Individual Details
GIDEON ELISHA CLARK COREY
(21 May 1757 - Bef Mar 1824)
[Map of New Canaan settlers - The New Canaan grant, showing the names of original settlers. On the map Gideon owned lots 10 and 11, but he later bought lot 13, which became the Corey homestead for the next 150 years.]
[Memorial stone - The memorial cairn in New Canaan, raised by Gideon Corey's great-great-grandson, Blois Corey and his wife, Dorothy Clark, lists all the original land grantees, including Gideon and his son Elisha.]
Early Life
Gideon Corey was born in Rhode Island in 1757, and lived his early years there. He was a cooper by profession, and a Quaker by faith. A strong tradition exists that Gideon served in a Loyalist military unit during the Revolution. The Bartletts write, "It was recently reported that he was in the Loyal New Englanders, a small detachment of troops that campaigned against the New England revolutionaries. His brother-in-law, Ebenezer Slocum, of North Kings Town, Rhode Island, was a lieutenant in the same force." If this true it would seem to go against his Quaker beliefs, which could also account for his imprisonment. And it should be recalled that several families of Coreys and Slocums removed to Canada, so there is more to it than Gideon's possible military service.
In any case, probably late in the wat, perhaps in 1782, Gideon and Ebenezer Slocum were taken prisoner and held by one Benjamin Baker in Boston, who appears to have treated them both well. This incident has led to a family story of escape, related below.
With the signing of peace in the spring of 1783, Gideon was transported to Lloyd's Neck, Long Island (near Huntingdon NY), where the British were gathering the Loyalist in preparation to removing them to Canada. It was from here that Gideon wrote a brief but informative letter to his half-brother William, still in Rhode Island:
Gideon Corey, extract of lettter to his brother Wm Corey of No. Kingston RI, April 11 1783: "I suppose you heard that E. Slocum and I were prisoners at Boston by Benj. Baker, who informed us your family were all well. We sailed from Boston in a cartel on the 1st of April and arrived at Lloyd's Neck on the 6th. I heard a few days since that Frank was well. I left brother Slocum and family well last Wednesday at Lloyd's Neck, they expect to sail for Saint Johns River within the course of the week, as does myself. Frank I hear intends to go, but whether with the first fleet I cannot tell. The King's proclamation declaring a cessation of arms by land and sea was read in this town last Tuesday. I would come and see you, but have not time before this fleet sails. "[Frances Corey, Rhode Island Records v. 111, p. 449]
"They" in this letter refers to the Slocum family. Wednesday was 9 Apr 1783, when the ship sailed. Tuesday was 8 Apr 1783, when the proclamation was read. "E. Slocum" is Ebenezer Slocum, Gideon's brother-in-law, who married Gideon's sister, Esther.
Gideon sailed on the Spring Fleet and arrived in Parrtown (now Saint John) on 10 May 1783, on the ship "Union," said to be the first ship to arrive with Loyalists.
Descendant Blois Corey, writes that "Gideon did not have a wife on the passenger list, so it is assumed that he and Abigail [Clark] were married soon after his arrival in Saint John. It would be very possible and most likely that they knew each other before coming to Canada and had plans to marry." [BC 18]
A new life
Once in Canada, Gideon commenced the accumulation of land. He drew lot 162 Carlton, "across from Saint John" NB, but later moved up the Saint John River to Hampstead Parish, where he owned land. He owned town lots in Carlton and Gagetown. Gideon's will shows that by 1823 he owned land in New Canaan, a farm on Washademoak Lake, and "lots back of Carlton."
To New Canaan
The date of Gideon's arrival at New Canaan is not known with certainty. Stanley Corey writes, "Exactly when Gideon and Abigail moved to New Canaan is a matter of dispute. One source says 1793, but that seems too early since a deed of 1801 gives his residence as 'of the Saint John River.' Wiggin's History of Queen's County says Gideon was in Hampstead in 1796 and in New Canaan in 1810. Certain it is that he was in New Canaan by 1802, and that he lived there until his death in 1823." At least on 16 Jan 1802, Gideon and eighteen of the other New Canaan settlers, presented to Governor Winslow "the survey of our lots," and requested "that the Survey May be allowed to stand as it now is." For reasons not now understood, these grants were not conveyed at the time, and it was not until more than seven years had passed that the grants were finally made, on 2 Oct 1809.
