John Jacob Cornwell (July 11, 1867 – September 8, 1953) was a Democratic politician from Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Cornwell served as the 15th Governor of the US state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. Cornwell also served in the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in t ...

as a state senator (1899–1905).

Background

John Jacob Cornwell was born on a farm near the community of Pennsboro in

Ritchie County Ritchie County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,444. Its county seat is Harrisville. The county was created in 1843 by the Virginia General Assembly and named for Richmond newspaper pu ...

into a family of Welsh origin whose ancestor Peter Cornwell, born in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 163

settled in the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

. When John J. Cornwell was three years old in 1870, his family moved to Hampshire County in West Virginia's

Eastern Panhandle The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Some sources ...

. Cornwell attended

Shepherd University Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university enrolled 3,159 students in Fall 2020. History Shepherd University began when the county seat of Jefferson ...

in Shepherdstown at the age of sixteen and became a school teacher upon graduating in Hampshire County. In 1890, Cornwell and his brother, William B. Cornwell, acquired the Romney ''Hampshire Review'' and assumed the roles of publishers and editors of the newspaper. In 1892, he married Edna Brady."West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of Culture and History, June 2007. In 1897, Cornwell and his brother bought out the competing paper, the South Branch Intelligencer, adding its name and 1829 founding date to the Review's masthead.

Political Office

Cornwell was admitted to the bar in 1898 and served as a state senator from 1899 to 1905. Cornwell was defeated in his first gubernatorial bid by William Mercer Owens Dawson in 1904, but was elected governor in 1916, took office in March 1917, and served until 1921. In 1917, Cornwell became the only Democrat to serve as governor in a thirty-six-year span between 1897 and 1933. In fact, Cornwell was the only Democrat elected to a statewide office in 1916. One month after Cornwell took office as governor, the United States entered World War I and due in part to his efforts, the state of West Virginia had one of the highest percentages of volunteers of any state. Also during his term, the state reached an agreement on a public debt figure owed to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

since West Virginia's statehood in 1863. Cornwell advocated strengthening the mining code, the creation of a state board of education, and the establishment of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, now officially known as the

West Virginia State Police The West Virginia State Police (WVSP) is a state law enforcement agency in the United States that provides police services to the residents of West Virginia. It is the fourth-oldest state police agency in the US. The WVSP was disbanded due to the ...

. He supported woman's suffrage, adding it to the agenda for a special session of the legislature in February 1920. West Virginia became the 34th state to ratify the federal constitutional amendment for women's right to vote. Cornwell's term was not unblemished, however, and was marked by growing labor unrest in the coal industry of southern West Virginia. Cornwell discouraged an armed miners' march in 1919 by assuring them he would address the miners' grievances. His failure to handle the situation led to increased violence, including the infamous shootout between miners and coal company guards in

Matewan ''Matewan'' () is a 1987 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Chris Cooper (in his film debut), James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell and Will Oldham, with David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp in suppor ...

Mingo County Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic Iroq ...

After leaving office in 1921, John J. Cornwell served as a director and general counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

Death

Upon retirement, he lived at his home on Main Street in Romney. Cornwell contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in the summer of 1953 and died at Cumberland Memorial Hospital in

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...

on September 8, 1953. He is interred with his wife and son in Romney's

Indian Mound Cemetery Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike ( U.S. Route 50) on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The ce ...

. Cornwell descendants continue to run the Hampshire Review today. John J. Cornwell Elementary School in Levels is named for him because of his background in and strong support of education in the state of West Virginia.

References

External links

Biography of John J. CornwellThe Hampshire Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwell, John Jacob 1867 births 1953 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers American bank presidents American newspaper publishers (people) American people of Welsh descent American railway entrepreneurs Burials at Indian Mound Cemetery Cornwell family Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Editors of West Virginia newspapers Democratic Party governors of West Virginia People from Ritchie County, West Virginia People from Romney, West Virginia Baltimore and Ohio Railroad people Shepherd University alumni West Virginia lawyers Democratic Party West Virginia state senators Schoolteachers from West Virginia 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians Members of the Odd Fellows