John McGraw | |
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| Born | May 22, 1815 Dryden, New York, US |
| Died | May 4, 1877 (aged 61) Ithaca, New York, US |
| Monuments | McGraw Tower |
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| Children | Jennie |
John McGraw (May 22, 1815 - May 4, 1877) was a wealthy New York State lumber merchant, philanthropist, early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.
John McGraw was born in Dryden, New York, on May 22, 1815, to Joseph McGraw and Jane Nelson McGraw, both natives of Northern Ireland.
He and his business partner, Henry W. Sage, together made a great deal of money selling lumber from forests in New York, Wisconsin and Michigan, and operating a large lumber mill in Wenona, Michigan, now part of Bay City, Michigan. They also co-founded the town of Wenona.
He married Rhoda Charlotte Southworth in Dryden. She was born September 19, 1819, also in Dryden, the daughter of John Southworth of Salisbury, New York, and Nancy Ellis Southworth of Dryden. She gave birth to his only daughter, Jennie McGraw. After Rhoda's death in 1847, he married her sister, Nancy Amelia Southworth in 1849. Nancy died on 29 February 1856 at the age of 30. John later married Jane P. Bates Turner in Ithaca, Tompkins, New York, in 1861. She died in Ithaca in 1904 at the age of 84.
John died May 4, 1877, in Ithaca, New York. His daughter, Jennie inherited his large fortune. She died 30 Sep 1881. Both John and his daughter, Jennie are buried in the crypt at Sage Chapel, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Upon Jennie's death, some of this fortune was bequeathed to Cornell. A dispute over this gift led to the Great Will Case, ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court against Cornell in Cornell Univ. v. Fiske et al. (1890). His former business partner, Henry Sage, made a large donation to Cornell in the name of Jennie to replace the lost funds.
The McGraw name graces the principal clock tower of Cornell. [1] Additionally, McGraw Hall is one of the buildings on the main arts quad of Cornell University. Among other uses, it was the first home of Cornell's business school, now known as the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and located in Sage Hall.
Andrew Dickson White was an American historian and educator who co-founded Cornell University, one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States, and served as its first president for nearly two decades. He was known for expanding the scope of college curricula. A politician, he had served as New York state senator and was later appointed as U.S. ambassador to Germany and Russia.
Ezra Cornell was an American businessman, politician, academic, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agriculture Society and as a New York State Senator.
Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth was an American writer of more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century. She was the most popular American novelist of her day.
Alonzo Barton Cornell was a New York politician and businessman who was the 27th governor of New York from 1880 to 1882.
Wenona was a historical settlement in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in what is now Bay City at 43°35′52″N83°53′53″W.
The Cornell Chimes is a 21-bell chime in McGraw Tower on the central campus of Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, United States.
Jennie McGraw, also Jennie McGraw Fiske, was a millionaire philanthropist to Cornell University along with her parents John McGraw and Rhoda Charlotte Southworth. In 1868, she gave the university a set of chimes. The first tune played at any Cornell Chimes concert is the "Cornell Changes", also known as the "Jennie McGraw Rag". They continue to be played every day from McGraw Tower on the campus. She was also the founder of the Southworth Library in Dryden, New York. Upon her death, she left a significant bequest to Cornell University. Her will designated monies for a library, McGraw Hall, a student health center, and additional monies to be used as the university wished. She was married when she was 39 to professor and librarian Willard Fiske, but lived less than two years following the wedding ceremony.
Henry Williams Sage was a wealthy New York State businessman, philanthropist, and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.
The history of Cornell University begins when its two founders, Andrew Dickson White of Syracuse and Ezra Cornell of Ithaca, met in the New York State Senate in January 1864. Together, they established Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1865. The university was initially funded by Ezra Cornell's $400,000 endowment and by New York's 989,920-acre (4,006.1 km2) allotment of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
McGraw Tower is a masonry clock tower located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The tower was known as Library Tower when it was first built but was renamed in 1961 in honor of either John McGraw, one of Cornell's original donors, or his daughter Jennie McGraw, the philanthropist in whose honor the tower and its adjacent library were originally commissioned by Henry W. Sage.
Daniel Willard Fiske was an American librarian and scholar, born on November 11, 1831, at Ellisburg, New York. He was awarded American Library Association Honorary Membership in 1895.
William John Young was the founder of the W.J. Young Company. He revolutionized the slow system of rafting logs by floatage with the current of the river in 1865 by a successful experiment of pushing log rafts ahead of a steam boat, independent of the river currents, and this with his introduction of the system of brail rafting, facilitated the movement of log stock while greatly lessening the expense of delivering them from the booms at Reef Slough and other points, to the mills at various points on the lower river; but for these advantages, the work of the mills would never have reached the vast volume to which they soon attained. Mr. Young was one of the original members of the Mississippi River Logging Company, his interest in which he sold in 1893, after being for many years one of the most active and influential members of the company.
Sage Chapel is the non-denominational chapel on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York State which serves as the burial ground for many contributors to Cornell's history, including the founders of the university: Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White as well as their wives. The building was gifted to the university by Henry William Sage and his wife. The chapel opened in 1875 and is located on Ho Plaza, across from Willard Straight Hall and next to John M. Olin Library, John McGraw Tower, and Barnes Hall.
William Henry Miller (1848–1922) was an American architect based in Ithaca, New York.
Southworth Library is a historic library building located at Dryden in Tompkins County, New York. It is a 1+1⁄2-story masonry building with a steeply pitched gable roof. It features a prominent bell tower with a Seth Thomas clock and circular windows include carved stone gargoyles. It is a distinctive, small scale example of Eclectic style civic architecture. It was designed with open grid flooring in stack rooms to facilitate air circulation and two reading rooms. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Henry Manning Sage was an American senator and politician from New York. He became Chairman of the State Hospital Development Commission.
Douglass Boardman was an American jurist and lawyer who served on the Supreme Court of New York and as Dean of Cornell Law School.
Nancy Jane Dean, often referred to as Jennie Dean or N. J. Dean, was an American educator and Presbyterian missionary serving Assyrian Christians in Qajar Iran. She served as the head of Fiske Seminary, a girls' boarding school in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province.
Ezra Cornell is a monumental statue in Ithaca, New York, United States. Located on the Arts Quad of the Cornell Central Campus, the monument honors Ezra Cornell, the co-founder and namesake of Cornell University. The statue, designed by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, was dedicated in 1919.
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