American capitalist and philanthropist Ezra Cornell (1807-1874) was the founder of Cornell University, which soon became one of the more advanced educational establishments of the United States.

Ezra Cornell was the son of Elijah and Eunice Barnard Cornell. The family, of New England Quaker stock, settled in De-Ruyter, Madison County, N.Y., in 1819, where Ezra's father farmed and made pottery. Ezra learned something of both, as well as carpentry from his father, a former ship's carpenter. At 18 he set out on his own and in 1828 he settled in Ithaca, N.Y., where he worked as a carpenter and millwright. His employment in building and maintaining flour mills there came to a close when they were converted to textile mills in 1841.

Cornell's interest in promoting a patent plow brought him into contact with the promoters of the Morse magnetic telegraph; from that time on he was involved in the...