FHL Film Number: 1315840
Aged: 76 Death Cert. No. 02189
(Kelly Cemetery)
Elle est mariée avec Jesse Brite 'Bench' Corbin.
Ils se sont mariés le 21 novembre 1893 à Wadena, Fayette, Iowa, USA, elle avait 16 ans.Les sources 5, 6
Enfant(s):
Evénement (Children): Ten children with Jesse and raised three of his four children, one lit.
Evénement (Children) en l'an 1910: Seven chidlren; seven living.Source 27
Interview with LaVon CORBIN with her daughter Joan Marlene Hamilton, 1998
Minnie lived on a farm with her father and mother, Josiah and Mary Catherine Jordan in Minnesota.
Minnie was 5' 1," with coal black hair; fair white skin; deep set, hazel eyes (light brown). She was slender during her childbearing years. In her later years she weighed about 180 pounds. She weighed about 200 pounds after her children were born.
Minnie had a crushed foot, from a farming accident. When Minnie was nine years old, a sharp piece of farming equipment cut off her heel, of one foot; she had to wear special shoes. that didn't stop her from working hard. LaVon, her daughter, said her legs were hard as nails, as she did so much physical work.
Minnie's parents sent her to school to learn to be a seamstress. She must have been under sixteen years old at the time. The reason they sent her to trade school is that her parents thought she might never marry, since she had a crushed foot. She was a beautiful seamstress and could look at a dress and make it without a pattern. She sewed for all the doctors and lawyers wives in the town. Many girls were sent to seamstress school to learn a trade.
Minnie was 17 years old when she married Jesse in November 21, 1893. He was a widower and had four children. Clarence was born with a crippling disease. It is unknown what it actually was. His brother Dean had a milder case. He had a small hunch on his back. There was John, Dean, Clarence and Sylvia, she died when she was a baby. Taking on a family of this size, was quite an undertaking for a young girl of 17 years old. She thought she would never marry because of being crippled so she settled for what she could get.
Minnie always dressed up when she went into town. She had many hats and lots of dresses. Jesse went to her closet and counted them once, even though he did not do the purchasing of the dresses. Minnie always had to wear high top shoes because of her deformed foot; even in the summer when it was hot. When she finally found a shoemaker in Sterling, Colorado to make her some oxfords, she was so happy that she could finally wear regular shoes.
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Jesse built a small village in Wadena Iowa. The land was very fertile, Minnie told her daughter LaVon. It was easy to grow a garden and fruit trees. The berries grew wild. Minnie picked the fruit and canned the berries.
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They removed from Iowa to Kelly, Colorado (17 miles southeast of Sterling, Logan County, Colorado), where they most likely had a homestead.
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A portion of a Sterling, Colorado newspaper article dated in1 916
"Two stores were built, the first by the Vanscoy family. It also served as a post office with mail being brought from LeRoy once a week. The mail delivery was the occasion for everyone to gather at the store.
The other store was built by the CORBIN family and had living quarters at the back of the store. The CORBIN later had equipment for testing cram which they would buy along with eggs to exchange for groceries. A gasoline pump was added when the customers came in cars. Both the Vanscoy's and CORBIN's were generous in extending credit and Keep some from going hungry. Much of this was probably never repaid.
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Jesse owned half the town. His land consisted of a General Store. They lived behind in a three bedroom apartment. The living room had a pull down bed. This is where LaVon and Bessie slept. The living room was very nice and had nice furniture that Minnie had purchased. The kitchen was huge with a dining area. There was the master bedroom, where Minnie and Jesse slept and one other bedroom where Harold and Arthur slept. Clarence, his crippled brother, slept in a small room of the cream station, with a half window for air. He would sometimes sleep upstairs in the lodge hall.