Perhaps at about the same time as the grants were requested, Gideon, with Seth Bryant, George W. Price, Henry Kitchen, and others, applied to the Assembly for a grant of monies to build a road out of the settlement, the petitions reading in part:
That your Petitioners having settled on ungranted land remote from the market, and being put to great inconvenience in bringing the Produce of their farms to it, and from having lately settled upon them are unable to open the necessary roads for this purpose. Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that a grant of money may be made to them to enable them to open a Road from Kitchen's Mill at New Canaan to the head of the Settlement on the mill Stream, being a distance of 15 miles by which we will be able with ease to drive our Cattle into the Westmorland Road and from hence to Saint John, and your Petitioners as in duty bound Shall ever pray.
Death and will
Gideon died between August 1823 when his will was written, and March 1824, when the will was proved. The year of death is generally agreed to have been 1823. He was buried in the New Canaan Baptist Cemetery, where a small homemade marker reads,
"Gideon Corey / 1757 - 1823 /
& son / Gardiner Corey / 1795 - 1864"
His name appears on the Memorial Cairn to first settlers of New Canaan in that community.
His Will in abstract reads
GIDEON COREY, Parish of Brunswick Queens County, Yeoman. Will dated 8 Aug 1823, proved 16 March 1824. Wife Abigail a cow, two sheep and 3 Pounds per annum. Son Elisha Clarke Corey one third of my farm in Brunswick in value, a cow, and my iron tooth harrow. Son Thomas, all my lots back of Carlton, St John, and one-fifth part of the value of my farm at the Washademoak Lake and my broad ax. Remainder of farm at Washademoak Lake to sons Stephen and William Corey, they paying my daughters Esther Corey and Abigail Rider each 15 Pounds. Son Gardner Corey one quarter of the value of my farm at Brunswick and the money I lent him. Hannah Jones and Elizabeth Humphrey each 15 Pounds. Residue of my farm at Brunswick to my wife Abigail, sons Elisha Clarke and Stephen Corey and my four above-mentioned daughters. Wife Abigail the best room in my house at Brunswick and all household furniture. Grandson John Corey two sheep. Daughter Hannah Jones a cow. Granddaughters Esther and Elizabeth Rider each a sheep. Residue of estate to be divided amongst all children. Wife Abigail Corey, Gardner Corey and John Humphreys executors. Witnesses John Keith, Samuel Allward, Robert Keith. Inventory of real and personal estate, dated 21 January 1825, valued at 635 Pounds by Elias Clarke and Daniel Keith.
Abigail Clarke Corey
Gideon's wife Abigail survived him by 26 years. She removed to Petitcodiac, where she lived with her daughter Hannah and her husband, Jacob Jones. She is buried "in a cemetery above the Historic Sites and Monuments Cairn in East Petitcodiac," now known as the Pioneer Cemetery, with Hannah and Jacob. Her headstone reads: "In Memory of Abigail, wife of Gideon Corey, who died April 29, 1849, age 83 years."
Abigail's father Elisha Clarke, and her mother Desire Gardner, have been commemorated in the names of her descendants to the present time. Several early descendants were given the name, Elisha Clarke, or Elisha, or Clarke as a middle name. The name is variously spelled 'Clark' or 'Clarke.' Several descendants have had the name Gardner. This latter name has been more persistent, lasting into the Twentieth Century, and now generally spelled 'Gardner.'
The dates of birth of Gideon and Abigail's children are not known with certainly, and are listed in the order given in the genealogical papers, and with reference to those of Gideon's children who were still alive for the 1851 census.
