I found part one of Lindsey Corbly’s obituary. I still find it really interesting that they not only list his parents and their information but also his grandfather and some of his history. The article is over two pages and includes information about his grandfather’s children that were massacred by the indians. I think the long obit was because he was a well known pillar of the community. He was one of the first settlers of this area in Illinois and outlived two wives. (Married three times) Lindsey Corbly’s grandfather Rev. John Corbly was a settler before 1776 and was one of the first members of the state congress. A museum is dedicated to his history near his family farm “Slave Gallant”.
John Corbley Farm, also known as Slave Gallant, is a historic home located at Greene Township in Greene County, Pennsylvania. The house was built about 1796, as a two-story,five four bay, brick dwelling on a stone foundation. It has a gable roof. It’s builder, Rev. John Corbly (1733-1803), was a founder of the local Baptist church and rebel associated with the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1782, his family was massacred in the Corbly Family Massacre.[2] The farm name of ‘Slave Gallant’ derived from Slieve Gallion in Ireland, which was nearby where John Corbley was born and raised before emigrating to Pennsylvania.[3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Additionally Rev. John Corbly’s family with his second wife was massacred by he indians near Fort Garrard. A monument still stands in remembrance of the event. I am descended from his third wife.
Lindsey Corbly passed Away this Morning
Lindsey Corbly, pioneer citizen of this community, passed away Friday morning at 12:15 at his home on W. State Street after an illness of but ten weeks. Had he lived until Nov 15 of this year, he would have been ninety-one years of age, Mr. Corbly’s death was due to the infirmities of old age and his final illness was without suffering. During this time the members of his family have been constantly at his bedside.
To the relatives who are left to mourn his sad loss the Record and friends extend the hand of sympathy.
Lindsey Corbly, an early settler of the territory now comprised in Ford County, is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born in Green County, that state on the 15th of November, 1831, and was the son of William and Rebecca (Stevens) Corbly, both of whom were natives of Greene county. His father was a son of the Rev. John Corbly, a minister of the Baptist church and a native of England, who emigrated to America some time prior to the war of the Revolution and settled in Greene county, Pa., which was then a wilderness.
He has three children massacred by the Indians, and his history has been commemorated by several centennial sketches of historic interest pertaining to the early settlement of that part of the Keystone State. He was an active and influential minister, and was the founder of several churches. Great energy and decision were his prominent traits of character. His death occurred in 1803.
William Corbly, the father of our subject, was born, reared and married in Greene county, and the same was true of his wife. They had a family of eight children, of whom Lindsey was the fourth. In 1837 the family emigrated to AThens county, O., now Vinton, and settled in McArthur, where the subject attended the public schools until sixteen years of age, at which time he left home and entered the service of …. The Sevens, who was iness in Fairfield county, Ohio, and with whom he made several trips across the mountains with stock to Philadelphia and New York. In 1853 he came to Illinois and first settled in Champaign county.
On the 24th of February, 1856 in Vermilion County, this state, Mr. Corbly was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Wood, a daughter of Henry Wood. This union was graced with three children: Henry L who married Julia B. Webber, is a farmer of Harwood Township, Champaign county; William Sherman who wedded Mary Youle, and who was for many years an agricultuist of Button township Ford and James …..
All sorts of great info! Beatrice Elena Eldridge born December 6th, 1896 and Mildred Eldridge was my grandmother! It looks like she was practicing her writing here.
One article includes information on who attended the funeral of Lindsey Corbley. I wonder if it was normal in a small town paper to list everyone that attended a funeral?
There is a letter from one sister to another. It was from my Aunt Margaret’s album, so must be a letter from one of her sisters to her.
An article on the Strom’s wedding was included. So far I haven’t ran across anything about who they are though. They aren’t in my family tree so not sure.
The funeral announcement for Mrs. Frank Illk is included as well as the funeral announcement for Julia Eldridge and Rilla Richter.
Finally included is another of the Lake Shore updates that include what everyone did for the week. I am always surprised that they viewed visiting town or relatives newsworthy. One I’ve seen even included that it had rained on Tuesday. I wonder if the Vermilion County History Museum or the Danville Library has a record of these papers?
Obituaries provide not just information about the passing of a relative, but also can provide a history. This clipping from my aunt’s album includes information including that he served on the first Grand Jury of the county and several boards – as well as that he was primarily a farmer raising livestock. It mentions that he was a county supervisor at the time the University of Illinois was determined to be located in Urbana, Illinois.
It gives dates not only for his passing but also for his wife and an amazing amount of other information.
in pursuits until he and his family moved to Paxton.
