USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 25
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the St. Louis suburb. Communism was given up, but the influence of twenty years of peace- able community life shows itself in the gentle- ness and refinement of the Icarians, whom we occasionally meet in St. Louis society. Another branch settled at Icaria, in south- western Iowa, and continued true to their principles until they sold their property and disbanded, about 1895. About . 1872 the grange movement among farmers spread like wildfire throughout the West. Missouri, Kansas and Illinois were at the front. Stores to supply themselves with goods at wholesale were started by hundreds. Credit and poli- tics, inexperienced managers and dishonest agents soon proved the ruin of nearly all. St. Louis had grange agencies for many years.
In 1886 the N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Company introduced the French type of busi- ness co-operation, called profit-sharing. Their business was the manufacture and sale of plumbing and steam goods, employing from 250 to 400 men. After paying the usual wages, interest on capital was deducted, and the remaining profits were divided by equal percentage on wages and capital. Thus a salary of $1,000 received the same amount as $1,000 of the capital stock. A provident and educational fund was also provided. From 1886 to 1895 the dividends on wages ranged from 5 to 10 per cent, amounting to about $75,000. The depression of 1896 and 1897 prevented any dividend, but the system re- mained in effect. In 1890 the company secured 125 acres of land near Edwardsville, Illinois, eighteen miles from St. Louis. Here they built factories, electric light and water- works, schoolhouse, clubhouse, bowling alley and billiard room, and a greenhouse. The village is called Leclaire, after the Paris- ian house-painter who first introduced profit- sharing in 1840. It is laid out park fashion, with winding roads, paved with cinders, broad grass plots, trees and sidewalks. In the schoolhouse grounds there are old trees and large flower beds and swings; across the street is a campus of two acres for baseball, football and tennis. A circulating library of I,200 volumes is controlled by a board of trustees, elected by the "home-owning resi- dents of Leclaire," which also controls the school. The plan of education is industrial, pupils learning mechanical and farm work along with the usual course of study. It be- gins with kindergarten and ends with the
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classics and higher mathematics. There is no political organization, no saloons, no police- men, no law or authority but the State. Houses are built for employes on easy terms of payment, and are taken back if they want to leave. Co-operation and equity, but no paternalism, are the foundation principles. In 1888 the St. Louis Shovel Company adopted profit-sharing, but discontinued it after a few years.
A co-operative store was started in 1893 on the Rochdale plan, to be described later. It began with twenty-six members or stock- holders, and a capital of $500. The shares were $50, and only one share could be held by one person. Payment could be made at fifty cents a week, and the amount paid in received 6 per cent interest. It dealt in gro- ceries, sold at the current market prices, bought and sold exclusively for cash. The membership grew and sales increased rapidly. The profits were divided in proportion to pur- chases. The first quarter's business allowed a dividend of 8 per cent on purchases, the second quarter 10 per cent. The membership had grown to 150, the capital to $3,000. It was then decided to remove to larger quar- ters, a meat shop was added, a larger force was employed. Every effort was made to enlist the unions and workmen in general. Some credit was given. The additional mem- bers and trade did not come; the dividends stopped, one manager after another proved incompetent, members withdrew, and after two years of struggle it gave up, with total loss to stockholders and some loss to credit- ors. Very similar was the experience of a store started by the men at Leclaire. Too high notions, too little attention by the mem- bers, not enough loyalty in trading, and credit, proved its ruin.
The modern co-operative store movement took its start in England in 1844. Twenty- eight weavers, Chartists and Christian Social- ists formed a society having in view self-em- ployment and self-supply. When, by small weekly contributions, they had in hand $140 they took a vacant room in a member's house, bought tea and flour and other staples in full packages, retailed them to themselves at the retail shop prices, did the work them- selves and saved the entire retail profit. The profits enabled them to lay in a large variety, they brought in additional members and the society prospered. To make the working
man independent, bring him out of debt, ac- cumulate capital for self-employment, educate him; these were the high ideals of the Roch- dale pioneers. The idea caught, the plan enabled any earnest set of neighbors or fel- low workmen to start a "store." It became a "movement," it had the enthusiastic support and advice of the brilliant preachers and authors, Kingsley and Maurice, and of Hol- yoake, Hughes, Neale and Ludlow. The last three were well connected barristers, and through them were secured acts of Parlia- ment that allowed the societies to incorporate as limited liability companies, with unlimited capital and numbers. By 1861 the number of stores and members had grown so large that a wholesale store was opened. In 1890 there were 1,74I associations, 1,492,000 mem- bers, 61,000 employes, $286,000,000 sales and $30,000,000 profits.
