McCorkle Family Roots

(including McCorkel, McCorkell, McCorcle, McCorkhill, MacCorkle, McCorkill, McCarcle,
McKorkle, McCorkendale, McCorkindale, McCorquodale, Corkill, Corkhill, etc.)

(A link to the McCorkle database and pedigree is located at the end of the historical section.)

In the early 1700s, several families of McCorkles and many other Scot-Irish Presbyterians immigrated to America and settled near the Susquehanna River in the Derry and Paxtang region of Lancaster County (now Dauphin County), Pennsylvania. Although a few of these Pennsylvania immigrates may have came directly from Scotland and elsewhere, the vast majority were undoubtedly Ulster Scots that had moved from Scotland to Ulster, Ireland during the King James “plantation” period which began about 1610.
Contrary to the popular American image of the kilted, Gaelic speaking, bagpipe playing, Highland Scot, the immigrant “Ulstermen” were mainly descendants of Lowland Scots and many had embraced Presbyterianism. Many were descendants of Saxons, Romans and Scandinavians (Vikings) and their customs and habits were more English than Scottish. That is not to say that there weren’t ethnic Scots in the Lowlands; however, even these people had been anglicized by the 17^th century.

            Whatever their ethnic origins, almost all were fleeing the persecution, religious wars, famine and other hardships that were rampant in both Scotland and Ireland. After the siege of Londonderry in 1689, the Ulster Scots felt abandoned by the monarchy that had earlier persuaded them to move from Scotland to Ireland. To the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterians were “dissenters” and they were compelled to pay tithes to support the state church. In addition, land ownership in Ulster was largely determined by the King of England who rewarded his well placed followers with large tracts which the landlords divided and rented to the Ulstermen. At the beginning of the 18^th century, these rents were raised significantly increasing the financial burden on their already beleaguered tenants. All of these events led to a mass exodus from Ulster.
            The Presbyterians and many other persecuted religious denominations came to "Penn's Woods" because the Quaker proprietor, William Penn, had instituted laws explicitly guaranteeing freedom of worship, trial by jury, protection of property and many other laws that were part of the United States Constitution written over one-hundred year later. In 1681, as repayment for a debt to Penn's father, Admiral William Penn, King Charles II had granted William Penn some 45,000 squares miles north of the Maryland border. With the help of his friend, Prince James, the Duke of York, Penn established Philadelphia and, by 1682, had sold some 500,000 acres of 500 acre plots at the nominal price of £10 each.
            In his ground breaking book, From Viking Glory: Notes on the McCorkle Family in Scotland and America, Louis McCorkle proposed that James, William and Samuel McCorkle were the progenitors of the McCorkles that had their American origin in Lancaster, Chester and Bucks Counties, Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. The basis for this proposal are several sketchy McCorkle family legends; however, no primary or secondary evidence of James' or William's existence has ever been found. In the thirty years that have followed the introduction of the McCorkle book, significant research has been done on several McCorkle lines that were only lightly explored or completely omitted from his discussion and analysis. These McCorkle lines introduce additional possible progenitors. Many of the McCorkle legends are repeated and analyzed here.
            The first primary evidence of any McCorkle in this area seems to be in the 1737 and 1738 Paxtan Samuel McCorkle in Paxtang before 1735

