William Cornell

Rev. William Cornell's Obituary
REV. WM. CORNELL DEAD.
BORN SEVENTY-NINE YEARS AGO IN
BEVERLY TOWNSHIP.
The last of one of the oldest families in the
neighborhood of Sheffield passed away near
Vienna, township of Bayham, on Saturday night,
Feb. 18th., in the person of Rev. Wm. Cornell, in
the 79th year of his age.
Mr. Cornell was born on the farm now owned
by Mr. Chris. Ricker, on the 6th of January, 1821,
and was the son of Rev. John A. Cornell, who
settled in Sheffield and gave the village its name.
The latter was its first Postmaster and was one of
three appointed by the Government of that time to
look after the money collected for tolls on the
Dundas and Waterloo stone road, being also one of
the main workers in the establishment of a church
and school in the place, which at that time was a
wilderness.
The founder of the family afterwards preached in
thechurch for forty years. The subject of the present
sketch received his early education at the village
school. He was all his life a close student, a very
extensive reader, with a powerful memory, and was
considered one of the best informed men in the
section. He never aspired for office or position, but
preferred the quiet life on his farm, which was
situated one mile south of Sheffield, it being now
owned by Mr. Smith Willard. The deceased was
one of the founders of Pleasant Grove School and
was one of its trustees for a number of years. He
acted on several occasion as preacher for the U.B.
church at Sheffield, when it would be without a
pastor. Late in his life the heads of the U.B. church
in the Canadian Conference persuaded him to go
into the ministry and devote his whole time to
church work, and his first charge was Hanover. He
was afterwards on the Gainsboro and Caning
Circuits and we believe met with considerable
success. He carried into the ministry those broad
and liberal views that marked his character in
earlier life, and he did not believe that a man had to
belong to his branch of the church to be a Christian.
Mr. Cornell sold the farm some fourteen years ago
to Smith Willard, and bought a farm in the
township of Bayham near Vienna and resided there
until his death. He was married twice, his first wife
being Ellen Lavelle, and six children were the fruit
of this union -- John A., of Branchton; Sarah Ann;
Mrs.Weaver, Newburg; Mrs. John Harvie,
Branchton; Abbie, at home, and Joseph of
Cleveland, U.S. His second wife was Mary Ann
Wilson and he had seven children by this marriage,
three in Cleveland, one in Canfield and three at
home.
He was buried at Smuck's cemetery, Bayham,
on Tuesday last. A memorial service will be held in
the U.B. church, Sheffield, on Sunday morning,
March 19th, at 11 o'clock.
Mr. Cornell outlived the whole of his family
and his father by about one month. He had four
sisters and one brother. The latter died when very
young. Like his father the deceased had the respect
of the whole community in the neighborhood of Sheffield.