The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 426

JOHN D. CORNETT.

John D. Cornett is closely associated with banking interests of the Yakima
valley and is president of the Traders Bank of Toppenish. No man in the
community occupies a more enviable position in business and banking circles than
he, not alone by reason of the success he has achieved, but also owing to the
straightforward business policy which he has ever followed, his course at all
times measuring up to the highest standards. He has never wavered in facing
difficulties and obstacles in his path have become stepping-stones to something
higher.

Mr. Cornett is of Canadian birth. He was born in Ontario on the 4th of October.
1853, a son of William and Sarah (Reed) Cornett, who came to Washington about
1898 and spent their remaining days in Yakima. The father had followed farming
in Canada and after his removal to the northwest engaged extensively in fruit
growing in the Yakima valley.

John D. Cornett acquired an academic education in Canada and when a youth of
fourteen years went to New York city, where he was engaged in clerical work
until 1874. He afterward returned to Canada, where he remained for two years,
and then once more crossed the border, becoming a resident of Huron county,
Michigan, in 1876. For four years he engaged successfully in teaching school and
then entered the employ of R. C. Ogilvie at Port Hope, Michigan, where he
continued until 1887, That year witnessed his arrival in Yakima and for one year
he was connected with George Donald in railroad construction work. In May, 1888,
he organized the Yakima National Bank in company with several other substantial
business men and continued as its cashier for twenty years, or until November,
1907. For a brief period he then lived retired, but indolence and idleness are
utterly foreign to his nature and he could not remain content without some
active business interests. In 1908, therefore, he organized the Traders Bank of
Toppenish, of which he has since remained the president, and in 1909 he became
the organizer of the First National Bank of Zillah, of which he is also
president. He is likewise a director of the First National Bank of Toppenish and
was one of the organizers and still remains a stock-holder and director of the
Bank of Sunnyside. His name has thus figured prominently in connection with the
development of the banking interests of the Yakima valley for many years and
there is no man in the district more familiar with every phase of the banking
business. He tempers his progressiveness by a safe conservatism, ever
recognizing the fact that the bank is most worthy of public support that most
carefully protects the interests of its depositors. He is a man of sound and
discriminating judgment and his enterprise has reached out over a broad field,
resulting in the benefit of various districts as well as in the upbuilding of
his individual fortunes.

On the 9th of March, 1880, Mr. Cornett was married to Miss Jessie Donald, a
sister of George Donald, of Yakima, mentioned elsewhere in this work. They
became the parents of four children: Jean, the wife of Guy C. Mills, a resident
of Seattle; George W., a physician and surgeon now on active duty with the
national army; John Donald, who is with the Ninety-first Division of the army
and who prior to his entrance into the war was assistant cashier of the Traders
Bank; and William, who is a student in the State University. The wife and mother
passed away in June, 1905, and in 1909 Mr. Cornett was married to Mrs. Ida
Powell, of Yakima.

Mr. Cornett is a prominent Mason, belonging to Yakima Lodge No. 24, F. & A. M.;
Yakima Chapter No. 21, R. A. M., of which he is the first past high priest;
Yakima Commandery No. 13, K. T., and to all the Scottish Rite bodies up to and
including the thirty-second degree. He has also crossed the sands of the desert
with the Nobles of Afifi Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a past grand
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, past exalted ruler of Yakima Lodge No.
318, B. P. O. E., and in that order has also attained high official rank, being
a past district deputy grand exalted ruler and the first to occupy that position
in the district. He became a charter member of the Toppenish Commercial Club and
is also one of the charter members of the Yakima Commercial Club, being one of
the two remaining members who formed that organization. His religious faith is
that of the Presbyterian church and his political allegiance is given to the
republican party. For several years he served as treasurer of Yakima and he has
done other important public work, having served on the board of trustees of the
State Normal School at Ellensburg for many years, being president of the board
at the time he resigned. He is a man of well balanced capacities and powers and
his strong character inspires confidence in others. He has never claimed to
possess genius or any phenomenal characteristics, his being the record of a
straightforward, progressive American business man, capable of mature judgment
of his own capacities and of the people and circumstances that make up his
life's contacts and experiences. Eminently a man of business sense, he avoids
the mistakes and disasters that come to those who, though possessing remarkable
faculties in some respects, are liable to erratic movements that result in
unwarranted risks and failures. He is possessed of sufficient courage to venture
where favoring opportunity is presented and his sound judgment and even-paced
energy have carried him forward to the goal of success.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.