My Genealogy Hound

JACOB CORBETT, Sr. For more than half a century the name which introduces this sketch has been a familiar one in western Kentucky; in fact but few, if any, are now living in the territory known as the “Purchase,” who are more extensively known than is “Uncle Jake Corbett,” as he is familiarly called. He is the son of Joshua Corbett, formerly of Southampton County, Va., where Jacob was born, August 26, 1806. When he was a small boy his parents died, thus leaving the molding of his character to the hands of other and less sympathizing friends. At the age of thirteen, however, he was placed in a store at Murfreesboro, N. C., where he continued as store boy and salesman about nine years, thereby acquiring the fundamental ideas of practical business, which, in the absence of a thorough literary education was an important schooling, While there, and in the year 1825, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Sumner; who was a native of North Carolina, and whose portrait, together with the subject of this sketch, appears elsewhere in this work. In the month of March, 1828, Mr. Corbett, with his young wife, set out for the then wilds of western Kentucky, landing in what is now Hickman County, on the second day of the following month. For several months thereafter, Mr. Corbett turned his attention to the pursuit of farming. His public life began with his appointment to the office of deputy sheriff of Hickman County, which was terminated by his appointment to the office of deputy clerk of the county and circuit courts of Hickman County. Upon the organization of the county of Ballard, Mr. Corbett was made the clerk of the county court, serving in that capacity until the year 1872, with the exception of the interval from 1862 to 1866, this exception being the result of the civil war. It may be added that during twelve years of his long official career, he performed also the duties of clerk of the circuit court for Ballard County. However interesting it would be, space will not permit entering into the details that make up the life history of this gentleman. Suffice it to say, that he has been an important factor in the shaping of many important interests in the Jackson Purchase, and the molding of his hands will be seen long after those hands have been folded in death. His esteemed wife died in Blandville, Ky., on December 2, 1872, leaving a family of seven children, viz.: Thomas; Emily, wife of Charles Marshall; Mary, wife of R. Dudley; Nancy A., wife of Lafayette Rich; Frances, wife of Dr. James H. Terrell; William L., and Josephine, wife of James Ezell.