From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). —

Henry John [James Henry] Corrie was born April 24, 1786 in London, England; he was the father of George J., John H., and William Archibald Corrie. He was an apprentice with George Pike [England]* of London, England, for three years before 1814. He was with Thomas Elliot of London, England. [In David Fox’s Guide, “George Pike” is an error for “George Pike England.”—Ed.]

Coming to the United States, he was with Lemuel Hedge of Windsor, Vermont, 1822-1823 and with Thomas Appleton of Boston, Massachusetts, 1823-1827. He established his own firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by 1828 and partnered with his sons, 1820s-1830s. He also was a partner with John Hubie, 1831-1837. He died August 9, 1858 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sources:

• Euterpeiad: or, Musical Intelligencer, June 1823. [A periodical published in Boston from 1820-1823 under various names. Information from Charles Eberline and Bynum Petty. In David Fox’s Guide, the name of the periodical is incorrectly spelled Euterpiead.—Ed.]
• Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 173.
• Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 400.

 

From Organ Database Builders editor Charles Eberline, December 8, 2019. —

According to Eugene McCracken, Henry Corrie was born in London, England, on April 24, 1786.¹ In an interview later in his life, Corrie reported that he had been an apprentice of the London organbuilder George Pike England for three years, and he probably continued as an employee until England’s death in 1815. In 1821 Thomas Elliot was commissioned to build two organs for Westminster Abbey to be used at the coronation of King George IV, and he engaged Corrie as foreman of the project. In 1822 Elliot again hired Corrie, this time to take an organ across the Atlantic Ocean to be installed in Old South Church, Boston. Corrie remained in Boston, sent for his family to join him there, and built at least three organs before becoming an employee of Thomas Appleton in May 1824.² It has been speculated that he spent approximately a year in 1822–1823 working with Lemuel Hedge in Windsor, Vermont, but Stephen Pinel stated that no conclusive proof this has been found. Furthermore, the vestry of Christ Church in New York City addressed Corrie “of Boston” on January 9, 1823, and signed a contract with him for an organ on February 10, 1823, and by early May 1823, Corrie was documented in Hallowell, Maine, so it seems unlikely that he could have been in Vermont then.³ Corrie continued working for Appleton until he and his family relocated to Philadelphia in early 1828.⁴

In Philadelphia, Corrie first worked on his own, but in 1831 he established a partnership with John Hubie, a cabinetmaker and organbuilder who had been listed in New York City directories from 1820 to 1830. This partnership lasted until Hubie’s death on October 21, 1837, “in the 49th year of his age.”⁵ Corrie continued in business, but in 1840 he formed the Philadelphia Organ Manufactory with D.B. Grove, a piano maker. According to Pinel, how long this arrangement continued “is difficult to determine.”⁶ Later in the 1840s Corrie joined forces with a man named James Brady; the firm Corrie & Brady is listed in the Philadelphia city directory for 1848, and their association lasted until at least 1853. Corrie continued to be listed as an organbuilder in Philadelphia city directories through 1857.⁷ He died of a stroke on August 19, 1858. After his death, one of his sons, William A. Corrie, and his son-in-law, John Wright, continued the business until 1861 under the name Corrie & Wright.⁸

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1. E.M. McCracken, “The Elusive Corries,” The Tracker 3, no. 2 (January 1959): 1. Stephen L. Pinel, “Late from London: Henry Corrie, Organbuilder, and His Family,” The Tracker 40, no. 4 (1996): 21n11, stated that he had been unable to determine the source for this date and observed that McCracken had been in touch with several descendants of Corrie who were living in Pennsylvania in the late 1950s.
2. Pinel, “Late from London,” 12–13, 15.
3. Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 72, 100–101; Pinel, “Late from London,” 23n40.
4. Pinel, “Late from London,” 15.
5. Ibid., 16, 23nn50–51. It should be noted, however, that in note 50, Pinel cited DeSilver’s Philadelphia Directory and Stranger’s Guide. 1831. (Philadelphia: Robert DeSilver, May, 1831), 44, but that source lists “Corrie Henry, organ builder 2 Blackberry al”; there is no listing of Corrie & Hubie, and no John Hubie is listed on page 100 (the title page also has Strangers’, not Stranger’s, and in Robert Desilver’s listing of his own name on page 53, the s is not capitalized). No Philadelphia city directory was published in 1832 (see the list of Philadelphia directories in McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory for 1853 [Philadelphia: Edward C. & John Biddle, 1853], page [7] of the series of pages preceding the title page). In Desilver’s Philadelphia Directory and Stranger’s Guide for 1833 (Philadelphia: Robert Desilver, March, 1833), “Corrie & Huber, [sic] organ builders 112 W Market” is listed on page 44 (there is no separate listing of Henry Corrie), and “Hubic [sic] John, organ bu High b Sch 5th & 6th” is listed on page 100. (The title page of the 1833 directory has Stranger’s, not Strangers’.) The Philadelphia city directories were consulted in electronic copies available at Internet Archive, https://ia801408.us.archive.org/13/items/philadelphiadire1831phil/philadelphiadire1831phil.pdf (1831) and https://archive.org/details/philadelphiadire1833phil/page/n24 (1833).
6. Pinel, “Late from London,” 18.
7. Pinel, “Late from London,” 19, stated, “Corrie continues to be listed as an organbuilder in city directories through 1858,” but Henry Corrie is not listed in McElroy’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1858 (Philadelphia: Edward C. & John Biddle, 1858), 132 (alphabetic listing of names) and 830 (“Philadelphia City Business Directory” under “Organ Builders”) (electronic copy, available at Internet Archive, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/mcelroysphiladel1858amce/page/n14).
8. Ibid., 18–19; McCracken, “Elusive Corries,” 4.

Sources:

• E.M. McCracken, “The Elusive Corries,” The Tracker 3, no. 2 (January 1959): 1–5.
• Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 72–75, 100–101, 400.
• Stephen L. Pinel, “Late from London: Henry Corrie, Organbuilder, and His Family,” The Tracker 40, no. 4 (1996): 11–25.