g District, Lancaster County land warrants that mention Samuel Corkle and Samuel McHurkle as a neighbor. The image at the right is from the 1887 research of William H. Egle, the prolific historian of Pennsylvania. This Samuel McCorkle should not be confused with Samuel McCorkle of Augusta County, Virginia nor should the James and William McCorkle mentioned in the legends be confused with the later McCorkles found in Augusta and Rockbridge Counties or anywhere else. Also, the 1745/46 and 1749/50 contributions of Samuel McCorkle are mentioned in the Subscription Account Book of Rev. John Roan, who ministered the Presbyterian congregations of Derry, Paxtang and Mt. Joy between 1745 and 1775. Rev. Roan is recorded as being from Greenshaw/Grenshaw, Ireland. In modern Northern Ireland, there are nine Townlands named Gransha, including one in county Donegal. Derry Church (originally Spring Creek) was built in 1720 at a site 14 miles east of modern day Harrisburg and Paxtang Church (originally called Fishing Creek) was located about 3 miles east of Harrisburg. Paxtang is now a part of Harrisburg, the county seat and state capital. Similarly, Matthew McKorkell (1746) and John McCorkle (1746-1748) were subscribers for the support of Rev. Adam Boyd, the pastor of the Brandywine Manor Presbyterian Church in the forks of the Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania. A little later, the surnames found in the 1774-1785 Tax Lists of Chester County bear an amazing resemblance to the surnames found in Augusta and Rockbridge Counties, Virginia. Included in these lists are the McCorkle given names of James, Archibald, Patrick, George, Robert, William and Mary. It is very interesting that yDNA testing has revealed that Samuel McCorkle, the subject of this Web Page, was related to the John McCorkle that moved from Pennsylvania to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina about 1765. Hopefully, this success will encourage other McCorkle males to join the McCorkle DNA Project. For a very brief overview of the early Pennsylvania McCorkles, as well as other McCorkle historical information, see the “McCorkle Gleanings” link below.
Even though claims that these early Pennsylvania McCorkles came directly from Argyllshire, Scotland have been published, we have never seen any evidence at all to substantiate this assertion. In fact, all primary evidence Stephen McCorkel Tombstone

