Luke Corker ^{2 3 4 5 6 7}

  General Notes:

Corker, Luke, blacksmith, Post Office Pee Dee; Section 21; owns 120 acres of land, and his wife owns 100 acres, all valued at $50 per acre; was born May 18, 1818, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; went to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1838, and 1852 to Williams, and this county in 1855. Married Catharine Lightfoot October 1, 1840, in Ohio; she was born August 20, 1821, and died July 7, 1867. Married Mrs. J. A. Wyant in December, 1868; have five children by first wife -- Emma J., Ester M., Elizabeth, Archibald and Julius; lost four -- Annetta, William, Agnes and Lee. Member of Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Democrat.

(Source: "History of Cedar County - 1878", Biographies of Iowa Township, http://www. kinyon.com/iowa/cedar1878/iowa1.htm)
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He has alternate birth date of 1815 and a birth location of Pennsylvania.

^{2 3}

• He appeared on the 1850 US Census in East Union Township, Wayne, OH on 27 July 1850. ²

1850 US Census
Page 202A, Family 48
East Union Township, Wayne, Ohio
Luke Corker..34..PA..Blacksmith

(Living with wife, 3 children, and sister-in-law.)

NOTE - If his birth date was 18 May 1818, then his age should have been 32 instead of 34.
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• He appeared on the 1860 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 10 July 1860. ³

1860 US Census
Page 140, Family 966
Iowa Township, Cedar, Iowa
Luke Corker..45..PA..Farmer

(Living with wife and 5 children.)

NOTE - If his birth date was 18 May 1818, then his age should have been 42 instead of 45.
.

• He appeared on the 1870 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 26 August 1870. ⁴

1870 US Census
Pages 20, 21, Family 153, Roll 380
Iowa Township, Cedar, Iowa
Luke Corker..52..PA..Farmer

(Living with 2nd wife and 4 of his children from his first wife, 1 grandson, and 5 children from a previous marriage of Judith Guild, his second wife.)
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• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 9 June 1880. ⁵

1880 US Census
Page 171A, District 354, Family 128, Roll 331
Iowa Township, Cedar, Iowa
Luke Corker..Head..62..PA..Blacksmith
Archibald Corker..Son..24..OH..Farmer
Julius C. Corker..Son..20..IA..Farmer
Esther Pierce..Daughter..35..OH..Keeping House..Divorced
William Pierce..Grandson..12..IA

(Luke was married but living separately from his wife with his 2 sons, 1 divorced daughter, and 1 grandson.)
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• He appeared on the 1885 Iowa State Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 1 January 1885. ⁶

1885 Iowa State Census
Page 372, Family 11
Iowa Township, Cedar, Iowa
Township 79, Range 3, Section 28, NE Qtr, NE Qtr
Luke Corker..66..PA..Widowed..Blacksmith
Esther M. Pierce..39..OH..Divorced..Keeping House
Wm. C. Pierce..17..IA..Farmer

(Luke was living with his divorced daughter, Esther, and her son.)
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• He was buried after 4 April 1889 in the Pee Dee Cemetery in Springdale Township, Cedar County, IA.

Luke and his wife, Catharine, share the same vaulted obelisk monument of polished gray granite that is approximately 60" tall. On one side, his inscription which is very weathered reads "FATHER, Luke Corker, May 18, 1818, <Unreadable> 1889. At the top of the marker is a Masonic Symbol.
Find A Grave Memorial #89368991
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Luke married Catharine Anna Lightfoot, daughter of Daniel Lightfoot and Caterina Salome Schmidt, on 1 October 1840 in , Wayne County, OH.¹ (Catharine Anna Lightfoot was born on 20 August 1820 in Pennsylvania,⁷ died on 7 July 1866 in Cedar County, IA ⁷ and was buried after 7 July 1866 in Pedee Cemetery, Springdale Township, Cedar, IA ⁷.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in East Union Township, Wayne, OH on 27 July 1850. ²

1850 US Census
Page 202A, Family 48
East Union Township, Wayne, Ohio
Luke Corker..34..PA..Blacksmith
Catherine Corker..27..PA
Emma Jane Corker..8..OH
Hester M. Corker..6..OH
Catharine Corker..4..OH
John W. (B)ook..12..OH
Esther Lightfoot..45..PA
Hiriam Burgan..21..OH..Blacksmith

NOTE - The first letter of the surname for John W. (B)ook is not easily distinguishable on the original census image. The previous 1840 Census also showed 1 male under 5 years of age living with Catharine and her sister, Esther.

