The Fortean Society’s lawyer.
Julien Davies Cornell was born 17 March 1910 in Brooklyn to a life of relative comfort. His father was a Wall Street attorney, Edward H. Cornell; his mother was Esther Haviland Cornell, heir to a china fortune. (His family was also related to Ezra Cornell, founder of the NY College by that name.) He had a brother and two sisters, all members of the Society of Friends. Cornell attended Quaker schools, then entered Swarthmore College at age 16—after Fort had published his first two books. It is not know if Cornell read these books at the time—or ever—but his education raised an interest in what would later become Fortean topics: his thesis was titled “science and religion” and he developed “a healthy skepticism for textbooks and authorities, and reverence for he dignity and worth of individual human beings.”
Julien Davies Cornell was born 17 March 1910 in Brooklyn to a life of relative comfort. His father was a Wall Street attorney, Edward H. Cornell; his mother was Esther Haviland Cornell, heir to a china fortune. (His family was also related to Ezra Cornell, founder of the NY College by that name.) He had a brother and two sisters, all members of the Society of Friends. Cornell attended Quaker schools, then entered Swarthmore College at age 16—after Fort had published his first two books. It is not know if Cornell read these books at the time—or ever—but his education raised an interest in what would later become Fortean topics: his thesis was titled “science and religion” and he developed “a healthy skepticism for textbooks and authorities, and reverence for he dignity and worth of individual human beings.”
Cornell attended Yale Law School, married, and went to work for his dad’s firm. He left in 1939, wanting to involve himself with humanitarian matters. He defended Conscientious Objectors, which is likely how Tiffany Thayer came to know of him. In 1946, when poet Ezra Pound was indicted for treason, Cornell defended him, too, which brought him especially close to Thayer.
According to Thayer, Cornell became attorney for Fortean Society in 1943. By this point, Thayer’s writings had been sent to the FBI as possibly seditious—particularly the infamous 6th issue of the Society’s magazine—and caused a great deal of consternation among the founders, which likely made Thayer think he’d need a lawyer. In 1943, when Art Young died, Cornell looked through legal records for Thayer to see what had happened to Young in light of publishing “Poisoned at Its Source,” finding their had been charges but no convictions. Otherwise, Cornell seemed to have little to do with the Society for most of his tenure.
Thayer was close to Ezra Pound, and closely followed his case. He was apoplectic when Pound was placed in St. Elizabeth’s and declared insane. By all accounts, he wasn’t—but the classification kept him out of prisons. Thayer sent friends, reading materials, and sundries to keep Pound’s spirits up and mind engaged. He constantly petitioned Cornell for information—as long as it did not violate confidentialities—and a plan of action. Despite his own inclinations, Thayer remained quiet, not wanting to make matters worse for Pound.
By August 1946, Cornell was no longer the Society’s lawyer—I don’t know that the Forteans ever again had a lawyer. Why the relationship was severed is also not known. But it seems likely that it may have had something to do with Pound, perhaps Cornell feeling as though he couldn’t work for both. Whatever the case, the separation was amicable. Thayer elevated Cornell to Life Member of the Fortean Society. He did not, however, make him an Accepted Fellow—which would have put Cornell in line to fill one of the eleven Founder spots. Of course, Cornell himself might have declined the honor.
Cornell remained (somewhat) connected to the Society through the 1940s. In 1948 (Doubt 33), Thayer alerted readers that Cornell was treasurer of the Kenneth Patchen Fund, and called for donations: “Kenneth Patchen is probably the best writer of his years in America. He has been crippled for many years from ‘rheumatoid arthritis,’ bedridden and in constant pain, unable to earn anything. Besides Cornell, the sponsors of the fund are W.H. Auden, Archibald MacLeish, T.S. Eliot, Thornton Wilder. There’s nothing phoney about the appeal. Send as much as you can afford to the fund at the above address. YS knows that Patchen wrote a perfectly scurvy attack upon Pound in PM during Pound’s sorriest days--but that cuts no ice now. Give all you can.”
Cornell’s connections were not just official, though. He did send in clippings at least once—although the case itself involved legal officials being ridiculous. Perhaps the events strengthened Cornell’s skepticism of authorities. It was, of course, the Ballad of Wonet. The exact nature of the clippings, though, are unknown.
As is by now a familiar pattern, Cornell disappeared from the pages of Doubt in the 1950s, and I have found no correspondence between him and Thayer, or any other Forteans.
Cornell died 2 December 1994.
According to Thayer, Cornell became attorney for Fortean Society in 1943. By this point, Thayer’s writings had been sent to the FBI as possibly seditious—particularly the infamous 6th issue of the Society’s magazine—and caused a great deal of consternation among the founders, which likely made Thayer think he’d need a lawyer. In 1943, when Art Young died, Cornell looked through legal records for Thayer to see what had happened to Young in light of publishing “Poisoned at Its Source,” finding their had been charges but no convictions. Otherwise, Cornell seemed to have little to do with the Society for most of his tenure.
Thayer was close to Ezra Pound, and closely followed his case. He was apoplectic when Pound was placed in St. Elizabeth’s and declared insane. By all accounts, he wasn’t—but the classification kept him out of prisons. Thayer sent friends, reading materials, and sundries to keep Pound’s spirits up and mind engaged. He constantly petitioned Cornell for information—as long as it did not violate confidentialities—and a plan of action. Despite his own inclinations, Thayer remained quiet, not wanting to make matters worse for Pound.
By August 1946, Cornell was no longer the Society’s lawyer—I don’t know that the Forteans ever again had a lawyer. Why the relationship was severed is also not known. But it seems likely that it may have had something to do with Pound, perhaps Cornell feeling as though he couldn’t work for both. Whatever the case, the separation was amicable. Thayer elevated Cornell to Life Member of the Fortean Society. He did not, however, make him an Accepted Fellow—which would have put Cornell in line to fill one of the eleven Founder spots. Of course, Cornell himself might have declined the honor.
Cornell remained (somewhat) connected to the Society through the 1940s. In 1948 (Doubt 33), Thayer alerted readers that Cornell was treasurer of the Kenneth Patchen Fund, and called for donations: “Kenneth Patchen is probably the best writer of his years in America. He has been crippled for many years from ‘rheumatoid arthritis,’ bedridden and in constant pain, unable to earn anything. Besides Cornell, the sponsors of the fund are W.H. Auden, Archibald MacLeish, T.S. Eliot, Thornton Wilder. There’s nothing phoney about the appeal. Send as much as you can afford to the fund at the above address. YS knows that Patchen wrote a perfectly scurvy attack upon Pound in PM during Pound’s sorriest days--but that cuts no ice now. Give all you can.”
Cornell’s connections were not just official, though. He did send in clippings at least once—although the case itself involved legal officials being ridiculous. Perhaps the events strengthened Cornell’s skepticism of authorities. It was, of course, the Ballad of Wonet. The exact nature of the clippings, though, are unknown.
As is by now a familiar pattern, Cornell disappeared from the pages of Doubt in the 1950s, and I have found no correspondence between him and Thayer, or any other Forteans.
Cornell died 2 December 1994.
