Charles Estabrook Cory, lawyer, the secretary of the Fort Scott Bar Association, and one of the leading members of the legal profession in the southeastern part of Kansas, was born at Dunfries, Brant county, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 2, 1853, son of Nathaniel Vail and Eleanor (Springstead) Cory. His ancestors were among those United Empire Loyalists who emigrated from New England to Canada at the time of the American Revolution. Charles E. Cory was reared on his father's arm in Canada and received his educational advantages at the country school of Otterville, Ontario. After leaving school he went to Michigan and worked in the lumber camps from 1871 to 1874. Hearing of the many opportunities for a young man in Kansas, he came here and settled near Osage Mission, now St. Paul, Neosho county, engaged in agricultural pursuits for two years, and then taught school until 1883. During that time he was successively principal of the schools at Pittsburg, Monmouth, and Cherokee, Kan. He decided to fit himself for a professional career and entered the law office of Eugene Ware, at Fort Scott, where he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1885. Mr. Cory entered actively into the life of the city after he opened an office and, in 1895, was elected attorney of Bourbon county, serving until 1897. He was member of the board of education of Fort Scott for a number of years; is a director of the Fort Scott Public Library, and of the Kansas Historical Society, which position he has held for many years. At the organization of the Fort Scott Bar Association Mr. Cory became its secretary, which position he has since held. Since 1898 he has been referee in bankruptcy. In politics he is a Republican, and he is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Cory belongs to various fraternal societies.

On July 1, 1880, he was united in marriage, at Moundsville, Mo., to Ruth Emeline Kellogg. The family consists of one son and three daughters—Catharine K., Sarah Eleanor, George Edward, and Ruth V.