Ezra Cornell

Notable work and positions

Western Union Telegraph Company - Founder and Largest Stockholder
Cornell University - Co-founder
New York Agriculture Society - President
New York State Senate - Member

Biography

Ezra Cornell (1807-1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. Settling in Ithaca, New York, in 1828, he worked as a carpenter and mill manager before becoming associated with Samuel F.B. Morse in 1842 and supervising construction of the first telegraph line in the United States, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., completed in 1844. Cornell went on to build telegraph lines throughout the country, accumulating a fortune and becoming, for a time, the largest stockholder of the Western Union Telegraph Company, organized in 1855. Following passage of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act, he led the founding of Cornell University in Ithaca, which opened in 1868, endowing it with land and funds and serving on its board. He also endowed the Cornell Free Library, the first public library in Ithaca, incorporated in 1864. Cornell served as president of the New York Agriculture Society and as a New York State Senator. He entered the railroad business in his later years but suffered financial losses in the Panic of 1873. He died in 1874, before completing construction of his Ithaca mansion, Llenroc.

Career highlights

• First U.S. telegraph line Supervised construction of the Baltimore-Washington telegraph line for Samuel Morse, completed 1844.
• Western Union Telegraph Company Became the company's largest stockholder following its 1855 organization.
• Co-founded Cornell University Opened in Ithaca, New York, in 1868 following passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act.
• Cornell Free Library Endowed Ithaca's first public library, incorporated 1864.