UtahRails, W. S. McCornick

William Sylvester McCornick

William S. McCornick, banker, mining magnate, promoter of railroads, and builder of great enterprises, is one of the stalwart figures of the great State of Utah, and one of the foremost and best known men of the inter-mountain country. He was born near Piston. Ontario, Canada, September 14, 1837. His parents were George and Mary McCornick, and his mother's maiden name was Vance. They were farmers, and Mr. McCornick spent his early days at hard manual labor, doing what fell to his lot to assist his parents. His education was obtained at the public schools but, as he was a boy of more than ordinary intelligence, he determined to succeed, and educated himself in a practical manner. He remained at home until twenty one, when he decided to make his own way in life. Being lured by the golden opportunities that California then offered he went there and lived for two years as a rancher near Marysville. Early in the sixties the fame of the great Comstock lode drew him to Nevada, where he spent the next eleven years, engaged in lumbering and mining, and here laid the foundation of the great fortune now credited to him. He lived a year in Virginia City, seven in Austin, two in Hamilton, and one in Belmont. He then turned to Salt Lake City, arriving on May 5, 1873. In June of the same year he established the banking business which has grown with the city, and which today, under the name of McCornick & Company, is beyond question the largest financial institution of its kind between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean.

Mr. McCornick's experience as a mining man in Nevada gave foretaste for larger operations in the same line in Utah. Recognizing early the wonderful mineral resources and possibilities of Utah, and prudently investing much of his wealth in mines. he is today a large owner in some of the most valuable mining properties in the west, notably the Silver King, Daly West, Centennial-Eureka, and Grand Central, all of them among the heaviest dividend payers in the region. He is also interested in the American Smelting and Refining Company, and an officer and director in many of the most important industrial, mining, and financial concerns in the inter-mountain country.

The calm, farseeing judgment of Mr. McCornick has not only resulted in his financial eminence, but has redounded to the advantage of the State at large. An almost unerring gift for distinguishing between men who are horn to succeed, and those seemingly destined to fail, backed by money accumulated through recognized ability, has enabled him to foster both public and individual enterprises that have inured to the lasting advantage of Salt Lake City and the State of Utah, and in many cases, public and private, the timely help of this man, and a keen foresight of the issues, has saved many from personal failure, and allied business interests from financial disaster.

Mr. McCornick, while not a politician, has always taken a deep interest in public affairs, and has worked zealously to better conditions and to help the State. In 1888 Mr. McCornick was elected to the common council of Salt Lake City. Some years later he was again elected and served the city as President of the Council. For almost twenty years he was president of the Board of Trustees of the State Agricultural College, which has grown into a great institution, and that largely through his progressive management. He takes a deep interest in education. He was the first president of the Alta Club, is a lover of fine horses, and has possessed a stable containing some of the swiftest roadsters in Utah.

Mr. McCornick was married in January, 1867, to Miss Hannah Keogh of Bellville, Ontario, a union which resulted in the birth of ten children: William (deceased). Emma. Henry A., Harry (deceased), Clarence K., Willis S., Lewis B., Anna, Albert V., and Genevieve. Every advantage that education and travel offer has been accorded their children, and largely shared by Mr. and Mrs. McCornick.

William Sylvester McCornick, president of McCornick & Co., Bankers, prominent in the financial and industrial circles of the west for almost fifty years, died at 3:30 o'clock yesterday morning at Holy Cross hospital. He underwent the amputation of his right leg on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 2, rallied strongly for a time and appeared to be in a fair way to recovery, but the shock of the operation and subsequent complications proved too much for the veteran banker, who was in the eighty-fourth year of his life.

Mr. McCornick was taken to the hospital Monday, May 2, after the sudden development, the previous Saturday evening, of a condition of numbness which the physicians diagnosed as arising from an aneurysm that had probably existed for several years. By 4:30 o'clock on the morning of May 1 his condition gave cause for alarm and the next day he was removed to the hospital.

The second day following the operation, which the patient bore with exceptional fortitude and cheerfulness, a relapse followed that occasioned much anxiety to the family and friends, but on the third day the improvement was marked, the banker received a number of his friends in addition to his family, frequently discussing matters of business and his plans when he should be again at his desk. Last Saturday there came a sharp relapse and again grave fears as to the outcome were entertained. Mr. McCornick, however, rallied Monday, seeming to gain considerably in strength, and it was not until Tuesday afternoon that he began to grow decidedly weaker.

At 7 o'clock Tuesday evening Mr. McCornick conversed cheerfully with his son, Lewis B., vice president of the McCornick & Co. bank, asking a number of questions about other members of the family. He lapsed into a state of coma about 9 o'clock, from which all that medical skill could do only partially roused him. He grew gradually weaker and passed peacefully into the dreamless sleep at 3:30 o'clock, surrounded by his wife and children, all of the living sons and daughters being at his bedside when the end came.

The body of Mr. McCornick was removed to the O'Donnell & Co. undertaking establishment. Funeral services will be held at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, when requiem high mass will be conducted by Bishop Joseph S. Glass. Interment will be in the family lot in Mt. Olivet cemetery. The selection of pallbearers and other funeral arrangements are under the direction of Lewis B. McCornick.

