He was the only child of George Henry Cornelson, III and Elizabeth Woodward Cornelson. After his mother's death, he grew up in Spartanburg with his grandmother, Emma Bailey Cornelson. After attending public schools in both Spartanburg and Clinton, he attended the McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN in 1946. After graduating in 1949, he followed his father, and grandfather to Davidson College where he was on the football and swimming teams and joined the Kappa Alpha Fraternity. During his high school and college years, he worked summers in textile mills in Clinton, Lydia, Spartanburg, and Raleigh. Upon graduation, he attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business before he had to return to Clinton to care for his grandmother, Emma, after his father's death. Fulfilling his ROTC commitment, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and during his service, he married Ann Martin Shaw of Raleigh on October 6, 1956. He and and Ann returned to Clinton in 1957 to begin his textile career at Clinton Mills. He started in the industrial engineering department and moved up the management ladder, becoming VP in 1958, President in 1979, and retiring as C.E.O. in 1986. He served as President and on the Boards of the SC Textile Manufacturers Association, the NC Textile Association, and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. In 1987, he focused on MS Bailey & Son Bankers, serving as chairman for 40 years. He also served on the boards of Presbyterian College, Thornwell Home, SC Chamber of Commerce, SC State Museum Foundation, Chair of the Laurens County Health Care System, Chair of the Clinton Planning Commission, Life Trustee of Independent Colleges of SC, Trustee of Davidson College, Columbia Theological Seminary, and the NC Textile Foundation. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton, SC for over 78 years where he served as a Deacon, and Elder. He is survived by his wife, Ann Shaw Cornelson; three sons, George Henry Cornelson V and wife, Kim, Martin Shaw Cornelson and wife, Karin, Scott Montgomery Cornelson; daughter, Elizabeth Cornelson Robinson "Woodie" and her husband, Shep; eight grandsons, Martin Shaw Cornelson, Jr. and wife, Amanda, Miller Gwynn Cornelson, George Henry Cornelson VI, Scott Montgomery Cornelson II and wife, Katherine, Campbell Bolt Cornelson, John Shepard Robinson III, Henry Shaw Cornelson, and Rivers Scott Cornelson; two granddaughters, Catherine Rose Cornelson Wittig and husband, Davis, and Elizabeth Robinson Williams and husband, Rob; and great grandson, Cabell Weisiger Cornelson.