John Corbin

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John Corbin is said to have been born in 1729, the first child of the marriage of John and Margaret Hosmer Corbin. The existence of several same-named contemporaries and variable spellings of the surname requires caution in the assignment of qualitative information. This profile concerns the Albany resident during the second half of the eighteenth century. That individual was born in Killingly, Connecticut and was of New England ancestry.

He is said to have married a somewhat younger Abigail Cabot in Killingly (now Thompson) in February 1761. The marriage produced at least three children.

Corbin re-located to Kinderhook and then to Albany. In 1766, his Southside Albany house and property were valued moderately. In March 1779, his holdings were not included on the city assessment roll. However, a subsequent tax list from October of that year valued his holdings and his "hired house."

He is said to have "engaged in trade and to have owned a sloop which he sailed up and down the Hudson River." However, he does not seem to have encountered Sir William Johnson who employed most of the Albany-based river carriers during the 1760s and early '70s.

In 1775, he joined a number of residents of the first ward in subscribing for the relief of Ticonderoga. In February 1777, he submitted an account to the Albany Committee regarding the raising of a militia company two years earlier.

He is said to have been a captain in the Revolutionary army under General Gates. However, such claims appear to be unsubstantiated.

He also is said to have invested in Continental currency and to have lost his fortune.

The accounts of the debts due the estate of Dr. Henry Van Dyck made in 1788 included Corbin's small obligation.

However, by that time, John Corbin had removed to the northern Champlain Valley where died in February 1803. His daughter married Pliny Moore, the pioneer settler of Champlain.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of John Corbin has not been assigned a CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.





first posted: 6/20/10; updated 10/31/10