Margaret
Elizabeth
(Pring) Cornell
(1846-1927)
Margaret
Elizabeth (Pring) Cornell was born in 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' five children were Emelia Ann Waddill, John William Cornell, Mary Alice
Waddill, Martha Estella Bauer-Powell and Ella
May Ferguson. The
young family is seen here circa 1874. The two children are thought to be
John, in his father's lap, and Emelia, front, holding her mother's hand.
The Cornells first resided near Margaret's parents near Cedarville, 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.
At some point, the Cornells migrated west to Missouri, settling near the town of Kirksville, Adair County. 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 Violette's History of Adair County, Missouri.
According to writings done by great-granddaughter, Sandra Ammerman-Paser, Margaret would have:
...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.
The
photo seen at left was taken at a much later date, after all five of the
Cornells' children had been born. Standing in the back row, left to right, are
John, Estella, Mary and Emelia. Seated in front are Sebastian, Ella May and
Margaret. Note Sebastian's receding hairline, and the fact that he holds a
newspaper in his hand. The name of the newspaper is not quite visible. Note also
that young Ella May holds a book of some kind.
Wrote Sandra Paser:
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, built 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.
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.
In the winters, the Cornells traveled to California to enjoy warmer weather.
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."
Son John Cornell is featured in the History of Adair County, saying he "owns 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." John's second wife, Iva Blanche Shupp, said the Kirksville Daily Express, "was a graduate of the Kirksville Normal School and taught school in Adair County for several years."
Daughter
Ella Mae Cornell is seen here, posing with a favorite uncle, Elbridge
Pring. She married Clarence "Delmar" Ferguson, who were farmers in the Hazel
Green community near Kirksville. Click to see a memoir
of the Fergusons' life.
Daughters Emelia and Mary Alice Cornell married cousins of the Waddill family -- John W. Waddill and Luther M. Waddill.
Emelia and John resided on a 160-acre farm about five miles northwest of Brashear, MO. John is profiled in the History of Adair County as "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."
The History of Adair County likewise features Luther Waddill, 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 crushed to death under a heavy automatic elevator.
Ella May's daughter Opal Ferguson-Ammerman was the historian for descendants of this branch of our family. She planned and hosted reunions in Kirksville, MO in 1963, 1965 and 1966. Much of the information is taken from her scrapbook, in which she meticulously organized information.
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).
Copyright © 2002-2003 Mark A. Miner