GEORGE CORRY 1807 - 1875George Corry was born 25 October 1807, in St. James Parish, City of Westminster, London, England, a son of George Corry and Margaret Cole.
His father served as a private in the First Regiment of Life Guards. George was the fifth child of seven children in the family. He had five brothers and one sister: (William Henry, Isaac, Thomas, Charlotte, Henry and Charles). The family emigrated to Canada in 1817. They settled in the Bathurst, Lanark County area and later moved to the Plympton, Lambton County area of Upper Canada (now Ontario).
George inherited 100 acres of land through a grant to his father. George was married on 26 January 1838, to Margaret Climie. The marriage was performed at Sarnia, Lambton, Upper Canada, by George Watson, the Baptist Elder of Sarnia. Both George and Margaret were residents of Plympton at the time.
George and Margaret were the parents of twelve children: Janet (1838), Charlotte (1840), Margaret (1841), George (1843), Elizabeth (1845), Andrew (1846), Mary Jane (1848), William Henry (1850), Hyrum (1852), Rachel (1855), Moroni (1857), and Harriet Jane (1859). Charlotte, Margaret, George, Elizabeth, and Moroni all died in childhood.
George and Margaret were taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in 1843 and 1844 respectively, were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1846, George and Margaret and their family sold their land in Plympton and left Canada eventually arriving in southern Utah and settling in Cedar City.
George and Margaret lived in Cedar City until they died. They both died on 28 April 1875, (the 29th birthday of their son, Andrew) at Cedar City, Utah. Their son, Andrew, tells of a vision about the deaths of his parents: "Father was ill at the time. It was about three months before their deaths. I saw them both die about one hour and ten minutes apart. When mother was ill, they expected her to die any minute. It was about four o'clock in the morning. She was very bad. I told them they wouldn't die until ten o'clock, and the folks thought I was crazy. When ten o'clock came, they were still alive. I wondered if I had been deceived in my dream, but it flashed on me that it was at night, so I went in and told them it wouldn't be until night. They thought I was out of my mind, for they were both very bad. They lived until ten o'clock that night.
Letter from Isaac Corry (Perth, Ontario, Canada) to his brother, George Corry (Cedar City, Iron, Utah)
Perth, January 25, 1870
Dear Brother,
I had long since thought that you had ceased to exist on the earth untill a few days past; my son George fel in with a man named John Barriman who appears to be a leader of Mormonism and he learned from him that you still live and is enjoying good health. It revives my heart to know that you and your wife are still living.
I have had a good many ups and downs in the world since we parted. My wife died between ten and 11 years since. I have also bueried my oldest daughter and four sones. The rest of my family are setteled in the world. One sone, my oldest, John*, is a mill owner and lumber dealer up at the foot of bob's lake at Dr toms rapids. George, my next eldest, has tryed a good many things. He learned the ax making and general blacksmithing with McAtheron of Perth who has long since been called to his last home. My youngest sone, Henry, is setteled in Minisota where I moved to shortly after Jane's death. Three of my sones are bureried there. I bought a farm there and could have made money there had it not been for the homicidal War that arose between the northeren and southeren States which put all our buisness and calculations into confusion. I have now sold all my property there to Henry and am retired from the Buisness of the world and am living with my oldest daughter, Janet, who is married to Archibald Foord, a carpenter.
Old age is making me loock quite hory and gray. I have been a great deal troubeled with rumatisms. Sometimes I feal quite strong and hardy and think that I would like to have a small farm here and would be able to work it.
