- Marshall S. Cornwell
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Marshall S. Cornwell Born Marshall S. Cornwell
18 October 1871
Springfield, Hampshire County, West VirginiaDied 26 May 1898 (aged 26)
Romney, Hampshire County, West VirginiaResting place Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia Nationality American Ethnicity European American Citizenship United States of America Occupation newspaper publisher, writer Parents Jacob H. Cornwell
Mary Eleanor TaylorRelatives brother of John J. Cornwell; great uncle of Stephen Ailes Marshall S. Cornwell (18 October 1871 – 26 May 1898) was an American newspaper publisher, writer, and poet in the U.S. state of West Virginia.[1][2][3][4]
Contents
Early life and education
Marshall S. Cornwell was born on his family's farm near Springfield, 12 miles (19 km) from Romney, in Hampshire County, West Virginia on 18 October 1871.[1][2][3][4] He was the third-eldest son and child of Jacob H. Cornwell and his wife Mary Eleanor Taylor.[3][4] Cornwell's older brother, John Jacob Cornwell, served as the 15th Governor of West Virginia (1917–1921).[4]
Cornwell grew to adulthood on the farm and received his education at home and in rural schools.[1][2] As an autodidact in various subjects, he was well-read, exhibited an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and possessed a remarkable memory.[1][5]
Newspaper publisher
Upon leaving his family's farm, Cornwell began editing and publishing the Gazette newspaper in Petersburg in Grant County.[1][2] The Gazette became a successful newspaper under Cornwell's leadership, and its success and his editorials received the attention of United States Senator Stephen Benton Elkins.[2] Elkins invited Cornwell to take charge of The Inter-Mountain newspaper in Elkins in Randolph County.[1][2] Cornwell accepted the position from Elkins and made a success of the paper just as he had done with the Gazette in Petersbug.[2] During this time, Cornwell filled a position as an assistant clerk during a session of the West Virginia Legislature.[2][6]
Declining health and death
Cornwell's health began to fail and in 1896, he gave up his career as editor of The Inter-Mountain.[2] He sought relief during the winter of 1896 in Florida where he began studying the character of the country and people.[1][2] It was during his convalescence in Florida that Cornwell began writing poetry.[1][2]
Cornwell began a correspondence with American writer and poet James Whitcomb Riley.[2] In a letter dated 12 March 1897 from Indianapolis, Indiana, Riley commended Cornwell on a collection of poems he had sent him, with special attention given to his poem "Success."[2] Riley further wrote Cornwell regarding "Success," "...your gift seems genuine and far above that indicated in verse, meeting general approval."[2]
Following Florida, Cornwell travelled to the Rio Grande before returning home to West Virginia, where he died on 26 May 1898 at the age of 26.[1][3][4] He was interred in Indian Mound Cemetery overlooking the South Branch Potomac River in Romney.[1][3]
Literary works
Cornwell's volume of poems Wheat and Chaff were published posthumously in 1899.[1][7][8][9] According to Virgil Anson Lewis in his History and government of West Virginia, Wheat and Chaff was Cornwell's "best and most enduring monument."[1] Cornwell's poem "Success" was published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and republished in The Railroad Trainman in 1906.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Virgil Anson (1896), History and government of West Virginia, American Book Company, http://books.google.com/books?id=5ldvAAAAMAAJ
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Maxwell, Hu; Howard Llewellyn Swisher (1897), History of Hampshire County, West Virginia: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present, A.B. Boughner, printer, http://books.google.com/books?id=MFpAAAAAYAAJ
- ^ a b c d e McGahuey, Wayne; Hall, Charles C. (2 February 2008), The Cemeteries of Hampshire County, WV: Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, WV, http://www.historichampshire.org/cems/indian.htm, retrieved 19 April 2010
- ^ a b c d e Ancestry.com (1880), 1880 United States Federal Census; Year: 1880; Census Place: Springfield, Hampshire, West Virginia; Roll: 1403; Family History Film: 1255403; Page: 534D; Enumeration District: 29, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&h=14590379&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt, retrieved 6 July 2010
- ^ Painter, Franklin Verzelius Newton (1907), Poets of Virginia, B. F. Johnson publishing company, http://books.google.com/books?id=tRM_AAAAIAAJ
- ^ West Virginia Department of Archives and History (1906), Biennial report of the Department of Archives and History of the State of West Virginia, Volume 2, West Virginia Department of Archives and History, http://books.google.com/books?id=6FAVAAAAYAAJ
- ^ West Virginia Storytelling Guild, West Virginia Authors & Other Appalachian Authors, http://storytellerwv.tripod.com/id30.html, retrieved 6 July 2010
- ^ Callahan, James Morton; Semi-Centennial Commission of West Virginia (1913), Semi-centennial history of West Virginia: with special articles on development and resources, Semi-Centennial Commission of West Virginia, http://books.google.com/books?id=FjYTAAAAYAAJ
- ^ Ambler, Charles Henry (1933), A History of West Virginia, Prentice Hall, http://books.google.com/books?id=tzMTAAAAYAAJ
- ^ Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (1906), The Railroad Trainman, Volume 23, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, http://books.google.com/books?id=N8nNAAAAMAAJ
Categories:- 1871 births
- 1898 deaths
- People from Hampshire County, West Virginia
- 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
- Editors of West Virginia newspapers
- American poets
- Writers from West Virginia
- American people of Welsh descent
- Burials at Indian Mound Cemetery
- English-language poets
- 19th-century poets
- Cornwell family
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