U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Corder, Joshua Simmons (b. 1820) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Barbour County, West Virginia, From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by Hu Maxwell The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va., 1899 Pages 349-350 Elder Joshua Simmons Corder is of English and Irish descent. His grandfather, Joseph Corder, came from England and settled in Virginia about the close of the Revolution. He had four sons and four daughters. The sons were James, Joseph, William and John. James moved to Ohio and settled near Circleville; John located near Logansport, Indiana; Joseph crossed the Blue Ridge in 1838 into western Virginia; and William, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born March 29, 1785, in Frederick County, now Fauquier, Virginia, and on September 14, 1811, was married to Sarah Cole, of Loudoun County. She was of German descent. Three years after their marriage they set out for West Virginia. They crossed the Alleghanies and penetrated the wilderness beyond. Mr. Corder was a man of energy, industry and honor; but he came with few of this world's goods. The habits of thrift, which he possessed, he transmitted to his descendants. In December, 1814, he arrived in what was then Harrison, now Barbour, with his wife and two small children, and bought fifty acres of land, for $450, of Peter Robinson, on Hacker's Creek. He built a small cabin of unhewn logs, and took up his abode within its walls, surrounded by forests. Mr. Corder had a good dog, but no horse or cow. Occasionally the howl of the wolves was heard. The low lands were usually swampy and somewhat unhealthful, and few persons settled in them. Mast was generally plentiful, and swine raising was profitable to the extent that the family's supply of meat from that source seldom failed. Grain was raised in small patches and was ground on hand-mills before better were to be had. Shoes for children in the summer time were not thought of, and often the winter was well on the way before the feet of the young members of the household were clad. William Corder and his wife worked up from that humble beginning until they owned 1200 acres of farming land on Hacker's Creek, and a farm or two besides. They had eleven children, Joseph, William, Joshua, James, John, Edward, Elizabeth, Martha Ann, Mary, Ingaby and Hannah. One thing here should be said: when he owned only fifty acres of land, the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church was constituted at the Rice House, on the Philippi and Clarksburg pike, now owned by D. M. Proudfoot. This was on June 21, 1817. and by Phineas Wells, and perhaps Simeon Harris, with about ten members. They could not purchase a lot to suit them on which to build a church house, and Mr. Corder said to them: "I am not a member of your body, but the Lord has given me what little I have, and I will give you a lot on the corner of my little tract." The church accepted his offer and built on the lot a hewed log house, twenty- four by thirty feet, with a gallery and a pulpit after the English style. It was not long until Mr. Corder and his wife were baptized into the fellow-ship of the church. The subject of this sketch was their third son, and was born February 15, 1820, and was so sickly that there was little hope of his living. But his health and strength improved, and he was baptized into the fellowship of the Primitive Baptist Church when he was but fifteen years old. He composed a song commemorating his experience, from which the following verses are taken: Come saints of God and hear me tell What dreadful thoughts I had of hell. I felt myself so far from God The earth did tremble where I trod. Though I was young, quite in my youth, I longed to hear and know the truth, And often went in secret prayer To find my God in mercy there. I often wept myself to sleep And prayed the Lord my soul to keep, Lest I should drop into the lake And never, never more to wake. The year of eighteen thirty-three, It pleased the Lord to set me free; My age was only twelve and one When Peace and Joy came through His Son. The division of the Baptists took place in this country in 1839, and Elder Corder was numbered with the Oldside, as they were called in that day; and the next year he was licensed by the church to preach. He was then but twenty years old and was limited in education. He attended the Clarksburg Academy and Rector College at Pruntytown, and afterwards took a tour to the West, preaching among the churches of Ohio and Indiana. He taught in Indiana eight terms of school, and in the meantime preached to a number of churches. In September, 1843, having returned to West Virginia, he was ordained by his home church. Then he returned to the West, as he supposed to make his home; but in his traveling and preaching he came home to see his parents, and went to visit the Virginia churches, and near Front Royal he became acquainted with a young lady, Virginia Ann Grant, to whom he became engaged. On June 18, following, that is 1850, Elder Corder and Miss Grant were married and built a nice dwelling. Then came the War of 1861, just as they were becoming well situated. Nearly everything they had was destroyed by Federal troops. Wagon loads of household goods, books and furniture were hauled off, and bacon and grain were taken without payment. The family were driven from the house, a guard was put round it and the family were not permitted to return. After the soldiers had used the house nearly four years they burned it, together with nearly two miles of fence. This was done by the Federal soldiers because Elder Corder owned a few slaves (which came into his possession through heirship) and was true to his own State. He never attempted to injure any person, being a minister of the Gospel. He had appealed to the Federal authorities for protection. His loss was not less than $8000. He saved the Philippi bridge from being burned at the time of the Imboden raid, 1863. He successfully appealed to the soldiers to spare it after they had piled straw on it to burn it. When the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church was rebuilt (after the Union soldiers destroyed it) he gave $250 toward the work, and borrowed at ten percent interest the money. He is now about eighty years old and has been a preacher fifty-nine years, and never asked for a dollar in his life for preaching. He thinks that the Gospel should be preached without charge. He is now the pastor of Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church on Hacker's Creek, has baptized over forty members into the fellowship of the home church, and more than a hundred into other churches of the same faith and order; has been the Moderator of the Tygart's Valley River Association of Baptists nearly thirty years; and has united in marriage over three hundred couple. He has been offered several political offices in Barbour County, but he always declined, saying that preachers had no business with political offices. Elder Corder has three children, Ann Belle, who married Elder J. N. Bartlett; Blue Dell, who married J. E. Cole; and Semma Ell, who is single. He has written verses and hymns all his life. Some of his songs are popular in church service. The following hymn was written when he was seventy-five years old: Without thy strength, O God, I'm weak, Without thy grace I'm poor; Oh, bring me to thy feet to seek Thy name for evermore. Show me the riches of thy grace, My God, my God, my all, That I may see thy lovely face, Then I shall never fall. O, let me taste those heavenly joys, Which I have felt before, Then I will part from all my toys, And learn to seek thee more. So many things step in my way To keep me back from truth That I am often made to say And cry, like ancient Ruth: "O, keep me, gracious God of love, To fix my thoughts on thee And then my mind will soar above And better things will see." Lift up my head, my hands, my feet; Show me the path of life, That I may walk the golden street Beyond the reach of strife. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Barbour County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/barbour/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------