Thomas R. Cornelius

Thomas Ramsey Cornelius (November 16, 1827 – June 24, 1899) was a prominent American politician and soldier in the early history of Oregon. Born in Missouri, he moved to the Oregon Country with his family as a young man, where he fought in the Cayuse War and Yakima Indian War against the Native Americans. He settled in Washington County near what later became Cornelius, named in his honor.

A Whig and later a Republican, he served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature where following statehood, he served in the Oregon State Senate. In the Senate, he served one term as the president of that chamber. He also built the Cornelius Pass Road that bears his name. He was the father of Benjamin P. Cornelius, who was also prominent in state politics.

Early life Cornelius was born in Missouri, on November 16, 1827, to Elizabeth and Benjamin Cornelius. In 1845, Thomas and his family traveled over the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country and set up a farm on the Tualatin Plains, north of what would become the community of Cornelius. The militia prosecuted the Cayuse War in an attempt to punish those responsible for the killings at the Whitman Mission. Serving as a Whig, he represented Washington, Columbia, and Multnomah counties in District 8. He won re-election to the Council in 1857 and again in 1858 to the final session of the territorial legislature. In 1859, he continued holding office in the newly formed Oregon State Senate after Oregon entered the Union on February 14, 1859, as the 33rd state.

In the Oregon Senate, Cornelius continued as a Republican, representing Washington County and several other counties through the 1874 legislature. His service was interrupted by the American Civil War during 1862 session, when he was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln to raise a regiment of cavalry for federal service. In 1886, he won the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon, but lost the general election to Sylvester Pennoyer.

Later life and family After his first wife died in 1864, Cornelius remarried in 1866 to Missouri A. Smith. Cornelius died on June 24, 1899, at the age of 71.