Bio-Pring, MargaretCornell

Margaret (Pring) Cornell
(1846-1927)

Margaret Elizabeth (Pring) Cornell was born on April 16, 1846 in Cedar Creek Twp., Allen County, IN, the daughter of John and Caroline (Minerd) Pring. She and her husband were pioneer settlers of Missouri.

On Christmas Day 1867, in Fort Wayne, IN, Margaret married Sebastian Heck Cornell (1846-1936). He was a native of Carroll County, MD and the son of William and Mary (Heck) Cornell. At the age of four, he migrated with his parents to Butler Twp., DeKalb County, IN.

Of his own childhood, Sebastian recalled that the trip was taken in a covered wagon, with the wheels removed when fording rivers. The schools he attended were very crude, with their seats more like benches with no backs. Their house was made of logs, with rain always pouring in through the cracks.

The Prings' six children were William Cornell, John W. Cornell, Mary Alice Waddill, Martha Estella Bauer Powell, Emelia Ann Waddill and Ella May Ferguson. The young family is seen here circa 1874. Eldest son William was born in Indiana, while the rest were born in Missouri. The two children are thought to be John, in his father's lap, and Mary Alice, front, holding her mother's hand.

The Cornells first resided near Margaret's parents near Cedarville, Allen County, IN. Later, they moved to a farm in Butler County, IN. Margaret was educated as a school teacher and may have taught at a school that was adjacent to the Cornell farm.

In the fall of 1867, the Cornells migrated west to Missouri, settling a dozen miles northeast of the town of Kirksville, Adair County. There, Sebastian purchased a 190-acre farm. They are among many branches of the extended Minerd-Miner-Minor family who courageously pushed westward during the 19th century. Click to see a page honoring all of our known Western Pioneers. They are acknowledged as pioneers in the 1911 book, History of Adair County, Missouri, authored by E.M. Violette, a history professor at the State Normal School in nearby Kirksville

...learned the self-sufficiency of those who came early to new settlements. She would have been given responsibilities for helping with the younger children. She learned to garden and preserve foods, sew, cook, and the many skills needed to survive without the amenities found in larger communities. She pieced and made quilts. Her granddaughter Opal Ferguson later found one of her quilts in the bottom drawer of a dresser. It was dirty and had mouse droppings on it, but was not damaged. She washed it, and used it on her bed for many years.

Back row, L-R, are John, Estella, Mary and Emelia. Front: Sebastian, Ella May and Margaret. Note Sebastian displaying a newspaper and Ella May holding a book

The Cornells' farm house and barn are seen at right. These images were published in the 1911 book, History of Adair County, Missouri. The photographs were taken by W.M. Denslow.

Grandpa Cornell had a formal English garden, with raised beds for flowers. There was also a drainage system whereby wastes could be "percolated" through plants and cleaned before entering into the creeks. He had a fruit orchard and a large "root-cellar" attached to the house for storing fresh foods and canned goods. There were three "houses" consisting of the living quarters, the wash-house, and the smoke house.

He had wonderful barn with a "basement," that is, the sides were dug down about half the depth of a basement (kind of like the modern day "garden level"). This lower level on one side was the cow barn. On the other side was the horse barn. In the middle, where the floor was higher, he stored the hay. He could just back the hay wagon in and unload it directly onto the floor. He didn't have to haul it up a ladder or conveyor to a "hay-mow" above the ceiling, as needed in a conventional barn.

The Cornells were a founding family of the Sabbath Home Church, constructed on two acres of land deeded by a neighbor. The first sanctuary was dedicated on July 19, 1877, and the present building was erected in 1905 and is still in use. It's said that in politics, the family was socialist, and in religion they were Methodist.

Profile of Sebastian and Martha in the 1911 book, History of Adair County

After the Cornells retired from farming in the '20s, they moved into the town of Kirksville. Their home was across from where Lincoln Square Shopping Center is today. Seen here is a rare old postcard photograph from the early 1900s, showing Kirksville's north side square.

Margaret suffered later in life from congestive heart failure, and her legs would swell, turn dark and burst open. She died in Kirksville at age 81 on Aug. 19, 1927.

Sebastian outlived her by nine years, and passed away on Nov. 1, 1936, at the age of 90. The cause was bronchial pneumonia and "extreme age," wrote his physician.

Writes Sandra Paser: "They and many of their children and grandchildren are buried in the Sabbath Home Cemetery, which adjoins the church grounds." Their grave marker at the Home Cemetery is seen at right.

Son John W. Cornell (1873- ? ) "was born on the old home place northwest of Brashear," said the History of Adair County. He "lived at home till grown," and married his first wife, Gertrude Cooper (1872-1919), daughter of Albert and Mary (Doss) Cooper of Hancock County, MO. They were married in about 1896 and had one child, whose name is unknown. After the marriage, said the History, he "began farming for himself."

The federal censuses of 1900 and 1910 show John and Girtie living beside his parents, in Adair County. In 1910, the census-taker recorded that John's nephew Ernest B. Bauer (age 9) was living under their roof. Circa 1911, John owned a "farm of forty acres near the old home place, making a specialty of handling Short-Horns, Polled-Angus and other fine cattle, and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is a member of the Church of God."

Sadly, Gertrude died of a stroke on Jan. 8, 1919, following a stroke she had suffered 16 days before. She was just a few days shy of her 46th birthday. She was buried at the Sabbath Home Cemetery.

