Jennie McGraw
Encyclopedia
Dryden (town), New York
Dryden is a town in Tompkins County, New York, USA. The population was 13,532 at the 2000 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Dryden and one named Freeville...
in 1840 and died in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
on September 30, 1881. She was the daughter of John McGraw
John McGraw (merchant)
John McGraw was a wealthy New York State lumber merchant, philanthropist, early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University.-Early years:...
, millionaire philanthropist to Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. After her father's death in 1877, McGraw inherited his large fortune. She spent some of the money to build a new house, which was purchased by the Chi Psi
Chi Psi
Chi Psi Fraternity is a fraternity and secret society consisting of 29 active chapters at American colleges and universities. It was founded on Thursday May 20, 1841, by 10 students at Union College with the idea of emphasizing the fraternal and social principles of a brotherhood...
fraternity, although a massive fire destroyed the mansion in 1906.
In Berlin in 1880, she married Daniel Willard Fiske, Cornell University's
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
first librarian and renowned scholar. A lifelong sufferer of ill health, McGraw was suffering from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and died shortly after their wedding. She was interred in Sage Chapel
Sage Chapel
Sage Chapel is the non-denominational chapel on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York State and serves as the final resting place of the university's founders, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, and their wives...
.
Legacy
In her will, she gave away $300,000 to her husband, $550,000 to her brother Joseph and his children, $200,000 to Cornell for a library, $50,000 for construction of McGraw Hall, $40,000 for a student hospital, and the remainder to the University for whatever use it saw fit. Due to University by-laws, Cornell could not accept the full amount of McGraw's gift. When Fiske realized that the University had failed to inform him of this restriction, he launched a legal assault to reacquire the money, known as The Great Will Case.Today, McGraw's name graces numerous places and things on Cornell's campus. She gave Cornell its set of chimes
Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are located in Jennie McGraw TowerIt is a common misconception that the tower is named after John McGraw rather than Jennie McGraw, and well-intentioned but misinformed readers of this page have occasionally edited it to say that John, rather than Jennie, lent his surname to the...
which have been rung daily since the University's opening ceremony in 1868. Every morning concert includes a playing of the "Jennie McGraw Rag", also known as "Cornell Changes." The central tower in McGraw Hall was constructed in order to house the chimes; they now reside in McGraw Tower next to Uris Library.