Connected to the store was a post office that Harley Bloomfield, Marie's first husband ran before they were married. I suppose he was the postmaster. Minnie had one side of the store with a separate door. She had equipment for testing cream. She would purchase the cream and eggs from the local farmers in exchange for groceries. She would the take the cream and eggs to Sterling and sold them for a profit. She also sold notions, dress material and hats. Jesse always furnished a roof over her head and groceries, but she had to earn the rest. She raised chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese.
Below the Dance Hall was a barber shop. When Arthur CORBIN was older, he was the barber, before that someone else ran it. He lived in an apartment in back joining the barber shop. Above the store, was a lodge called Woodman Lodge.
There was a big ball diamond, back of the store, where all the teams came from the villages around. They played the Kelly team. Minnie sold ice cream cones at the games. The reason the games were held in Kelly was that there was lots of space for a parking lot for all the cars.
Also, on the second story was a dance hall, which they owned and operated. She sold burgers and pie after the dance was over, which meant she had to cook at midnight. Bill Crawford operated the pool hall, which was located below the dance hall, for many years. There was an outside entrance to the lodge hall.
Jesse furnished a roof over her head and groceries, but she had to make her own way. She raised chickens, ducks turkeys and geese. She did laundry and sewed for the wives of doctors and lawyers, and other prominent women in the community. Jesse was probably richer than the doctors or lawyers , but she had to work to have money to spend on what she wanted. Minnie was a survivor.
Minnie hated Kelly, Colorado. She had left her husband, Jesse several time, but he would follow her. According to LaVon CORBIN, her daughter, she liked Iowa, when they lived there. She finally got her way when they moved to Sterling, Logan County, Colorado in about 1938. When she was leaving, she thumbed her nose at Kelly. Jesse bought her a house on the far edge of town, which she didn't like, because she had to walk to town. Later, he bought her a house three blocks from town at 323 Douglas Street, Sterling, Colorado.
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Minnie had a washing machine that was more up to date than most of the other women. It had an engine and she started it with her foot. It was gasoline operated.
<http://www.edheritage.org/1910/folkways/laundry.htm>
Early 1900's Washing Machine:
"Drive belts made the use of steam or gasoline engines possible in the early 1900s, and these were quickly used for washing machines. A gasoline powered washing machine didn't do away with the need to haul water, heat water and run clothes through the wringer by hand, but it removed the need for laborious scrubbing or agitating by hand. Reading a magazine while the clothes were washing felt like high luxury."
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1900 United States Federal Census; Series: T623 Roll: 432 Page: 146 Enumerated on June 21, 1900
CORBIN JESS 36 M W IA IA FAYETTE ILLYRIA TWP
Jess B. CORBIN, Head 36 IA June 1866
Minnie CORBIN, Wife December 1876
John CORBIN, Son 13 November 1886 (shows 1876 which is incorrect)
Clarence CORBIN, Son 12 February 1888
Perces CORBIN, Son 10 August 1889
Arvilla CORBIN, Daughter 4
Raymond CORBIN, Son 2
Marie CORBIN, Daughter 11/12 June
Elizabeth, Mother 77 September 1822 Widow b. Ohio Parents both b. in Ohio (Jesse's mother)
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In 1904, the ice cream cone was discovered. Minnie sold ice cream cones at the ball games that they had in their ball diamond, in back of the General Store in Kelly.
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1905 The Permanent Wave Was Invented
Curly Locks for Minnie. She was one of the first women to have her hair cut and a permanent. She went into Denver and had it done. Prior to that, she wore her hair up with a knot on top of her head.
20th Century As a result of World War I, women everywhere cut or "bobbed" their hair as a symbol of their political and social emancipation. There followed a succession of short, head- clinging hair styles inspired by film stars-the Page boy of Garbo, the peek-a-boo of Veronica Lake. Short hair greatly increased the popularity of the permanent wave, invented by the German Charles Nessler about 1905. The early permanents required heat, took 12 hours, and sometimes gave a frizzy effect. Later the cold wave, with chemicals, simplified the process.
