Wyandotte County Biographies
"Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas--Historical and Biographical"
Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890
Gen. Dudley E. Cornell, a worthy and respected citizen residing
in Kansas City, Kas., was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., January
15, 1837, being a son of Merritt I. and Mercy W. (Howard) Cornell,
who were born in Washington County, N. Y.,and Bennington County,
Vt., respectively. One of the early ancestors of Dudley E. was
Thomas Cornell, who emigrated from England, and first located in
Boston, Mass., moving from there in 1640 to Rhode Island, settling at
Portsmouth. He had a son, Thomas, who also had a son of that name.
The latter had a son George, who was born October 11, 1707, and he
had a son by the name of Matthew, who first saw the light of day in
Rhode Island on October 30, 1743. The latter' s son, Matthew, was
born in Washington County, N. Y., March 22, 1787, and was the
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was educated for a
civil engineer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y.,
and during the years of 1856-57 he followed civil engineering in the
State of Wisconsin. From that time until 1860 he followed the same
occupation in connection with mining in California, but in the last
named year he returned to New York, and in October, 1861, entered
the service of the Union army, and served until the close of the war.
In 1866 he came to Kansas and located in Wyandotte County, where
he has chiefly resided ever since. He entered the employ of the old
Kansas Pacific Railroad, as clerk in the general passenger and ticket
office, was subsequently made chief clerk, and in 1876 was made
general passenger and ticket agent of the road, a position he held
until the consolidation of that road with the Union Pacific Railroad,
when he became general agent of the passenger and ticket departments
of the consolidated lines at Kansas City, and filled this position with
the best success until the fall of 1887. He has served one term as
mayor of Kansas City, Kas., and two terms as a member of the city
council. His marriage, which took place on October, 13, 1868, was to
Miss Annie M., the daughter of Dr. Frederick Speck, and by her has
had a family of six children - four sons and two daughters: Fred D.,
Howard M., Adelaide M., Dudley E., Grace A. and George S. Mr.
Cornell is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the K. of P. and the A.
O. U. W., and in his political views has always been a Republican.
Thomas Cowie, foreman of the foundry of the Keystone Iron
Works, which institution is among the most important of its kind in
the Southwest, is one of the skilled mechanics of Kansas City, where
he is well known and thoroughly respected. Mr. Cowie was born in
Scotland, in the village of Glenn Davis, near Ardrie, April 15, 1835,
and is the eldest of nine children - six sons and three daughters. The
father was a Scotchman, and was a mill-stone builder by trade. He
died at the age of forty- eight years. The mother is also of Scotch
origin and resides at the present time in Canada. Thomas Cowie received his early education in his native country and started out for
himself at the age of fourteen as a molder, serving four years as an
apprentice in Dundas, Canada, as a molder in his uncle's plant, one of
the most important in Canada, established in 1833, and conducted
under the name of John Gartshare. He then went to West Point,
learned the profession or trade under instruction for one year, and became thoroughly familiar with all the different branches as a molder.
His superintendent was Rumph, and his foreman, John Carmichael,
who was a noted man among mechanics and molders. Mr. Cowie remained there six years, and then returned to Dundas, Canada, to take
charge of , his uncle's large foundry, remaining there from 1858 to
1870, which shows that he is a thorough and experienced workman in
detail. Next he and his cousin commenced work on their own responsibility and located in Hamilton, Ontario, but business being dull he
removed to Kansas City, Mo., where Mr. Cowie located with A. J.
Kelley, and remained there two years. He then united with the Keystone Iron Works, and now holds the important position of foreman of
the foundry. Mr. Cowie's apprentices, who have learned the trade under him, are now holding important positions throughout the country.
