Edward Payson Corbett (1841-1924): a Tribute to the Life and Times of a Distinguished Mason

Edward Payson Corbett lived a most interesting and varied life. He was born on the Corbett family farm in King Township, York County, Ontario, Canada. By the age of 10 he was residing on his father's farm in Garafraxa Township, Wellington County where he worked as he grew older. When the Civil War broke out in the United States, the restless farm hand left his family and traveled to Detroit, Michigan where he eventually enlisted in the Northern forces. He was assigned to the 3rd...
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Edward Payson Corbett lived a most interesting and varied life. He was born on the Corbett family farm in King Township, York County, Ontario, Canada. By the age of 10 he was residing on his father's farm in Garafraxa Township, Wellington County where he worked as he grew older. When the Civil War broke out in the United States, the restless farm hand left his family and traveled to Detroit, Michigan where he eventually enlisted in the Northern forces. He was assigned to the 3rd Regiment of Michigan Calvary, Company F and served during the duration of the war. After the war and during reconstruction days, Corbett and his troops were sent to the south and stationed at various parts of Texas and New Mexico. Shortly after his discharge he settled in Sandusky, Ohio where the young man studied mechanical engineering and construction. He would then enter his life work of building flour mills largely in the South. Corbett would marry and have a family of nine children. His contracting and building work required him, along with his growing family, to relocate to Washington, D.C. in the early 1880s. While there Corbett would later build shops at Salem, Virginia which would cause him to eventually reside there. These shops were for the manufacture of milling machinery for use in the mills he built, and during the 1890s he was reputed to have built more mills in the South than any firm up to that time. Edward Corbett was also a mason and was affiliated with the local lodge where he resided, the most prominent being the Potomac lodge of Georgetown which laid the cornerstone of the Capitol of the United States in 1793. After leaving Washington, D.C., Corbett moved to the Lower Yellowstone Valley, settling at Fairview, Montana. His work was not done, however, as he built a flour mill and a hotel which he helped operate. Toward the end of his life, Edward P. Corbett and his wife moved to East Fairview, North Dakota where he was a Justice of the Peace. This then is the narrative of the life and times of Edward Payson Corbett.