Jess Cornett – Night Watchman and Groundskeeper, 1940s & 50s; Maintenance 1970s
Sallie (Sally) Cornett – Laundry, 1940s; Relief Housemother at Big Log 1941, 1942, 1943<\/h5>\n\n\n\n![\"Jess](\"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/bram_-33.jpg\")
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]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTAGS:<\/strong> 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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nAs 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the 1940s, Jess\u2019s 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<\/a> in 1941, 1942, and 1943. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLiving near the School in the town of Pine Mountain, Kentucky<\/a>, Jess and Sallie were associated with the School through several changes in directors. When Director Glyn Morris<\/a> left PMSS in 1942 to serve as Chaplain during WWII, Arthur W. Dodd<\/a>, then William D. Webb<\/a> were acting directors during the following two years. H.R.S. Benjamin<\/a> became the School\u2019s director in 1944 and served until 1949, followed by Burton Rogers <\/a>who was director until 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\nActing Director William D. Webb wrote the following to Mr. and Mrs. Cornett on August 2, 1942, expressing the School\u2019s appreciation for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c…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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs 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<\/a>), Benjamin wrote to the Governor of Kentucky, asking <\/em>if Mr. James Cawood, the county sheriff, could deputize Mr. Jess Cornett as a guard under the state’s peace officers act, stating that <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe 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.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nJESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community: 1950s, 1970s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s work at the time as a groundskeeper: \u201cJess has been doing a grand job here and many have mentioned to me how well the campus has looked this summer.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn addition, records in the PMSS Collections show that Jess also was employed in the 1970s as a maintenance worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
**********<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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>, a PMSS student and longtime PMSS worker from 1937 until 1976. Sallie and Brit were grandchildren of William<\/a> and Sally (Dixon) Creech<\/a> who donated land in 1913 for the establishment of the School.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJess 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.\u00a0Both children were PMSS Community School students in the 1950s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jess Cornett died on December 27, 1982, in Bledsoe. Sallie Wilder Cornett died at age 86 in Harlan in October 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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TAGS:<\/strong> 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<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 1940s, Jess\u2019s 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<\/a> in 1941, 1942, and 1943. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Living near the School in the town of Pine Mountain, Kentucky<\/a>, Jess and Sallie were associated with the School through several changes in directors. When Director Glyn Morris<\/a> left PMSS in 1942 to serve as Chaplain during WWII, Arthur W. Dodd<\/a>, then William D. Webb<\/a> were acting directors during the following two years. H.R.S. Benjamin<\/a> became the School\u2019s director in 1944 and served until 1949, followed by Burton Rogers <\/a>who was director until 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acting Director William D. Webb wrote the following to Mr. and Mrs. Cornett on August 2, 1942, expressing the School\u2019s appreciation for<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/a>), Benjamin wrote to the Governor of Kentucky, asking <\/em>if Mr. James Cawood, the county sheriff, could deputize Mr. Jess Cornett as a guard under the state’s peace officers act, stating that <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s work at the time as a groundskeeper: \u201cJess has been doing a grand job here and many have mentioned to me how well the campus has looked this summer.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, records in the PMSS Collections show that Jess also was employed in the 1970s as a maintenance worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n **********<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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>, a PMSS student and longtime PMSS worker from 1937 until 1976. Sallie and Brit were grandchildren of William<\/a> and Sally (Dixon) Creech<\/a> who donated land in 1913 for the establishment of the School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.\u00a0Both children were PMSS Community School students in the 1950s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jess Cornett died on December 27, 1982, in Bledsoe. Sallie Wilder Cornett died at age 86 in Harlan in October 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nJESS AND SALLIE CORNETT Staff and Community: 1950s, 1970s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n