A confusion of Gideons
Gideon is sometimes said to have married a certain Ruth Niles before he married Abigail Clarke. This was not the case, but the confusion is quite justifiable. The story is this. By a vagary of historical coincidence, there were two Gideon Coreys living in Rhode Island at the begining of the American Revolution. They were in fact first cousins. One of them, our Gideon, served in the Loyal New Englanders, and removed to Canada where he married Abigail Clark. The other, also from Rhode Island, and also born at a time approximately the same as our Gideon, served a full seven years in the Continental Army. After the war he returned home, and later in life applied for an army pension. Later yet his son applied for a grant of land based on his father's military service. This Gideon Corey married Ruth Niles. I am grateful to Dr. Stanley Corey of Green Valley, Arizona for this clarification.
Stories from family tradition
The incident of Gideon Corey as prisoner to Mr. Baker in Boston, related above, has led to tale that has persisted in the family for two hundred years. Here it is, as told, slightly adapted, by Rev. E. Gideon Corey in 1988:
A fat chance to escape! Gideon Corey, Mordecai Starkey, and (I think) William Perry, were prisoners of war together during the American Revelution. They were held in a log jail that had an earthen floor. They decided to escape, so they dug a hole in the floor. It was nearly morning when they realized that the hole was too small for Perry to get out of, as he was very stout. Perry wanted Corey and Starkey to leave him behind, and make good their own escape. But they would not do that. Instead, they filled in the hole and covered it with their baggage and clothes. The next night they made the hole large enough for Perry - and all escaped. This story has been retold down through the generations.
Rev. E. Gideon Corey told this interesting twist on the same story:
In 1937 I was in Winnipeg to the Canadian Student Assembly, and I called Dr. Perry, a professor at the University, who used to visit us in New Canaan, and he came and took me to his home. When I left with him to catch the train back to Wolfville, we met Dr. Sidney Smith, the President of the University. He recognized me as one of the Nova Scotia students he had entertained a few nights before. He said to Dr. Perry. 'Where did you meet this fellow?' Dr. Perry responded, 'Our people were in JAIL together!' For a few seconds there was a funny look on Dr. Smith's face, then he asked, "What's the story?'Dr. Perry was delighted to tell him about the war prisoners.
New Canaan holy waters!
One feature of Corey success is that so many of them became Baptist ministers. In an attempt to explain that phenomenon, the family tells this story:
On the banks of the New Canaan River, where the river flows westward in front of the old Corey home, was an elm tree, which blew down in 1936. It is said among the Coreys and by some Baptist clergymen, that when the New Canaan people wanted a new minister, they shook the limbs of the elm tree that hung over the river. A Corey would fall out f the tree and into the river. He went all the way under, was thoroughly baptized, and came out a Baptist minister ready to preach!
References: Gideon Corey genealogical papers sent to me by Dana Ryder under postal date 10 Nov 1993; J. Blois Corey, Early New Canaan Settler, 1992, cited as "BC"; M. Fred Bartlett and Cynthia L. Bartlett, "Gideon Corey, Loyalist and Mayflower Descendant," Generations 39, March 1989; Probate of the will of Gideon Corey, 16 Mar 1824; E. Gideon Corey, typescript, "Data on the Coreys Descended from William Corey"
[The Loyalist Memorial pictures - The Loyalist Memorial, with its inscription, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to those, like Gideon Corey, "compelled to leave their homes...to secure British institiions for themselves and their posterity."]
[Gideon Corey headstones - The gravestone of Gideon Corey and his son Gardiner at New Canaan. These headstones were hand made from sandstone taken from the bottom of the Canaan River, where they had been flattened by the currents, and the lettering scratched on by another stone or sharp object. Most of the early stones were of his nature.]
[Petition picture - A petition by Gideon Corey and friends to build a road to market. The first settlers were all lterate. This is an example of Gideon's signature.]
He is the descening child in our line. [and the subject of the genealogy which follows][Corey Book]
[Memorial stone - The memorial cairn in New Canaan, raised by Gideon Corey's great-great-grandson, Blois Corey and his wife, Dorothy Clark, lists all the original land grantees, including Gideon and his son Elisha.]
Early Life
Gideon Corey was born in Rhode Island in 1757, and lived his early years there. He was a cooper by profession, and a Quaker by faith. A strong tradition exists that Gideon served in a Loyalist military unit during the Revolution. The Bartletts write, "It was recently reported that he was in the Loyal New Englanders, a small detachment of troops that campaigned against the New England revolutionaries. His brother-in-law, Ebenezer Slocum, of North Kings Town, Rhode Island, was a lieutenant in the same force." If this true it would seem to go against his Quaker beliefs, which could also account for his imprisonment. And it should be recalled that several families of Coreys and Slocums removed to Canada, so there is more to it than Gideon's possible military service.
