My Genealogy Hound

HENRY CORCORAN. The business concern of which this leading and prosperous citizen of the village of Cortland is proprietor and manager, the Cortland Bottling Works, located at 37 and 39 Port Watson Street, is entitled to recognition among the important interests, whose growth is synonymous with that of the village. This enterprise has as its head and sole director one of the most energetic and forceful business men in the section, whose life has been a gradual rise from a humble station to one of importance and lucrative returns. He is a type of that class of men who have risen by their own efforts, who are in short self-made; this class is a result of conditions peculiar to the United States, and worthy members of it rarely fail to excite the admiration and respect of their fellow citizens, Mr. Corcoran being no exception to the general rule.

Mr. Corcoran was born at Dryden, Tompkins County, N. Y., and is a son of Patrick Corcoran, who was born in the town of Rue, parish of Kilmore, County Roscommon, Ireland. In the spring of 1844, this worthy Irish peasant left his native country, and came to New York; having friends in Tompkins County, he journeyed thither, and settled near Dryden, where he followed agricultural pursuits. He afterwards moved to Freeville, where he farmed until he retired from active labor, and moved to Cortland to reside with his son, the subject of this sketch, with whom he still lives. Patrick Corcoran’s wife was Miss Catherine Conlon, who was also a native of the Emerald Isle, being born in an adjoining county. In the parental family were five children, who were named as follows: James; Mary; Frank; Henry; and Charles.

The district schools of Freeville furnished Henry Corcoran with an education, which, though limited in amount and confined in its scope, sufficed as a fundamental ground-work for the knowledge gained by observation in the splendid school of experience. At the age of fourteen, the straitened circumstances in the parental family forced him to leave off attending school, and to begin to support himself. He secured a position as water-boy on a gravel train of the E., C. & N. R. R., and later became flagman at the junction of the E., C. & N. R. R. and the S. C. R. R., in which latter position he continued for several years. Rising still higher in the railroad service he became a clerk in the freight office, a position he held until he voluntarily resigned, and came to Cortland in 1882. Upon becoming a resident of this village, which has ever since been his home, he took up the work of a carriage trimmer for the Cortland Wagon Co., and before long was taking contracts in this line of work, and showed his business sagacity by amassing considerable capital. In 1880, with Mr. M. E. Holton, as Holton & Corcoran, he bought out H. C. Harrington, and the firm as constituted above became the proprietors of the Cortland Bottling Works. In 1890, Mr. Corcoran secured entire control of the establishment, and entered upon a career of prosperity, that is highly flattering to his business capacity and keen insight into the needs of the trade. He has enlarged and improved his facilities, and built up a large trade in the surrounding country for his products, which consist of all kinds of carbonated and mineral waters, together with lager beer and ale. In 1897, he made a very important addition to his already large establishment by adding a wholesale liquor store. Two teams are kept busy delivering his goods about the village, county and even to the surrounding counties. The bottling works and liquor store are located in F. B. Haberley’s Block at 37 and 39 Port Watson Street. As befits a man of his standing and worth in the community he owns his own residence at No. 13 Maple Avenue, where he has, with an eye to the best permanent results, indulged his tastes in making a number of important improvements, among which is a new barn, that is a model of convenience and general neat appearance. Mr. Corcoran’s portrait* appears on a preceding page.

*A portrait was included in the original printed volume.