An Article of Interest

Our Scattered Family

by Lily Corson

William Henry CORSON married Cordelia COMFORT December 13, 1842 in Grimsby Township, Lincoln County, Ontario. Both were born in Gainsborough Township, Lincoln County. He February 20, 1824 and she May 1, 1826. They are buried in Bexley Township, Victoria County.

There were 12 children born to this marriage. The first, a son, was William Adolphus born October 19, 1843. He married Mary Ann McMasters 9b Jan. 5, 1843, d Aug.26, 1896 on December 20, 1864. She is buried Mt. Hope Cemetery, Brighton. Family tradition has Capt. Billy, as he was known, drowning in Lake Erie. The date recieved from a relative was 1909. Apparently there were 3 children of this marriage.

Next child we have as “Marie”, b November 7, 1845.We knew nothing more of her until a researcher happened to see an entry in the Lincoln County Marriages. It reads:

– “Elizabeth McCourson”. All the other data was correct.

She married Ealkney DINGMAN. Then no more was known until while searching the 1881 census the family was located in Muskoka Township in the District of Muskoka. The listing was:

DINGMAN, Ealkney 38 Ont. E.Meth German labourer

Maria 35

Louis Welling 15 baker

Wilbert L. 12

Nancy J. 10

Louisa C. 6

Robert C. 4

Herbert 1

DINGMAN, Louis Franklin 22

I would appreciate any further information on this family. We have tried for years to find “our roots”. William Henry was called a cousin of the family of Rev. Robert Corson the saddlebag preacher of early days but where he fitted in no one seems to know. He is not mentioned in the wills of any known relatives which we have located. But then wills are often very partial. Lately I have found that a son of Rev. Robert was married and had a daughter, yet no mention of her has ever been made in family records.

The other ten children all married and moved away. One went to British Columbia, another to Spokane, Washington, others settled in Toronto while some remained in Bexley Township in Victoria County. Even stranger, if true, is the fact that one member is buried in a Lindsay, Ontario Cemetery while his tombstone is in Bexley!

I am related through marriage to the 10th child, Benjamen and would like to find more relatives so we can put the family tree together. The first CORSON we have record of is Daniel Corson (1863, Sussex Co. N.J. USA) -1849 (Brantford Ont.) His wife was Rebecca LAWRASON (Larrison in the States)

I have the Larrison chart, but nothing for Daniel-no marriage date, and nothing on Rebecca. They came to Canada with the Nathaniel Pettit group and were related. This would be about 1787. They settled in Clinton Township Lincoln County. Two sons and a Daniel (father? son) served in the War of 1812 – 1814.

The book, “Father Corson” is a record of the life and gospel labours of Rev. Robert Corson, a son of Daniel and Rebecca. We can find six children. One of them, Esther, married a Timothy WOOD on September 22, 1807. If anyone can help I would appreciate it very much. Also, if anyone wants to share information I will be happy to do so.

Lily Corson, P.O. Box 41, Plenty, Saskatchewan SOL 2RO.

This article first appeared in the November 1988 newsletter, Volume 4 - Number 2