In any case, probably late in the wat, perhaps in 1782, Gideon and Ebenezer Slocum were taken prisoner and held by one Benjamin Baker in Boston, who appears to have treated them both well. This incident has led to a family story of escape, related below.
With the signing of peace in the spring of 1783, Gideon was transported to Lloyd's Neck, Long Island (near Huntingdon NY), where the British were gathering the Loyalist in preparation to removing them to Canada. It was from here that Gideon wrote a brief but informative letter to his half-brother William, still in Rhode Island:
Gideon Corey, extract of lettter to his brother Wm Corey of No. Kingston RI, April 11 1783: "I suppose you heard that E. Slocum and I were prisoners at Boston by Benj. Baker, who informed us your family were all well. We sailed from Boston in a cartel on the 1st of April and arrived at Lloyd's Neck on the 6th. I heard a few days since that Frank was well. I left brother Slocum and family well last Wednesday at Lloyd's Neck, they expect to sail for Saint Johns River within the course of the week, as does myself. Frank I hear intends to go, but whether with the first fleet I cannot tell. The King's proclamation declaring a cessation of arms by land and sea was read in this town last Tuesday. I would come and see you, but have not time before this fleet sails. "[Frances Corey, Rhode Island Records v. 111, p. 449]
"They" in this letter refers to the Slocum family. Wednesday was 9 Apr 1783, when the ship sailed. Tuesday was 8 Apr 1783, when the proclamation was read. "E. Slocum" is Ebenezer Slocum, Gideon's brother-in-law, who married Gideon's sister, Esther.
Gideon sailed on the Spring Fleet and arrived in Parrtown (now Saint John) on 10 May 1783, on the ship "Union," said to be the first ship to arrive with Loyalists.
Descendant Blois Corey, writes that "Gideon did not have a wife on the passenger list, so it is assumed that he and Abigail [Clark] were married soon after his arrival in Saint John. It would be very possible and most likely that they knew each other before coming to Canada and had plans to marry." [BC 18]
A new life
Once in Canada, Gideon commenced the accumulation of land. He drew lot 162 Carlton, "across from Saint John" NB, but later moved up the Saint John River to Hampstead Parish, where he owned land. He owned town lots in Carlton and Gagetown. Gideon's will shows that by 1823 he owned land in New Canaan, a farm on Washademoak Lake, and "lots back of Carlton."
To New Canaan
The date of Gideon's arrival at New Canaan is not known with certainty. Stanley Corey writes, "Exactly when Gideon and Abigail moved to New Canaan is a matter of dispute. One source says 1793, but that seems too early since a deed of 1801 gives his residence as 'of the Saint John River.' Wiggin's History of Queen's County says Gideon was in Hampstead in 1796 and in New Canaan in 1810. Certain it is that he was in New Canaan by 1802, and that he lived there until his death in 1823." At least on 16 Jan 1802, Gideon and eighteen of the other New Canaan settlers, presented to Governor Winslow "the survey of our lots," and requested "that the Survey May be allowed to stand as it now is." For reasons not now understood, these grants were not conveyed at the time, and it was not until more than seven years had passed that the grants were finally made, on 2 Oct 1809.
Perhaps at about the same time as the grants were requested, Gideon, with Seth Bryant, George W. Price, Henry Kitchen, and others, applied to the Assembly for a grant of monies to build a road out of the settlement, the petitions reading in part:
That your Petitioners having settled on ungranted land remote from the market, and being put to great inconvenience in bringing the Produce of their farms to it, and from having lately settled upon them are unable to open the necessary roads for this purpose. Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that a grant of money may be made to them to enable them to open a Road from Kitchen's Mill at New Canaan to the head of the Settlement on the mill Stream, being a distance of 15 miles by which we will be able with ease to drive our Cattle into the Westmorland Road and from hence to Saint John, and your Petitioners as in duty bound Shall ever pray.