In the fall of 1855 Mr. Corbly removed to what is now Ford county and here resided until 1863, when he returned to Champaign county, locating on a farm in the near neighborhood of his Ford county farm. His wife, an estimable woman, died on JAnuary 17, 1866, and on the 24th of March, 1867, he joined in wedlock, in Meadville, Pa. to Miss Mary A. Scholl. The lady was born in Crawford county, Pa., where her family resided for many years. They became the parents of three children: Fred M., Lora E., now the wife of O. H. Wylie, of Paxton, and Evalyn, who is the wife of P. A. Kemp of Los Angeles, Cal. Mr Corbly continued to reside in Champaign county until the fall of 1861, when he came to Paxton, where he has since made his home, a valued and respected citizen. Mrs. Corbly passed away on March 10th, 1907. In June, 1909, Mr. Corby was united in marriage to Mrs. Emily Wait, of Danville, ILL, who, with the children, are left to mourn his loss. He has been an industrious and thrifty man, and succeeded in the accumulation a large property of valuable land. He was largely engaged in growing and dealing in livestock and for many years bought, fed, and sold stock. He served as a member of the first election board in the town of Gibson, Ford county, was a member of the first board of county commissioners that divided Ford county into townships, and served as a member of the first grand jury of this county. He was supervisor of Kerr township, Champaign county for eleven years; was trustee twenty years, and four years treasurer of the same township. During the time that he was serving as supervisor in Champaign county the state offered to locate the University of Illinois in Urbana. Mr. Corbly, Mr. James Davidson and Mr. Scott were responsible for the purchase of the first tract of land for this great institution. From youth Mr. Corbly was a Methodist, and regullarly attended that church. He was a steward of the Paxton church and a trustee for many years and was active and influential in its support. His wife was one of the efficient workers among the ladies of her church. Mr. Corbly was well known to the citizens of Ford and adjacent counties as a man of impeachable integrity and financial responsibility. Funeral services will take place on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock at the home on West State street at 2 o’clock oat the M. E. Church Rev. W. D. Fairchild will officiate.
Newspaper articles are full of interesting information. These clippings are from my Aunt Margaret (Dad’s Sister)’s photo album.
The top left clipping shows my cousin Jo Ellyn coming in second in a contest for Tomorrow’s Children, Tomorrow’s Leaders.
There is an article about Lindsey Corbly – son of William Corbly – son of Rev. John Corbly. It’s interesting to me that the article seems to concentrate more on the family history than on Lindsey himself.
The article mentions that Rev. Corbly emigrated to the US before the revolutionary war, founded several Baptist churches, and had several children masacred by the Indians. Rev. Corbly is actually well known in history so all of this can be verified in several other places. It goes on to tell the history of the family and how they worked their way to Vermilion County. Lindsey was one of 8 children.
An article on the death of my great grandmother is very interesting as it lists one of Julia’s kids as Mrs. Lester Richter. My Grandmother was actually Mrs. Wesley Richter. My grandfather Wesley was a twin with Lesley and I suspect the author got them confused. I also noticed that she passed away the year before my father was born.
The final clipping is one of the most interesting. Apparently the newspapers considered it big news when family visited. You just have to read it to see what I mean. What I find interesting is this particular issue included my family in about half of the articles. I really love the line that Mrs. Eldridge was shopping in Danville on Tuesday. (and Frank Illk went to Fithian on Business Friday?) There are also lines that include information about family members visiting, so this can also be a great place to find information about family members…..
Church of Later Day Saints is a great source of records for Italy. You can set up to order records and go in to view them during their open hours. To order some records there is a small fee, but it’s amazing the amount of information you can find.
Pictured is the baptismal record for my Great Grandfather. He passed away in 1918 from the flu when my grandmother was only 3 – so she had no memory of him. I can try to translate, but my Italy is non-existent.
I am not able to translate this given that I don’t know Italian. I can make out some information and pick out things that I think it says. Things like that his father is Bernardo Moretto and that it lists godmother and godfather – dates, and that it was in Costallamente.
Stories I remember hearing were that my great grandfather was a small (short) man compared to my great grandmother. He came to the US to Clinton IN a little before my great grandmother and worked in the mines.
He was in the process of applying for citizenship in the US when he died. We don’t know very much information about him or his family. My grandmother’s oldest sibling was a teenager when he passed away, so they may have had more memories of him. Interestedly there are also records showing that my grandmother’s oldest sister Frances was born before my great grandparents got married. Frances came to the US with my great grandmother and two sisters – Mary and Maggie. She passed away in Clinton IN a few years after coming to the US.
I’m not sure what the atmosphere was like for an unwed mother in Italy in the early 1900s, but I assume it can’t have been ideal. I will probably never find out the full story of what happened, but it’s interesting to think of all the possibilities that could exist. My great grandmother was an amazing and strong woman. After coming to the US and having 9 children she lost her husband (while my grandmother – the youngest) was only a couple years old. She then raised the children and supported her family by cleaning houses even through the depression. In a country where they originally didn’t speak the language and had no family to lean on, she lost two children before losing her husband.
