Taken from 'Jefferson County, Pennsylvania - Her Pioneers and People', Vol. 2, by W.J. McKnight, published in 1917 by J.H. Beers & Company in Chicago, page 77.
COL. WILLIAM W. CORBET
Ere another decade shall have fallen into the abyss of time it may be authentically recorded that the name of the Corbet family has been worthily and influentially identified with the history of Jefferson county for a full century, and as one generation has followed another onto the stage of life's activities it will be found that this old and honored pioneer family has given to the world men of sterling character, lofty ideals and fine mentality; women of gracious personality and noble character. Those who have borne and given distinction to the patronymic have been folk well equipped for meeting the vital issues and responsibilities of life and have stood representative of the best in community life. Members of the family have served in positions of high public trust in the county and have played a large and beneficent part in connection with civic and material progress.
The father of Colonel Corbet was the first prothonotary of Jefferson county; and, as a young man, Colonel Corbet himself served with characteristic efficiency in the same office, besides which it wasgiven him to accord distinguished service as a soldier and officer of a Pennsylvania regiment in the great polemic struggle through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated.
Judge Charles Corbet, a son of him whose name initiates this memoir, is one of the representative legists and jurists of Jefferson county, and two other sons have likewise attained to marked prestige in business and the legal profession, one in the State of Washington and the other in California.
William Wakefield Corbet was born at Coder, a little village near the present judicial center of Jefferson county, the date if his nativity having been June 4, 1827. He was reared to manhood at Brookville, where the family home was established when he was a boy. His great grandfather, Daniel Corbet, was born in England in 1713, went while a young man to Ireland, where he remained a few years, and then emigrated to America and settled in the State of New Jersey, where he married Mary Todd, a native of Ireland or England.
William Corbet, eldest son of Daniel, and grandfather of Colonel Corbet, was born Jan. 16, 1751, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and after his marriage in 1775 to Sarah Clover, moved to Mifflin county, Pa., and later, in 1814, to that part of Armstrong county which is now included in Clarion county, Pa., where his wife died in 1828, and where he resided until his death in 1831.
James Corbet, tenth child of William and Sarah Corbet, the father of William Wakefield Corbet, was born March 19, 1794, in Mifflin County, Pa., from which he migrated with his father and the family to what is now Clarion county. Being a man of enterprise he changed to Jefferson county, being the first of the family to locate therein, became one of its vigorous and resourceful young pioneers, was married
to Rebecca Armstrong on March 11, 1824, and settled at Coder, where for a time he operated a sawmill. His mental and physical powers well fitted him for leadership in community affairs in that formative period of the history of the county. Brookville, the county seat, was laid out in 1830, and the county organized for business purposes, James Corbet becoming the first prothonotary, clerk of courts, and register and recorder of Jefferson county, by appointment thereto that year by Gov. George Wolf.
With the assumption of the office he moved with his family to the new town of Brookville, becoming virtually one of its founders, and there in the spring of 1831 erected as his family domicile a pioneer log house on Main street, the site subsequently passing into the ownership of the late Norman F. Clark; it is now owned by Hon. Curtis R. Vasbinder. Soon after his removal to Brookville James Corbet engaged in the general merchandise business, as one of the pioneer merchants of the borough, being a senior member of the firm of Corbet & Barr, which maintained headquarters in a small store that occupied a part of the present site of the "American House" block. He continued to be one of the influential figures in the county and borough affairs, and commanded inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. In 1850 he was appointed postmaster at Brookville, and his interposition was demanded also for service on the offices of burgess and justice of the peace, besides which he held for a term of years the office of county commissioner. In all places to which he was thus called he manifested the highest sense of stewardship and made a record that reflected credit upon his name and redounded to the general good of the community. Among his children were: William Wakefield; Sara C., wife of Hon. William P. Jenks; and Rebecca J., wife of Hon. Kennedy L. Blood. His wife died in Brookville Sept. 23, 1863, and he passed away Oct. 24, 1866.
William Wakefield Corbet was a child at the time of the family removal to Brookville, and in this borough he passed virtually his entire life, and added large and distinguished honors to the family name. For a long period of years he was actively concerned with business enterprises at Brookville, giving his attention specially to merchandising and lumbering, and in all the relations of life he bore himself as a man of strong mind, noble aspirations and intrinsic loyalty of purpose, with the result that his was impregnable vantage ground in the confidence and goodwill of all who knew him and had appreciation of his sterling attributes of mind and soul.
