Alonzo B. Cornell

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Alonzo Barton Cornell (22 January 1832 – 15 October 1904) was Governor of New York from 1880 to 1882.

1 Early years
2 Career
3 Death and burial
4 External links

[edit] Early years

Born in Ithaca, New York, he was the eldest son of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University and Mary Ann (Wood) Cornell. He was educated at the Ithaca Academy, and at the age of fifteen began a career in the field of telegraphy, later serving as a manager in telegraph office in Cleveland, Ohio. Afterwards, he owned steamboats on Cayuga Lake from 1862 to 1863. From 1864 to 1869 he was a bank official with the First National Bank of Ithaca.

He was married to Ellen A. Covert, a native of Auburn, New York on 9 November 1852. They had four boys together between 1855 and 1874.

[edit] Career

He was a director of the Western Union Telegraph Company, which had been co-founded by his father, from 1868 to 1876 and was its Vice President from 1870 to 1876. He was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of New York in 1868, but was defeated. He was appointed by President Grant to be the surveyor of customs in New York City.

From 1870 to 1878 he was chairman of the state Republican Party. He joined the state assembly in 1873 and became Speaker. He was influential at the Republican national convention in the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. Hayes, upon becoming president, sought to oust Cornell from his position at the Custom House, but was initially frustrated by the Tenure of Office Act. He was eventually successful with Democratic help.

Cornell was Governor of New York from 1880 to 1882. He established the state board of health and the state railroad commission. He also made women eligible to be school-officers. The division of his party by the conflict between the Stalwarts and the Half Breeds prevented his re-election. He wrote a biography of his father in 1884.

[edit] Death and burial

Although he lived in New York City during his latter years, Cornell died in Ithaca, New York, aged 72, and was interred with his father and mother in Sage Chapel on the Cornell University campus. His papers are held in Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.