The Genealogy of the Second and Third Children of James and Cynthia Corbin

The second child of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin was a son, Griffin Corbin.   He was born on December 7, 1839 in Lake County, Indiana and died one week later on December 14, 1839.   Nothing is known to the author of the circumstances of his birth or death.   The location of his grave is also not known.   Burials of remote family farms were just as common in those days as burials in graveyards and cemeteries.

The third child of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin, was Elmer Nathanial Corbin, who was universally known to his family as Nathan Corbin.   He was on January 22, 1841 in Lake County, Indiana and died on October 9, 1909 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska.   He was 68 years old. 

Nathan Corbin had a long and interesting life.  On all of the census reports (1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900) he is listed as a farmer.   He moved with his parents and other siblings many times.  From Lake County, Indiana he moved to Dodge County, Missouri then Texas and back to a farm at West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri where he was married to Sarah Jane Wilder on July 3, 1864 at Central City, Putnam County, Missouri.

Sarah Jane Wilder was born January 21, 1847 at Green, Erie County, Pennsylvania and died December 1, 1896 near the little town of Ayr in Adams County, Nebraska.   She was the daughter of James Wilder and Anna Jane (Pressley) Wilder.

James Wilder was born in Drummerston, Windum County, Vermont in 1808 and died in Putnam County, Missouri in 1872.   Anna Jane Pressley was born on September 9, 1809 at Guildford, Vermont and died on May 9, 1897 at 98-years-old while living with her son James Wilder, Jr. in Walla Walla, Washington.   They were the parents of ten children:  Joseph Pressley (1829-1890); Eliza (1836-1904); James E. (1839-1881); Alonzo (1840- ); Loren H. (1842-1884); John (1844 - ); Sarah Jane (1847-1896); Minerva (1853 - ); James Jr. (1855 - ); and Anna Jane (1857 - ).

The Wilders were married in 1827 in New York State, were living in Union, Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1840, Greene, Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1850, Kaskaskie, Fayette County, Illinois in 1860, Putnam County, Missouri in 1870, (James died in 1872) and Anna J. Wilder was living with her son James in Cottonwood, Umatilla County, Oregon in 1880 and died in 1897 while still living with son James in Walla Walla, Washington.

Nathan Corbin's sister, Mary Elizabeth Corbin, married Loren H. Wilder, the brother of Sarah Jane Wilder.   Therefore there were many double cousins in these two lines of the Corbin and Wilder families.   It also indicates that they were close neighbors in the West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri neighborhood.

Nathan and Sarah Jane (Wilder) Corbin spent the first ten years of their married life in Putnam County, Missouri.   Nathan first farmed for his father and then went into business with his brother-in-law, Loren H. Wilder, operating a general store in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri.

It isn't really know how the decision was made, but nearly all of the James and Cynthia (Casteel) Corbin families moved to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska where they homesteaded farms.   It would appear that perhaps John and Sarah Catherine (Corbin) Marshall may have provided the impetus since John Marshall was the first  of the family to file a homestead claim in Section 30 of Hanover Township, Adams County, Nebraska in the fall of 1872.

In 1873, the following names and dates are found in file claims:
               James Corbin - Section 14 - 1873
               Loren H. Wilder - Section 14 - 1873
               John Marshall - Section 22 - 1873
               James P. Corbin - Section 23 - 1873
               Nathan Corbin - Section 23 - 1879

This would lead us to wonder if perhaps Nathan and Sarah Jane Corbin bought out Loren and Elizabeth Corbin's share of the general store and remained in West Liberty for six more years.  The census is of no help because it is only taken every 10 years and was enumerated in 1860, 1870, and 1880.    Whatever the dates and reasons, the entire family is enumerated in Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska by the time the 1880 U. S. Census was taken.

This is what the little town of Ayr, Nebraska would have looked like to our ancestors living there in the early 1900s.

The author visited Ayr, Nebraska in August 1977.   There are about 200 residents living in the city now.   The cemetery where most of the Corbins, Marshalls, Wilders and Bells are buried, is known by a couple of names: the Blue Valley Cemetery or the Leroy Cemetery.   It is located just to the northeast of the little community along Nebraska Highway 281.  The cemetery is in a beautiful setting and well maintained.

Nathan and Sarah Jane (Wilder) Corbin were the parents of four children:
James Nathaniel born August 16, 1867 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
                            died February 15, 1923
Marietta Jane born October 17, 1868 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
                       died March 4, 1869 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
William Fletcher born December 22, 1869 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
                            died November 15, 1872, West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
Clara Evelyn born June 19, 1872 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri
                      died December 22, 1949 in Fairbury, Nebraska

Sarah Jane (Wilder) Corbin died December 1, 1896 after suffering a fall from a box she was standing on to retrieve some article from a high cupboard in her kitchen.   She is buried in the Blue Valley Cemetery near Ayr, Nebraska.

After Sarah Jane Corbin's death, Nathan hired a young neighbor girl to clean and cook for him.  She was Lena Barbery Heltenberg, who was 17.  Her mother had died and she was living with her father, Peter Heltenberg.   She also had brothers John and William Heltenberg.  On April 28, 1900 they were married at Hastings, the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska.  

They were the parents of seven children:
William Ernest Corbin born July 19, 1901 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska
McKinley Corbin born February 14, 1903 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska
                              died February 14, 1903 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska
Ethel Mae Corbin born February 17, 1904 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska
Sarah Anna Corbin born February 1, 1906 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska
Leonard Nathaniel Corbin, born November 8, 1908 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska

Elmer Nathaniel Corbin died at the hospital in Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska  on Saturday, October 9, 1909 at 7:35pm of dropsy.   His physician was Dr. O. S. Gray.   He was buried in the Leroy cemetery on October 12, 1909.   Dropsy is a heart condition whereby the body accumulates a great deal of excess fluid and strangles arteries.

The following year, Lena Barbery (Heltenberg) Corbin is found living with her father Peter Heltenberg when the 1910 U. S. Census was enumerated.   She later married a second time to Grover Wayne Goddard and they were the parents of nine additional children.   Grover and Lena Goddard are buried in the Blue Valley Cemetery, Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.

I do not have any photographs of Elmer Nathaniel Corbin or his wives Sarah Jane Wilder or Lena Barbery Heltenberg.   Incidently, somewhere I ran across a reference stating that Lena's name was actually Magdelena but I have not found any hard evidence to substantiate that information.

I think I will stop there and provide information about the children of Elmer Nathaniel Corbin in future blogs.    Happy Trails!