In 1857 he was elected prothonotary, and as a young man he showed himself admirably fortified for the effective discharge of the duties of this position. When the Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon Colonel Corbet promptly signalized his loyalty and patriotic ardor by taking active part in the recruiting and organizing of the
105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with this gallant command. As its lieutenant colonel he participated in a number of the many important engagements in which it was involved, and upon the resignation of its commander, Col. Amor A. McKnight, he
was commissioned colonel of the regiment. But he declined to receive muster into this office, as his loyalty to his friend, Colonel McKnight, was such that he preferred to wait until that valiant officer had sufficiently recuperated his health to resume command.
With all of the strength of his fine nature did Colonel Corbet contribute of his influence and cooperation in the furtherance of those things which conserve the general good of the community, and his genial and kindly nature, expressed in tolerance and sympathy, gained to him the affectionate regard of those who came within the compass of his benign influence. He was one of the leading citizens of Brookville at the time of his death, which there occurred on the 4th of September, 1904, and his name and memory shall be held in lasting honor in the county that represented his home during the entire period of his long and useful life.
He was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his widow likewise is a devoted member, and he was an appreciative and valued comrade of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On the 21st of September, 1847, was solemnized the marriage of William W. Corbet to Elizabeth A. McCrea, who still remains in the little home which he provided for the two of them after the death of their eldest daughter and the marriage of their other children, and is a popular factor in the representative social life of the community in which she has long maintained her residence. She is a daughter of the late John McCrea.
Colonel and Mrs. Corbet became the parents of six children: Emily died at the age of thirty-four years; Lovisa W. is the wife of Lewis A. Brady; Charles, now presiding on the bench of the county courts of Jefferson county; James McCrea is a lawyer and successful business man in the city of Spokane, Wash.; Burke is a prominent corporation lawyer of San Francisco, Cal.; Myrta is the wife of Hon. John W.
Reed, of Brookville, who formerly presided as judge of the county courts.
The home life of Colonel Corbet was one of ideal relations and associations, and it may well be said that his home was a veritable sanctuary to him, a place in which his noble characteristics shone forth in their highest form, so that there remains to his widow and children a measure of compensation in the gracious memories that are theirs of a devoted husband and father.
COL. WILLIAM W. CORBET
Ere another decade shall have fallen into the abyss of time it may be authentically recorded that the name of the Corbet family has been worthily and influentially identified with the history of Jefferson county for a full century, and as one generation has followed another onto the stage of life's activities it will be found that this old and honored pioneer family has given to the world men of sterling character, lofty ideals and fine mentality; women of gracious personality and noble character. Those who have borne and given distinction to the patronymic have been folk well equipped for meeting the vital issues and responsibilities of life and have stood representative of the best in community life. Members of the family have served in positions of high public trust in the county and have played a large and beneficent part in connection with civic and material progress.
The father of Colonel Corbet was the first prothonotary of Jefferson county; and, as a young man, Colonel Corbet himself served with characteristic efficiency in the same office, besides which it wasgiven him to accord distinguished service as a soldier and officer of a Pennsylvania regiment in the great polemic struggle through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated.
Judge Charles Corbet, a son of him whose name initiates this memoir, is one of the representative legists and jurists of Jefferson county, and two other sons have likewise attained to marked prestige in business and the legal profession, one in the State of Washington and the other in California.
William Wakefield Corbet was born at Coder, a little village near the present judicial center of Jefferson county, the date if his nativity having been June 4, 1827. He was reared to manhood at Brookville, where the family home was established when he was a boy. His great grandfather, Daniel Corbet, was born in England in 1713, went while a young man to Ireland, where he remained a few years, and then emigrated to America and settled in the State of New Jersey, where he married Mary Todd, a native of Ireland or England.
William Corbet, eldest son of Daniel, and grandfather of Colonel Corbet, was born Jan. 16, 1751, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and after his marriage in 1775 to Sarah Clover, moved to Mifflin county, Pa., and later, in 1814, to that part of Armstrong county which is now included in Clarion county, Pa., where his wife died in 1828, and where he resided until his death in 1831.
