New York state. He was made president of the pioneer Albany and Schenectady line, and its extension was largely the results of his efforts. He was the master-spirit of the consolidation that made the great New York Central road, and was president of that corporation for twelve years, continuing as a director until his death. He became prominent in Albany politics, and held the office of mayor. From 1842 till 1845 he was a member of the state senate, and he was elected as a democrat to congress, serving from 7 Dec., 1857, till 3 March, 1859, and again from 4 July, 1861, till 3 March, 1863. He was again re-elected, but resigned on account of failing health. He was a member of the peace congress held in Washington in 1861. He was elected a regent of the University of the State of New York in 1833, and at the time of his death was vice-chancellor of the board. Mr. Corning acquired great wealth, and his estate at the time of his death was estimated at $8,000,000.
CORNPLANTER, or GARYAN-WAH-GAH,
Seneca chief, b. in Conewaugus, on Genesee river,
in 1732; d. at the Seneca reservation, Pa., 17 Feb.,
1836. He was a half-breed, the son of John O'Bail,
an Indian trader, and first became known as the
leader of a war-party of Senecas, in alliance with
the French against the English. He was present
at Braddock's defeat, and at the period of the
revolution was one of those who spread destruction
over the frontier settlements in New York and the
valley of Wyoming. During the war he was an
inveterate foe of the Americans, but at a subsequent
period he manifested toward them a sincere
friendship. He and Red Jacket were for many
years the chief counsellors and protectors of their
people. He made great efforts to eradicate
intemperance from his nation, and was the first
temperance lecturer in the United States. In his later
years he cultivated a farm on Alleghany river.
CORNWALEYS, or CORMWALEYS, Thomas, pioneer, b. about 1600 ; d. in Burnliam Thorpe, Norfolk, England, in 1676. He was the son of Sir William and grandson of Sir Charles Cornwaleys, who was ambassador to Spain under James II. In the planting of the colony at St. Mary's, Cornwaleys
took a leading part, and for twenty-five years his in-
fluence was conspicuous in the councils and course
of the province. He commanded the force against
Claiborne in 1635, and opposed the code sent out by
Lord Baltimore for adoption by the general assem-
bly in 1638, on the ground that the freemen had
the right under the charter to make their own laws.
He was appointed deputy governor in 1638 by
Leonard Calvert, who also deputized him to act as
lieutenant-general during the visit of the governor
to England in 1641. On Calvert's return, with in-
structions from the proprietary, Cornwaleys re-
fused to be sworn in as a member of the new coun-
cil, for some reason which does not appear, but
which doubtless had reference to the political
struggle then going on in England between the
king and parliament. He was appointed com-
mander-in-chief of the expedition against the Indi-
ans in 1642, and protested in the general assembly
against the governor and his servants being ex-
empted from military service. He led the expedi-
tion against the Indians in 1643, and in 1644 re-
sumed his place in the council. His manor of
Cornwaleys Cross was on the head of St. Mary's
river, in Maryland. It was plundered by Ingle
and his crew, and in 1646 he brought an action of
trespass against Ingle in the coixrts of Westminster
Hall, laying his damages at £3,000. The suit was
settled upon Ingle's assigning him property and
claims in Maryland and Virginia in satisfaction of
the demand. On 7 March, 1652, he received a grant
of 4,000 acres beyond Port Tobacco creek. He be-
came a member of the general court, 25 Nov., 1652,
appointed assistant governor to Gov. Fendall, 20
Nov., 1657, upon the restoration of the govern-
ment to Lord Baltimore from the Puritan occupa-
tion under Claiborne. He returned to England,
sailing 2 June, 1659.
CORNWALL, Henry Bedinger, chemist, b. in
Southport, Conn., 29 July, 1844. He was gradu-
ated at Columbia college in 1864, and at the School
of mines in 1867 as a mining engineer. From 1865
till 1873 he was assistant in the School of mines,
with the exception of two years spent in study at
the Freiburg, Saxony, mining-school. In 1873 he
was ejected to the chair of analytical chemistry
and mineralogy in the John C. Green school of
science of the College of New Jersey. In 1865 he
was superintendent of the Continental zinc and
lead company, of New York. During 1870-'l he
filled a similar office in the Geral silver-mining
company, and spent fifteen months while in their
employ examining the Batopilas mines, in Mexico.
Prof. Cornwall has published numerous scientific
papers, and has paid special attention to water-
analysis. He has translated " Plattner's Blowpipe
Analysis " (New York, 1870), and is the author of
a " Manual of Blowpipe Analysis and Determina-
tive Mineralogv " (1872).
|
|
CORNWALLIS, Charles, Earl (afterward Marquis), British soldier, b. in Brome, Suffolk, England, 31 Dec., 1737; d. at Ghazepore, near Benares, India, 5 Oct., 1805. The family had been conspicuous in London since the reign of Edward III. In 1599 William Cornwallis was knighted for military services in Ireland. In 1627 his son Frederick was created a baronet by Charles I., and, being distinguished for his loyalty to the Stuarts, was raised in 1661 to the peerage as Baron Cornwallis of Eye, a rank that was held by his descendants till 1753, when Charles, the fifth baron, was created Earl Cornwallis and Viscount Brome. Charles had married in 1722 Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Townshend, and Charles was their sixth child and eldest son. He distinguished himself at Eton, and in 1756, being then known as Lord Brome, obtained an ensign's commission in the army, and spent the next two years at the famous military academy at Turin. In 1758 he was appointed aide-de-camp to Lord Granby, with the rank of captain, and was present at the battle of Minden in 1759. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1761, and became noted for personal valor and the skill with which he handled his regiment. In July, 1762, on the death of his father, he became Earl Cornwallis, and soon afterward took his seat in the house of lords. In politics he was an extreme liberal, belonging to the party of “new whigs” headed by
