This post was contributed to the Crawford County Chapter of OGS by Kristina Stearley as part of the Florence Siefert Scrapbook in 2010.
The scrapbook is compiled from undated, unidentified newspaper clippings involving events in the lives of Crawford County citizens living in or having connections to New Washington, Tiro, Shelby, Sulphur Springs, Chatfield, Bucyrus, Ashland, Mansfield, and other areas. Only minimal spelling or punctuation corrections were made. Unreadable areas are shown by underlines, dots &/or question marks. This collection has been scanned, “optical character recognized” (OCR’d), proofed, then coded for HTML by volunteers of the Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Since the copies are not of the best quality errors may have been made. Please contact us if you find corrections needing to be made or can verify any missing dates which could be added.
The Oswego (Kansas) Independent has the following to say concerning the death of T.(Thomas) C. Cory:
On last Saturday morning, the district court of having adjourned to allow the officers and bar to attend the funeral of Mr. Cory, the bar held a meeting in the convention room and transacted the following business. The committee of arrangements appointed at previous meeting reported the following members of the bar to act as pall bearers, viz., Nelson Case, S. L. Coulter, W. L. Simons, F. H. Atchinson, W. P. Talbott and Jess Brookway. The committee further reported the order of procession and other details of the funeral.
The committee on resolutions then reported the following, which was unanimously adopted and the chairman of meeting was directed to present them to the court, with the request that they be spread upon the records:
WHEREAS, The Bar of Labette county have learned, with deep regret that death has suddenly taken out of a busy, useful life, Hon. T. C. Cory, a member of the bar and County Attorney of this County, and his professional friends and associates have assembled in bar meeting for the purpose of expressing their uncommon sorrow and testifying to the virtues of the departed, therefore,
Committee – W. L. SIMONS
Resolved, That in expressing our feelings in connection with this sad event we believe that no more eloquent tribute can be offered than that contained in the simple statement that, not only the the members of the bar, but the citizens of the county generally, unite in deep and genuine regret,
Resolved, That T. C. Cory well deserved lasting remembrance in all patriotic hearts for his services in defense of his country. He was a chivalric soldier, who discerned the real glory of the cause to which he was devoted, and was truly without feat and without reproach in his relations to the flag he followed,
Resolved, That among the members of the bar the departed was conspicuous. The zeal and fervor which distinguished every effort he made, was the product of no simulated interest for his; it was a necessity of his sympathetic and impulsive nature to throw himself heart and soul into every enterprise he undertook, and this quality gave brilliancy and success to his efforts, while it gained the hearts of those whose cause he advocated.
Resolved, That his administration of an office in which temptation too often leads the tempted to their downfall, deserves to be distinguished as a bright example of integrity. The uncorrupted dead dared to be poor, and preferred an honorable poverty to wealth obtained at the expense of self respect and the sacrifice of integrity. We would that this testimony were less significant. We would that all could be spoken of in this behalf as we may speak of the departed. But regarding the great evils of the times, we deem this testimony due alike to the claims of the dead and the interest of the living.
Resolved, That as professional colleagues and personal friends of his, we hereby testify to the truthfullness and nobleness of his charactor, to his industry and faithfulness a lawyer and public prosecutor, and to the confidence and respect with which he was regarded.
Resolved, That disappearing from the earth at the moment of his prime, we feel that no adequate consolation could be offered to those who loved him best, but in in mitigation of their sorrow we respectfully offer our tribute to his useful and honorable career. Upon the sacred precincts of domestic grief, we will only intrude to offer to his bereaved and sorely stricken family the homage of our most respectful and sincere sympathy, and leave them to seek that consolation which cometh only from Him who doeth all things well.
Resolved, That these proceedings be presented to the District Court of this county for record in its journal, and the Secretary of this meeting is instructed to transmit a copy to the family of the deceased for burial; and the Bar will attend the funeral.
J. H. MORRISON
A. A. OSGOOD
The funeral exercise were conducted at the family residence at 10 o’clock Saturday morning connected by Rev. R. P. Hammos, Pastor of the first M. E. church, Oswego, Kansas. His closing remarks were as follows. Mr. Cory met death with the same bravery and courage, as he did his enemies upon the battlefield, in the defense of our country; though bruised and wounded there; yet he conquered; and though bruised and wounded by his last enemy, he met him and conquered.