James Corbet, tenth child of William and Sarah Corbet, the father of William Wakefield Corbet, was born March 19, 1794, in Mifflin County, Pa., from which he migrated with his father and the family to what is now Clarion county. Being a man of enterprise he changed to Jefferson county, being the first of the family to locate therein, became one of its vigorous and resourceful young pioneers, was married
to Rebecca Armstrong on March 11, 1824, and settled at Coder, where for a time he operated a sawmill. His mental and physical powers well fitted him for leadership in community affairs in that formative period of the history of the county. Brookville, the county seat, was laid out in 1830, and the county organized for business purposes, James Corbet becoming the first prothonotary, clerk of courts, and register and recorder of Jefferson county, by appointment thereto that year by Gov. George Wolf.
With the assumption of the office he moved with his family to the new town of Brookville, becoming virtually one of its founders, and there in the spring of 1831 erected as his family domicile a pioneer log house on Main street, the site subsequently passing into the ownership of the late Norman F. Clark; it is now owned by Hon. Curtis R. Vasbinder. Soon after his removal to Brookville James Corbet engaged in the general merchandise business, as one of the pioneer merchants of the borough, being a senior member of the firm of Corbet & Barr, which maintained headquarters in a small store that occupied a part of the present site of the "American House" block. He continued to be one of the influential figures in the county and borough affairs, and commanded inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. In 1850 he was appointed postmaster at Brookville, and his interposition was demanded also for service on the offices of burgess and justice of the peace, besides which he held for a term of years the office of county commissioner. In all places to which he was thus called he manifested the highest sense of stewardship and made a record that reflected credit upon his name and redounded to the general good of the community. Among his children were: William Wakefield; Sara C., wife of Hon. William P. Jenks; and Rebecca J., wife of Hon. Kennedy L. Blood. His wife died in Brookville Sept. 23, 1863, and he passed away Oct. 24, 1866.
William Wakefield Corbet was a child at the time of the family removal to Brookville, and in this borough he passed virtually his entire life, and added large and distinguished honors to the family name. For a long period of years he was actively concerned with business enterprises at Brookville, giving his attention specially to merchandising and lumbering, and in all the relations of life he bore himself as a man of strong mind, noble aspirations and intrinsic loyalty of purpose, with the result that his was impregnable vantage ground in the confidence and goodwill of all who knew him and had appreciation of his sterling attributes of mind and soul.
In 1857 he was elected prothonotary, and as a young man he showed himself admirably fortified for the effective discharge of the duties of this position. When the Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon Colonel Corbet promptly signalized his loyalty and patriotic ardor by taking active part in the recruiting and organizing of the
105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with this gallant command. As its lieutenant colonel he participated in a number of the many important engagements in which it was involved, and upon the resignation of its commander, Col. Amor A. McKnight, he
was commissioned colonel of the regiment. But he declined to receive muster into this office, as his loyalty to his friend, Colonel McKnight, was such that he preferred to wait until that valiant officer had sufficiently recuperated his health to resume command.
With all of the strength of his fine nature did Colonel Corbet contribute of his influence and cooperation in the furtherance of those things which conserve the general good of the community, and his genial and kindly nature, expressed in tolerance and sympathy, gained to him the affectionate regard of those who came within the compass of his benign influence. He was one of the leading citizens of Brookville at the time of his death, which there occurred on the 4th of September, 1904, and his name and memory shall be held in lasting honor in the county that represented his home during the entire period of his long and useful life.
He was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his widow likewise is a devoted member, and he was an appreciative and valued comrade of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On the 21st of September, 1847, was solemnized the marriage of William W. Corbet to Elizabeth A. McCrea, who still remains in the little home which he provided for the two of them after the death of their eldest daughter and the marriage of their other children, and is a popular factor in the representative social life of the community in which she has long maintained her residence. She is a daughter of the late John McCrea.
Colonel and Mrs. Corbet became the parents of six children: Emily died at the age of thirty-four years; Lovisa W. is the wife of Lewis A. Brady; Charles, now presiding on the bench of the county courts of Jefferson county; James McCrea is a lawyer and successful business man in the city of Spokane, Wash.; Burke is a prominent corporation lawyer of San Francisco, Cal.; Myrta is the wife of Hon. John W.
Reed, of Brookville, who formerly presided as judge of the county courts.
The home life of Colonel Corbet was one of ideal relations and associations, and it may well be said that his home was a veritable sanctuary to him, a place in which his noble characteristics shone forth in their highest form, so that there remains to his widow and children a measure of compensation in the gracious memories that are theirs of a devoted husband and father.
