Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1019 - 1020

LEWIS H. CORBIN, one of the prominent and enterprising stock-raisers of Ohio Township, resides upon section 31. He came to this county in 1883, and settled upon his present farm, where he owns 168 acres of most fertile and productive land, on the Ninnescah River, and is considered one of the best farmers in that neighborhood. He is a self-made man in the truest sense of the word, as he started in life without any means, but with the assistance of his devoted wife, who has been to him a helpmate and counselor, he has, by dint of hard work, perseverance and economy, become the owner of his present comfortable fortune.

            Mr. Corbin made his appearance upon the stage of life July 3, 1853, in Highland County, Ohio, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Shaw) Corbin. His father was a native of Virginia, and died when our subject was but a child. His mother, who was born in Ohio, is now the wife of Warren Howell, and resides in Stockton, Cal. When but a boy, Mr. Corbin removed with his mother and stepfather to McDonough County, Ill., where the family resided about three years. At the expiration of that time they removed to Jasper County in the same State, where our subject was reared to manhood. He received the elements of a good common-school education in his youth, and was trained up to agricultural pursuits. He was one of a family of three children born to his parents, viz: David W., who is living in California; Thomas H., a resident of San Francisco, in the same State; and himself. He has also a stepbrother and sister, who bear the names of Edward B. and Julia Van Pelt, his mother having married a Mr. Van Pelt for her second husband.

            After having attained an age when he was able to start out in the world  and fight life's battles for himself, the subject of this personal narrative returned to Ohio, and located in his native county, where he was married in 1876. The following year the young couple, in search of the fortune which awaited them, and with an eye to the future, came to Kansas, which offered such inducements to all who were possessed with small means, and settled in Morris County. Six years later, they removed to Wabaunsee County, but after a short residence there, in 1883 they came to Sedgwick County, and settled on the farm where they now live in Ohio Township. Since locating in this place he has rapidly grown into the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and is serving at present as Treasurer of the school district.

            The marriage ceremony which united the destinies of Lewis H. Corbin and Miss Ella B. Shaw took place on the 23d of March, 1876. The bride of the occasion was born Dec. 13, 1853, in Highland County, Ohio, in which State she was married, and is a daughter of John C. and Melinda J. (Shoemaker) Shaw. Her parents are residents of Highland County, Ohio, where they were among the first pioneers who settled in the leafy wilderness that then covered that portion of the Buckeye State. The circumstances of the case caused them to endure unusual hardships and privations, as settlement at that date was attended by more difficulty than it has been in later years. Mrs. Corbin is the fourth child of a large family born to her parents, of whom there are only six still living. Their names are as follows: George, who is living in Highland County, Ohio; Amanda, the wife of James Campbell, of Marshall County, Kan.; James, residing in Highland County, Kan.; Ella B., the wife of the subject of this sketch; Emily, the wife of Norval Bailey, living in Pickaway County, Ohio, and Samuel, still residing in his native county, in the Buckeye State. Mrs. Corbin's grandfather, Solomon Shoemaker, was a soldier during the war with Great Britain in 1812-15, as was her uncle, Thomas Whitley.

            There have come to gladden the hearts and brighten the fireside of Mr. and Mrs. Corbin four children: Monnie J., who was born Feb. 25, 1877; Coney W., Sept. 15, 1878; Cora A., Sept. 22, 1883, and Lewis C., on the 26th of January, 1888. Both Mr. and Mrs. Corbin are engaged in all good work calculated to benefit the community, and in the domestic joys of rearing their children around the family hearth, surrounded by all the noble influences of a Christian home.

            In all matters of public spirit and enterprise the subject of this sketch takes a prominent part, and lends his encouragement to every measure that is calculated to elevate his fellowmen in a social sense. In his political faith he is a Republican, and a stanch follower of the doctrines as formulated by that party. He comes of a patriotic family, his grandfather, Dennis Corbin, having been a soldier during the War of 1812, and is filled with an intense love of country.

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