Going into his room the day before he died; he reached out his hand and said, it is all over: (he had just finished arranging his business affairs), In reply to a question I asked concerning his hope for the future, he replied that too is settled; it is all right; I have made bobbles, but my intentions were good; My trust is in the Lord, there is none other for me to trust. I only regret in leaving my family; tell the children, (meaning those who were away at school) had I known the end was so near I would have sent for them sooner; Tell them when they come, to be good, honest and truthful, and to acquire an education, tell them good by, for me; Calling his two little boy’s who were at home, to his bed side, he said to them, “Kiss papa good by”; Saying to them stick close to your mother obey her and remember what the bible says, be good, honest, and become honest men if you should never have one dollar; his last words to them were “remember these are my last words to you don’t forget them”; He then calmly and peacefully passed into the spirit world. Mr. Cory was a man faithful in every trust, a devoted husband, a loving father; in him there beat a generous heart, always open to the needy; a man who had power to love the right and power to hate the wrong; he was an honest man! But he is gone; And may you Mrs. Cory, who have leaned upon his strong arm, sharing his joy’s and sorrows, now lean upon the arm of the Christ, who knows how to sympathize with you; and may your dear children, ever be true to his memory; obeying his admonition, and keep the precepts of the Word of God. And to you, sorrowful brothers, as you return to your homes in the East, carry with you the fact that the brother you loved, we loved, and his dust shall rest with us in peace.
After the funeral services the body was taken to Parsons and buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Two coaches from Parsons, containing the G.A.R. post of that city and a number of citizens came down in the morning to attend the funeral. The bar of the county, a number of the G. A. R. of this place and many citizens accompanied the remains to Parsons on the noon train. The burial services were conducted by the G. A. R. It was probably as large a funeral as has ever been in the county, and everything was done showed the high respect in which Mr. Cory was held by all who knew him.
At our request Judge Stillwell, of Erie, who has been an intimate friend of Mr. Cory ever since he has been in the state, has prepared for us the following–
DIED–At Oswego, Kansas, June 14 1888, Thomas C. Cory, aged 49 years, 11 months and 9 days.
Mr. Cory was born in Crawford county, Ohio, July 5, 1838. His boyhood was spent upon the farm. Early in 1861 he entered the law school at Cleveland Ohio but the war came, and like thousands of other young men at that eventful period of our nation’s history, he dropped his books and seized his musket. He enlisted in Co. I, of the 15th Ohio Infantry in 1861 and served continuously in the field until the 20th of July 1864. On that day, at the battle of Peach Tree Creek near Atlanta, Georgia he was severely wounded by a gun shot wound through the lungs, which disabled him from further active service. Shortly thereafter he was discharged, holding at that time the rank of first lieutenant.
Mr. Cory participated in the battles of Shiloh, Stone River, Chicamauga, Missionary Ridge, and the battles of the Atlanta campaign down to the time he received the wound which disabled him from further duty. He was wounded seven times during his term of service.
On being discharged from the army he entered a law school at Cincinnati, graduated and was admitted to the bar April 16, 1866. He located at Kirksville, Mo., and engaged in the practice of law, but the following year moved to Neosho county, Kansas, took a claim of public land near the Indian trading host of Canville, improved his claim and only practiced law when the opportunity was afforded. The first term of the district court for Neosho Co. was held in the fall of 1867, Hon. Wm Spriggs of Garnett Kan. being district judge. Judge Spriggs appointed Mr. Cory, county att’y, at the ensuing November election he was elected to the office by the people but failed to qualify. In the spring of 1868, Mr. Cory moved to Osage Mission, and in November of that year was elected county attorney and served as such for two years. In 1871 he moved to parsons, and continued the practice of his profession. In 1886 he was elected County Attorney of Labette county, which office ho was holding at the time of his death.
He was married August 9, 1868, to Miss Hariet Comstock. He leaves to mourn his loss a family consisting of his bereft wife and 4 children.
Mr Cory was a man of marked and singular truthfulness, integrity, and purity of life and character. Once convinced that a given course was right, he followed it with undeviating certainty, regardless of consequences to himself. He was true and faithful to his friends, and hypocrisy and double dealing were strangers to his character. He was an honest and able lawyer, an upright and conscientious officer, an affectionate husband and a kind and devoted father The direct cause of his death was the wound he received at Peach Tree creek on July 20, ’64. The bullet that ploughed through his lungs left its fatal and insiduous effects behind,–an abscess finally formed in the path the ball had torn, which burst and his life followed. He is as truly a martyr to the cause of the Union as if he had been shot on the field of battle. and laid away in the * * * (article stops here)
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