Champaign County IL Archives Biographies.....Corbley, Lindsey 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Celia Snyder cgsnyder@uiuc.edu September 1999

Biography of Lindsey CORBLEY, Champaign County, Illinois

From:  "History of Champaign County, Illinois with Illustrations," 1878

LINDSEY CORBLEY

The subject of this sketch, who is now serving his eighth term as
supervisor from Kerr township, is a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania,
where he was born on the 15th of November, 1831. His grandfather, the Rev.
John CORBLEY, emigrated from England to this country, and first lived in
the city of Philadelphia; afterward removed to Western Virginia; and
finally settled in south- western Pennsylvania, in Greene county, at the
period of the earliest settlement of that region of country. His history
has been commemorated by a series of sketches published during the
centennial of our independence. The date of his settlement there was
previous to the Revolutionary war. He had three children massacred by the
Indians. He was an active and influential minister of the Baptist
denomination, and founded several churches in that part of Pennsylvania.
Great energy and decision were prominent traits in his character. He was an
effective preacher, and is described as having been capable of producing
remarkable impressions on an audience. His death occurred in 1803. William
CORBLEY, the father of the subject of this biography, married Rebecca
STEPHENS in Greene county, Pennsylvania. By this marriage there were eight
children, of whom Lindsey CORBLEY was the fourth.

In the year 1837, the family emigrated from Pennsylvania to Athens county,
Ohio, and there he was raised, acquiring a good common school education. At
the age of sixteen he left home, and went into the employment of his uncle
in Fairfield county, Ohio, who was largely engaged in the stock business.
He made frequent trips with stock across the mountains to Philadelphia and
New York On the first of these trips he started with cattle from Missouri;
from that State they were driven to Illinois and there wintered; and from
Illinois the following spring, on to Philadelphia. The trip from Illinois
to Pennsylvania required seventy-two days. Although railroads were then in
operation, they had not at that date been used for the transportation of
cattle.

In the year 1853, Mr. Corbley removed from Ohio to Illinois, and settled in
Kerr township, Champaign county, then a young man twenty-two years of age.
In partnership with his brother, Edward CORBLEY, he bought 540 acres of
land on Middle Fork, and undertook the work of its improvement. On the 24th
of February, 1856, he was married to Sarah WOOD, daughter of Henry WOOD,
who was one of the pioneer settlers of Vermillion county. The fall of 1855,
Mr. Corbley removed to Ford county, then a part of Vermillion; he resided
there till 1863, when he returned to Champaign county, and settled where he
now lives, on section 12, township 22, range 11. He is the owner of eleven
hundred acres of land, and has been largely engaged in farming and
stock-raising.

The death of his first wife occurred on the 17th of January, 1866. On the
24th of March, 1867, he was united in marriage to Mary A. SNOLL, a native
of Crawford county, Pennsylvania. This marriage took place at Meadville,
Pennsylvania. Mr. Corbley has six children, Henry L., William Sherman,
James L., Freddie M., Lama F., and Evalin. The three eldest and
first-mentioned are by his first, and the others by his second marriage.
Mr. Corbley was an early Republican. He has been a member of that party
from its first organization, and voted for Fremont for President in 1856.
He remained a member of the Republican party till within the last three
years, since which time his political action has taken an independent
basis. He is still, however, a firm believer in the cardinal doctrines of
Republicanism, though he differs from the financial policy which has shaped
the course of the party, believing that the time has come when the
interests of Western agriculturists and producers should receive
recognition at the hands of legislative bodies, as well as those of Eastern
capitalists.

Mr. Corbley is a gentleman of liberality and enterprise. His success has
been gained by judicious enterprise and careful business management. His
personal relations with his neighbors in his business transactions have
been of the pleasantest character. The number of times he has been chosen
by the people of his township to represent them on the Board of
Supervisors, is sufficient evidence of his popularity, and the confidence
reposed in him.


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