Taken from 'Jefferson County, Pennsylvania - Her Pioneers and People', Vol. 2, by W.J. McKnight, published in 1917 by J.H. Beers & Company in Chicago, page 77.
COL. WILLIAM W. CORBET
Ere another decade shall have fallen into the abyss of time it may be authentically recorded that the name of the Corbet family has been worthily and influentially identified with the history of Jefferson county for a full century, and as one generation has followed another onto the stage of life's activities it will be found that this old and honored pioneer family has given to the world men of sterling character, lofty ideals and fine mentality; women of gracious personality and noble character. Those who have borne and given distinction to the patronymic have been folk well equipped for meeting the vital issues and responsibilities of life and have stood representative of the best in community life. Members of the family have served in positions of high public trust in the county and have played a large and beneficent part in connection with civic and material progress.
The father of Colonel Corbet was the first prothonotary of Jefferson county; and, as a young man, Colonel Corbet himself served with characteristic efficiency in the same office, besides which it wasgiven him to accord distinguished service as a soldier and officer of a Pennsylvania regiment in the great polemic struggle through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated.
Judge Charles Corbet, a son of him whose name initiates this memoir, is one of the representative legists and jurists of Jefferson county, and two other sons have likewise attained to marked prestige in business and the legal profession, one in the State of Washington and the other in California.
William Wakefield Corbet was born at Coder, a little village near the present judicial center of Jefferson county, the date if his nativity having been June 4, 1827. He was reared to manhood at Brookville, where the family home was established when he was a boy. His great grandfather, Daniel Corbet, was born in England in 1713, went while a young man to Ireland, where he remained a few years, and then emigrated to America and settled in the State of New Jersey, where he married Mary Todd, a native of Ireland or England.
William Corbet, eldest son of Daniel, and grandfather of Colonel Corbet, was born Jan. 16, 1751, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and after his marriage in 1775 to Sarah Clover, moved to Mifflin county, Pa., and later, in 1814, to that part of Armstrong county which is now included in Clarion county, Pa., where his wife died in 1828, and where he resided until his death in 1831.
James Corbet, tenth child of William and Sarah Corbet, the father of William Wakefield Corbet, was born March 19, 1794, in Mifflin County, Pa., from which he migrated with his father and the family to what is now Clarion county. Being a man of enterprise he changed to Jefferson county, being the first of the family to locate therein, became one of its vigorous and resourceful young pioneers, was married
to Rebecca Armstrong on March 11, 1824, and settled at Coder, where for a time he operated a sawmill. His mental and physical powers well fitted him for leadership in community affairs in that formative period of the history of the county. Brookville, the county seat, was laid out in 1830, and the county organized for business purposes, James Corbet becoming the first prothonotary, clerk of courts, and register and recorder of Jefferson county, by appointment thereto that year by Gov. George Wolf.
With the assumption of the office he moved with his family to the new town of Brookville, becoming virtually one of its founders, and there in the spring of 1831 erected as his family domicile a pioneer log house on Main street, the site subsequently passing into the ownership of the late Norman F. Clark; it is now owned by Hon. Curtis R. Vasbinder. Soon after his removal to Brookville James Corbet engaged in the general merchandise business, as one of the pioneer merchants of the borough, being a senior member of the firm of Corbet & Barr, which maintained headquarters in a small store that occupied a part of the present site of the "American House" block. He continued to be one of the influential figures in the county and borough affairs, and commanded inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. In 1850 he was appointed postmaster at Brookville, and his interposition was demanded also for service on the offices of burgess and justice of the peace, besides which he held for a term of years the office of county commissioner. In all places to which he was thus called he manifested the highest sense of stewardship and made a record that reflected credit upon his name and redounded to the general good of the community. Among his children were: William Wakefield; Sara C., wife of Hon. William P. Jenks; and Rebecca J., wife of Hon. Kennedy L. Blood. His wife died in Brookville Sept. 23, 1863, and he passed away Oct. 24, 1866.
William Wakefield Corbet was a child at the time of the family removal to Brookville, and in this borough he passed virtually his entire life, and added large and distinguished honors to the family name. For a long period of years he was actively concerned with business enterprises at Brookville, giving his attention specially to merchandising and lumbering, and in all the relations of life he bore himself as a man of strong mind, noble aspirations and intrinsic loyalty of purpose, with the result that his was impregnable vantage ground in the confidence and goodwill of all who knew him and had appreciation of his sterling attributes of mind and soul.
