Alva’s book had originally listed one ‘Joseph Richard Gorby‘ generation IV who married Margaret Cloud, whose father was Joseph Gorby generation III, whose parents were Joseph Gorby generation II and Mary Loan.

We now know that his proper lineage is:

1. Samuel Gorby m. Mary May
2. Joseph Gorby m. Maria Littlejohn (aka Mary Loan)
3. Joseph Gorby m. Hannah Stilley
4. Richard Gorby m. Margaret Carter (not Cloud)

We know from census and voting records that Joseph and Hannah also had a son named Joseph.  In Alva’s book he is incorrectly listed as a son of Joseph generation II and Mary Loan.  Alva also listed three sons of this Joseph; John, Richard who married Elizabeth Stinson, and Jacob.

The easiest line to trace from these sons was that of Richard whose wife was known.  One of his daughters was Isabelle (Belle) Gorby Collins who lived in Chester, Delaware Co, PA.  Once again, we refer back to her letter:

In a letter written in 1909 to Leon A Gorby of E Palestine, OH, she [Belle] mentions Uncle Jonathon, Uncle Samuel and Uncle Jacob.   “Uncle Jacob” as being the only one of her father’s brothers whom she had ever seen.

A lot of work by cousin Bruce Gorby, a descendant of Richard‘s brother Jacob, has established his line as being:

4. Joseph Gorby m. Mary ?
5. Jacob Gorby m. Rachel ?
6. Benjamin H Gorby m. Emma Bartell Fowler
7. Ariel Willard Gorby, Sr. m. Loretta Hacket
8. Ariel Willard Gorby, Jr.

Alva had originally listed this line as possible descendants of Richard Gorby and Margaret Carter:

The following group of Gorbys may belong to this line of Gorbys. Parkside, Chester, PA.

1. Benjamin Gorby, b. 1859 – an only child.
2. Ariel W Gorby, b. 1890 – an only child.
3. Willard A Gorby, b. 1913 – an only child.

A letter to Leon A Gorby from Willard A Gorby, dated December 30, 1930, gave the above information, stating that this was all they knew of their ancestry except that his grandfather Benjamin had an uncle Joseph Gorby who was drowned – still single.

Benjamin’s father could have been a son of Robert Cloud Gorby of Chester, PA, whose brother, Joseph C Gorby, was drowned in the Delaware River.  He was single.  This may be the solution here.

Of course we now also know that Robert Cloud Gorby‘s brother, Joseph Carter Gorby never drowned but instead married Elizabeth Graham and raised a family of nine children in Milford Town, Cedar Creek Hundred, Sussex Co, DE.

So this gives us two of the three sons listed by Alva, and this also matches what Isabelle Gorby Collins wrote in 1909.

Several years ago we were approached by Kathryn Perkins who was trying to tie her ancestors to their proper place on the Gorby Family Tree.

These ancestors were Samuel Gorby born abt 1817 in DE or PA, and Emiline Shay born 1826 in PA. They were married near Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA about 1844.  Both Samuel and Emiline died at Omaha, NE 1893-1894.

For many years we suspected that this Samuel Gorby was a brother of Richard and Jacob, one of the uncles listed in Isabelle‘s letter.  But we never had any documentation that tied Samuel to either known brother, or to their father Joseph.  Until now.

Located in the Delaware Genealogical Society Journal Volume 7, Number 2 published October 1993 we found the following names on an 1826 roster of students attending the Brandywine Manufacturer’s Sunday School which was located near Wilmington in New castle Co, DE.

Jacob Gorby age 12 and Samuel Gorby age 9, sons of J (?) Gorby, mason.

And now we have a document that allows us to officially attach the descendants of Samuel Gorby and Emaline Shay to their proper branch in the Gorby Family Tree.