When Harry Gardner Cornwell was born on 7 August 1896, in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, his father, William Burnham Cornwall, was 39 and his mother, Agnes Maude Duncan, was 34. He married Dorathy Ewing on 22 January 1916. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Salem, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States for about 20 years. He died on 28 November 1955, in Salem Depot, Salem, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States, at the age of 59, and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Salem, Rockingham, New Hampshire, British Colonial America.