Leviticus Cornwall (1835-1899) was an American industrialist, businessman, railroad tycoon, oil magnate, and sugar baron during the late 19th century.
Biography[]
Leviticus Cornwall was born in 1835, and he was named for the biblical Book of Leviticus. He became an industrialist and accumulated vast amounts of wealth due to his financial interests in the railroad, freight, oil, sugar, tar, kerosene, and coal industries. Cornwall had wide-reaching connections, including the Pinkerton detective agency, US Army colonel Henry Favours, Governor of Guarma, Alberto Fusser, and New Orleans mayor Henri Lemieux.
In 1899, he mobilized his resources against Dutch van der Linde's gang of outlaws after they robbed one of his trains in Colorado. He personally accompanied a group of Pinkertons when they travelled to Valentine, Nebraska to confront Van der Linde at the local tavern, but he left before Van der Linde, John Marston, and Arthur Morgan killed over a score of his Pinkertons and the local lawmen. Van der Linde and his gang later triggered the downfall of Lemieux by exposing his corruption, and Van der Linde followed Cornwall to Annesburg, Arkansas, where he ambushed him shortly after he landed.
Van der Linde demanded $10,000 (equivalent to approx. $285,614 in 2020), Cornwall's boat, and safe passage in exchange for sparing Cornwall's life; when Cornwall refused, Dutch shot him dead, initiating the massive Annesburg shootout.
Gallery[]
