William Ellis Corey (May 4, 1866 – May 11, 1934) was president of the

Carnegie Steel Company Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in ...

from 1901 to 1903, and was president of the

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

from 1903 to 1911.

Biography

He was born in

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...

in 1866. In 1883, he married Laura Cook, whom he met when she worked for his family, and they had one son, Allan Corey. In 1906, Laura filed for divorce in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, charging that William had deserted her in May 1905. Laura was awarded custody of Allan and a settlement of $3,000,000 (approximately $ today). After the divorce, William married an actress, Mabelle Gilman on May 14, 1907, and in 1914 Laura married Lenn A. Duckworth. In 1911, Corey resigned his position as president of U.S. Steel. In 1923, Mabelle and William were divorced. He died in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

on May 11, 1934.

City of Corey, Alabama

The city of

Fairfield, Alabama Fairfield is a city in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham metropolitan area and is located southeast of Pleasant Grove. The population was 10,000 at the 2020 census. Fairfield is home to Miles C ...

, was originally named for Corey in 1910 by the

Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (1852–1952), also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal mining, coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based en ...

(TCI), which built the city as a model city for workers at the company's nearby Fairfield Works. The negative publicity from Corey's divorce prompted U.S. Steel, which had taken over TCI, to rename the city for the company president's hometown in Connecticut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corey, William Ellis 1866 births 1934 deaths American industrialists People from Braddock, Pennsylvania