John Jacob Cornwell (11 July 1867-8 September 1953) was the Democratic Governor of West Virginia from 5 March 1917 to 4 March 1921, succeeding Henry D. Hatfield and preceding Ephraim F. Morgan.
Biography[]
John Jacob Cornwell was born in Pennsboro, West Virginia in 1867, the brother of William B. Cornwell. He and his brother worked as publishers and editors of a newspaper, and he served as a State Senator from 1899 to 1905 and as Governor from 1917 to 1921. Cornwell presided over his state's response to World War I, and he also supported women's suffrage. He later worked as a general counsel for a Baltimore railroad, and he died in 1953.