Edward Corbley:BirthApril 19,1832 Death 20 Oct 1891 in Oakwood, IL (Parents William Corbley and Rebecca Stephens). Spouse Mary Ann Littler (February 7, 1860)
My aunt has decided to join the DAR and so this spurred a quest to find all the records for my paternal grandmother’s side of the family. We had already recorded the Corbley bible, but the last three generations needed more documentation. All was going fairly well until my great great grandfather Edward Corbley. Family stories differ on why he vanished and there aren’t a lot of records on him, but they all revolve around livestock that got ill and him losing everything. One story Aunt Ethel told was that Edward Corbley was driving cattle up from Texas when they became ill (she said hoof and mouth disease) and he had to hide from the government… then losing the land and everything to the federal government.
The Corbley Farm was a big farm that included the land across from the high school all the way to the land that included Muncie (there is a street in Muncie named after the Corbleys). One article shows that the Congressman J.G. Cannon purchased the farm in both Champaign and Vermilion counties for $30,000. I’m not sure what the mention of Pearsons and Taft of Chicago means?
From that I can piece together though Edward Corbley went on after the livestock ‘fiasco’ to live in Kansas city, Missouri. He lived there approximately 8 years before visiting his daughter in Illinois and passing away in her home. The article tells that he sold his property and went west when reverence overtook him.
Mary Ann Littler (his wife) is rumored to be buried in Stearns Cemetery in Muncie Illinois with her family, so the thought is that he might be buried in the same cemetery. There isn’t a record of his burial that I can find so far, and the only undocumented tombstones are so worn that they can no longer be identified.
Somewhere the name switched from Corbley to Corbly also. Edward Corbly had a brother Lindsey that was in the new constantly (a lawyer) – so it makes it surprising to me that Edward fell off the books. I did find one mention that Edward and another man were responsible for surveying and laying out the town of Muncie but in a book with the history of Vermilion County, Edward is dropped completely from the history. I’m not completely sure I’m ready to quit searching for the history of what happened to Edward. Most stories though may be lost to time.
From what I’ve found about the livestock disease at that time, Texas cattle were immune to the illness and any land that they inhabited became infected. New cattle brought in to graze on that land then became ill and died off. Several states closed off cattle drive routes and would not allow those cattle to be driven through their states. Shortly after the time I was looking at Illinois closed it’s borders to new Texas cattle. BUT not knowing what was causing the illness, the farmer bringing in the cattle was vilified by neighboring ranchers for killing off huge herds of cattle. My ancestors seems to have been caught up in the bad luck of bringing in the wrong type of cattle at the wrong time.
The history of Texas Cattle Drives is available here, but includes:
TEXAS FEVER. Readers of the Veterinarian, an English journal, were informed in June 1868 that a “very subtle and terribly fatal disease” had broken out among cattle in Illinois. The disease killed quickly and was reported to be “fatal in every instance.” The disease was very nearly as fatal as the Veterinarian claimed. Midwestern farmers soon realized that it was associated with longhorn cattle driven north by South Texas ranchers. The Texas cattle appeared healthy, but midwestern cattle, including Panhandle animals, allowed to mix with them or to use a pasture recently vacated by the longhorns, became ill and very often died. Farmers called the disease Texas fever or Texas cattle fever because of its connection with Texas cattle. Other names included Spanish fever and splenic or splenetic fever, from its characteristic lesions of the spleen. The disease is also known as hemoglobinuric fever and red-water fever, and formerly as dry murrain and bloody murrain. To protect their cattle, states along the cattle trails passed quarantine laws routing cattle away from settled areas or restricting the passage of herds to the winter months, when there was less danger from Texas fever. In 1885 Kansas entirely outlawed the driving of Texas cattle across its borders. Kansas, with its central location and rail links with other, more northern markets, was crucial to the Texas cattle-trailing business. The closing of Kansas, together with restrictive legislation passed by many other states, was an important factor in ending the Texas cattle-trailing industry that had flourished for twenty years. (See also, e.g., SHAWNEE TRAIL.)
I almost wonder if in the mention of Texas Fever in Illinois, if the story might be referring to what occurred with Edward Corbly. Corbly moved to Missouri in 1883, leading me to believe that the epidemic with his cattle occurred shortly before that in the 1880 to 1883 time frame – though it could have been as early as the 1870s.
MUNCIE was platted and recorded in 1875, and evidently named by the surveyors, Alexander Bowman and Edward Corbley.
One story is that part of Muncie was handed over to make restitution for the loss of livestock.
Yes we have added one more member to our family! A girl this time. Actually she’s an exchange student, but for this year we are a mixed family. 3 boys and a girl!