Absent are the names of Agnes, Annetta, Lee, and William who apparently died young. It is not known if any of them were born and died before the 1850 census or born and died after it. Until further info shows up, I will list their birth years as "about 1841".
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• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 10 July 1860. ³

1860 US Census
Page 140, Family 966
Iowa Township, Cedar, Iowa
Luke Corker..45..PA..Farmer
Catharine A. Corker..38..PA
Emma J. Corker..16..OH
Hesther M. Corker..14..OH
Elizabeth Corker..11..OH
Archey Corker...5..OH
Julius Corker..5m..IA
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  Marriage Notes:

An early record of marriages in Wayne County, Ohio, shows the marriage of Luke Corker and Anna Lightfoot who apparently preferred the use of her middle name at that age. The official presiding over the marriage was James May, Justice of the Peace.
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Source: Arnsberger-Lightfoot-Wymer family documents. This info was printed on a single sheet of paper with no other source information provided:
Info from "Iowa Township Microfilm":
Luke Corker, blacksmith, sec 21; Born May 18, 1818, Lancaster, Pennsylvania;
Married Catharine Lightfoot, October 1, 1840 in Ohio; She was born August 20, 1821; She died July 7, 1867;

Children:
- Emma J. Corker
- Esther M. Corker
- Archibald Corker
- Julius Corker

Lost 4 children:
- Agnes Corker
- Annetta Corker
- Lee Corker
- William Corker

Records supposedly at Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Springdale, Iowa. I have yet to locate the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Springdale. (Brian L. Lightfoot)

NOTE - This research apparently missed the name of Lillie Elizabeth Corker and perhaps Catharine Corker unless they were the same person. This means there was a total of 9 children, or 10 if Catharine was a different one.

I am fairly certain that Lily Elizabeth and Catherine were the same person. The name of Catharine appears on the 1850 US Census but the name of Lillie or Elizabeth does not. On the 1860 US Census, the name of Elizabeth does appear but Catharine does not nor is it found on any other census record other than 1850. This would suggest that they could be the same person but I cannot explain how one gets a name of Catharine from the given name of Lillie Elizabeth. One problem with this name association is that the age of Catharine as found on the 1850 US Census does not coincide with the expected age of Elizabeth on the 1860 US Census or even with the name of Lillie on her census records as an adult. Many of the ages given on the 1850 US Census for this family do not coincide with the ages from other census records.

It is possible that there was a separate daughter named Catharine born about 1846 and died shortly after the 1850 US Census but that does not explain the absence of the name of Lillie Elizabeth from that 1850 US Census.

One might think that her full given name could have been Catharine Elizabeth but once she was married she seemed to prefer the name of Lillie almost exclusively.
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Luke next married Judith Ann Guild, daughter of John Dunham Guild and Jane McKinney, on 17 December 1868 in Cedar County, IA. (Judith Ann Guild was born on 7 September 1824 in Whitehouse, NJ,^{4 9} died on 11 October 1882 in , Muscatine County, IA ⁹ and was buried after 11 October 1882 in Pedee Cemetery, Springdale Township, Cedar, IA ⁹.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1870 US Census in Iowa Township, Cedar County, IA on 26 August 1870. ⁴

1870 US Census
Pages 20, 21, Roll 380, Dwelling 152, Family 153
Iowa Township, Cedar County, Iowa
Luke Corker..52..PA..Farmer
Judith A. Corker..46..OH..Keeping House
Esther Pierce..24..OH
Elizabeth Pierce (Corker)..22..OH
Archy Pierce (Corker)..16..OH
Julia Pierce (Corker)..11..IA
Wm. Pierce..2..IA
Frank Wyant..20..OH
Kate Wyant..16..OH
Elizabeth Wyant..14..IA
Wm. Wyant..12..IA
Otis Wyant..5..IA

NOTE - The enumerator incorrectly entered the names of Elizabeth, Archy, and Julia so that it appears their surname was Pierce instead of Corker.
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  Marriage Notes:

Name: Luke Corker
Spouse's Name: Judith Ann Wyant
Event Date: 17 Dec 1868
Event Place: Cedar Co., Iowa
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M58762-1
System Origin: Iowa-VR
GS Film number: 0986805
Reference ID: 2:3RBQTGX

Citing this Record:
"Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJBX-XMQ : accessed 25 April 2016), Luke Corker and Judith Ann Wyant, 17 Dec 1868; citing Cedar Co., Iowa, reference 2:3RBQTGX; FHL microfilm 986,805.
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Luke and Judith are shown together in the 1870 US Census along with children from both of their first marriages. Included are Luke's children, Esther, Elizabeth, Archy, and Julius as well as Judith's children Frank, Kate, Elizabeth, William, and Otis.

Judith's children from her previous marriage are all listed as expected with the Wyant surname but the surname listing for Luke's children was improperly entered by the census enumerator and various census databases have mixed up some of the surnames.

Immediately following Luke and Judith's names is the name of his divorced daughter correctly entered as Esther Pierce. However the next entry was Luke's next youngest child and she was entered with only a given name thereby leading to the incorrect conclusion that her surname and subsequent names would also have the Pierce surname instead of the correct surname of Corker.

Those children's names are listed only as Elizabeth, Archy, and Julia and their surnames should be Corker. Following those entries, the name of Esther Pierce's young son, William Pierce, appears. The remaining names are all correctly listed as the Wyant children.
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