In 1857 he was elected prothonotary, and as a young man he showed himself admirably fortified for the effective discharge of the duties of this position. When the Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon Colonel Corbet promptly signalized his loyalty and patriotic ardor by taking active part in the recruiting and organizing of the
105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with this gallant command. As its lieutenant colonel he participated in a number of the many important engagements in which it was involved, and upon the resignation of its commander, Col. Amor A. McKnight, he
was commissioned colonel of the regiment. But he declined to receive muster into this office, as his loyalty to his friend, Colonel McKnight, was such that he preferred to wait until that valiant officer had sufficiently recuperated his health to resume command.
With all of the strength of his fine nature did Colonel Corbet contribute of his influence and cooperation in the furtherance of those things which conserve the general good of the community, and his genial and kindly nature, expressed in tolerance and sympathy, gained to him the affectionate regard of those who came within the compass of his benign influence. He was one of the leading citizens of Brookville at the time of his death, which there occurred on the 4th of September, 1904, and his name and memory shall be held in lasting honor in the county that represented his home during the entire period of his long and useful life.
He was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his widow likewise is a devoted member, and he was an appreciative and valued comrade of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On the 21st of September, 1847, was solemnized the marriage of William W. Corbet to Elizabeth A. McCrea, who still remains in the little home which he provided for the two of them after the death of their eldest daughter and the marriage of their other children, and is a popular factor in the representative social life of the community in which she has long maintained her residence. She is a daughter of the late John McCrea.
Colonel and Mrs. Corbet became the parents of six children: Emily died at the age of thirty-four years; Lovisa W. is the wife of Lewis A. Brady; Charles, now presiding on the bench of the county courts of Jefferson county; James McCrea is a lawyer and successful business man in the city of Spokane, Wash.; Burke is a prominent corporation lawyer of San Francisco, Cal.; Myrta is the wife of Hon. John W.
Reed, of Brookville, who formerly presided as judge of the county courts.
The home life of Colonel Corbet was one of ideal relations and associations, and it may well be said that his home was a veritable sanctuary to him, a place in which his noble characteristics shone forth in their highest form, so that there remains to his widow and children a measure of compensation in the gracious memories that are theirs of a devoted husband and father.
COL. WILLIAM W. CORBET
Ere another decade shall have fallen into the abyss of time it may be authentically recorded that the name of the Corbet family has been worthily and influentially identified with the history of Jefferson county for a full century, and as one generation has followed another onto the stage of life's activities it will be found that this old and honored pioneer family has given to the world men of sterling character, lofty ideals and fine mentality; women of gracious personality and noble character. Those who have borne and given distinction to the patronymic have been folk well equipped for meeting the vital issues and responsibilities of life and have stood representative of the best in community life. Members of the family have served in positions of high public trust in the county and have played a large and beneficent part in connection with civic and material progress.
The father of Colonel Corbet was the first prothonotary of Jefferson county; and, as a young man, Colonel Corbet himself served with characteristic efficiency in the same office, besides which it wasgiven him to accord distinguished service as a soldier and officer of a Pennsylvania regiment in the great polemic struggle through which the integrity of the Union was perpetuated.
Judge Charles Corbet, a son of him whose name initiates this memoir, is one of the representative legists and jurists of Jefferson county, and two other sons have likewise attained to marked prestige in business and the legal profession, one in the State of Washington and the other in California.
William Wakefield Corbet was born at Coder, a little village near the present judicial center of Jefferson county, the date if his nativity having been June 4, 1827. He was reared to manhood at Brookville, where the family home was established when he was a boy. His great grandfather, Daniel Corbet, was born in England in 1713, went while a young man to Ireland, where he remained a few years, and then emigrated to America and settled in the State of New Jersey, where he married Mary Todd, a native of Ireland or England.
William Corbet, eldest son of Daniel, and grandfather of Colonel Corbet, was born Jan. 16, 1751, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and after his marriage in 1775 to Sarah Clover, moved to Mifflin county, Pa., and later, in 1814, to that part of Armstrong county which is now included in Clarion county, Pa., where his wife died in 1828, and where he resided until his death in 1831.
