Cornel

. See Dogwood. Cornelia. See Gracchi Cornell, Ezra (1807-1874), the founder of Cornell University. He was a mechanic of Ithaca, New York. Field, the inventor of the telegraph, laid his wires in a plow furrow. Cornell was the first to suggest stringing them on telegraph poles. He made a fortune by constructing and operating telegraph lines. He gave half a million dollars to erect the first buildings of the institution which bears his name, and enriched it with subsequent gifts and services. The autobiography of Andrew D. White, the first president of Cornell, gives an excellent account of the philanthropist's methods and motives.