Financier, banker, mine developer and magnate, promoter of railroads, builder of great enterprises, literally a "captain of industry," Mr. McCornick for nearly half a century indelibly impressed the stamp of his energy, ability and zeal upon the state of Utah and the intermountain west. He was stalwart in mind and body, active, aggressive, determined, devoting but little time to recreation and much to his multitudinous business affairs.

Mr. McCornick was born near Picton, Ontario, Canada, September 14, 1837, a son of George and Mary (Vance) McCornick. He worked on the farm until he was 21 years of age, obtaining some educational training in the public schools, but even as a boy realized the limitations of the schools he had access to and determined to educate himself, pursuing a wide course of hard and practical reading. In 1860 he went to California, toiled for two years both as farm hand and teamster, then fell under the spell of the early Comstock days and went to Virginia City, Nev., thence to Austin, Lander county, where he engaged in the lumber and contracting business.

It was while in Austin, 1869, that Mr. McCornick first became in a way connected with the banking business. The First National bank of Nevada (the first national bank in the west) had been established in that city in 1865. It failed in 1869, and Mr. McCornick, then a leading Nevada lumberman, was appointed its receiver. He recalled the incident in a paper he prepared many years later and read before a convention of the American Bankers' association. "This was my first direct connection with the banking business," he wrote, "and it has always been a source of gratification to me to know that all of the depositors were paid in full."

Miss Hannah Keogh of Bellville, Ontario, long betrothed to Mr. McCornick, came west and married him January 16, 1867. They came to Salt Lake May 5, 1873. A month after reaching Salt Lake Mr. McCornick formed a partnership with A. W. White, establishing a small private bank on Main street, near where the Boyd Park building now stands. The firm was first known as White & McCornick, then the latter purchased the interest of Mr. White and the bank became known as that of McCornick & Company, with Josiah Barnett, now deceased, as the silent partner. Mr. Barnett remained actively connected with the McCornick interests for many years.

Mr. McCornick's dominating characteristic as a banker was his unalterable policy of dealing with "men, not with collateral." He was a shrewd judge of human nature, his ability to measure men being exceptional; when he had confidence in a man he never hesitated to "take a chance," and the rapid growth of his substantial banking business proved the general correctness of his conclusions. The banking business of McCornick & Company expanded until the house became nationally known as one of the biggest and soundest of the west. It remained a private bank until 1910, when it was incorporated under the title of McCornick & Company, Bankers.

Having gained through his California and Nevada experience an actual practical knowledge of mining, Mr. McCornick was quick to realize the latent possibilities in numerous of the then embryo mining camps of Utah, which were just beginning to attract the attention and capital of men from every section of the country. His money and his executive ability proved the controlling factors in the development of many properties that became the biggest dividend payers of the west. Among them are the Silver King Coalition, as it is now known, the Daly West and the Centennial-Eureka. In 1899, when the United States Mining company bought control of the Centennial-Eureka, a check for $1,285,000 passed through the McCornick bank, was cashed there and hung for years in his office.
Interests Are Varied.

In fostering the development of the agricultural and commercial resources of the west, Mr. McCornick proved himself as active and far-seeing as in his banking and mining affairs. A mere enumeration of the companies in which he was heavily interested serves to show the range of his business capacity. At the time of his death he was president of McCornick & Company, Bankers; president of the Utah Savings & Trust company; director of the Utah-Idaho Sugar company, the Consolidated Wagon & Machine company, the Utah-Idaho Livestock Loan company, the Silver King Coalition Mines company, the Utah Power & Light company, the Oregon Short Line Railroad company, the Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph company, the Consolidated Music company, the American Smelting and Refining company and the Wood-Hagenbarth company and in addition was actively interested in numerous other corporations vitally connected with western industry.

Mr. McCornick was a Republican in his political faith, but was seldom an active seeker for office. In 1888 he was elected a member of the Salt Lake city council, a position that he held with honor, being again elected some years later and serving as president of that body. In 1891 he was one of the candidates for the United States senate before the Utah legislature. He took an active interest in educational affairs, and for nearly twenty years was president of the board of trustees of the Utah State Agricultural college at Logan. He was also a charter member and the first president of the Alta club and was a member of the Tennis club, Country club and Commercial club.

To Mr. and Mrs. McCornick were born ten children. Those surviving are: Henry A., of Twin Falls, Idaho; Clarence K., now a New York broker; Lewis B., now vice president of the McCornick banking house; Mrs. A. H. S. Bird, Miss Anna and Albert V. McCornick and Mrs. R. Walker Salisbury, all of Salt Lake.

For a considerable number of years Mr. and Mrs. McCornick and family have resided at their beautiful home, 285 Center street. Here, January 16, 1917, husband and wife, surrounded by children and grandchildren, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Mr. McCornick's ability to devote long and unusual hours to his business long after passing the three-score-and-ten milepost had been a constant source of surprise to many even of his intimate friends. Up to four or five years ago, when making regular trips to some of the numerous mining properties in which he was a large owner, it was his custom to explore and inspect tunnels and drifts, crosscuts and raises, just as he was in the habit of doing thirty or forty years previous.

The veteran banker was at his desk in his banking house Saturday, April 29, and while the affection that made necessary the amputation of his leg had been troublesome for some time, it was not until Monday, May 2, that a decision was reached to remove him to the hospital. He faced the prospective ordeal of losing a limb with great cheerfulness, remarking to one of the bank's officials: "If that old French actress, Bernhardt, could lose a leg and get by without trouble, I guess I can."