We are learning a lot this year, besides the experience of spending about 3 hours a day driving the kids one place or another in the car each day. As crazy as this year has been and will be – I wouldn’t trade it. I do have to wonder what Konnor thinks of the situation – one day we just suddenly added another teenager. I’m not sure what he will think also when she goes home.
Having an extra family member has definitely inspired us to do more fun things as a family this year. Last weekend we ventured out to Jackson’s Orchard to try out the pumpkin patch and corn maze! It brought back memories of my cousin Don’s pumpkins (though these were super small in comparison!) and his apples. Konnor is hoping to ask dad to make him a corn maze. I don’t think it will happen anytime soon (dad’s not really up to it anymore), but it does make me think I should talk to mom about if they have a patch of unused field that might work for next year. Apparently Kentucky has a law protecting farms from being sued if they are engaged in agritourism – I really need to check if that’s true in Illinois too! They are just now combining by the house at home so the timing could be perfect.
While at the orchard we got to take a hay wagon out to the patch. I think my last hayride was in grade school with the cub scouts and the Flessners. At least that’s the last one I really remember. I DO remember though helping drive the tractor by the house while dad and company through hay onto the wagon. I also remember being banned from participating after accidentally running over dad’s foot with the wagon and stopping the wagon ON his foot when he hollered at me to stop. – My allergies were so bad that I was always delegated a task that involved me being in air conditioning (yep, they make International Harvester Tractors with cabs that are air conditioned and my dad had a big one!)
I really wish my kids would get a chance to know a little more about farming.
Kevin’s First Pumpkin
Konnor at the Pumpkin Patch – Jackson’s Orchard
At the Pumpkin Patch
Growing up on a farm for Halloween is completely different though. There isn’t trick or treating quite the way there is in a neighborhood. Normally parents drive kids around to friends and family to show off costumes and collect some candy. My parents probably won’t even bother to buy candy this year. When we were kids I do remember my mother driving us in to trick or treat with the Peak family in Oakwood once or twice. I don’t remember the trick or treating itself as much as just that we did it at least once.
Living in a neighborhood the kids will probably get enough candy this year to go into a sugar coma if they eat it all. Would I change it? No, not really – all in all I’m glad my kids get the chance to have both worlds. It would be nice if they were a little more ‘farm savvy’ but it’s great that they have a chance to experience some of both parts of life.
John Corbly was born in 1733 just north of Londonberry, Ireland. At fourteen he indentured himself to pay his passage to America and served four years on a farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He went to Winchester, Virginia, where he married Abigail Bull and purchased 300 acres of land in Berkeley County, now the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. At this time he met Elder John Garard, a powerful Baptist preacher who led him.
Aunt Linda recently found the Corbly Bible. Copyright is 1867. It’s signed that it is the William L and Julia Eldridge Family Bible from 1897. Family births, marriages,and deaths are written in the Bible. I couldn’t find my father listed, but there is some pencil markings above where Buddy is listed that might be where he was recorded. Aunt Linda is also missing from the list – so it’s possible births ran over onto a page I don’t have a copy of. It’s really interesting that it looks like information from before Julia and William married is even filled in. Some even include weight… like Uncle Tom was 12 pounds and Aunt Norma was 8 pounds. I’d love to find the page that dad is listed on and see what he weighed! I was also surprised to see that my Aunt Ethel was 9.5 pounds. I did wonder if the people with weights listed were born at the hospital, since I’m sure some of my dad’s brothers and sisters were born at home (most probably). Next I need to take all these birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates and compare them against my files on ancestry.com…
This article I think is for my great grandmother, but it has my grandmother listed as Mrs. Lester Richter. My grandfather was a twin – Lester and Wesley. I have to assume that the author got confused about which twin she was married to?
Lake Shore Woman Dead
A well known resident of the Lake Shore neighborhood Mrs. Julia Margaret Eldridge, 76, died at her home Sunday evening, February 19, 1939.
She was born Nov. 16, 1863. Before her marriage she was Julia Corbley. She was married January 5, 1882 and recently celebrated her 57th wedding anniversary.
She is survived by her husband William Eldridge and her four children, Mrs. P. B. Relos, Groverton, Ind., Mrs. George Henning Brownsburg, Ind., Mrs Lester Richter, and Ernest Eldridge, Fithian, and by 20 grandchildren, One daughter preceded her in death. Services will be 10 am Tuesday at Oakwood U. B. Church. Burial in Oakwood Cemetery, J. H. Cawthon and Son in Charge
Mary Ann Littler (his wife) is rumored to be buried in Stearns Cemetery in Muncie Illinois with her family, so the thought is that he might be buried in the same cemetery. There isn’t a record of his burial that I can find so far, and the only undocumented tombstones are so worn that they can no longer be identified.
