Ezra Cornell...Founder of Cornell University

Ezra Cornell
1807-1874
5th Cousin

Ezra was co-partner with Samuel Morse in the invention of Western Union.  Here is one of the accounts of how this took place.

"Happening into the offices of the Maine Farmer in 1842, Ezra saw an acquaintance of his, one F.O.J. Smith, bent over some plans for a "scraper" as Smith called it. Smith had purchased a share of the telegraph patent  held by Samuel F.B. Morse , and was attempting to devise a way of burying the telegraph lines in the ground in lead  pipe. Ezra's knowledge of plows was put to the test and Ezra devised a special kind of plow that would dig a 2 1/2 foot ditch, lay the pipe and telegraph wire in the ditch and cover it back up as it went. Later it was found that condensation in the pipes and poor insulation  of the wires impeded the electrical current  on the wires and so hanging the wire from telegraph poles became the accepted method.
Ezra made his fortune in the telegraph  business as an associate of Samuel Morse , having gained his trust by constructing and stringing the telegraph poles between Washington, D.C.  and Baltimore, Maryland, as the first ever telegraph line of substance in the U.S. After joining with Morse, Cornell supervised the erection of many telegraph lines, including the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company connecting Buffalo to Milwaukee. He earned a substantial fortune as a founder of the Western Union Company."

Ezra went on to be a very successful philanthropist founding Cornell University.  He was a very active member of the United States Senate promoting education.

Linage...  Through Ellen Kate McAllister Common Great Grandfather  Thomas Cornell I  "The Emigrant"