2004-10-30/2019-12-08 - From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). — Born c. 1828 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; son of Henry John Corrie, brother of George J. and William A. Corrie; active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by 1850; with E. & G. G. Hook of Boston, Massachusetts, 1855; in Reading, Massachusetts by 1860 to after 1870; with Samuel Pierce Organ Pipe Co. of Reading, Massachusetts, 1862-1865; in Westfield, Massachusetts, by 1880. Sources: Stephen L. Pinel, "Organbuilders and Their Families in the Population Schedules of the Federal and State Census Surveys", The Tracker, 32:1, 22. Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 173. Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 400.
2019-12-09/2019-12-09 - From Organ Database Builders editor Charles Eberline, December 8, 2019. — John H. Corrie, the youngest son of Henry John Corrie, was born on May 4, 1827.1 He was listed in the 1850 U.S. census as a member of the household of Henry Corrie of Philadelphia, age 22 and occupation “Organ Builder,” but a John Corrie, “organist, boards Western Hotel,” was listed in the Boston city directory for 1850–1851.2 On August 28, 1850, John Corrie married Miss Bella Wright, the sister of John Wright, who had married Maria L. Corrie, Henry Corrie’s daughter and John’s sister, on July 17, 1850; both marriages were held at the Church of the Redemption in Philadelphia.3 In the 1853 Philadelphia city directory, John Corrie was listed as an “organ build.,” but in 1854 he was back in Boston, where he appears to have remained until 1856.4 He then moved to Reading, Massachusetts, where he became a pipemaker for Samuel Pierce.5 According to Barbara Owen, he worked “for one of the East Cambridge builders” between 1862 and 1865, “after which he returned to Pierce,” but David Fox stated that Corrie was “with Samuel Pierce firm of Reading, MA, 1862–1865.”6 During the Civil War he joined the Union army on August 5, 1864, and served until June 28, 1865. He was injured during his service and later received a pension from the U.S. government. After the war he returned to Reading, where he and his wife raised three children.7 John Corrie died of apoplexy in Reading on September 17, 1907, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery there on September 20, 1907.8 Sources: Boston Directory for the Year 1854, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory (Boston: Geo. Adams, July 1, 1854), 79. Boston Directory for the Year 1855, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory (Boston: Geo. Adams, July 1, 1855), 74. Boston Directory for the Year 1856, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory (Boston: George Adams, July 1, 1856), 81. The Directory of the City of Boston: Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Special Directory of Trades, Professions, &c. With an Almanac from July 1850, to July 1851 (Boston: George Adams, 1850), 124. David H. Fox, A Guide to North American Organbuilders, rev. ed. (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1997), 102. “John H. Corrie,” Find a Grave, accessed December 11, 2018, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126937540/john-h_-corrie. McElroy's Philadelphia Directory for 1853 . . . (Philadelphia: Edward C. & John Biddle, 1853), 81. Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 400. Stephen L. Pinel, “Late from London: Henry Corrie, Organbuilder, and His Family,” The Tracker 40, no. 4 (1996): 19–20, 25nn102–5. Stephen L. Pinel, “Organbuilders and Their Families in the Population Schedules of the Federal and State Census Surveys,” The Tracker 32, no. 1 (1988): 22. “John H. Corrie,” Find a Grave, accessed December 11, 2018, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126937540/john-h_-corrie. This source gives his place of birth as Philadelphia, but the Corrie family did not move from Boston to Philadelphia until early 1828, so Boston seems a more likely place of birth. Stephen L. Pinel, “Organbuilders and Their Families in the Population Schedules of the Federal and State Census Surveys,” The Tracker 32, no. 1 (1988): 22; The Directory of the City of Boston: Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Special Directory of Trades, Professions, &c. With an Almanac from July 1850, to July 1851 (Boston: George Adams, 1850), 124 (Corrie is listed between Thomas Cordis and Harriet Cordwell, out of alphabetic order). The census was supposed to enumerate the name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June 1850 was in a particular family. If the Boston directory was compiled before the census, Corrie may have stayed in Boston only for a short time and then have returned to Philadelphia, but confirmation of this awaits further investigation. Stephen L. Pinel, “Late from London: Henry Corrie, Organbuilder, and His Family,” The Tracker 40, no. 4 (1996): 20. McElroy's Philadelphia Directory for 1853 . . . (Philadelphia: Edward C. & John Biddle, 1853), 81 (“Corrie John H. organ build. Winter ab Sch 2d”); Pinel, “Late from London,” 19 (“John H. Corrie . . . is listed as an organbuilder only in 1853”; Pinel did not mention the 1850 census record in this article); Boston Directory for the Year 1854, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory (Boston: Geo. Adams, July 1, 1854), 79 (“Corrie John, organbuilder, 1 Charles, house at E. Cambridge”); Boston Directory for the Year 1855 . . . (Boston: Geo. Adams, July 1, 1855), 74 (“Coraie [sic] John H. organmaker, house 32 Charles” and “Corrie John, organbuilder, house 33 Auburn”); Boston Directory for the Year 1856 . . . (Boston: George Adams, July 1, 1856), 81 (“Corrie John H. organ builder, house rear 11 Arnold”). David H. Fox, A Guide to North American Organbuilders, rev. ed. (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1997), 102, stated that Corrie was “with E. & G.G. Hook of Boston, MA, 1855,” but Corrie’s work address in the 1854 Boston directory, 1 Charles, was the address of W.B.D. Simmons & Co. The question of Corrie’s employer or employers in Boston awaits further investigation. Pinel, “Late from London,” 20. Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 400; Fox, Guide to North American Organbuilders, 102. Pinel, “Late from London,” 19–20, gave no details of Corrie’s career between his relocation to Reading “about 1855” and his army service in the Civil War. Pinel, “Late from London,” 20. Owen, Organ in New England, 400, stated that Corrie had “several” sons who followed his trade and also worked for Pierce. Fox, Guide to North American Organbuilders, 102, stated that Corrie was in Westfield, Massachusetts, by 1880, but Owen and Pinel said nothing about Corrie working anywhere but Reading after the Civil War. “John H. Corrie,” Find a Grave (with reproduction of his death certificate, which lists his occupation as “Organ Pipe Maker”); Pinel, “Late from London,” 20.
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