Cornelius Ennis(September 26, 1813 – February 13, 1899) was a cotton shipper and railroad executive who served asMayor of Houston,Texas.[1]His shipping enterprise ran Union blockades during the American Civil War.
Early life and career
editHe was born September 26, 1813, inBelleville, New Jerseywhere he grew up and received his education.[1]In 1834, he moved toNew York Cityand started work in a drugstore, before using his learned trade to open his own drugstore in Houston in 1839.[1]
He partnered with George W. Kimball and expanded the business, making their first shipment of cotton to Boston in 1841.[1]He married Kimball's sister Jeannette Ingals Kimball the same year. They had four children.[1]Kimball drowned off the Florida coast while escorting a cotton shipment and investment funds to New York in 1842, leading Ennis into his involvement with the railroad as a better transport option that needed investment.[1]
Ennis started and was on the board of directors theHouston and Texas Central Railwayin 1853 along withWilliam R. Baker,Paul Bremond,Thomas William House,William J. HutchinsandWilliam Marsh Rice.[1]As mayor he supervised theHouston Tap Railroadcompletion which was sold in 1858 and became theHouston Tap and Brazoria Railway.He also promoted construction of theHouston Ship Channel.[1]
Mayor of Houston
editHe became theMayor of HoustonJuly 1856 and served until December 1857. He had a band of robbers who were robbing shippers arrested.[2]
Civil War era blockade running
editIn thecivil warhe shipped cotton to Cuba and to England via Mexico despite the Union Navy's blockade.[1]His blockade running was so successful that after the war he further expanded his cotton export businesses and invested in the newspaper in Galveston now known asThe Daily News.[1]
Death and legacy
editHe died February 13, 1899, at his home in Houston and is buried at theGlenwood Cemetery in Houston.[1] On the announcement of his death his name was reported as "Col. Cornelius Ennis".[3]
Ennis, Texas,developed as a northern base of operations of the railroad he directed, is named for him. Several other towns in Texas were named for the railroad's directors.[4]He never lived there and there are no records he even ever visited.[5][6]
Two of his daughters married into newspaper publishing families.[4]Two of his descendants visited the museum in 2008.[4]
Conservative TV Talk show hostTucker Carlsonis his 3x great-grandson.[7][unreliable source?]
References
edit- ^abcdefghijk"TSHA | Ennis, Cornelius".tshaonline.org.
- ^"TSHA | Ennis, Cornelius".
- ^"Ennis Dead".Evening Messenger.14 February 1899. p. 2.Retrieved28 December2020.
- ^abc"The Ennis Line".10 May 2023.
- ^"Ennis named for a man who never visited there".Corsicana Daily Sun.16 January 1972. p. 4.Retrieved28 December2020.
- ^"History of Ennis".visitennis.org.
- ^@TalbertSwan (10 April 2021)."According to the TX State Historical Association, Mayor Cornelius Ennis was born in 1813 in NJ, same as…"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.