The census of 1920 shows John and 19-year-old nephew Ernest Bauer making their home together.

In 1922, John married his second wife, Iowa-born Iva Blanche Shupp (1886- ? ), presumably the daughter of William Shupp. They had one daughter, Marie Cornell, born in 1925. The 1930 census shows John, Iva, Marie and 83-year-old widower William Shupp in the household. Living next door was John's married nephew, Ernest Bauer, and his wife Goldie and two children.

Said the Kirksville Daily Express, Iva "was a graduate of the Kirksville Normal School and taught school in Adair County for several years."

John W. Cornell's home and barn, 12 miles northeast of Kirksville, as published in the History of Adair County

Daughter Martha Estella Cornell (1877-1956) married (?) Bauer ( ? - ? ) when she was age 19. The marriage apparently did not last long, and ended in the 1890s, but details are lost to history for now.

Estella had one son to her first marriage, Ernest Bauer, born in 1891. The boy went to live at an early age with his uncle and aunt, John W. and Gertrude (Cooper) Cornell, near Brashear.

Estella later married Isaac T. Powell (1864- ? ). Isaac had been married once before, and brought four children to the marriage -- Earl Powell, Della Powell, Stella Powell and Ralph Powell.

The Powells went on to have two children of their own -- twins Clinton A. Powell and Cleta Powell, born in 1916. They were farmers, and are shown as a family on the 1920 and 1930 censuses of Salt River Township, Adair County.

Isaac died before Estella, but nothing more is known of his fate. Circa 1955-1956, Estella made her home in Kirksville at 1202 East Filmore.

Estella passed away of heart disease and hardening of the arteries at the age of 78 on Feb. 9, 1956. She was laid to rest at the Bethel Cemetery in Adair County.

Son Ernest Bauer (1891- ? ) married Goldie (1893- ? ) in 1921. They had two children -- Betty Bauer and Cecil Bauer. The family made their home in 1930 next to Ernest's uncle, John W. Cornell, in Kirksville, at the time the 1930 census was taken. Ernest was a laborer in a shoe factory in 1930.

Daughter Ella Mae Cornell (1888- ? ) is seen here, posing with a favorite uncle, Elbridge Pring. She later married her neighbor, Clarence "Delmar" Ferguson (1875-1950), a native Iowan who was the son of Madison L. and Mary Ann (Drake) Ferguson, and the grandson of John and Nancy (Anderson) Ferguson. The Fergusons were farmers for decades in the Hazel Green community, eight miles north of Brashear, Adair County. (Click to see a memoir of the Fergusons' life.)

Clarence is mentioned in a section about his father in E.M. Violette's 1911 book, History of Adair County.

Clarence suffered with heart lesions and low blood pressure for years. Just a month before his 75th birthday, Clarence suffered a heart attack and died suddenly on Jan. 21, 1950. His remains were laid to rest in the Sabbath Home Cemetery.

Daughters Emelia and Mary Alice Cornell married cousins of the Waddill family -- John W. Waddill and Luther Mitchell Waddill.

Daughter Emelia Cornell (1870-1959) wedded John W. Waddill (1866-1939), the son of Robert S. and Margaret (Dunham) Waddill, on Aug. 10, 1886. They had two children -- Glen B. Waddill and Bessie L. Waddill. Sadly, daughter Bessie died just a few weeks after her first birthday, on Sept. 2, 1888. The Waddills resided on a 160-acre farm about five miles northwest of Brashear, MO. John is profiled in the E.M. Violette's 1911 book, History of Adair County which says that he was:

... one of the best known horsemen in North Missouri... He raises pure-bred draft horses and pure-bred coach horses, owning what is known as the Pioneer Stock Farm. His horses are registered, and he is one of the best known breeders in the state... [He] is a member of the Methodist church. He is a Republican in politics.

He passed away of a cerebral hemorrhage on Nov. 5, 1939, at the age of 73. He was laid to rest at the Sabbath Home Cemetery. Emelia outlived him by nearly two decades. She died at the age of 89 on May 26, 1959, and rests beside her husband for eternity. Their grave marker is seen here, as photographed in August 2009 by cousin Jacqueline Alkula.

The old, quiet Sabbath Home Church and Cemetery where the Cornells worshipped and are buried, as photographed in mid-2009

Daughter Mary Alice Cornell (1874- ? ) married Luther Mitchell Waddill (1870-1930), the son of Jonathan Wesley and Isabel (Darrow) Waddill. The wedding took place June 13, 1894. The Waddills had three children -- Letha Waddill, Leta Waddill and Myron "Mike" Waddill.

The History of Adair County likewise features Luther, saying he "owns a farm of eighty acres, situated vie miles northwest of Brashear. He does general farming and stock raising. In politics he is a Republican. He has been a farmer all his life and belongs to one of the old pioneer families." Tragically, Luther was killed in May 1930 when, while working as a night watchman at an automatic grain elevator, accidentally was crushed to death under the heavy device. His remains were laid to rest in the Bethel Cemetery, presumably near Kirksville.

Betty McClanahan also has done tremendous research on the Cornell genealogy. For more information, contact Sandra Ammerman-Paser.

Donald L. Kear, a distant nephew of John Pring's, has an extensive collection of information on this family on his "Kear Family Site." He also has published his findings in The John Cears Kear Family (1984).