He took charge of foundry work, when twenty-three years of age, and
has quite a historical record. He, with two other molders, east several
parts of the engine for the famous frigate "Merrimac," viz.: Cylinder
head, piston head and condenser and bed plate, the weight being seventeen tons, and those they cast themselves. Mr. Cowie has seventy-six
men under him in this large plant, and is one of the trusted men of this
establishment. He was married to Miss Lucinda McDonnell, a native
of Ireland, on December 16, 1858, and to them have been born eight
children. Mr. Cowie has ever been a Democrat in his political views,
and casts his vote for men of honor and principle. He and wife are
ardent supporters of the educational system, which is the bulwark of
the nation. Mr. Cowie is a member of the Scottish Clan, a flourishing
organization, and is a Royal Arch Mason. He and Mrs. Cowie are
members of the Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Mo. They are
comfortably located in Kansas City, Mo., where they have a line and
valuable property, and where they will make their home. There his
talent and skill are in constant demand. During President Buchanan's administration Mr. Cowie was the factor in manufacturing
shells, and for four years worked four months each year in making
these missiles of death. He helped manufacture many thousands, and
was in the ranks at West Point Foundry when the famous "Parrott"
gun was made, the same being well known by all war veterans as the
death-dealing messenger. Mr. Cowie's career as a molder has been
one of the most unique of any completed by the historian as yet.
John S. Cox. It will be seen by a perusal of this sketch of
the life of one of the most respected citizens of Wyandotte County,
Kas., that his early educational advantages were good, and that
since his contact with the world his vigorous mind has so grasped
and embraced the opportunities which have presented themselves that
he is accounted among the most intelligent and learned men of this section of the country. He was born in Lewis County, W. Va., in 1825,
and was from the very first taught everything connected with farming,
but much of his time was also devoted to school work, he being for
some time an attendant of the Northwest Virginia Academy, where,
besides acquiring a literary education, he also read law. In 1852 he
determined to seek a fresh field for his labors, and accordingly first
settled in Adams County, Ill., and after a period of two years spent in
farming, he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, teaching school
also, a calling he had followed in the State of Virginia. In 1862, with
the knowledge of the fact that his country needed his services, he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois Infantry
and after doing gallant service, he was discharged in July, 1865. Immediately on entering the army he was placed in the hospital service,
having prior to the war acquired some knowledge of the drug business
and until 1864 was in the Regimental Hospital, being at that time captured. He was taken to Camp Ford, Tex., but while there managed to
make his escape, August 18, 1864, but was shortly after captured by
bloodhounds, seven of which had hold of him when he surrendered.
He remained in captivity until February 6, 1865; then made his way
to the gunboat "La Fayette," at the mouth of Red River, and there secured a furlough home for thirty days, after which he returned to his
regiment at Montgomery, Ala. On May 22, 1865, he was again
placed in the division hospital service, and there continued until it was
disbanded, being shortly afterward taken sick with rheumatism, and
went to Marine Hospital, at Mobile, Ala. After being in the Marine
Hospital until July 28, 1865, he was discharged, and went to Zanesville, Ohio, where he found his family at the same place he had left
them on entering the service. He was only in one battle, but the doctors would not permit him to again take the field, as he was a skillful
nurse, and his services were needed among the wounded. After the
war he became a clerk for the Ohio Iron Company for two years, after
which he sold goods two years; then came to Kansas City, Kas., and
engaged in the real estate and the insurance business, and has given
special attention to Government claims. He once tilled the position
of justice of the peace, a position to which he was elected without his
knowledge, and in political matters is distinctly liberal, being equally
so in church matters. He was married in Clarksburg, Harrison
County, Va., by the Rev. J. W. Snodgrass, to Miss Mary A. Hamrick,
a native of Rappahannock County, Va. The children (living) born to
them are as follows: William W. (who was born in Virginia December
4, 1849, is proprietor of a job-printing house in this city), and Ella L.
(who is the wife of J. P. Connelly, of Denver, Colo). Mr. Cox is a son
of Phillippi, and Susannah (Kinsley) Cox, both native Virginians, the
former of whom died in 1876. This family is descended from Dr.
Daniel Cox, of London, England. The grandfather was born in New
Jersey, and died in Ritchie County, Va., at the age of ninety-nine
years. The great grandfather lived to be one hundred and ten years
of age. and died in Harrison County, Va.
