Ezra Cornell was born on January 11, 1807 at Westchester Landing in the town and county of Westchester, New York, the eldest son of Elijah and Eunice Cornell. During his childhood, Cornell and his ten younger siblings lived in Westchester, Tarrytown, and Westfarms in Westchester County, and in English Neighborhood, Bergen County, New Jersey before the family settled in De Ruyter, New York. Opportunities for formal education were limited. As an adolescent, Cornell could only attend school three months each winter.
From the time he was six years old, Cornell helped in whatever way he could in his father's pottery business. He began to work on the family farm in De Ruyter at age twelve, and at seventeen learned carpentry skills when his father erected a new building for the pottery. In 1825 Cornell constructed a two-story house for his parents and family.
Cornell left home in the spring of 1826, and found work in Syracuse as a journeyman carpenter. He helped build sawmills and worked as a contractor getting out timber for shipment by canal. From Syracuse, he moved on to Homer, New York, where he worked in a shop that produced wool-carding machinery. In his free time he studied mechanics handbooks. Throughout his life, he retained his interest in mechanical subjects which would include millwork, the telegraph, railroads, coal oil, agricultural machinery, and photolithography.
A Selected Genealogy of the Cornell Family |
The Cornell House in De Ruyter, New
York 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 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.
There were also opportunities for recreation: hunting and
fishing, quiltings, apple bees, barn and house raisings,
and other gatherings, and Quaker meetings. In the winter
months, the children could attend the local school. |