The original Rochdale Society had, in 1897, 12,775 members, $1,750,000 capital, $1,475,- 000 sales, and net profits, $250,000-a good part of which was the income from invest- ments in co-operative factories. In the fifty- three years of its existence sales had amounted to $51,705,000 and it had paid back to its members $8,000,000. The wholesale society does a business of $60,000,000 a year, operates extensive factories, a bank and an insurance company, owns six ships and buys at first hands in all parts of the world. There are some highly successful societies of the Rochdale pattern in the United States. Two at Lawrence, Massachusetts, have a capital of over $60,000, with annual sales of over $400,000, and regular dividends. There are not less than a thousand in the country, but no official returns are acquired, and there is no federation-accurate information is not available. Co-operative creameries are abun- dant and usually prosperous. In California there are many fruit-shipping and supply unions, with plenty of capital and under good management. Co-operative communities have taken a fresh start, the Ruskin Com- monwealth at Ruskin, Tennessee, being espe- cially well managed and prosperous. At Commonwealth, Georgia ; Equity, Washing- ton; Bellamy, Oregon; Bliss, Idaho, and Pinon, Colorado, there are modest but sound beginnings. The advocates of co-operation believe that through it is to come relief from the inequalities of fortune growing out of the competitive system. N. O. NELSON.
Amanda Corby
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Copper .- There is no copper-mining in Missouri at present, but there was at one time. The Stanton copper mines in Frank- lin County were opened and worked before the Civil War, and it was thought that they would prove a profitable enterprise ; but the disturbances of the war caused the mines to be closed before the deposits were thor- oughly explored, and they were never re- opened. Copper has been found in Dent, Crawford, Benton, Maries, Greene, Law- rence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds and Wright Counties, and in very consider- erable quantities in Franklin, Madison, Shan- non and Washington Counties, and as late as 1880, copper ingots to the amount of 230,717, and of the value of $25,730, were produced in the State. It is probable that at some future day, when the deposits shall have been more thoroughly explored, and mining shall be more carefully conducted, the old mines will be reopened.
"Copperheads."-A nickname given to a political faction in the Northern and border States during the Civil War, which was charged with being in sympathy with the se- cession movement, and with aiding it by try- ing to thwart the measures of the national government. The name was intended to sig- nify a concealed foe, and was derived from the serpent whose bite is as deadly as that of the rattlesnake, but which strikes without warning.
Corby, Amanda Musick, benefac- tress, was born in the historic old town of Florissant, St. Louis County, Missouri, youngest daughter of Joel L. and Margue- rite (Presse) Musick. Both her parents were natives of St. Louis County and belonged to families · numbered among the earliest set- tlers of Missouri. Mrs. Corby was reared in St. Louis County, grew up in the faith of the Catholic Church, and was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent in St. Louis. May 30, 1852, a beautiful and accomplished young lady, she was united in marriage to Mr. John Corby, who was then a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, and one of the leading citizens of that place. Leaving her child- hood home, Mrs. Corby went to St. Joseph, and at once became a social leader in that city. Her tastes were artistic, and in the old days she was locally famous as a needle-
woman, whose handiwork was a thing of beauty. During her husband's lifetime she led a quiet life, busying herself mainly with relieving the sufferings of the poor and help- ing to lighten the burdens of those less fortu- nately situated than herself. At the death of her husband, his splendid estate passed un- conditionally to her, and she administered this trust with rare fidelity and ability. Her feeling was that a wise Providence had made her the trustee of this wealth, to be used for the betterment of mankind, the alleviation of human suffering and the advancement of the cause of religion. Feeling thus, her heart and hand were ever open to the appeals of those in need and of those who asked assist- ance for any worthy cause. Shrinking from the appearance of ostentatious giving, her charities were bestowed in. that quiet way which the Master enjoined upon His follow- ers when He said: "Let not thy left hand know what the right hand doeth." Shortly after the death of her husband, Mrs. Corby began the erection of a memorial chapel, which in architectural