Hon. William A. Coy, mayor of Kansas City, Kas., is a popular
official of the city. He was born in Portage County, Ohio, November 30, 1835, and has resided in Kansas City, Wyandotte County,
since 1887, and has become well and very favorably known. He is a
son of Allen M. and Sarah (Bush) Coy, both of whom were born in
Chenango County, N. Y., the former having been born in 1804 and
the latter in 1809. Their marriage took place in 1826, and to them
three sons and three daughters were born, all of whom are living,
the youngest two, who were twins, being now in their forty-fourth
year. The names of this family are as follows: Polly M., William A.,
Henry A., Emma S., Jerome and Josephine, all of whom were born in
Portage County. The father, who was a farmer and live-stock dealer,
died in 1861, his widow passing to her long home ten years later.
The subject of this sketch remained in his native county until he
attained his eighteenth year, when on January 3, 1853, started from home
for the West, and he, accompanied by his father, settled in Buchanan
County, Iowa, the latter purchasing a stock ranch in the county on
which he laid out the town of Coyville. In that place William A.
started a general store, having been provided with the necessary
means by his father. This establishment he continued to conduct until 1856, at which time he came to Kansas and located on a claim
which he had purchased in Jefferson County, when two years later he
returned to Iowa, where he spent a few months with his parents, who
had removed there in the fall of 1853. In June, 1858, he secured a
position as traveling salesman for the firm of David Ransom & Co., of
New York City, and continued in the employ of that firm until January, 1861. Meanwhile, on November 17, 1861, he was married to
Miss Julia Cole, a daughter of S. S. Cole, of Chillicothe, Ill., who
is now with his wife and family residing in Kansas City, Kas. Mr.
Coy began housekeeping on his claim in Jefferson County, Kas.,
in January, 1861, and in the fall of 1862 was elected register of
deeds, serving one term of two years. In the fall of 1864 he was
elected to the office of county treasurer, and served one full term and
part of another by appointment. During all this time he resided in
Oskaloosa, the county seat, and while there he was a partner in a general store at that place. In March, 1867, he removed to Leavenworth,
Kas., where, for two and one half years, he was a salesman in a wholesale dry goods establishment. Upon his return to Oskaloosa in 1870
he resumed mercantile pursuits, and to this and the live stock business his attention was given until 1879. In that year he removed to
Lawrence, Kas., and in 1881 settled in Kansas City, Mo., where he
became associated with the wholesale clothing firm of Hannah, Chittenden & Co. He continued in that capacity for five years, the firm
name in the meantime being changed to Tootle, Hannah & Co. Early
in 1886 he formed a partnership with James Hingston and William
Peake, under the firm name of Hingston, Coy & Peake, and they were
in the wholesale clothing and furnishing business at Nos. 533 and 535
Delaware Street. In 1888 Mr. Coy sold his interest in this establishment, and the same year, in connection with his son-in-law, Charles H.
Simms, he built the business block known as the Department House
in Kansas City, Kas., and in this building they have conducted a
large general store ever since. Mr. Coy is also associated with other
firms, and is a member of the clothing firm of Coy, Simms & Johnson,
and the clothing firm of Coy, Simms & Co., of Kansas City, Kas., the
clothing firm of Coy, Hutchins & Co., at Valley Falls, Kas., and the
clothing firm of Hutchins, Coy & Co., of Holton, Kas. Besides the
enterprises mentioned above, Mr. Coy has been identified with several
others of more or less importance, and in 1882 started a store at Clay
Centre, Kas. A year later he established a store at Butler, Mo., and
in the same year one at Pleasant Hill, the same State. In 1889 he
was elected mayor of Kansas City, Kas., and is now tilling this position in a most acceptable manner. He was one of the incorporators of
the Kansas City Clothing Manufacturing Company, and is now president of the same. Socially he is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and
in his political views is strictly Republican. He and his wife worship
in the First Presbyterian Church. Their children are Delia (who is
now the wife of Charles H. Simms) and William Edward (who died at
the age of sixteen years).
Return to
Wyandotte Co. KHHP
|
� 2011-2012 Kansas History and Heritage Project
|