JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography
Jess and SalIie Cornett Staff and Community
Published 2021-09-04 aae

JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community

Jess Cornett – Night Watchman and Groundskeeper, 1940s & 50s; Maintenance 1970s
Sallie (Sally) Cornett – Laundry, 1940s; Relief Housemother at Big Log 1941, 1942, 1943
Jess and Sally Cornett Staff and Community
Joe Bramlett Album – Staff at the School: (left to rt) Front row: Ronald Henderson, Bill Hayes, Jess Cornett, Arthur Dodd, (unknown). Back row: (unknown), Brit Wilder, Hobart Wilder, Paul Hayes, Burton Rogers. [bram_-33.jpg]

TAGS: Jess Cornett, Sallie (Wilder) Cornett, night watchmen, contracts, groundskeepers, maintenance men, laundresses, housemothers, PMSS directors, United Mine Workers of America strike, peace officers act, James Ralph Cornett, Mable (Mabel) Cornett


As night watchman at Pine Mountain Settlement School during the 1940s, Jess Cornett served an important role. Making up to seven rounds of the campus throughout the night, a routine that was recorded on a clock, he saw to it that the grounds were safe and secure for the staff and boarding students. He began in this position as early as 1940. According to a contract between Cornett and the School for July 1942 through June 1943, his pay was to be $17.50 per week along with a two-week paid vacation. He is also listed in the PMSS Staff Database as a groundskeeper in the 1940s as well as a maintenance man in the 1970s.

During the 1940s, Jess’s wife, Sallie Cornett, joined the School staff as a laundress at $30 per month plus a two-week paid vacation). She was sometimes provided with a helper to assist with the washing and ironing. The PMSS Staff Database records that she also worked as a relief housemother at Big Log in 1941, 1942, and 1943.  

Living near the School in the town of Pine Mountain, Kentucky, Jess and Sallie were associated with the School through several changes in directors. When Director Glyn Morris left PMSS in 1942 to serve as Chaplain during WWII, Arthur W. Dodd, then William D. Webb were acting directors during the following two years. H.R.S. Benjamin became the School’s director in 1944 and served until 1949, followed by Burton Rogers who was director until 1973.

Acting Director William D. Webb wrote the following to Mr. and Mrs. Cornett on August 2, 1942, expressing the School’s appreciation for

“…the help you have both given the school during the past months. It is good to know that we have neighbors like you working on the staff and furthering the interests of Pine Mountain.”

As late as July 1946, Jess Cornett was asked by Director H.R.S. Benjamin to work as night watchman at $4.00 per night. During a strike by UMW (United Mine Workers of America), Benjamin wrote to the Governor of Kentucky, asking if Mr. James Cawood, the county sheriff, could deputize Mr. Jess Cornett as a guard under the state’s peace officers act, stating that 

“We can recommend Mr. Cornett as he has served this school well over a number of years. He is a member of the local Masonic lodge and has the respect of his neighbors and of workers at the school.” 

JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community: 1950s, 1970s

Director Burton Rogers wrote to Sallie Cornett in August 1950 asking if she would return to work at the School although it is not recorded that she did. In any case, Rogers refers to Jesse’s work at the time as a groundskeeper: “Jess has been doing a grand job here and many have mentioned to me how well the campus has looked this summer.” 

In addition, records in the PMSS Collections show that Jess also was employed in the 1970s as a maintenance worker.

**********

Sallie (Sally) Wilder Cornett was born c. 1906, in Pine Mountain, Kentucky. Her parents were Henry C. Wilder and Rhoda (Creech) Wilder. As of 1930 U.S. Census, Sallie was the oldest of eight children. One of her three brothers was Brit Wilder, a PMSS student and longtime PMSS worker from 1937 until 1976. Sallie and Brit were grandchildren of William and Sally (Dixon) Creech who donated land in 1913 for the establishment of the School.

Jess Cornett was born January 17, 1905, in Bledsoe, Kentucky, one of six children of Johathan P. Cornett and Lucy Jane (Browning) Cornett. Jess is remembered by former PMSS staff and students as operating a small general store just outside the PMSS gate. 

Sallie and Jess Cornett were married on May 6, 1932, in Laden, KY, when she was 25 and he was 26. They had two children, Mable (Mabel?) Cornett, born c. 1938, and James Ralph Cornett, 1940-2014. Both children were PMSS Community School students in the 1950s.

Jess Cornett died on December 27, 1982, in Bledsoe. Sallie Wilder Cornett died at age 86 in Harlan in October 1993.

See Also: JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Correspondence, 1940-1950


GALLERY: JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community

Title

Jess and Sallie Cornett

Alt. Title

Jess Cornett ; Sallie Cornett ; Sally Cornett ; Sallie Wilder Cornett ; Sally Wilder Cornett ; Sal Cornett ; 

Identifier

JESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community

Creator

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Alt. Creator

Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;

 

Subject Keyword

 

Jess Cornett ; Sallie Cornett ; Sally Cornett ; Sallie Wilder Cornett ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; night watchmen ; contracts ; groundskeepers ; maintenance men ; laundresses ; housemothers ; PMSS directors ; United Mine Workers of America strike ; peace officers act ; James Ralph Cornett ; Mable (Mabel) Cornett ;

Subject LCSH

Jess Cornett, — 1905 – 1982.
Sallie Wilder Cornett, — c. 1906 – 1993.
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History.
Harlan County (Ky.) — History.
Education — Kentucky — Harlan County.
Rural schools — Kentucky — History.
Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.

Date

2021-09-04 aae

Publisher

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Contributor

n/a

Type

Collections ; text ; image ;

Format

Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.

Source

Series 09: Biography – Staff

Language

English

Relation

Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: Biography – Staff.

Coverage Temporal

1905 – 1993.

Coverage Spatial

Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Laden, KY ; Bledsoe, KY ; Harlan, KY ; 

Rights

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Donor

n/a

Description

Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers of Jess Cornett and Sallie Wilder Cornett ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Jess Cornett and Sallie Wilder Cornett ;

Acquisition

n/d

Citation

“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Processed By

Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;

Last Updated

 

Bibliography

Sources

“Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BY-29C2-9?cc=1804888 : accessed 01-Sept-2021.  Internet resource.

“Kentucky Deaths: Harlan.” The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday, October 23, 1993, page 12. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/110989481/ ; accessed 01-Sept-2021. Internet resource.

“PMSS Staff Database.” Series 09: Biography – Staff and Community. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Archive collections.

“United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RHQ-LNB?cc=1810731&wc=QZF3-6MZ%3A648805301%2C650010401%2C648878503%2C1589282370 : accessed 01-Sept-2021),  (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002). Internet resource.

“United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7TW-1R7 : accessed 01-Sept-2021), Jess Cornett, Magisterial District 4, Harlan, Kentucky, United States; Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Internet resource.

“United States Social Security Death Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JP15-TP2 : accessed 01-Sept-2021), Jess Cornett, Dec 1982; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). Internet resource.

“United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKG9-YZVY : accessed 01-Sept-2021), Jess Cornett in entry for James Ralph Cornett, Kentucky, United States,; from “Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 – Today),” database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Harlan Daily Enterprise, The, born-digital text. Internet resource.

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