I was glad to hear of that determination as I detest the practice of cousins marrying or any marriage between persons in which there can be traced the most distant relationship. I go for the improvement instead of the deterioration of our race.

He was a cousin of Paul Cornell the founder of Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. Ezra Cornell was a birthright Quaker but was later disowned by the Society of Friends for marrying outside of the faith to a "world's woman" a Methodist by the name of Mary Ann Wood. Telegraph
Happening into the offices of the Maine Farmer in 1842 Ezra saw an acquaintance of his one F.

He also served as President of the New York Agriculture Society and as a state Senator. Ezra Cornell (January 11 1807 – December 9 1874) was an American businessman and education administrator.