beauty and chasteness of adornment excels any similar building in the West. It is situated in the center of a tract of 160 acres of land, which lies about three miles north of the city of St. Joseph, and which was given to the Catholic Church by Mr. Corby for a cemetery. Ten acres in the center of the tract was reserved by Mr. Corby for the chapel and grounds connected therewith. This beautiful chapel, which is the pride of the church, of the friends of the donor, and of the city of St. Joseph, was completed in 1873. By its solid walls, its artistic design, its emblematic frescoes and its sacred purposes, this affectionate memento tells that the love of a pure woman never dies. The chapel is built in the Gothic style of the thirteenth century, in form an irregu- lar cruciform, a pentagonal sanctuary form- ing one arm. It is 42 feet 10 inches front ; 55 feet 5 inches throughout the transept, and has a total length of 84 feet and 3 inches. The massive walls, with numerous buttresses, are entirely of limestone, laid in rough, bro- ken ashlar style, and are richly ornamented with cut and carved Carroll County sand- stone dressing. The strength, durability and sublimity of the exterior are in perfect accord with the artistic and elegant interior of the structure. The frescoing, beautiful in design and elaborate in execution, is the admiration
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of those whose culture enables them to fully appreciate its merits. On the left of the altar, and facing the auditorium, is a beautiful fresco of the Madonna and Child, while on the right is the vault in which Mrs. Corby deposited the mortal remains of her husband, John Corby. This is an open space with a highly ornamented arched entrance looking toward the altar. Upon a deeply recessed tablet on the outside of the north wall of the vault, which is ornamented with two beautiful columns, carved and chased to symbolize mourning, is inscribed in raised letters, "To the Memory of John Corby." On the western wall of the interior of the vault is a fine painting of the Holy Sepulcher, and on the canopy above is a painting of "Our Saviour." On the outer or northern wall of the interior is represented the "As- cension," and between the windows are the fourteen "Stations of the Cross," represent- ing Christ going from the judgment hall in Jerusalem to Mount Calvary without the gates. Upon the walls of the nave above are bas-reliefs, life size, of the twelve apos- tles. These various scenes are of superior artistic merit, are beautifully set in appro- priate moldings, and the spaces about them are highly ornamented with Gothic tracery. The chapel, which will seat about 300 peo- ple, is indeed a gem of beauty, and is a fitting and lovely expression of the genuine piety and tender affections of her who thus prac- tically pays loving tribute to him to whom it is built in commemoration.
During the latter years of her life Mrs. Corby arranged for the placing of her own remains in this vault by the side of those of her husband, when she should be called from earth. After a long illness, which she bore with much fortitude and Christian resig- nation, she departed this life and was ushered into the life to which her loved ones had pre- ceded her, on the 10th of January, 1899. Be- side the remains of Mrs. Corby and her husband, there now rest in the chapel the re- mains of her step-father, Sidney S. Harris; her mother, Marguerite (Musick) Harris, and her beloved brother-in-law, Dr. Edgar B. Forsee, and a vault has also been prepared for the reception of the remains of her sister, Mrs. Edgar B. Forsee, when that worthy woman shall lay aside the cares and respon- sibilities of this life. Thus is evidenced the fact that Mrs. Corby was not only careful
in looking after the affairs of life, but, with tender regard, made provision for the last resting places of those endeared to her by the ties of nature. Before her death Mrs. Corby conveyed the chapel and cemetery to the Sisters of Charity, making ample provi- sion for their maintenance and improvement. This generous gift proclaims her a public benefactress and entitles her to lasting re- membrance. During the later years of her life she made her home with Mrs. Forsee, who, with true sisterly devotion, nursed and cared for her through her long illness. There was much of sadness in her later life, but throughout this period of trial she was sus- tained by an unfaltering trust in God, and buoyed up by a spirit worthy of a true fol- lower of Christ. A true child of the Catholic Church, she was always devoted to its wel- fare, and her memory will long be revered by those who were associated with her in the advancement of its interests. Before her death she made Mrs. Forsee the heir to her estate, and her last wishes are being loyally observed by the sister to whom this trust was confided.
