Catharine Corboy, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Catharine Corboy
CATHARINE CORBOY was born in Highland County, Ohio, near Hillsborough, the daughter of Cornelius and Mary (Mooney) Corboy, the former of whom was a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, and the latter of Kings County, Ireland. The paternal grandparents were Stephen and Bridget (Kennedy) Corboy of County Tipperary. Ireland. Stephen Corboy passed away in that country, and his widow came to America in 1853 to make her home with her son, Cornelius. She passed away in 1883 at the age of ninety-three. The maternal grandparents, Patrick and Mary (Grady) Mooney, were natives of Kings County, Ireland. On the death of the latter the husband came to America and settled in Connecticut. To their marriage were born five children: Catherine, James, Timothy, Mary and Margaret. Cornelius Corboy, the father of our subject, came to America in 1851 and settled in Connecticut, where he met and married Mary Mooney. They removed to Highland County, Ohio, where the eight children were born. Cornelius was a sterling Irish patriot, a proud member of the Fenians, and a zealous Catholic. It was in his early home that the missionary priests held mass and catechism classes for the faithful of the neighborhood. The children born to Cornelius and wife were as follows: Stephen, who located in Valparaiso in 1883, where he attended the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute - the predecessor of Valparaiso University - and later became a professor in the commercial branch of that institution. He later served as court reporter and as auditor of Porter County. His professional association with Valparaiso University continued in those years and until 1920, and he was active as court reporter until 1924, when he retired from his many arduous duties. Catharine was the second born; Mary Ellen, the next child, is a nun in the City of New York; Margaret resides in Valparaiso; Thomas Patrick, who is now deceased, formerly lived in Allegan, Michigan; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles McCarthy; John, a traveling salesman of Indiana; Cornelius, who was a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago until his death in 1900 at the age of twenty-five. Catharine Corboy came to Valparaiso in 1885 and entered the university as a student, taking special work. She became secretary of the university under President H. B. Brown, and continued that work during the existence of the organization under its original charter. She has also served as secretary of the university since its reorganization. Her entire life has been devoted to educational work, and as an especially valuable member of the various women's clubs, including the Catholic Woman's Club, Valparaiso Woman's Club, Women's Relief Corps, and the Indiana Historical Association. She is also a member of the Calvert Association of New York.
Source: Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927. History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and Laporte. Volume II. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 827 p.
Page(s) in Source: 515-516
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook