Name of father George Corner

BIOGRAPHICAL:
EDWIN L. CORNER. In a comfortable little home overlooking the Willamette river lives in comparative retirement Edwin L. Corner, pioneer, furniture dealer, merchant, sawmill manipulator, miner, tanner and farmer. So varied an assortment of occupations as those credited to Mr. Corner necessarily indicate versatility, and that his efforts have passed the experimental stage argues also business ability of a high order.
He was born in Washington county. Ohio, December 22, 1827, and comes of an ancestry for the
most part identified with the agricultural undertakings of the British Isles.
George Corner, the father of Edwin L., was born in Cheshire, or Chester county, a district of England bordering on the North sea, and noted for its grazing and dairies, December 12, 1783.
About 1795 he came to the United States with his father, William, the latter of whom died while crossing the Allegheny mountains to Ohio. The youthful George apprenticed to a surveyor in Ohio, who was none other than Gen. Rufus Putnam, and afterward settled down to farming and stock-raising in the Buckeye state, where he rose to prominence in general affairs, and where he died December 29, 1844. He married Susan Burlingame, born in Rutland, Worcester county, Mass., and a grand-daughter of Rufus Putnam of Revolutionary fame. Christopher Burlingame, the father of Mrs. Corner, was born in New England, and after going to Ohio engaged in the manufacture of hats. Of the twelve children born to George Corner and his wife, five sons and seven daughters, all grew to maturity, and at the present time two daughters, a son, and Edwin L., are still living, he being the tenth oldest.
In Cornerville, named after his family, and located in Washington county. Ohio, Edwin L. Corner was educated in the public schools, eventually attending the Academy at McConnelsville, the same state. At the age of seventeen he engaged in the carpenter's trade, an occupation which he followed for several years. In 1851 he crossed the plains to Oregon, the trip taking four months, and upon his arrival in the state settled in Salem, where he engaged in carpenter work and which continued to be his home for six years. During a portion of that time, at the time of the Indian wars of 1852 and 1853 he en- gaged in mining and other occupations in California. In 1856 he returned to Ohio, where he
conducted a sawmill for a year, and after disposing of his mill moved to Iowa and engaged in the furniture business for three years. Later he became interested in the grocery business, and still later in running a tannery, but like so many others who have once felt the possibilities of the west, he again longed. to be a participator in its chances and upbuilding. He therefore drove across the plains with a team in 1864, remained over two winters in Boise City, Idaho, and May 21, 1866, again arrived in Salem, Ore. Here he engaged in a grocery business until disposing of his store in 1872. when he bought a farm of sixty-four acres in Yamhill county. A later location was at Sellwood. Multnomah county, where he became practically the father of the infant town, bought the first lot there and built the first house. For some time he was busy at
getting wood out of the timbers, but he soon started up a grocery business and continued the same until selling out in 1893. To Mr. Corner is due the credit of establishing the postoffice at Sellwood, as he circulated the petition praying for an office. He was the first postmaster of the town, and carefully looked after the affairs of Uncle Sam for ten years. An item of interest in connection with his pioneer undertakings is that he brought the first organ across the plains, and which was the first introduced in the state of
Oregon. He was also a member of the first city council of Sellwood.
In Granville, Ohio. Mr. Corner was united in marriage with Mlary Ann Wood, September 6,
1858, Mrs. Corner being a daughter of Charles Wood, born in England and a hatter by trade. Mr. Wood emigrated to New York July 4, 1830, settled in Utica, N. Y., and later removed to New Jersey, where he engaged at his trade. In 1838 he removed to Delaware, Ohio, and in 1839 to Granville, CJhio, where he was engaged in business until his death at the age of eighty-six years.
Mrs. Corner is a member of the Episcopal Church, while her husband was reared in the Congregational Church. Mr. Corner is a Republican in politics, is a member of Sellwood Fire Company Co. I, and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both himself and wife are members of the Ohio Society of Oregon.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD of Portland and Vicinity, Chapman Pub Co., 1903, pg 475