Corby, John, prominent as a philan- thropist, railroad promoter and builder, merchant and banker, and pioneer in many of the enterprises which helped to make St. Joseph the city it has become, was born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, June 24, 1808. He was the second child and eldest son in a family of ten children, whose parents were John and Bridget (Shehan) Corby, who, in 1820, with their family, emigrated to America and settled on a farm in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. There John Corby remained only a few years, and then started out in the world to find an honest means of obtaining a livelihood. His industrious and frugal habits soon enabled him to become an employer instead of being employed, and in a few years he became a contractor on the Baltimore & Washington Railway, one of the first railroads built in the country. He after- ward took and carried out large contracts on the Pittsburg & Erie Canal, on the Grand Slack Water Navigation project for Licking River, Kentucky, on the Madison & Indian- apolis Railroad, and also contracts for rail- roads, pikes and levees in Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.
During a trip to the West, Mr. Corby vis-
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ited St. Joseph in October, 1843, and with wise foresight reached the conclusion that this would become a commercial city of note. It was then a mere trading post, but with unerring judgment he read the future in store for it, and purchased a number of lots from Joseph Robidoux. In the following spring he bought out a large stock of goods, com- menced merchandising, and erected'the first brick house in the town. For a number of years he carried on the largest retail busi- iness in the vicinity, investing his profits in real estate, which, in later years, yielded rich returns. In 1857 he retired from the dry goods trade and opened a banking house, in which line of business he continued until his death.
Mr. Corby was made mayor of his adopted city, and served many times as a member of the City Council, in all of which positions he not only gave entire satisfaction to his constituents, but did honor to himself and at the same time advanced the best interests of the municipality. In public positions he brought to bear on affairs the same wisdom, sagacity and honesty which in private life made him respected, honored and successful.
Mr. Corby was one of the originators of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, taking an active part in securing its charter and franchise. In order to determine the best route for the road, he also made several car- riage and horseback trips across the State. He was a member of its first board of direc- tors, which position he resigned to become a contractor, and as such constructed twen- ty-five miles of the road. The Roseport & Maryville, or Palmetto Railroad Company, was organized in 1857, with General Jeff. Thompson as president, and John Corby as vice president.
Later Mr. Corby became the president of this company, and under his administration it was consolidated with the Northern Rail- road of Kansas under the name of the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad Company. By this act the company secured 125,000 acres of land, granted by the State of Kan- sas to the Wathena (Kansas) Railroad Com- pany, and this' insured the success of the en- terprise. In those early days Mr. Corby was also a director in the St. Joseph & Topeka Railroad Company. In 1856 he was elected mayor of St. Joseph, being always foremost in every enterprise from which benefit could
accrue to the city of his home. In 1858 he was one of the incorporators of, and a direc- tor in, the St. Joseph branch of the bank of this State, and when this was, in 1864, merged into the State National Bank, he be- came a director of that institution, and so continued until a short time before his de- mise.
On May 30, 1852, Mr. Corby was united in marriage with Miss Amanda Musick, youngest daughter of the late Honorable Joel L. Musick, of Florissant, St. Louis County, Missouri. After a life of constant activity he was attacked with heart disease in 1867, and consulted some of the best physicians in the United States, with but little benefit. In 1869 he visited Florida, where he spent a part of the winter, returning to St. Joseph on February 2, 1870, and residing there until his death on the 9th of May fol- lowing. In many respects he was a remark- able man, and though by nature he was given to the accumulation of wealth, his methods were characterized by strict integrity, a prac- tical piety and a warm, kind-hearted and wise charity. He made liberal donations to St. Joseph Seminary of the Sacred Heart and' other institutions in earlier years, and one year gave to the St. Joseph Hospital between $4,000 and $5,000; in the same year he gave $5,000 to a female seminary to be located on St. Joseph Avenue and Albemarle Street, $10,000 and lots for building the St. Joseph Cathedral, and 160 acres of land, valued at about $10,000, for a Catholic cemetery near the city, thus making a total of about $30,000 dispensed during that year alone for religious. educational and charitable purposes.
