James Corbett was born in Ireland in 1824. He emigrated to the United States and arrived on May 8, 1850, according to his naturalization records.
The record states he was a native of Ireland, aged 32 years. He renounced allegiance to the Queen of Great Britain and signed with a mark. This means he probably couldn't read or write. The declaration was dated August 4, 1856, in Dubuque County, Iowa.
Mary "Bridget" was born in Ireland in 1836. I have had a problem pinning down her maiden name. Her daughter Kate's marriage license lists it as McMarna. Her daughter Delia's marriage license shows it as McNamara. I don't know if Bridget and James were married before they arrived in America or were married here. They are listed in the 1856 Iowa census in Centre Township, Dubuque County. This record shows James was a laborer and their oldest child, Michael, was born sometime in 1856 in Iowa. According to their granddaughter, Fannie Price, James worked on the railroad.
Sometime between 1860 (when Kate was born) and 1866 (when Delia was born) the family moved to Black Hawk County. They lived in Poyner township southeast of Waterloo for a time. Fannie said they also lived in Jesup, Iowa. James died November 4, 1866, just five days before his daughter Delia was born. I don't know what caused his death. He and Bridget are both buried in Calvary Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery, in Waterloo, Iowa.
In 1868 a notarized document shows Bridget buying land (possibly 40 acres) in section 15 of Township 88. She paid $75.00 for the land to William and Edna Wheeler. The 1870 census shows Bridget and her seven children living in Poyner township. The oldest child, Michael, at age 14 is listed as a farmer. Bridget died June 4, 1887, and is buried by her husband in Calvary Cemetery.
James and Bridget had seven children:
1.1. Michael was born in Iowa in 1856. According to the 1870 census he was living in Black Hawk County and was a farmer. Family legend is that he and his brother Thomas went to Australia and were never heard from again. According to his sister Delia's obituary, he died before May 1929.
1.2. Mary A. was born in Iowa in 1858 and probably died in Ogden, Utah. She married Charles H. Simpson.
1.3. Margaret was born in 1859 in Iowa. She married a man named McCollum and died in Houston, Texas, after 1929.
1.4. Catherine "Kate" was born in September, 1860, in Dubuque County, Iowa. She married Thomas Garvey in 1889.
1.5. Thomas was born in 1862 in Iowa. He supposedly went to Australia with his brother Michael and died before 1929.
1.6. John was born in Iowa in 1863. He was living in Bismark, North Dakota in May 1929.
1.7. Delia Isabell "Bridget" November 9, 1866, in Raymond, Black Hawk County, Iowa. She married Willard Camp in 1887. She died May 21, 1929, in Chariton, Lucas County, Iowa.
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