OUR CORRY RELATIVES (continued from 13 March 2011 installment)

The fourth child of Isaac and Jean Ritchie Corry was George Corry (second cousin to our Great Grandfather William Henry Corry). George was born 14 January 1846, in Bathurst, Lanark, Ontario, Canada.
In a letter written by Father Isaac to his brother, George, in Utah, Isaac says of his son, George: “George has tried a good many things. He learned ax making and general blacksmithing with McAtheron of Perth. . . .he is very eager to make riches but has not accumulated a great deal. He was deputy sheriff for a while; went to California. . . .next to Colorado; made nothing. Now [he] keeps an ax factory. That is [his] trade now. He is town constable."
After traveling around to several places, George returned to Perth where he had an ax factory and was also the town constable.
Perth Courier, December 23, 1870: "We regret to learn that the blacksmith shop belonging to our former townsman, George Corry, of Fallbrook was on the 17th December destroyed by fire together with all of Mr. Corry's tools. The loss is estimated at between $500 and $600 and no insurance. By vigorous efforts, Mr. Corry has already had his shop built again and is now ready to do all kinds of blacksmithing."
Perth Courier--The subscriber [George Corry] respectfully informs the inhabitants of Perth and the public generally that he has opened a shop where he is making all sorts of edged tools. Blacksmithing also done. Come up to Harvey's old stand near Mr. Haggart's mills where you can get an axe guaranteed to cut hemlock knots and hickory bark.
George was married to Mary Neilson, the daughter of Reverend Johnston Neilson, on 23 November 1849, at Bathurst. They were the parents of seven children:
The oldest, Isaac, was born in 1851 (about) and died in 1879 in Colorado. Perth Courier, April 25, 1879: "Corry - Died at Malta, Lake County, Colorado, on the 12th April, formerly of Perth, aged 27. The death of Mr. Isaac Corry, eldest son of Mr. George Corry of Perth, is announced in Colorado. He had been employed there working in the mines."
The second, Annie Jane Corry was born about 1854 and married to Henry Joseph Duffield in 1874. They had three children (George F., May Estella, and Henry Corry Duffield). Annie died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1892, at the age of 38.
Next was Caroline Hutchinson Gray Corry, born in 1856 and married to Francis John Allan in 1880. They were the parents of five children (George William, Robert Neilson, Clara, Caroline Florence and Francis Maud). Like her older sister, Caroline and family left Ontario and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba Province. Caroline died in Winnipeg in 1933.
George’s fourth child, James, was born and died in 1860, in Perth.
The fifth child was George, born at Perth in 1862. He died from a drowning accident in 1890. Perth Courier, October 3, 1890: "Corry - Drowned in the River Tay, Perth, on Wed., 24th Sept. George Corry, Jr., son of Mr. George Corry, aged 28. On Wednesday of last week, George Corry, Jr., went down to the river to shoot ducks. The boat in which he trusted himself was a small "monitor" almost 8 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet wide at the top, sloping to a very narrow width at the bottom, a very small and dangerous craft. He did not reach home that night as expected but as he was accustomed to stay some times down the river, this did not cause a great deal of apprehension. However, on Saturday, someone found his canoe with a broken paddle and a dead duck in it but could not see or find the owner. Search was made that day and his coat and hat found near that locality. It was continued on Sunday afternoon when the searchers in the canal barge [found] the body in the canal. The funeral took place to Elmwood Cemetery on Tuesday. The deceased was 28 years old. His affected parents in their bereavement have the sympathy of the entire community."
The sixth child, Robert, was born in 1865 in Perth and died in 1885 at Batouche, Saskatchewan Province, in the Riel Rebellion of 1885.
The last child, Minnie, was born in 1868.
George was a trustee of the Baptist Church in Perth. He died 16 November 1907, at Perth. His wife, Mary, had died nearly seven years earlier, 27 March 1900.

George Corry and Margaret Cole Family

After the our Corry Book was published, we found correct birth records for the children of George Corry and Margaret Cole. The records at the beginning of the Corry Book are the early records which were just estimates. Here are the dates for the family of George Corry and Margaret Cole as found in the St. James, Westminster Parish register records. George and Margaret were married
2 September 1790

1. William Henry Corry, October 1796. No further information
2. Isaac Corry, 31 January 1800 - 15 August 1881
3. Thomas Corry, 2 January 1802 - 26 March 1863
4. Charlotte Corry (McLellan), 21 August 1804 - 28 February 1859
5. George Corry, 25 October 1807 - 28 April 1875
6. Henry Corry, 22 April 1810 - no death date, but by the 1880 Census, his wife was a widow.
(Henry's entry in the Parish Records is a little suspect, but I think it is our Henry. The entry lists the father as Henry Corry and the mother as Margaret Cole. I feel that the person making the record mistakenly put Henry as the father's name (which would be reasonable since the child's name is Henry) rather than the correct name of George. There is no other birth entry for Henry Corry in the records and no other record with Henry Corry and Margaret Cole--they are all George Corry and Margaret Cole.
7. Charles Corry, 1812 (christened 17 April 1814). Charles is listed with the family in the 1819 military settlement census in Bathurst, Lanark, Ontario, after the family immigrated to Canada, but that is the last we can find of him.

Our Corry Relatives (continued)

In 2007, we began a history of the descendants of Great Great Great Grandparents, (speaking from my perspective), George Corry and Margaret Cole beginning with William Henry Corry. As noted, the only information so far is William’s birth in October 1796, as recorded in the St. James Parish, Westminster, London, England records. We have found no record of William with his family in Canada. Next came a history of Isaac, second son of George and Margaret followed by a history of Isaac and Jean (Ritchie)’s oldest son, John Corry/Korry (third generation).
To continue with the third generation, Isaac and Jean’s next child is Margaret, born in February 1823 (taken from a hand-written birth record). We have found no other information on Margaret and she is not mentioned in her father’s will.
Janet Corry is the next child of Isaac and Jean. She was born 6 January 1825 (according to the 1901 Census record) in Bathurst, Lanark County, Ontario. She was married to Archibald Forde who was born in Ireland. They were the parents of one daughter, Jessie Forde, who was born about 1865. Archibald and Janet remained in the area of Perth, Lanark County, Ontario, all their lives. Archibald was a carpenter and they belonged to the Brethren religion. Father Isaac lived with Archibald and Janet during his last years until his death in 1881. Archibald died 14 April 1906 at Perth and Janet died a year later, 7 May 1907 at Perth. In his will, Isaac left $500 to Janet and the following:
“To my said daughter, Janet Ford, I further give, devise and bequeath all the
rest and residue of my estate, real and personal, not herein otherwise disposed
of and I intend this bequest to be in satisfaction of any claim she or her
husband may have against me at my death for keeping and taking care of me up to
that time.”
Jessie, the only child of Archibald and Janet, was married in 1887 to John Devlin. John died eight months later in June 1888. Four months after his death, Jessie gave birth to their son, John Archibald Devlin, in October 1888. The baby lived only a few months and died 5 January 1889. At the age of twenty-two, Jessie was a widow and had buried her only child.