Corbyn, William B., minister and ed- ucator, was born in Windham County, Con- necticut, June 1, 1814. He was the son of Joseph Perrin and Mary Howard Corbyn. He passed his boyhood and early youth in Monroe County, New York, and was pre- pared for college in Phillips Academy, Mas- sachusetts. He entered Yale College in 1835 and graduated in 1839. The next four years he spent as assistant teacher in Phil- lips Academy and in the study of theology. In August, 1841, he was married to Miss Henrietta N. Wright, daughter of Mr. Joseph Wright, of Glastonbury, Connecticut. She died in January, 1843, leaving an infant son, who is now the Rev. W. W. Corbyn, rector
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of a parish in East Plymouth, Ohio. In December, 1843, Rev. William B. Corbyn was admitted to holy orders in the Episcopal Church at Boston, Massachusetts. In 1845 he was called to the rectorship of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in St. Louis. In 1848 he was sent by Rt. Rev. Cicero S. Hawks, D. D., Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Missouri, to Palmyra, Marion County, for the purpose of opening a school, which was after- ward known as St. Paul's College. Here he labored diligently and suc- cessfully for more than twenty years, bringing the college to a commanding posi- tion which was recognized not only in Marion County, but throughout the State, where it stood second to none. From that time until the summer of 1871, except for an interval of three and a half years, he was engaged in teaching at St. Paul's. In July, 1855, he was married to Miss Mary Frances McDonald, daughter of Mr. Edward McDon- ald, of Hannibal, Missouri. With their daughter, Edith, born August 17, 1856, they now reside at Quincy, Illinois.
Corder .- A village, in Lafayette County, on the Kansas City division of the Chicago & Alton Railway, twenty miles southeast of Lexington, the county seat. It has a public school, churches of the Baptist, Catholic, German Methodist Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal South, and Presby- terian denominations, a Democratic news- paper, the "Dispatch"; a bank, a mill, and a tile and brick factory. In 1899 the popu- lation was estimated at 700. The town was platted in 1878, by W. J. Leise, the first postmaster and storekeeper, and was in- corporated in 1881.
Corning .- A town of 250 inhabitants, in Holt County, fifty-one miles from St. Joseph, on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad. It was laid out in I868. It has three stores, a bank, the People's Bank, capital and sur- plus $16,200, deposits $14,000; a German Reformed and a Methodist Episcopal Church, a steam flouring mill and a grain elevator.
Cornyn, Florence M., physician, was born August 3, 1829, in Bridgeport, Ohio, son of an Irish immigrant who had settled there some years earlier. He was carefully
educated, being graduated from St. Mary's Jesuit College, of Marion County, Kentucky, and completed his medical studies at the New York University. After graduating from the last named institution, in 1849, he crossed the plains to the Pacific Coast, and was the first physician to open an office and begin the practice of medicine at Sacramento, California. In 1852 he returned to the States and settled in St. Louis, where he was en- gaged in general practice until appointed physician to the City Hospital. After serving three years in that capacity, he resigned to become surgeon of volunteers of the First Missouri Infantry Regiment, commanded at the beginning of the Civil War by Colonel --- afterward General-Frank P. Blair. He was, up to the time that he entered the Union Army, Brigade Surgeon of the Missouri Militia on the staff of General D. M. Frost. In 1862 he resigned the surgeonship of the First Missouri Infantry to raise the Tenth Missouri Cavalry Regiment, of which he was commissioned colonel. He commanded this regiment with skill and ability, had many engagements with General Forrest, and es- tablished an enviable reputation for bravery and gallantry as a commanding officer. He was killed in a personal difficulty by one of his officers, and his remains were after- ward brought to St. Louis and buried in Cal- vary Cemetery. A monument, erected to his memory by admiring friends, bears the inscription :
COLONEL FLORENCE M. CORNYN : Born August 3, 1829 ; Died August 10, 1863.
"After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well."
This monument was placed here by his friends and comrades in arms, to perpetuate the memory of a soldier without fear, and a patriot without reproach.
A list of the engagements in which he par- ticipated, inscribed on the monument, shows him to have taken part in the capture of Camp Jackson, and the battles of Boonville, Dug Springs, Wilson's Creek, Fort Donel- son, Shiloh, Corinth, Tuscumbia, Lundy's Lane, Town Creek, Florence, Iuka, Burton and Leighton.
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