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1908 The Model T Ford was introduced, U.S. banks close. Robert Peary First Man to Reach North Pole and the first observance of Mother's Day.
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Circa 1920, JC Penney wanted her to go to work for them as a seamstress in their alterations department, but she did not want to leave her youngest children, so she sewed for people at home. She was so good at it, she could look at a dress in a store and copy it. She would sew for the doctors wives.
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1920 Horseless Carriage; The First Family Car:
Minnie bought the first family car. She went to town, purchased it and drove it home. She had never driven before, and ran it into a ditch. She was never allowed to drive the car again, even though she bought it with her own money, she earned. LaVon was a small child when this occurred, so it was probably around 1920. Minnie bought all the family cars. Her husband Jesse never learned to drive in his lifetime. Arthur did all of the driving in the family. I am told by Gary Everett, her grandson, that she did drive around the farm in Kelly.
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1920 & 1929 & 1932 Liberated Woman:
Minnie left Jesse in 1920 & again in 1929 according to LaVon. She also left again in 1932. She finally left him for the last time when they were in their 70's. This is just a guess of the time frame.
The year is unknown. Minnie bought a café and apartment house in Sterling, Colorado. She could not make it work because Jesse would not let her evict the tenants when they did not pay the rent; they must have been his friends, so, she was forced to give it up and move back home.
1936-37 Mrs. J. B. CORBIN was a member of the school board at Kelly School.
Abt 1938 Minnie moved to Sterling. Jesse bought her a home far from town. She did not like that very much, since she had to walk to town. Later they moved three blocks from town.
1940-1943 More Children to Raise!
Minnie and Jesse helped raise their granddaughter Joanie from the age of eight months to three years old. Minnie was 64 years old. LaVon also lived there with them. She would work waiting tables.
1944 Free At Last
Minnie left Jesse for the last time. She had it with his womanizing. She moved into a house in Sterling, Logan County, Colorado. Later she had Shoenman (sp) moved in with her. Pretty daring in those days. He was a friend of hers, who lived across the street on Beech and Front Street. They lived together for a few years. I am sure she loved him, as I saw her sitting on his lap when I was about 12 years old and she said "I think we love each other".
Mr. Shoenman (sp) came to the in 1915 from Germany. He was in the navy and jumped ship in the New York Harbor.
1953 End of a Life of a Wonderful Woman:
Minnie died at 1:00 A.M. on February 1, 1953 at age 76. She had no surviving brothers and sisters. She died February 1, 1953 at 1:00 A.M. She lived 42 years in Logan County. She was buried in the family cemetery in Kelly, Logan County, Colorado on February 5, 1953 @ 2:00 P.M. A. J. Jackson Funeral Director.
Thoughts from LaVon CORBIN about her Mother:
"Minnie was a wonderful woman, according to her daughter LaVon. She was an independent woman for sure. She did what she wanted to do. She would go into Denver and spend a few nights away from home. Jesse did not say a word, he was just glad when she came back."
Minnie Myrtle Mae Jordan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1893 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jesse Brite 'Bench' Corbin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Online publication - Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - USA, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the USA, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900.T623, 1854 rolls. Fayette, Iowa, ED 76, roll T623 432, page 9B./ www.ancestry.com
Record for Jess B Carbin Sr./ Ancestry.com
Minnie Jordan, age 17 years, born in Minnesota, married in Wadena, Iowa./ Joan Marlene Hamilton
Record for Minnie Jordon/ Ancestry.com
Record for Minnie M. Jordan/ www.ancestry.com
Record for Minnie Mae Corbin/ Ancestry.com
Record for Minnie Myrtle May Jordan/ Ancestry.com
Minnie M.Jordan 20 December 1876 A:67:38 Josiah & Mary, born Geneva/ The The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Li
Record for Jess B Corbin/ Ancestry.com
Record for Lavon Corbin/ Ancestry.com