Thomas R. Cornelius
Encyclopedia
Thomas R. Cornelius was a prominent American politician and soldier in the early history of Oregon
. A native of Missouri
, he moved to the Oregon Country
with his family as a young man where he fought in the Cayuse War
and Yakima Indian War against the Native Americans. He settled in Washington County
near what later became Cornelius
, named in his honor.
A Whig and later a Republican, he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature
, and following statehood, he served in the Oregon State Senate
. In the Senate he served one term as the president of that chamber. He also built the Cornelius Pass Road
that bears his name. He was the father of Benjamin P. Cornelius
, who was also prominent in state politics.
, on November 16, 1827, to Elizabeth and Benjamin Cornelius. In 1845, Thomas and his family traveled over the Oregon Trail
to the Oregon Country
and set up a farm on the Tualatin Plains
, north of what would become the community of Cornelius. After the Whitman Massacre
in late 1847, Thomas volunteered for the militia of the Oregon Provisional Government in 1848. The militia prosecuted the Cayuse War
in an attempt to punish those responsible for the killings at the Whitman Mission.
After gold
was discovered in California
, Cornelius journeyed there for a brief time, returning to the Oregon Territory
in 1849. The next year he married Florentine Wilkes, and they had six children together before she died in 1864, including son Benjamin
. The family would settle on 640 acres (2.6 km²) of their Donation Land Claim near Cornelius. In 1855, a second war against the Native Americans
started east of the Cascade Mountains against the Yakima tribe. Cornelius volunteered again for the militia. For three months he led a company with the rank of captain before being elected as colonel
after James W. Nesmith
resigned his commission. Cornelius continued as colonel until the end of the war in 1856.
, called the Council. Serving as a Whig, he represented Washington, Columbia, and Multnomah counties in District 8. He won re-election to the Council in 1857 and again in 1858 to the final session of the territorial legislature. In 1859, he continued holding office in the newly formed Oregon State Senate
after Oregon entered the Union on February 14, 1859 as the 33rd state.
In the Oregon Senate, Cornelius continued as a Republican representing Washington County and several other counties through the 1874 legislature. His service was interrupted by the American Civil War
during 1862 session, when he was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln
to raise a regiment of cavalry
for federal service. He was chosen as colonel of the troops and they deployed to a military post at Walla Walla, Washington
, where he assumed command. He resigned during the summer of 1862 and returned home.
During the 1866 legislature Cornelius was selected as President of the Oregon Senate. In 1886, he won the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon
, but lost the general election to Sylvester Pennoyer
.
, which would be re-named after him, and opened a store. In addition to the store, Cornelius owned a total of 1500 acres (6.1 km²), including covering three farms, a warehouse, and a sawmill. He built the Cornelius Pass Road
that linked the Tualatin Valley
to the Columbia River
. Cornelius died on June 24, 1899, at the age of 71. He was buried at the Cornelius Methodist Church Cemetery.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. A native of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, he moved to the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
with his family as a young man where he fought in the Cayuse War
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
and Yakima Indian War against the Native Americans. He settled in Washington County
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...
near what later became Cornelius
Cornelius, Oregon
Cornelius is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 9,652 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 10,895 residents.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, named in his honor.
A Whig and later a Republican, he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...
, and following statehood, he served in the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
. In the Senate he served one term as the president of that chamber. He also built the Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road is an arterial road over Cornelius Pass in the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland, Oregon, USA. Running north–south, the road stretches between U.S. Route 30 on the north and Oregon Route 8 on the south...
that bears his name. He was the father of Benjamin P. Cornelius
Benjamin P. Cornelius
Benjamin Peyton Cornelius was an American politician and judge in Oregon. A Republican, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon. The son of Thomas R...
, who was also prominent in state politics.
Early life
Cornelius was born in MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, on November 16, 1827, to Elizabeth and Benjamin Cornelius. In 1845, Thomas and his family traveled over the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
to the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
and set up a farm on the Tualatin Plains
Tualatin Plains
The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro-American settlement began in the...
, north of what would become the community of Cornelius. After the Whitman Massacre
Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre was the murder in the Oregon Country on November 29, 1847 of U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven others. They were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. The incident began the Cayuse War...
in late 1847, Thomas volunteered for the militia of the Oregon Provisional Government in 1848. The militia prosecuted the Cayuse War
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
in an attempt to punish those responsible for the killings at the Whitman Mission.
After gold
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
was discovered in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Cornelius journeyed there for a brief time, returning to the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
in 1849. The next year he married Florentine Wilkes, and they had six children together before she died in 1864, including son Benjamin
Benjamin P. Cornelius
Benjamin Peyton Cornelius was an American politician and judge in Oregon. A Republican, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon. The son of Thomas R...
. The family would settle on 640 acres (2.6 km²) of their Donation Land Claim near Cornelius. In 1855, a second war against the Native Americans
Yakima War
The Yakima War was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people on the Northwest Plateau, then Washington Territory and now the southern interior of Eastern Washington, from 1855 to 1858.- Naming :...
started east of the Cascade Mountains against the Yakima tribe. Cornelius volunteered again for the militia. For three months he led a company with the rank of captain before being elected as colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
after James W. Nesmith
James W. Nesmith
James Willis Nesmith was an American politician and lawyer from Oregon. Born in Canada to American parents, he grew up in New Hampshire and Maine...
resigned his commission. Cornelius continued as colonel until the end of the war in 1856.
Political career
In 1856, Cornelius was elected to upper chamber of the Oregon Territorial LegislatureOregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...
, called the Council. Serving as a Whig, he represented Washington, Columbia, and Multnomah counties in District 8. He won re-election to the Council in 1857 and again in 1858 to the final session of the territorial legislature. In 1859, he continued holding office in the newly formed Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...
after Oregon entered the Union on February 14, 1859 as the 33rd state.
In the Oregon Senate, Cornelius continued as a Republican representing Washington County and several other counties through the 1874 legislature. His service was interrupted by the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
during 1862 session, when he was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
to raise a regiment of cavalry
1st Oregon Cavalry
The First Regiment, Oregon Cavalry was a regiment in the volunteer Union army that participated in the American Civil War. With many men recruited from California, the regiment primarily served to protect the state of Oregon and surrounding territories in the Pacific Coast Theater of the American...
for federal service. He was chosen as colonel of the troops and they deployed to a military post at Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
, where he assumed command. He resigned during the summer of 1862 and returned home.
During the 1866 legislature Cornelius was selected as President of the Oregon Senate. In 1886, he won the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
, but lost the general election to Sylvester Pennoyer
Sylvester Pennoyer
Sylvester Pennoyer was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A Democrat, he served two terms as the eighth Governor of Oregon from 1886 to 1895. He joined the Populist cause in the early 1890s...
.
Later life and family
After his first wife died in 1864, Cornelius re-married in 1866 to Missouri A. Smith. In 1872, he moved to CorneliusCornelius, Oregon
Cornelius is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 9,652 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 10,895 residents.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, which would be re-named after him, and opened a store. In addition to the store, Cornelius owned a total of 1500 acres (6.1 km²), including covering three farms, a warehouse, and a sawmill. He built the Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road is an arterial road over Cornelius Pass in the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland, Oregon, USA. Running north–south, the road stretches between U.S. Route 30 on the north and Oregon Route 8 on the south...
that linked the Tualatin Valley
Tualatin Valley
The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, east of the Northern Oregon Coast Range...
to the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
. Cornelius died on June 24, 1899, at the age of 71. He was buried at the Cornelius Methodist Church Cemetery.