Milan Cornell, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Milan Cornell
MILAN CORNELL, farmer, was born December 13, 1827, in Crawford County, Ohio, and is one of eleven children, seven yet living, born to Isaac and Priscilla (Morgan) Cornell, a sketch of whom will appear in the biography of Ira Cornell, of Porter Township. Up to 1834, Milan Cornell lived with his parents in his native county, and in that year emigrated with them to what is now Porter County, Ind., locating in the southeastern part of the same, and becoming the first white settlers of Boone Township. The parents ever afterwards made Porter County their home, and died esteemed and respected citizens. Milan Cornell received his education from the common schools of that early day, and in 1849, he and three others received an attack of California fever, which induced them to start for the far-famed gold fields of the West. They went by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and on their arrival at San Francisco, our subject had only one dollar. He found employment for short time chopping cord-wood, at the rate of about $16 per day, after which he engaged in mining near Sonora, and the most part of his stay there was in the souther part of the state. He participated in many of the hardships, etc., of a miner's life, including fights with Indians, Mexicans and cut-throats of various kinds. In 1853, he returned to Indiana, and commenced farming and dealing stock, at which he has ever since continued, with the exception of about three years, while in the hardware trade at Valparaiso. February 25, 1854, he was united in marriage with Miss Cordelia Freeman, who was born in Onadago County, N.Y., February 22, 1834, and is a daughter of Azariah Freeman, appropriate mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. To this marriage were born two children - Genevieve, now Mrs. S. C. Williams, and Kate, the wife of Marion Baum. Mr. Cornell is a Democrat, a member of the I. O. O. F., and they O. F. Encampment. He and wife moved to Valparaiso the spring of 1882, and are among the best citizens of the place. They own, besides good town property, a valuable farm of 169 acres in Liberty Township.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 237-238
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook