William Corry

Who was William Corry?

William Corry was a politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was in the Ohio House of Representatives and was the Mayor of Cincinnati from 1815-1819.

William Corry was born in Virginia. His father was killed at the Battle of King's Mountain in 1781. William stayed on his mother's farm and attended local schools until age 20. In 1798, he was invited by William McMillan, a relative, to come to Cincinnati. He lived with McMillan and studied law in his office.

Corry was admitted to the bar in 1803. After McMillan's death in 1804, Corry moved to Hamilton and associated with John Reily. When Reily became clerk of courts, Corry practiced alone until his marriage in 1810. In 1807, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives from Butler County for the sixth General Assembly.

Corry returned to Cincinnati in 1811 to administer to trust for Mr. McMillan's estate. He was librarian for the Cincinnati Library, which operated from his home. In 1812, he represented Hamilton County in the Ohio House of Representatives for the eleventh General Assembly, and he was elected Mayor of Cincinnati in 1815. He was the only Mayor of the Town of Cincinnati from 1815 to 1819. Before 1815, Cincinnati was a village, and after 1819, it was a city.