Weekend Dscoveries

I spent a good bit of time this weekend searching newspapers for all the stories written about Cory over the years. I found 38 articles that chronicle a few of the events in his life. Here is what I discovered:

Cory had smallpox a few months before his accident, the only case reported in the area.

The accident occurred Nov. 14, 1903, 33 days before the Wright Brothers made their historic first airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The trip down the mountain in the stretcher, then the wagon was 3 miles.

Cory's father, William, met the train (at Mona?) and accompanied his son to the Provo Hospital.

Doctors Aird and Robinson operated on Cory in the Provo Hospital.

Newspapers all across the state covered the story...Heber, Provo, Bountiful, Ogden, Eureka.

First public account of a "reading" by Cory was Sept. 25, 1908.

On at least one occasion, he charged 25 cents for his lectures.

After returning from Pittsburgh and "elocution" lessons in the spring of 1913, his lectures improved dramatically, as reported in an Ogden story in October of that year.

Cory charged one dollar for his book when it was released in 1921.

Corey once spoke in a meeting when the lights went out, enjoying "addressing an audience in darkness, like he was in, and through this darkness his remarks were made more effective." (Box Elder News)

Cory's wife, Mary Elizabeth Pettigo, was with him on at least one occasion, in Ogden, in May of 1926, the year she died. The newspaper report is a touching account of Cory calling her his greatest prize, and his "Kentucky Belle."

The last recorded newspaper account I could find (I'm sure there are more) of an appearance was March 20, 1941, the year he turned 59 years old (my age, by the way.)

Oddly, the last actual newspaper story was a report of a minor car accident in Provo canyon, when the vehicle he was riding in was "struck by a machine" whose tire had blown out.

As I said, I'm sure there are more articles. If you have any, I'd love to receive copies.

And the discovery goes on....

John
702-898-2204