James Corbet, tenth child of William and Sarah Corbet, the father of William Wakefield Corbet, was born March 19, 1794, in Mifflin County, Pa., from which he migrated with his father and the family to what is now Clarion county. Being a man of enterprise he changed to Jefferson county, being the first of the family to locate therein, became one of its vigorous and resourceful young pioneers, was married
to Rebecca Armstrong on March 11, 1824, and settled at Coder, where for a time he operated a sawmill. His mental and physical powers well fitted him for leadership in community affairs in that formative period of the history of the county. Brookville, the county seat, was laid out in 1830, and the county organized for business purposes, James Corbet becoming the first prothonotary, clerk of courts, and register and recorder of Jefferson county, by appointment thereto that year by Gov. George Wolf.
With the assumption of the office he moved with his family to the new town of Brookville, becoming virtually one of its founders, and there in the spring of 1831 erected as his family domicile a pioneer log house on Main street, the site subsequently passing into the ownership of the late Norman F. Clark; it is now owned by Hon. Curtis R. Vasbinder. Soon after his removal to Brookville James Corbet engaged in the general merchandise business, as one of the pioneer merchants of the borough, being a senior member of the firm of Corbet & Barr, which maintained headquarters in a small store that occupied a part of the present site of the "American House" block. He continued to be one of the influential figures in the county and borough affairs, and commanded inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. In 1850 he was appointed postmaster at Brookville, and his interposition was demanded also for service on the offices of burgess and justice of the peace, besides which he held for a term of years the office of county commissioner. In all places to which he was thus called he manifested the highest sense of stewardship and made a record that reflected credit upon his name and redounded to the general good of the community. Among his children were: William Wakefield; Sara C., wife of Hon. William P. Jenks; and Rebecca J., wife of Hon. Kennedy L. Blood. His wife died in Brookville Sept. 23, 1863, and he passed away Oct. 24, 1866.
William Wakefield Corbet was a child at the time of the family removal to Brookville, and in this borough he passed virtually his entire life, and added large and distinguished honors to the family name. For a long period of years he was actively concerned with business enterprises at Brookville, giving his attention specially to merchandising and lumbering, and in all the relations of life he bore himself as a man of strong mind, noble aspirations and intrinsic loyalty of purpose, with the result that his was impregnable vantage ground in the confidence and goodwill of all who knew him and had appreciation of his sterling attributes of mind and soul.
In 1857 he was elected prothonotary, and as a young man he showed himself admirably fortified for the effective discharge of the duties of this position. When the Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon Colonel Corbet promptly signalized his loyalty and patriotic ardor by taking active part in the recruiting and organizing of the
105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with this gallant command. As its lieutenant colonel he participated in a number of the many important engagements in which it was involved, and upon the resignation of its commander, Col. Amor A. McKnight, he
was commissioned colonel of the regiment. But he declined to receive muster into this office, as his loyalty to his friend, Colonel McKnight, was such that he preferred to wait until that valiant officer had sufficiently recuperated his health to resume command.
With all of the strength of his fine nature did Colonel Corbet contribute of his influence and cooperation in the furtherance of those things which conserve the general good of the community, and his genial and kindly nature, expressed in tolerance and sympathy, gained to him the affectionate regard of those who came within the compass of his benign influence. He was one of the leading citizens of Brookville at the time of his death, which there occurred on the 4th of September, 1904, and his name and memory shall be held in lasting honor in the county that represented his home during the entire period of his long and useful life.
He was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his widow likewise is a devoted member, and he was an appreciative and valued comrade of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On the 21st of September, 1847, was solemnized the marriage of William W. Corbet to Elizabeth A. McCrea, who still remains in the little home which he provided for the two of them after the death of their eldest daughter and the marriage of their other children, and is a popular factor in the representative social life of the community in which she has long maintained her residence. She is a daughter of the late John McCrea.
Colonel and Mrs. Corbet became the parents of six children: Emily died at the age of thirty-four years; Lovisa W. is the wife of Lewis A. Brady; Charles, now presiding on the bench of the county courts of Jefferson county; James McCrea is a lawyer and successful business man in the city of Spokane, Wash.; Burke is a prominent corporation lawyer of San Francisco, Cal.; Myrta is the wife of Hon. John W.
Reed, of Brookville, who formerly presided as judge of the county courts.
The home life of Colonel Corbet was one of ideal relations and associations, and it may well be said that his home was a veritable sanctuary to him, a place in which his noble characteristics shone forth in their highest form, so that there remains to his widow and children a measure of compensation in the gracious memories that are theirs of a devoted husband and father.
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