Death and will
Gideon died between August 1823 when his will was written, and March 1824, when the will was proved. The year of death is generally agreed to have been 1823. He was buried in the New Canaan Baptist Cemetery, where a small homemade marker reads,
"Gideon Corey / 1757 - 1823 /
& son / Gardiner Corey / 1795 - 1864"
His name appears on the Memorial Cairn to first settlers of New Canaan in that community.
His Will in abstract reads
GIDEON COREY, Parish of Brunswick Queens County, Yeoman. Will dated 8 Aug 1823, proved 16 March 1824. Wife Abigail a cow, two sheep and 3 Pounds per annum. Son Elisha Clarke Corey one third of my farm in Brunswick in value, a cow, and my iron tooth harrow. Son Thomas, all my lots back of Carlton, St John, and one-fifth part of the value of my farm at the Washademoak Lake and my broad ax. Remainder of farm at Washademoak Lake to sons Stephen and William Corey, they paying my daughters Esther Corey and Abigail Rider each 15 Pounds. Son Gardner Corey one quarter of the value of my farm at Brunswick and the money I lent him. Hannah Jones and Elizabeth Humphrey each 15 Pounds. Residue of my farm at Brunswick to my wife Abigail, sons Elisha Clarke and Stephen Corey and my four above-mentioned daughters. Wife Abigail the best room in my house at Brunswick and all household furniture. Grandson John Corey two sheep. Daughter Hannah Jones a cow. Granddaughters Esther and Elizabeth Rider each a sheep. Residue of estate to be divided amongst all children. Wife Abigail Corey, Gardner Corey and John Humphreys executors. Witnesses John Keith, Samuel Allward, Robert Keith. Inventory of real and personal estate, dated 21 January 1825, valued at 635 Pounds by Elias Clarke and Daniel Keith.
Abigail Clarke Corey
Gideon's wife Abigail survived him by 26 years. She removed to Petitcodiac, where she lived with her daughter Hannah and her husband, Jacob Jones. She is buried "in a cemetery above the Historic Sites and Monuments Cairn in East Petitcodiac," now known as the Pioneer Cemetery, with Hannah and Jacob. Her headstone reads: "In Memory of Abigail, wife of Gideon Corey, who died April 29, 1849, age 83 years."
Abigail's father Elisha Clarke, and her mother Desire Gardner, have been commemorated in the names of her descendants to the present time. Several early descendants were given the name, Elisha Clarke, or Elisha, or Clarke as a middle name. The name is variously spelled 'Clark' or 'Clarke.' Several descendants have had the name Gardner. This latter name has been more persistent, lasting into the Twentieth Century, and now generally spelled 'Gardner.'
The dates of birth of Gideon and Abigail's children are not known with certainly, and are listed in the order given in the genealogical papers, and with reference to those of Gideon's children who were still alive for the 1851 census.
A confusion of Gideons
Gideon is sometimes said to have married a certain Ruth Niles before he married Abigail Clarke. This was not the case, but the confusion is quite justifiable. The story is this. By a vagary of historical coincidence, there were two Gideon Coreys living in Rhode Island at the begining of the American Revolution. They were in fact first cousins. One of them, our Gideon, served in the Loyal New Englanders, and removed to Canada where he married Abigail Clark. The other, also from Rhode Island, and also born at a time approximately the same as our Gideon, served a full seven years in the Continental Army. After the war he returned home, and later in life applied for an army pension. Later yet his son applied for a grant of land based on his father's military service. This Gideon Corey married Ruth Niles. I am grateful to Dr. Stanley Corey of Green Valley, Arizona for this clarification.
Stories from family tradition
The incident of Gideon Corey as prisoner to Mr. Baker in Boston, related above, has led to tale that has persisted in the family for two hundred years. Here it is, as told, slightly adapted, by Rev. E. Gideon Corey in 1988:
A fat chance to escape! Gideon Corey, Mordecai Starkey, and (I think) William Perry, were prisoners of war together during the American Revelution. They were held in a log jail that had an earthen floor. They decided to escape, so they dug a hole in the floor. It was nearly morning when they realized that the hole was too small for Perry to get out of, as he was very stout. Perry wanted Corey and Starkey to leave him behind, and make good their own escape. But they would not do that. Instead, they filled in the hole and covered it with their baggage and clothes. The next night they made the hole large enough for Perry - and all escaped. This story has been retold down through the generations.
