Abel Corbin

Abel Rathbone Corbin was born on May 24, 1808, in Otsego County, New York. His parents were Eliakim Lyon Corbin and Lodama Rathbone Corbin. Corbin pursued his education and later became a newspaper editor and financier.

In the 1830s, Corbin served as the editor of the Missouri Argus, a newspaper based in St. Louis that functioned as the official Democratic party publication for Missouri.

Corbin was married twice. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Lewis McAllister, who was born in 1794 and died in 1868. This marriage did not produce any surviving children. On May 13, 1869, Corbin married Virginia Grant in Covington, Kentucky. Virginia Grant was the sister of Ulysses S. Grant, who later became the 18th President of the United States. Corbin and Virginia Grant had one child, a daughter named Jennie Corbin, who died in infancy.

Corbin was involved in financial activities during his career, notably participating in the events leading up to the Black Friday stock market crash of September 24, 1869.

He died on March 28, 1881, in Jersey City, New Jersey.