Etowah County AlArchives Biographies.....Cornelius, H. M. ? - living in 1893 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 25, 2004, 7:41 pm Author: Brant & Fuller (1893) H. M. CORNELIUS, a popular and prosperous merchant of Walnut Grove, Ala., is the son of Harvey and Elizabeth (Fite) Cornelius. The family came to Virginia in colonial times. The grandfather, William Cornelius, located in a later year in Blount county, Ala. He was a man of large family and much property. The father of H. M. Cornelius was married in Tennessee and settled in his father's place at Walnut Grove. He was a man of deep religious conviction, a Missionary Baptist in his faith, and a great worker in the church. A physical difficulty in his hip, which caused him to limp, prevented his service in the army, but he was always ready with his means or influence to aid the cause of the Confederacy, and the hospitality of his home was always open to the soldier. So enthusiastic was he for the success of the cause that he had espoused, that he was marked by deserters from the army as a man to be disposed of, and an attempt was accordingly made upon his life. The night for the terrible deed was set (March 3, 1865) and the visit made, but the father being absent from home, their fiendish plans were frustrated. His home and store, however, were burned to the ground, and several of his neighbors were murdered. He died in 1876. He reared a family of twelve children, the following eight of whom survive: Emily H., wife of J. E. Murphree; Delia, wife of John Randal; Montgomery; Marcellus; Dayton; Grace, wife of John Sproul; Bethel and Maude. The mother of these children died in 1890. She belonged to one of the first families of Tennessee, one of her brothers being a general in the Union army. H. M. Cornelius was reared in Walnut Grove, Ala. He was educated principally by a private tutor, and taught school four or five years. He bought a part of the old homestead and embarked in the mercantile business, which he has carried on for three years with great success. He was married December 29, 1881, to Mary D. Garlington, daughter of Dr. H. S. Garlington. The union has been blessed with the birth of three children, named as follows: Verna, Reginald and Paul. Mr. Cornelius is a democrat, a deacon in the Missionary Baptist church, and has taught the same Sunday-school class for twelve years. Additional Comments: from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 1014 Published by Brant & Fuller (1893) Madison, WI This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 2.8 Kb