indicates these McCorkles, or their ancestors, had previously moved to Ireland from Scotland or the Isle of Man and this event could have occurred one hundred years or more before they came to the Colonies. From all accounts, the immigrant McCorkles considered themselves to be Irish and they named their Pennsylvania settlements of Derry, Londonderry, Rapho, Mt. Joy and Donegal after their Irish homelands. Additional evidence is provided by the excellent Steven Akins photo of the Stephen McCorkel tombstone in Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Rock Hill, South Carolina. Before moving to South Carolina, Stephen (1735-1790) apparently lived in York County, Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. Although an apparent coat of arms is engraved at the top of the stone, we have not been able to find a similar image in any heraldry reference; however, the inscription "Vigueur de Dessus" (Strength from Above) below the shield is a motto of Clan O'Brien, one of the oldest and best known clans of Ireland. We have not located any other clan in the British Isles that uses this motto. In addition, two adjacent tombstones have almost identical adornments. So in the 1790s, the person responsible for the inscriptions engraved on three McCorkel/McCorkle tombstones seemingly chose to link the decedents with Ireland, not Scotland.
            "The Muster Roll of County Donnagall 1630 A.D." includes Andrew and John mcCorkill in the employ of Lady Conningham, widow of Sir James Conningham, knight, in the Barony de Rapho. In 1610, King James I of England awarded confiscated Ulster lands to many Scottish nobles, knights, adventurers and others who had won distinction while serving James when he was King James VI of Scotland. These "undertakers" agreed to bring forty-eight English or Scottish men to their Ulster plantations. Among the Scottish grantees was Sir James Cunningham, laird of Glangarnocke, Ayr (Ayrshire), Scotland, who received two 1000 acre grants in the Barony of Rapho. So it seems almost certain that these McCorkills came to Ulster between 1610 and 1630, almost surely from Ayrshire, Scotland. Ayrshire is in the Lowlands, on the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland. The 1663 Donegal Hearth Money Rolls include William McCorckell, James m'Corkle and Archibald m'Corckle. Later, the Hearth tax enumerations from the 1685 Laggan district, county Donegal, list James and Andrew M’Corckle and also contain a large number of the same surnames found in early 18^th century Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and a little later in Augusta and Rockbridge Counties, Virginia. For instance, Robert and John Cunningham, natives of north Ireland settled in Augusta about 1735. The recently transcribed Burt Presbyterian Kirk (Church) records in county Donegal include births of Josias, John and George McKorkel/McKorkell between 1679 and 1681/82, as well as, the marriages of Alexander, Andrew, James (3) and Rebecca McCorcle, occurring between 1695 and 1710. Again, the Burt Kirk record includes many of the surnames found in early Lancaster, Augusta and Rockbridge Counties. In 1707, an Andrew McCorkell executed a will in the Diocese of Raphoe, county Donegal. In our search for verifiable evidence in Ulster, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of William Joseph (Joe) McCorkell of Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Joe joined the McCorkle DNA Project and the results of his yDNA test confirm that his ancestors were closely related to the McCorkles that immigrated to southeast Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Here is a link to Ulster McCorkells, Joe's excellent website.
            However, variations of the McCorkell name appear quite frequently in the early history of the Isle of Man, a large island in the Irish Sea about halfway between Ireland and England/Scotland border. The Scandinavians (Vikings) conquered, settled and ruled the Isle of Man from about 800 until 1266. They brought with them the surname MacCorkhill (and variations), which is a contraction of Mac-Pór-Ketill, meaning son of Thorr of the kettle, a favorite Scandinavian deity. The earliest known evidence of Isle of Man surnames is the "Declaration of the Bishop, Abbot and Clergy against the Claim of Sir Stephen Lestrop, A. D. 1408" which includes the name of Donald MacCorkyll, the Rector of the Church of St. Mary of Balylagh. The original document is in Latin, so it has been transcribed and translated. In a transcribed Latin version, the name is Donaldus Mc Corkyll and Dilnow Mc Corkyll. The MacCorkyll surname has been noted as an example of a Manx (the nearly extinct language of the Isle of Man) name with Scandinavian origins. However, the Mc/Mac prefix was slowly discarded over the years and by the early 17^th century, this surname prefix had almost disappeared on the Isle of Man. In 1266, the island came under the rule of the Scots and in 1405, the English replaced the Scots. Other variations of McCorkill and Corkill have been recorded on the Isle of Man in 1430, 1511, 1515, 1532, 1632, 1650 and 1652. Some of the given names noted were William, John, Thomas, Edward, Edmund and Gibbon. Interestingly, Corkill and Corkhill are still relatively common surnames on the Isle of Man and very rare in the rest of the world. Also,the 1850 U. S. census shows about ten male Corkills (and variations) that listed their birthplace as the Isle of Man.
            So, Donald MacCorkyll/McCorkyll was a parish rector on the Isle on Man shortly after rule was transferred from the Scots to the English. It seems to us that Donald, or his ancestors, most likely emigrated from Scotland during the rule of the Scots. As to early 17^th century migration patterns in the British Isles, an illuminating comment from an Ulster historian seems to be quite pertinent: in 1609 "Belfast workers were engaged in the construction of Chichester's town, and many families of English, Scots and Manx were resident". If true, this leaves the door open for another McCorkill migration path to Ulster at the beginning of the Plantation period.
           This 1677 map of northeast Ulster, southwest Scotland and the Isle of Man puts the locations and travel distances in perspective.
Two Corkill residents of the Isle of Man have joined the McCorkle DNA Project. Interestingly, the yDNA of these two men does not match the McCorkles (and variations) of America and Ireland and, although they both belong to the I haplogroup, they do not match each other. One man belongs to the I1 haplogroup which has a deep ancestry primarily associated with Scandinavia and the Vikings. The other man belongs to the I2a haplogroup, which has deep ancestral roots associated with nearly all of Europe, including Scandinavia. These yDNA results seem to confirm the above discussion of the introduction of the McCorkle surname to the Isle of Man and the later elimination of the Mc/Mac prefix.
            Also, several other American McCorkles (and variations) have joined the McCorkle DNA Project. In addition to one resident of Northern Ireland, descendants from most of the known American branches are now represented in the project and all of these men belong to the R1b1a2 haplogroup and their yDNA signatures show that they all have a common ancestor. The R1b haplogroup is the most frequently occurring haplogroup in western Europe with a very heavy concentration in the British Isles.

By the late 1730s, many of the Pennsylvania McCorkles and allied families had moved down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road to the Staunton area of Augusta County, Virginia. Augusta County was officially formed from Orange County in 1738; however, until the Augusta County Court was organized in December 1745, the legal business of Augusta was transacted in the Orange County Court. The newcomers purchased land from William Beverly in an area known as Beverly Manor. In 1732, Beverly, a renowned land promoter of the time, had petitioned the Colonial Council in Williamsburg to obtain land in the Shenandoah Valley. Beverly was sure he could entice a number of people from Pennsylvania to settle in the Shenandoah if he had land to sell.
While the government at Williamsburg and the Church of England (and America) did not relish the idea of Presbyterians in Virginia, they did approve of the barrier to the Native Americans that these settlers provided. So Beverly was provided with a large tract, but when the surveyors arrived in 1736, they noted that some people from Pennsylvania were already settled there. The historian, Oren Morton, states that Beverly initiated an "ejectment" suit against a James McCorkle because McCorkle was already living on the tract when the survey team arrived. The court ruled that McCorkle could remain after he 1736 property of Samuel & Robert McCorkle

1736 property of Samuel & Robert McCorkle

paid Beverly for the property. On the left is a small section of a 1736 Beverly Manor settlement map created by cartographer James Hildebrand. The farm of Samuel McCorkle is slightly northwest of the confluence of Mill and Christian Creeks, about six miles southeast of Staunton. The farm of Robert McCorkle (deed dated 1749) is shown about one-half mile to the east and the farm of James McCorkle (deed dated 1747) was less than a mile to the north. Although the deed for Samuel's property is not extant, he was noted as a property owner in 1749. By 1743, Beverly Manor was also known as the Irish Tract and was so noted by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson (father of President Thomas Jefferson) on their map of Virginia published in 1755. This is added evidence as to national origins of most of the residents of Beverly Manor.
Some other McCorkle males mentioned in early records are: Alexander, Archibald, Andrew, Patrick, William, Benjamin, and John. From Beverly Manor, some of the McCorkles soon moved south down the valley to Rockbridge and Montgomery Counties, Virginia, then west on the Wilderness Trail into Green County, Kentucky, Lawrence County, Ohio and Ray County, Missouri. Other Virginian McCorkles continued south into South Carolina and, in about 1790, some of this clan moved north into Bourbon and Fayette Counties, Kentucky, then on to Miami County, Ohio.
Although the exact relationships are not known, the McCorkles of Rockbridge County, Virginia were surely closely related to those in neighboring Augusta. A descendant of the Rockbridge McCorkle branch, Nancy McCorkle Miller, has written a biography entitled Diana Saville McCorkle. Diana was the wife of William A. L. McCorkle, a descendant of the Revolutionary patriot, John McCorkle, who died of wounds received at the 1781 Battle of Cowpens. William and Diana were among the pioneer families of Washington State. This indexed book is available at several libraries, as well as, Amazon.com and other commercial book purveyors.

The parents of Samuel McCorkle have not been proven, but they naturally have been the object of genealogical speculation. Various historians and genealogists have suggested several of the early Pennsylvania McCorkles as the father of Samuel, but none of these “theories” were backed by any facts and they can not be substantiated now. Samuel and Sarah McCorkle were married about 1752. Although Sarah’s surname has not been proven, very strong circumstantial evidence indicates that it was Buchanan. For a discussion of this evidence, see “The Buchanans of Green County, Kentucky” link below. Samuel Sr. died in September, 1788 in Augusta County. In his will, Samuel named his wife Sarah, children John, Sarah, Samuel, Robert, Elizabeth, Mary & Martha and two grandchildren, Samuel & William. Samuel Jr. received about 80 acres and, at the death of Sarah, John received the remaining property. Other evidence has led me to conclude that another son of Samuel McCorkle Sr. was Andrew. Andrew predeceased Samuel Sr. and was the father of grandchildren Samuel & William (See “Andrew, the Son of Samuel & Sarah McCorkle of Augusta Co., Virginia” below).

John, Robert and Samuel Jr. served in the Virginia militia and army. John and Robert are recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as Patriots of the War for Independence. The 1832 pension declarations of Robert and Samuel Jr. document their service during the war. The record for Robert is especially poignant, as it briefly relates his enlistments from October, 1776 until late 1781 and his participation in many battles from New York to South Carolina. With the rest of the Continental Army, he spent the winter of 1777/1778 in Valley Forge where some 2500 of his comrades died from malnutrition, exposure and disease. Samuel also enlisted in October, 1776 and served three terms of duty until 1781. John does not seem to have submitted a Revolutionary War pension application, however, his son wrote that John was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Sarah McCorkle, the sister of John, Robert and Samuel, married Benjamin Chapman from Baltimore. Benjamin served four terms of duty in the Maryland and Virginia militias.

On December McCorkle Signatures on Augusta Co. Petition

4, 1786, John and James McCorkle, along with hundreds of other Revolutionary War veterans and other concerned citizens, signed a petition in Augusta County. This petition reads in part: “We conceive that the Act for Incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church is highly exceptionable. It establishes an immediate dangerous connection between the Legislature and that Church”. An exact image of the original petition and 422 similar documents may be viewed at “Early Virginia Religious Petitions” at the Library of Congress web site.

On 17 September 1793, John and Lydia sold their 256 acres to Jacob Swallow and on 19 September 1797, Samuel Jr. and Agnes sold their farm to Michael Hite. Robert left Augusta County about 1791 and moved west into Bath County where John soon joined him. Andrew's son, Samuel, probably accompanied them and later made his home in Greenbrier County where he died. In the 1830s and 1840s, most of Samuel's children moved to Vermilion County, Illinois. About 1800, both Samuel Jr. and John McCorkle moved to Green County, Kentucky where they purchased farms. Robert moved to Kanawha County, Virginia about 1808 and then on to Lawrence County, Ohio about 1816. Although a legend has been created and widely reproduced that John McCorkle was killed in 1814 while traveling to visit Robert in Ohio, research has proven beyond any doubt that this story is completely inaccurate. John died in November, 1830 in Lawrence County, Ohio. A link to the details of this research is in the "Complex and Thought Provoking" section below. In about 1816, John's wife Lydia and their thirteen children moved from Kentucky to the Ray/Clay/Clinton/Buchanan County area of northwest Missouri. Samuel McCorkle Jr. died in Green County leaving a will. Robert McCorkle died in Lawrence County and the testamentary record of his death has survived.

To our knowledge, the middle name or initial of Samuel McCorkle, the progenitor of this line, is not known. Samuel’s middle name is not mentioned in his will, the transcript of his Bible or anywhere else that has been documented. In particular, there is no proof at all that Samuel’s middle name was Eusebius. This assertion has caused considerable confusion because there was a Rev. Samuel Eusebius McCorkle (1746-1811) who was at least a generation younger than Samuel McCorkle of Augusta. The proliferation of this whimsy and/or confused analysis is a disservice to the family history community. If anyone has any facts relevant to this issue, we would be very pleased to review them. Our email address is at the bottom of this page.