There has bean a great many changes in the old neighbourhood where we used to live. Principally all the old residents have been consigned to mother earth. Sister Sharlot died about thirteen since. Sam is living yet and is quite hardy and smart. His family are all grown up. He is now postmaster on his old homestead. There is quite a buisness up at gravely bay at the foot of Christies lake where they have erected a large factory for extracting the juice from hemlock bark. They consume about ten thousand coards of bark in the year and about 2 thousand coards of fire wood in the year. The juice of the bark is sent to ingland and other foreign markets for tanning purposes. George Gray is still able to toddle around but is getting very frail. Martin Condrad is still alive. His wife is dead a number of years. Nichold Smith Stillard and David Calso are all dead. Old Mr. Russell is dead. His sone, Austin, lives on the old homestead. Peter Conne... moved away to Iowa. George Farrell is still alive and is a good shot yet. Keeps his hounds and kills a few dier every fall. I do not know of any more news that would interest you. Perth is always a dull place although there has bean a great many improvements since you left. We have a railroad called the Brockville and Ottowa railroad that comes into Perth and then branches of up the Ottowa. Sawed lumber is quite a traffick in this country. There is about 7 million feet leaves Perth anually at a valuation of about 11 dollars a thousand which goes principally to the United States markets.
I suppose that you will be aware that Brother Thomas died some years since in Iowa.
Please write to me at as early a date as you can make convenient. It seams although I could hardly beleive that you are alive untill I hear direct from yourself and beleive me your loving Brother longing to hear from you.
Isaac Corry
*John Corry, a successful mill owner and operator, changed the spelling to Korry because it was easier to carve a "K" into the logs than a "C". Read his story in THE DAMMED LAKES, by Lloyd B. Jones, Box 194, Stirling, Ontario.
MARGARET CLIMIE CORRY
1814 - 1875
Margaret was born 11 November 1814 in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the seventh of nine children of Andrew Climie and Janet Turnbull. Her brothers and sisters are: Andrew (1801), Janet (1803), Robert (1805), Thomas (1807), Hugh (1810), William (1813), William (1818) and Bothia (Elizabeth) (1821). Margaret's father, Andrew, was a weaver by occupation.
In 1821, when Margaret was about six years old, her family emigrated to Canada. They settled first in Dalhousie Township in Lanark County, Upper Canada (now Ontario). The acreage was unfit for cultivation; as a result, about fourteen years after arriving in Canada, they moved, in 1835, to Plympton, Lambton, Upper Canada.
On 26 January 1838, she was married to George Corry, also of Plympton.
Margaret, with her husband, George, was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by missionaries serving in the area of Plympton. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 8 May 1844.
Margaret and George were the parents of twelve children: Janet (1838), Charlotte (1840), Margaret (1841), George (1843), Elizabeth (1845), Andrew (1846), Mary Jane (1848), William Henry (1850), Hyrum (1852), Rachel Maria (1855), Moroni (1857) and Harriet Jane (1859). Charlotte died when only two days old. Margaret and George died at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846 at ages five and three, respectively. Elizabeth died when two days old.
George and Margaret left Canada with other members of the church and gathered with the Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois. On their journey from Plympton to Nauvoo, their sixth child, Andrew, was born in their wagon (in the middle of the river) as they crossed the Fox River in Illinois. This was 28 April 1846. They were in Nauvoo only a short time when they, with the other Saints, were driven from the area by local mobs. They left Nauvoo in May 1846, crossed the Mississippi River and Iowa to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, where they settled for about one year. Two of their children (Margaret and George) died while they were at Winter Quarters. They crossed the plains to Utah in the summer of 1847, departing on 17 June 1847, and arriving on 19 September 1847. They were members of the Archibald Gardner Company. By the time they began their journey across the plains, Margaret had given birth to six children but only Janet (age 8) and Andrew (age 1) were still alive.
After arriving in Utah they settled in Salt Lake City for a short time. Their seventh child, Mary Jane, was born on 29 April 1848. She was one of the first five children to be born in the Salt Lake Valley after the arrival of the Saints to that area. In 1850, the family moved to Provo where William Henry was born on 30 July 1950. They lived in Provo until 1853 at which time they went south to Cedar City where they settled permanently.
Margaret died on 28 April 1875, at Cedar City, Iron, Utah. Her husband, George, also passed away on that day.
