Thomas R. Cornelius
| Thomas R. Cornelius | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Member of the Oregon Territory Council | |
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In office 1856–1858 |
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| Preceded by | A. P. Dennison |
| Succeeded by | position dissolved |
| Constituency | Washington, Multnomah, & Columbia counties |
| Member of the Oregon State Senate | |
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In office 1859 – 1876 (except 1862) |
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| Preceded by | position created |
| Succeeded by | A. B. Wait |
| Constituency | Washington, Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook |
| President of the Oregon State Senate | |
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In office 1866–1867 |
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| Preceded by | John H. Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Franklin Burch |
| Constituency | Oregon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 16, 1827 Missouri |
| Died | June 24, 1899 (aged 71) Oregon |
| Political party | Whig, Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Florentine Wilkes (m. 1849) Missouri Smith (m. 1866) |
Thomas Ramsey Cornelius (November 16, 1827 – June 24, 1899) was a prominent American politician and soldier in the early history of Oregon. Born in 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.
Cornelius was born in Missouri, 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.
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