A Forgotten Legend, True Missionary, Humanitarian, Founder and First Head Mistress of the I E L C School for the Blind at Bargur , Nonagenerian Ms .Dr. Esther Cornelius. Part ..B..

Ms . Esther's Marriage  with Rev John Cornelius   :   No doubt marriages are made in heaven, and likewise in accordance with the  heavenly scheme Ms Esther  Julia of Madurai was married to an I.E.L,C Pastor namely Rev. John  Cornelius from Ambur  on  May 14 , 1954 at the IELC  Lutheran Church at Ambur,  Definitely it will be useful to the readers and historians to read  some lines about the family of Rev John Cornelius.  Rev Cornelius' forefathers were Christians for 9 generations. His father Noah John was a descendant  of a Spanish Moor . and his mother was Ms Gnanadeepam and  his grandmother [ mother of Gnanadeepam ] was a grand daughter  of a Brahmin Priest .As per Indian  Hindu social custom a Brahmin was not  permitted to marry anyone from any other caste and if they do so he or she will be banned from the community . In spite of knowing this punishment Rev Cornelius' grandparents rising above all barriers boldly married and became husband and wife.[Ref , " LED BY THE CLOUDS ".]  After her marriage, Ms Esther Julia was called as Mrs Esther Cornelius and in tune with the general custom and practice  of the Tamil people , Ms Esther moved to Ambur town to live with her husband Rev. N.J.Cornelius.

                                                              Ms. Dr. Esther Cornelius 

Rev. N.J.Cornelius' Siblings       Rev Cornelius hailed from one of the illustrious Christian families in Tirupattur  district, Tamil Nadu.  Rev Cornelius' parents gave birth to the following Children namely ;- [1] Rev. N. J.  Ezekiel  and he had the privilege to serve as the President of the IELC [ India Evangelical Lutheran Church] and his children are blessed and all of them are living in US., [2]  Mr N.J.Manaseh [3] Ms Mercy, [4] Ms Salomi , [5]   Rev .N.J.Cornelius and he was married to  the heroine of this Article Ms Esther.,[6] Rev.N.J. Benjamin and [7] Mr.  N.J.Victor and he worked as teacher. :

 

                                                Rev. John Cornelius with his wife Ms Esther 

Ms Esther Cornelius and Rev Cornelius Couple's Children  : God blessed  the conjugal life Ms Esther and Rev Cornelius  and this couple gave birth to  five boys and four girls namely ;- [1]  Mr Shiloh and he was working as a Hotel Manager and was living in USA and he passed away in 2018., [2] Ms Beulla worked as a teacher and now retired and lives in  Berlin in Germany, and she is blessed with three  noteworthy children including the world famous Pianist, Musician and Music Producer  Ms Hannah V, [3] Ms. Benedicta and she works as a Nurse in US , [4] Mr Leslie [he was named in memory of Bhishop Lesslie Benigin ]and he worked as a Medical Tech and now he is retired and lives in California ,US, and his wife  Dr Elizabeth  is working as CNO for Kaiser  and this couple's only son is pursuing his Medical Study  and wants to be a Missionary Doctor.[5] Ms Angelin and she worked as a Manager in a firm in Canada and lives in Canada , [6] Mr Godfrey  and he was a Mechanical Engineer  and he passed away  in 2014, [7] Mr Godwin and he works as Nurse in USA, [8 ] Ms Viswasam [ Vish] , C.P.A, and he is working as Chief Finance officer [CFO] in a famous Company in USA and he lives in US with his wife and  two children, Mr .Viswasam is a multifaceted personality ; he is  a great Tamil writer, debater, and so on , and lastly  [9] Ms.Jovanah  and she passed away in 1979. Out of the nine children of  Rev Cornelius and Ms Esther Cornelius  couple ,only six are alive today. 

The Demise of Rev Cornelius and the Decision taken by Ms Esther    : After her marriage Ms Esther  moved to Ambur to live with   her husband Rev N.J Cornelius who was working as an IELC Pastor and Teacher at the IELC Teachers' Training School at Ambur    Ms Esther started to work as a Government High School Science Teacher in the then undivided North Arcot district and it was told that Ms Esther was the first lady High School teacher in the whole of the North Arcot District. . Even though Ms. Esther was working as an efficacious High school Teacher, her inner mind was with the visual impaired and physically challenged children and people who lived around her..  Ms Esther used to travel  during  the early nocturnal hours  to visit the houses of the physically challenged children who lived around Ambur, through any available local bus  And Ms Esther  used to ask the parents of the physically challenged children to admit their children in Boarding Schools  , Many parents wanted to get rid of such children and so they used to send their physically challenged children with Esther. and such Children were given temporary Shelter in her home first and  afterwards she sent them to the Government School for the Blind at Poonamalee , Madras that cared for the physically challenged children. . This attitude of Ms Esther was not liked by her husband and  created some displeasure between them.  However  due to Esther's  initiative   a School for the Deaf  was started in Ambur in 1960,  with a couple of deaf children in the Missionary Bungalow [P62] .Ms Esther continued her compassionate social service with great devotion  In this situation when Ms Esther  teacher was doing her forty plus unexpectedly her husband Rev Cornelius died on December 31st 1971 ;  leaving behind 9 young children under  the custody of Ms Esther Cornelius.  . Though Ms Esther was broken she did not leave her hope and faith in God and at the funeral service of Rev Cornelius, with great grit she reconfirmed her decision to serve the cause of the physically challenged children  .

Part Final will follow  soon 

 By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,   { All rights are reserved. This Article will be enlarged, modified or corrected later if needed]. . .