OVERVIEW
Location: Madison County, Alabama
Date Constructed/ Founded: not determined
Associated Surnames: Cornelius, Coyle, Kelly
Historical Notes: William Cornelius (b.1814 in Alabama) married Emily Coyle in 1847. By 1850 he was considered a wealthy planter who had built his fortune from the labor of over 30 enslaved persons. His alcoholism and brutality led his wife to file for divorce in 1852. In the lawsuit she described his assaults on her and his own mother (Eleanor “Ellen” Watkins Cornelius), which drove her, with her young son William Rowland/ Roland Cornelius, to seek refuge with neighbors. In the 1852 court documentation she described his estate in order to make a case for alimony, and named several (26) of the “35 slaves” on the Cornelius place. The 1850 Federal Slave Schedule lists 36.
Associated Pages: none
Accession: ALmadi00001
ASSOCIATED ENSLAVED PERSONS
1850: Male age 65 (b.1785), Male age 60 (b.1790), Female age 58 (b.1792), Female age 52 (b.1798), Male age 50 (b.1800), Male age 48 (b.1802), Male age 46 (b.1804), Male age 40 (b.1810), Female age 32 (b.1818), Male age 31 (b.1819), Male age 30 (b.1820), Male age 28 (b.1822), Male age 26 (b.1824), Female age 26 (b.1824), Male age 24 (b.1826), Female age 22 (b.1828), Male age 20 (b.1830), Female age 20 (b.1830), Male age 18 (b.1832), Male age 18 (b.1832), Male age 17 (b.1833), Female age 17 (b.1833), Male age 17 (b.1833), Female age 16 (b.1834), Male age 15 (b.1835), Male age 14 (b.1836), Female age 14 (b.1836), Male age 12 (b.1838), Male age 12 (b.1838), Female age 12 (b.1838), Male age 11 (b.1839), Male age 10 (b.1840), Male age 7 (b.1843), Male age 7 (b.1843), Female age 6 (b.1844), Female age 3 (b.1847) [1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedule, Madison Co., AL, William Cornelius, 36 total]
1852: Cornelius v. Cornelius, Madison Co., Alabama
Enslaver: William Cornelius – Jim (man, age 60); Mary (woman, age 60); Chaney (man, age 50); Sarah (woman, age 50); Solomon (man, age 50); Bake (man, age 45); Thurston (man, age 45); Bob (man, age 40); Moses “Little Moses” (man, age 40); Joe (man, age 36); Miles (man, age 27); Patience (woman, age 25); Dennis (man, age 23); Katy (woman, age 22); Bill (man, age 20); Evelina (woman, age 20); Andy (man, age 18); Buck (boy, age 16); Jane (girl, age 16); Horace (girl, age 15); Charlotte (girl, age 14); Harriet (girl, age 14); George (boy, age 12); Larkin (boy, age 10); Frances (age 7); Lena (girl, age 1); Enslaver: Emily Cornelius – Harriet (girl, age 14)
1860: Male age 60 (b.1800), Male age 49 (b.1811), Male age 48 (b.1812), Male age 50 (b.1810), Male age 45 (b.1815), Male age 38 (b.1822), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 30 (b.1830), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 24 (b.1836), Male age 25 (b.1835), Male age 22 (b.1838), Male age 20 (b.1840), Male age 18 (b.1842), Male age 18 (b.1842), Male age 17 (b.1843), Male age 10 (b.1850), Male age 7 (b.1853), Male age 7 (b.1853), Male age 5 (b.1855), Male age 5 (b.1855), Male age 4 (b.1856), Male age 3 (b.1857), Male age 6/12 (b.1860), Male age 30 (b.1830), Female age 60 (b.1800), Female age 48 (b.1812), Female age 35 (b.1825), Female age 30 (b.1830), Female age 28 (b.1832), Female age 24 (b.1836), Female age 23 (b.1837), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 17 (b.1843), Female age 8 (b.1852), Female age 7 (b.1853), Female age 6 (b.1854), Female age 4 (b.1856), Female age 3 (b.1857), Female age 2 (b.1858), Female age 7/12 (b.1860) [1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedule, Madison Co., AL, William M. Cornelius, 41 total, 2 houses]
ASSOCIATED FREE PERSONS
Cornelius family: Rowland Cornelius Jr. (b.1755-d.1822); Eleanor “Ellen” Watkins Cornelius (1777-1861) – wife (m.?) of R. Cornelius; Elmira Cornelius (b.1808-d.?) – dau. of R. and E.W. Cornelius; Rowland Cornelius (b.1812-d.1844) – son of R. and E.W. Cornelius; Madison Cornelius (b.1816-d.1839) – dau. of R. and E.W. Cornelius
Cornelius family: William M. Cornelius (b.1814-d.1860) – plantation owner, son of R. and E.W. Cornelius; Emily Coyle Cornelius (b.1830-d.?) – wife (m.1847) of W. Cornelius; William Rowland/ Rolland Cornelius (b.1851-d.1867) – son of W. and E.C. Cornelius
Kelly family: Lycurgus Kelly (b.1840-d.?) – overseer (manager) for William Cornelius in 1860
HISTORICAL RECORDS AND DATA
- 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Madison Co., Alabama, USA (Ancestry.com) – William Cornelius, household 76 (p.12 or 396b)
- 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Madison Co., Alabama, USA (Ancestry.com) – William M. Cornelius, household 76 (p.33 or 32)
- 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Harrison Co., Texas, USA (Ancestry.com) – William Coyle (and Emily Cornelius), household 46 (p.7 or 444)
- Cornelius v. Cornelius, Madison Co., Alabama (UNCG Race and Slavery Petitions Project) – filing date: August 31, 1852; ending date: January 8, 1858; Repository: Madison County Public Library Archives, Huntsville, Alabama, Records of the Chancery Court, Chancery Records 1857, book C-24-26, vol. V, p.605-618
- William Cornelius, memorial ID 32459466 (Find a Grave)
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
- None available yet
REFERENCES AND DATA SOURCES
- Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. http://ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. (Year: 1850; Census Place: Second Regiment 33, Madison, Alabama; Roll: 9; Page: 369b)
- Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. http://ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. (Year: 1860; Census Place: North Western Division, Madison, Alabama; Page: 32; Family History Library Film: 803015); (Year: 1860; Census Place: Beat 1, Harrison, Texas; Page: 444; Family History Library Film: 805296)
- Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. http://ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004. (United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls)
- Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. http://ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. (United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls)
- Find a Grave. [database online]. http://findagrave.com.
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Race and Slavery Petitions Project. Petition 20185204 Details. http://library.uncg.edu/slavery/petitions/details.aspx?pid=3260.
- WordPress.com, Huntsvillian. (2018). “Cruel, Barbarous & Inhumane: Emily Cornelius and Planter Divorce.” https://huntsvillain.blog/2018/09/27/cruel-barbarous-inhumane-emily-cornelius-and-planter-divorce/.
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