Rev. E. Gideon Corey told this interesting twist on the same story:
In 1937 I was in Winnipeg to the Canadian Student Assembly, and I called Dr. Perry, a professor at the University, who used to visit us in New Canaan, and he came and took me to his home. When I left with him to catch the train back to Wolfville, we met Dr. Sidney Smith, the President of the University. He recognized me as one of the Nova Scotia students he had entertained a few nights before. He said to Dr. Perry. 'Where did you meet this fellow?' Dr. Perry responded, 'Our people were in JAIL together!' For a few seconds there was a funny look on Dr. Smith's face, then he asked, "What's the story?'Dr. Perry was delighted to tell him about the war prisoners.
New Canaan holy waters!
One feature of Corey success is that so many of them became Baptist ministers. In an attempt to explain that phenomenon, the family tells this story:
On the banks of the New Canaan River, where the river flows westward in front of the old Corey home, was an elm tree, which blew down in 1936. It is said among the Coreys and by some Baptist clergymen, that when the New Canaan people wanted a new minister, they shook the limbs of the elm tree that hung over the river. A Corey would fall out f the tree and into the river. He went all the way under, was thoroughly baptized, and came out a Baptist minister ready to preach!
References: Gideon Corey genealogical papers sent to me by Dana Ryder under postal date 10 Nov 1993; J. Blois Corey, Early New Canaan Settler, 1992, cited as "BC"; M. Fred Bartlett and Cynthia L. Bartlett, "Gideon Corey, Loyalist and Mayflower Descendant," Generations 39, March 1989; Probate of the will of Gideon Corey, 16 Mar 1824; E. Gideon Corey, typescript, "Data on the Coreys Descended from William Corey"
[The Loyalist Memorial pictures - The Loyalist Memorial, with its inscription, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to those, like Gideon Corey, "compelled to leave their homes...to secure British institiions for themselves and their posterity."]
[Gideon Corey headstones - The gravestone of Gideon Corey and his son Gardiner at New Canaan. These headstones were hand made from sandstone taken from the bottom of the Canaan River, where they had been flattened by the currents, and the lettering scratched on by another stone or sharp object. Most of the early stones were of his nature.]
[Petition picture - A petition by Gideon Corey and friends to build a road to market. The first settlers were all lterate. This is an example of Gideon's signature.]
He is the descening child in our line. [and the subject of the genealogy which follows][Corey Book]
Events
| Birth | 21 May 1757 | North Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island |  | ||
| Death | Bef Mar 1824 | New Canaan, Brunswick Parish, Queens County, New Brunswick | | ||
| Marriage | ABIGAIL CLARKE |
Families
| Spouse | ABIGAIL CLARKE (1766 - 1849) |
| Child | ELISHA CLARKE COREY (1784 - 1836) |
| Child | HANNAH COREY (1786 - 1853) |
| Child | ELIZABETH COREY (1789 - 1875) |
| Child | THOMAS COREY (1790 - 1857) |
| Child | ESTHER COREY (1794 - 1861) |
| Child | GARDNER COREY (1794 - 1864) |
| Child | STEPHEN COREY (1797 - 1840) |
| Child | ABIGAIL COREY (1798 - 1861) |
| Child | WILLIAM COREY (1801 - 1850) |
| Child | DANIEL COREY ( - ) |
| Father | THOMAS COREY (1723 - 1778) |
| Mother | ELIZABETH DRAKE (1724 - 1768) |
| Sibling | JOHN COREY (1748 - ) |
| Sibling | ESTHER COREY (1749 - 1836) |
| Sibling | BENJAMIN COREY (1752 - ) |
| Sibling | DANIEL COREY (1755 - ) |
| Sibling | SUSANNAH COREY (1758 - ) |
Endnotes
1. RYDER GENEALOGICAL FILES.
2. RYDER GENEALOGICAL FILES.