Editing Boston Corbett (section)

==Early life and education==
Corbett was born in [[London]], England, on January 29, 1832, and immigrated with his family to the US in 1840. The Corbetts moved frequently before settling in [[Troy, New York]]. As a teenager, Corbett began apprenticing as a [[Hat-making|milliner]], a profession that he would hold intermittently throughout his life. As a milliner, Corbett was regularly exposed to the fumes of [[mercury(II) nitrate]], then used in the treatment of [[fur]] to produce [[felt]] used on hats. Excessive exposure to the compound can lead to [[hallucination]]s, [[psychosis]] and [[erethism]].<ref name="jameson128">{{harvnb|Jameson|2013|pp=128}}</ref> Historians have theorized that the mental issues Corbett exhibited before and after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] were caused by this exposure.<ref name = "walker159">{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|p=159}}</ref>

===Family and religion===
After working as a milliner in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City.<ref name="johnson45">{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|p=45}}</ref> In the early 1850s, Corbett met Susan Rebecca, who was thirteen years his senior, and they married. The couple migrated, and on June 9, 1855, Corbett became an American citizen, taking the oath in a Troy courthouse. Corbett had a hard time finding and keeping work in Richmond, Virginia, in large part because of his vociferous opposition to slavery. His wife became ill, and, as they were returning to New York City by ship, she died at sea on August 18, 1856. The body continued to New York, where her death was recorded and she was buried. Following her death, he moved to [[Boston]]. Corbett became despondent over the loss of his wife and, according to friends, began drinking heavily.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|pp=7–8}} He could not hold a job and eventually became homeless.<ref name="jameson128"/><ref>{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|p=160}}</ref> After a night of heavy drinking, he was confronted by a street preacher whose message persuaded him to join the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]. Corbett reportedly encountered some evangelical temperance Christians and was detained by them until he sobered up, undergoing a religious epiphany in the process.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=9}}

In 1857, Corbett began working at a hat manufacturer's shop on [[Washington Street (Boston)|Washington Street]] in downtown Boston. He was reported to be a proficient milliner but was known to proselytize frequently and stop work to pray and sing for co-workers who used profanity in his presence. He also began working as a [[street preacher]] and would sermonize and distribute religious literature in [[North Square (Boston)|North Square]].<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|pp=45–46}}</ref> Corbett soon earned a reputation around Boston for being a "local eccentric" and religious fanatic.<ref name="jameson128"/><ref name="walker159"/> By the summer of 1858, Corbett fell in with members of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]], becoming a proselytizer and street preacher. On July&nbsp;16, 1858, Corbett, while trying to remain chaste, struggled against sexual urges and began reading [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#19:12|chapters 18 and 19]] in the [[Gospel of Matthew]] ("And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee....and there be [[eunuch]]s, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake"). Years later, a friend recounted Corbett saying "that the Lord directed him, in a vision or in some way, to castrate himself." Corbett [[castration|castrated]] [[self-surgery|himself]] with a pair of scissors.<ref name="walker159"/> He ate a meal and attended a prayer meeting before someone was sent for medical treatment.<ref name="Swanson329">{{harvnb|Swanson|2007|p=329}}</ref> Corbett was released on August 15, and a friend recorded that "he was very much gratified with the result as his passion was not trouble any more...his object was that he might preach the gospel without being tormented by his passions."{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=10}} After being [[baptized]] on August 29, he subsequently changed his name to Boston, the name of the city where he was converted.<ref name="Harper's Weekly, May 13, 1865">Harper's Weekly, May&nbsp;13, 1865</ref> He regularly attended meetings at the Fulton and Bromfield Street churches where his enthusiastic behavior earned him the nickname "The Glory to God man".<ref name="johnson45"/> In an attempt to imitate [[Jesus]], Corbett began to wear his hair very long (he was forced to cut it upon enlisting in the [[Union Army]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Kauffman|2004|p=310}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|p=46}}</ref> Corbett was described as friendly and open, helpful to those he saw in need but also quick to condemn those he thought were out of step with God.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=11}} Corbett routinely gathered up drunken sinners from the New York streets and took them to his room, where he would sober them up and feed them, restoring their health and also trying to help them find work. He continually expended all his own money and frequently borrowed from friends. When his hat-making boss asked Corbett about his lack of decent clothes for himself, Corbett always said he was "doing the Lord's work." His boss later described him as "a good man, for all of his faults were of the head, and not of the heart."{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=13}}