William Alonzo Corder Biography Barbour County, WV ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** Submitted by: Valerie Crook The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 593-594 Barbour WILLIAM ALONZO CORDER. In Barbour County the name Corder has come to stand for all those qualities and deeds that are significant of integrity in business and social rela- tionship. William Alonzo Corder, popularly known among his friends as "Lonnie," has steadfastly emulated the virtues of his father and grandfather in this respect, and as stockman, banker and man of affairs his personal judg- ment is as nearly standardized in current acceptation among his friends and associates as any coin of character can possibly be. Members of the Corder family have lived plain and modest lives, have done well for themselves and have assisted others to the extent of their power-have been useful, honorable and responsible at all times. The name Corder is of English and Irish ancestry. The founder of the American family was Joseph Corder, who came from England and settled in Virginia about the close of the Revolutionary war. His children consisted of four daughters and four sons, the sons being James, Joseph, William and John. James moved to Ohio and settled at Circleville, John located near Logansport, Indiana, and Joseph crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1838 into Western Virginia. The other son, William, grandfather of William A. Cor- der, was born March 29, 1785, in that portion of Frederick County now Fauquier County, Virginia. On September 14, 1811, he married Sarah Cole, of German ancestry and a native of Loudoun County, Virginia. In 1814, with two young children, they crossed the Alleghany Mountains, pass- ing through the wilderness until in December they reached what is now Barbour, then a part of Harrison County. Here William Corder bought fifty acres of land for $450. He bought this from Peter Robinson, and it was located on Hacker, near Philippi. On the land he put up a small cabin of hewn logs, and within its walls started the simple life of the pioneer. From an humble beginning his indus- try carried him into the ranks of the well-to-do, and eventu- ally he became owner of 1,200 acres. He and his wife had eleven children, named Joseph, William, Joshua, James, John, Edward, Elizabeth, Martha Ann, Mary, Ingaby and Hannah. Edward was a captain in the Confederate army during the Civil war, dying from wounds received while leading his men in action. His last words as he was bleed- ing to death were: "Go on men, push forward and save the day. I am a dead man." Of this family James Corder was born on Hacker, near Philippi, January 15, 1824. Pioneer days had not altogether disappeared while he was a boy, and in a new country he had only an education supplied by subscription schools a few weeks each year. He was well prepared for a life of toil and activity when he reached manhood. Remaining under the parental roof until he was thirty-five years of age, he was then given about 200 acres of land by his father. At that time land was cheap and this inheritance represented only an opportunity for hard work and long persevering toil. He paid the price of success on these terms, and at one time his estate was represented by 1 500 acres and much real estate and personal property besides. At his death on March 16, 1905, he was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in the county, and the wealth of esteem paid his character was even greater. He was a conservative and careful business man, and an example of his conserva- tism is found in the fact that he took nearly ten years to perfect and arrange his will. His old friends still say of him that while he was slow in arriving at a definite con- clusion he was always right and he never broke his word. He made money as a farmer and through cattle, and he had few equals as a judge of live stock. He had made con- siderable progress toward accumulating a moderate portion when the Civil war came on, and before it was over he was down at the bottom of the ladder and had to begin over again. A Southern sympathizer, he suffered the inevitable hostility paid a Southern man, and when the Jones raiders came through Philippi they ran off his cattle and horses and took away much other personal property. He met the men on the road driving off his live stock, and stopping them, he pleaded that they return him the oxen, which were his sole dependents for hauling wood. One of the raiders threatened to shoot him if he did not get out of the way, but he refused to yield and in the end he secured his yoke of oxen. However, the loss of the cattle left him heavily in debt. In that crisis he went to his father for assistance. His father was regarded as a wealthy man, but, without directly refusing the aid asked, felt that it would be a good test of character for a young man still with his best years before him if permitted to depend upon his own resources in this emergency. The young man then borrowed money at 10 per cent interest in order to restock his farm, and he proved equal to the test and before long had recouped his losses and was once more rated as a man of wealth. James Corder married Mary C. Bond, daughter of Reuben Bond. She was born in Harrison County, August 10, 1830, and died November 27, 1904. The children of this good old couple were: William Alonzo; A. B. Corder, of Taylor County; Icy, who is Mrs. L. D. Woodford, of Philippi; Sarah, who married W. F. Cole, of Barbour County; and Stella, who died when in her 'teens. James Corder was not a man to regard his responsibilities ended with looking after his own interests. He was one of the leading members of the Primitive Baptist Church in his community. He and his brother Joshua built what is known as the Mount Olive Church on Hacker, and that house of worship is still standing. He was not a seeker of public office, though asked many times to serve. He gave liberally to church and charitable causes, and was more than willing to come to the assistance of his friends and neighbors in time of need, and he served them in the true spirit of Christian fellowship. A son of James W. and Mary C. (Bond) Corder, William Alonzo Corder was born on Hacker in Barbour County, October 20, 1862. While he has no recollection of the war itself, his early youth was spent in the period immediately following the war, when the country in general was recover- ing and while his father was making valiant efforts to re- establish himself as a stock man. He made the best pos- sible use of such educational opportunities as were at hand, and while he realizes now that conditions were rather hard and that he was deprived of many of the advantages given to youth of more modern times, he also feels that his character was really strengthened In this school of bard knocks, and the lessons of thrift he thus gained have been of inestimable value to him in later years. Farming and stock raising have constituted his primary activities, and like his father, he is a judge of good live stock and has set a high standard in his home county as a business-like farmer. His homestead is frequently pointed out as one of the best examples of progressive agriculture and stock husbandry in that part of the state. His farm, which is known as Meadow Brook Farm, comprises 700 acres, beau- tifully located about three miles north of Philippi, on the Beverly and Fairmont Pike, and at all seasons of the year it is a model of systematic arrangement and efficient man- agement. Much of the land of the farm is underlaid with coal. Supplementing his farming activities, William A. Corder has had other business concerns. He was at one time in the mercantile business and was postmaster at Switzers. He became one of the organizers and a director of the People's Bank of Philippi on September 15, 1908, and later was made first vice president of that institution and is also one of the Discount Committee. His talent for business, his wide experience and knowledge of men and conditions made him especially valuable in handling the resources of the bank. For fifteen years he has been one of the men largely responsible for the growth and prosperity of this institution, and gives much of his personal time to the bank. He is also a director of the Laurel Hill Orchard Company. Mr. Corder is not a member of any secret or fraternal order, is a democrat in politics, and is an active member and attends worship at the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church, where his father and grandfather worshipped before him. On June 19, 1884, Mr. Corder married Nannie R. Rey- nolds, who was born October 28, 1863, daughter of Ben- jamin S. and Lucy (Pell) Reynolds. Mrs. Corder graduated from the Fairmont State Normal School in 1881. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Corder is a son, James S. Corder, a brief sketch of whom follows: