could plant corn among the stumps. Only in the winter months could the children attend the local school. But there were opportunities for recreation: hunting and fishing, quiltings, apple bees, barn and house raisings, and other gatherings, and Quaker meetings.

Children:

Ezra Cornell 1807–1874

Elijah B. Cornell 1808–1889

Jesse Cornell 1811–1891

Benjamin Cornell 1812–1842

Lucretia Cornell Chace 1813–1845

Phebe Cornell Wood 1816–1891

Mary Cornell Robertson 1818–1897

Deborah Cornell Wood 1820–1909

John Hewitt Cornell 1827–1902

Daniel B. Cornell 1830–1900

Jane Cornell Finch 1831–1892

Sources

http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ezra/exhibition/earlyyears/index.html

BURIAL: Riverside Cemetery in Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan

Find A Grave: Memorial #9043675 Elijah Cornell