Assorted Family Bios

WARREN R. CORY

Warren R. Cory, the well-known postmaster of Tirzah and a representative farmer of Herrick township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., was born in Lenox township, the same county, August 16, 1839, a son of Chauncey and Eliza (Walker) Cory. The father, who was a farmer and carpenter by occupation, was born in Connecticut, May 15, 1807, and in 1818 was brought to Susquehanna county, Penn., by his parents, Rufus and Rachel (Owney) Cory, also natives of Connecticut, who settled in Lenox township. Rufus Cory, a miller by trade, died in that township in 1850. In Clifford township, Susquehanna county, Chauncey Cory was married June 29, 1828, to Miss Eliza Walker, who was born in Vermont, October 26, 1808, a daughter of Enos and Mary (Reading) Walker, of Bloomfield, Vt. They came to Susquehanna county in 1815, and first located in Gibson township, but in 1832 removed to Clifford township, where they spent their remaining days. Enos Walker was born March 11, 1777, and died March 29, 1856, and was buried in Gibson township, where he had lived for twenty years; his wife, Mary Reading, was born February 20, 1776, and died October 3, 1832, and was buried in Clifford township. The names and dates of birth of their children were as follows: Warren R., April 17, 1798; Willard, March 8, 1800; Mary, March 30, 1803; Rins, October 7, 1806; Eliza (mother of our subject), October 26, 1808; Enos, February 14, 1811; Harriet, July 4, 1813; and Mary A., August 25, 1815. Harriet first married Thomas Wilcox, and second Seth Dann, the father of our subject's wife. For his second wife Enos Walker married Mary Elizabeth Fenno, who died December 3, 1860, at the age of seventy-two years. Enos Walker was a son of Marshall and Hannah (Dunber) Walker, who spent their entire lives as farming people in Massachusetts. The former was born June 20, 1759, and died February 9, 1815, and the latter was born May 26, 1760, and died February 2, 1815. Their children were Enos, born March 11, 1777; David, August 30, 1779; Isaiah, March 14, 1782; Hannah, July 5, 1784; Marshall, March 17, 1787; Arnold, April 6, 1789; Dinah, April 5, 1792; Cady, February 5, 1795; Keith, April 27, 1799; and Sabinas, August 5, 1801. The parents of our subject both died in Herrick township; the father June 1, 1880, the mother June 18, 1889, and were laid to rest in the Lyons Street cemetery. They were earnest members of the Free Will Baptist Church and were highly respected by all who knew them. Their children were as follows: Eliza Ann, born March 29, 1830, married first Stanley Stewart, and second Alfred Pratt; Enos W., born February 8, 1831, is a carpenter and farmer of Jackson township, Susquehanna county; Harriet F., born March 16, 1833, died in infancy; Almira, born May 25, 1834, is the wife of John Coyle, of Clark county, Wis.; Frances L., born February 22, 1837, married Andrew J. Bass and second M. J. Sweet, and is now deceased; Warren R., our subject, is the next in order of birth; George A., born January 24, 1842, is a farmer of Herrick township; Betsy C., born July 18, 1844, died in infancy; Sarah C., born October 1, 1845, married Robert Stewart, and is now deceased; and Laura L., born August 23, 1848, and John D., born August 4, 1852, both died in infancy.

Warren R. Cory was reared upon his father's farm and remained there until entering the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. He enlisted in Harrisburg, Penn., August 28,1861, in Company G, 1st P. V. C., for three years or during the war. He participated in various battles and skirmishes, including the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. At Culpeper Court House he was wounded in the right thigh and lost his left thumb by the explosion of a shell, and the following day was taken to the hospital at Washington, D. C., where he remained one month, and was then transferred to McClellan Hospital, Philadelphia, Penn. Eleven months later, on September 2, 1864, he was honotably discharged, and returned home.

On December 13, 1864, in Clinton, Wayne Co., Penn., Mr. Cory was united in marriage with Miss Rachel E. Dann. They have no chldren of their own, but have an adopted daughter, Hattie M., now the wife of Ralph P. Stone, a farmer of Ararat township. Mrs. Cory was born in Star township, Hocking Co., Ohio, July 28, 1845, a daughter of Seth and Harriet (Walker) Dann, natives of New York State and early settlers of Wayne county, Penn. In 1871 they removed to Herrick township, Susquehanna county, where the father, a farmer by occupation, died August 25, 1889, at the age of eighty-four years; the mother died in Cortland, N. Y., December 1, 1890, at the age of seventy-seven, and both were buried in the Lyons Street (Penn.) cemetery. They held membership in the Regular Baptist Church and were highly esteemed by all who knew them. The children born to them were Rachel E., the wife of our subject; Lloyd W., who died young; Harriet L., wife of J. W. Callender, a traveling salesman of Washington, D. C.; and Seth Warren, a farmer of Herrick township. The parents were united in marriage in November, 1844. Both had been previously married, the father having wedded Rachel Beatty, February 27, 1828. As previously stated, the mother was formerly the wife of Thomas Wilcox. Mrs. Cory's paternal grandparents were Seth and Jane (Munger) Dann, agriculturists and lifelong resiidents of New York State. The former was born December 8, 1773, and died May 18, 1854, while the latter was born December 25, 1779, and died April 19, 1858. The names and dates of birth of their children were as follows: Abijah, November 25, 1796; Philip, August 13, 1798; William, June 20, 1800; Rhoda, May 6, 1801; Seth, August 7, 1805; Anson, April 30, 1809; Harvey, February 25, 1810; Silas, February 11, 1814; Jane, November 4, 1816; Jonathan, September 22, 1819; and Ickabeth, November 5, 1825.

After his marriage, Mr. Cory lived upon his father's farm until May, 1872, when he went to Muscatine county, Iowa, and engaged in bridge building there for fifteen months. Returning to Pennsylvania in July, 1873, he operated the old home farm until 1882, and then engaged in farming near there for four years. At the end of that time he removed to his present farm, which consists of 103 acres of well-improved and valuable land in Herrick township, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation. He keeps well informed on the leading questions and issues of the day, always casts his ballot with the Republican party, and has creditably filled the offices of school director six years and township treasurer one year. He was also elected township collector, but refused to qualify. In early life he was a Baptist, but is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has served as class-leader for the past ten years.

(This bio is from Commemorative Biographical Record of Northeastern Pennsylvania including the Counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and many of the Early Settled Families., Beers, J. H. & Co., 1900, Chicago, pp 495-96)