An Atlas of Lawrence County, Ohio, D. J. Lake & Co., Philadelphia, 1887
Anderson, William. The Scottish Nation Vol. II, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh & London, 1867
Barton, O. S. My Three Years with Quantrill; A True Story Told By His Scout, John McCorkle, 1914
Carte des Isles Britanniques, Pierre D'Abbeville Du Val - 1677, (Online: GENMAPS)
Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch Irish Settlement in Virginia, GPC, Baltimore, 1989 (Online: Augusta County, Virginia GenWeb)
Clem, Gladys B. It Happened Around Staunton Virginia, McClure Print Co., Staunton, Virginia, 1965
Cresswell, Oliver D. Kirk Session Book of Burt county Donegal, Ireland, self published, Belfast Ireland, December, 1995 (Online: Ewing Family Association)
Declaration of the Bishop, Abbot and Clergy against the Claim of Sir Stephen Lestrop, A. D. 1408", A Collection of National Documents Relating to the Isle of Man, Vol. II, Translated and edited by J. R. Oliver, H. Curphey, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1861 (Online: Google Books)
Donegal Hearth Money Rolls - 1663, (Online: Ulster Ancestry)
Egle, William Henry. Notes and Queries Chiefly Relating to the History of Dauphin County, The Daily Telegraph Print, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1887
Egle, William Henry. Historical Register: Notes and Queries, Historical and Genealogical, Vol. II, No. 1, Lane S. Hart, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1884
Egle, William Henry. Proprietary and Other Tax Lists of the County of Chester 1774, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1785, Wm. Stanley May, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1897 (Online: Open-Access Text Archive)
Griffin, Patrick. "The People with No Name: Ulster's Migrants and Identity Formation in Eighteenth-Century Pennsylvania", The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 58, No. 3, July, 2001 (Online: Jstor.com)
Hildebrand, J. R. Map of Beverly Patent of 1736, including original grantees of 1738-1845, Orange and Augusta Counties, Virginia , 1954 (Online: Augusta County, Virginia GenWeb)
Hofstra, Warren R. The Planting of New Virginia, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2004
Labath, Cathy Joint. "Donegal Will Index, Diocese of Raphoe 1684-1858", (Online: Ulster Ancestry)
Lecky, Alexander G. The Laggan and its Presbyterianism, Davidson & M’Cormack, Belfast, Ireland, 1905
MacNish, Neil. "Surnames and Place-names of the Isle of Man", Transactions of the Canadian Institute, Vol. 2, The Copp, Clark Co., Toronto, 1892
"Manx Surnames - Names of Scandinavian Origin" The Manx Note Book, Vol. III, Edited by A. W. Moore, G. H. Johnson, Publisher, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1887 (Online: Google Books) "Map Collections", American Memory Collection, The Library of Congress, Washington, DC (Online: The Library of Congress) M'Clune, James, History of the Presbyterian Church in the Forks of Brandywine, Chester County, Pa., J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1885 (Online: Open-Access Text Archive)
McCorkle, Louis W. From Viking Glory: Notes on the McCorkle Family in Scotland and America, Herff Jones Co., Marceline, Missouri, 1982
McCorkle, Louis W. From Vikings: The McCorkle Family, PAM, Printers & Publishers, Quincy, Illinois, 2003
Mervine, William M. The Scotch Settlers in Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1912 (Online: Jstor.org)
Morton, Oren F. A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, McClure Print Co., Staunton, Virginia, 1920
Moville, County Donegal, Ireland Genealogical Records (Online: Moville.Records)
Patriot Index, Daughters of the American Revolution "Pennsylvania County Maps", United States Digital Map Library (Online: US GenWeb Archives)
Pension Declaration of Robert McCorkle, National Archives
Pension Declaration of Samuel McCorkle Jr., National Archives
Placenames Database of Ireland (Online: Records of the Land Office Warrant Registers 1733-1957, Pennsylvania State Archives (Online)
Robinson, Philip. The Plantation of Ulster, Gill and McMillan, Ltd., Dublin, Ireland, 1984
Ruley, Angela M. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians From Ulster to Rockbridge, 1993 (Online: Rockbridge County, Virginia GenWeb)
Records of the Land Office Warrant Registers 1733-1957, Pennsylvania State Archives (Online)
Talbot, Theophilus. The Manorial Roll of the Isle of Man 1511-1515, Oxford University Press, London, 1924 (Online: isle-of-man.com)
The Scots-Irish: The Thirteenth Tribe (Online: Ulster Ancestry)
Waddell, Joseph A. Annals of Augusta County, Virginia from 1726-1871, C. Russell Caldwell, Staunton, Virginia, 1902
White, Emma Siggins & Maltby, Martha Humpherys, Genealogical Gleanings of Siggins and other Pennsylvania Families, Tiernan-Dart Printing Co., Kansas City, Missouri, 1918 (Online: Google Books)

Shipping McCorkells
(The descendants of William McCorkell, the founder of the McCorkell Ship Line)

West Virginia Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates

North Carolina State Archives - Manuscript and Archives Reference System

Kentuckiana Digital Library

Ulster Ancestry Free Pages

A Manx Note Book

LDS Family Historical Records/Catalog Search

Arizona Genealogy Birth & Death Certificates

North Carolina Land Grant Images and Data

Virginia Places

The original focus of our research was on the McCorkles of Lawrence County, Ohio and surrounding area; however, this focus has been expanded to include the descendants of Samuel and Sarah McCorkle of Augusta County, Virginia. We invite other researchers to share information and images pertaining to the descendants of the children of Samuel and Sarah. We will gladly acknowledge your contributions and/or provide links to your online data. While most of the work on the descendants of Samuel and Elizabeth Simmons McCorkle of Lawrence County is our own, we have borrowed extensively from published records, online records and individual contributions for the genealogies of the other descendants of Samuel and Sarah McCorkle. Except where the data pertains to our direct line, we do not always attempt to verify the contributions of other researchers. In creating McCorkle Family Roots and the associated online database, one of our objectives was to provide a comprehensive, documented resource for those doing research on the descendants of Samuel and Sarah McCorkle. Hopefully, this approach will provide a base that other researchers of this line will enhance with their contributions. For much of this information, we are indebted to the following individuals, institutions and organizations:

Larry Abraham, Amy Adkins, Thomas Adkins, Bob Addleman, Corrine Afton, Joleen Altchison, Linda Amman, Nancy Hostetler Amster, Debra Jonson Anderson, A. T. Andreas, William Arbuthnot, Judy Arnold, Robert L. Bailey, Blair Baker, Rev. Jack William Balsley, D. D. Banzet, Elbert Macby Barron, Carolyn M. Bartels, Edith Bastin, Sally Bauman, Cynthia Lucy Beach, Edwin Kemper Beard, Mickey Beard, Ken Beckman, Craig Beeman, Susan N. Bell, Lucy Reardon Bender, Michele Bender, Mary Alice Blacklock, Mark Blackman, Charley Blackstone, Ruth Wiburn Blair, Stacey Blanton, Daisy Turley Bobbitt, Karen Carmichael Boggs, Richard Bostron, Jean-Marc Boulle, Janice Bowman, Ruth Bowers, Robert J. Boyce, Thelma Line Boyd, Jan Bradshaw, Doris Brewster, Sarah Broadbent, Rose McCorkle Broadway, Jackie Bromley, Kay Brown, Charles Browning, Margaret McCorkle Bruckler, David Buchenroeder, Nancy E. Simmons Burke, Fran Burnett, Inez E. Burns, Jean Randolph Burns, U. E. (Bud) Bush, Katherine Gentry Bushman, Jewell M. Callicott, Kim Campbell, Lorna Campbell, Jeff Carr, Nanon Lucille Carr, Kimble Carter, Lyman Chalkley, Barbara Chapman, J. B. (Jack) Childers, Nancy Chiles, Barbara Chisler, Charles Graham Christensen, Charlsie Clark, Kenneth Madison Clark, Naarah Lee Clark, Debra Clarke, Marna L. Clemons, Bridget Clift, Ewing Cockrell, Deborah M. Colby, Helen Cott, Donald Cottam, Louise Muir Coutts, Jimmie & Pauline Courtney, Kenneth D. Cox, Polly Cox, Jack Crabtree, Stephen Craig, Lillian Cravens, Shelly Russell Crist,Caleb Pickens Crosby, Michael Cross, Doris Creech, Virginia Weirich Crystal, Jean Custer, Julie Dalton, Dorothy Davis, Jerry Davis, Kacy Davis, Patricia Janet Davis, Sheryl Davis, Jane DeLisle, Kathy DeMetrick, David P. Derr, Henry S. Dillon, Lewis R. Dillon, Daniel Dixon, Jordan Dodd, Mary L. Dodds, John Frederick Dorman, Kari Dorrian, Barbara Dowling, George Henry Drennon, Dana Dunbar, Carol Eddleman, Donna Edmondson, Kelly McCorkle Earp, Carrie Eldridge, Elizabeth Prather Ellesberry, Randy Ellis, Mary Elizabeth Bungenstock Erwin, Perry L. Evans, Heidi Fackrell, Robert Farrar, Catharine Foreaker Fedorchak, Robert D. Ferguson, Norma Lee Penning Fink, Joy Fisher, Stephenie Flora, Lillian Follett-Hall, Candie Freeman, David Kent Freeman, James Huston Fristoe, Dennis Frush, Sandra Gall, Ellen Gammon, Joel Gardner, Daniel Glaesen, Jay Goodner, Sandi Goren, David Clayton Grace, Deborah Grace, Joe Graham, Norma Rutledge Gramner, Owen Graves, Lanice Green, Nancy T. Green, Fred Gregory, Darlena Miller Griffitts, Dale Grimm, Barbara Grover, Betty Hill Gundy, Maureen Hale, Richard Hale, R. C. Hall, Sonny Hall, Charles Hughes Hamlin, Tracy Hancock, Gerald Hanna, Pat Hanning, Lori Hardy, Wes Hare, Karla Harp, Ella King Morrison Harrington, Sherre L. Harrington, Joyce Harrison, Kathie Harrison, Don & Jeanine Hartman, Keith Marshall Hastie, Carlie Hauck, Robert Kirk Headley, Gina Heffernan, Elsie Heinrick, June A. Dreistadt Held, Helen Hedrick, Michele Elaine Herrmanns, M. Hershberger, Melinda Hickerson, Jody Himaya, Ernestine Hippert, Nadine Hodges, Sam Hoelter, John Hoff, Roxie Hogg, Danni Monn Hopkins, Eli Horton, Chad Hoshour, Diane K. House, Clint Howard, Barry Huffstutler, Charles Edwin Hunger, Ashley Hunt, Ronald Hunter, Paul Ingles, Orville Ingram, John A. Jackson, Kent Jackson, Robert L. & Donna D. Jackson, Wiley Alton Jarrell, Phyllis Murnahan Jeffers, Patricia Jobski, Jeremy Johnson, Mike Johnson, Dennis R. Jones, Devota Easley Jones, Lotte E. Jones, Mary Brammer Jones, Trudy Jones, Samuel B. Judah, Bob Kastens, Valerie Keelin, Suzanne Dragoo Kelly, Glenn Kendall, Lois Kennedy, Trudy Kennedy, Chris Kerns, George W. Killian, Richard L. King, Megan Kirby, S. Z. Kirp, Len Kling, Charles Klingel, Mary Lou Klippel, Mary Jane Knights, Betty Knipp, Sharon Kouns, Martha J. Kounse, Leah Earles Knoff, Bob Knowles, Hubert W. Lacey, Charles Edwin Laffoon, Riley Lamkin, Jan LaMotte, Kathy Brehm LaPella, Judy Lawler, Thelma Leat, E. Jane McCorkle Ledermann, David Lee, Linda Lee, Rosetta McCorkle Legg, Boyd LeGrand, Suzanne Lehr, Doris E. Lett, Linda K. Lewis, Jay & Dot Lindsey, Catherine Theresa Lingenfelser, Curtis Dean Loftin, Donna Londeen, William Long, Joel Logsdon, Tara Loundree-Anderson, Linda Elaine Kathleen Lovatt, Sondra Lower, Athlyn Luzier, James Lynch, Lee S. Lynch, Ed & Sandy Mackley, Chuck Mahaffey, John Mahey, Rudena Kramer Malloy, Harold L. Mansfield, Lorna Marks, Raymond L. Marris, John Martinson, Mary Mastripolito, Linda Maucelli, Cheryl Gunn Maxwell, Fred T. May, Linda Mayenschein, Sharon McAllister, Judy A. McClarnon, Ronald McComb, Aileen Booth McCorkell, Dudley Evelyn Bruce McCorkell, Laurie McCorkell, William Joseph McCorkell, Dan McCorkendale, Cheryl Dixon McCorkle, David M. McCorkle, Diana McCorkle, Gerald Steward McCorkle, Layna Janine McCorkle, Leon McCorkle, Leslie L. McCorkle, Rev. Louis Wellington McCorkle, Marjorie Dean McCorkle, Morgan Carney McCorkle, Randy McCorkle, Ruth McCorkle, Sean McCorkle, Sherrie Pritchard McCorkle, Tom McCorkle, Henrietta McCormick, Mary Hardin McCown, G. Lucy McCoy, Larry McGirr, Austin V. McIninch, Michael T. McIntosh, Esther Elizabeth McCorkle McKinley, Jennings Donell Means, Josephine A. McCorkle Wright Melroy, Constance Corley Metheny, Dave Milem, Ann Brush Miller, Bonnie Miller, Paula Miller, Sharlene Miller, Dawn Lindsey Mills, M. Virginia Mills, Nancy Moore, Clela Fuller Morgan, Gary Morris, Estella Morrison, Estella Rees Morrison, Evan Morrison, Oren Frederic Morton, Mims Gordon Moseley, Sandy McCorkle Moss, Brent Mount, Roy Mount, Jerry Mower, Marion Day Mullins, Nita Munoz, Carl Murdock, N. A. Murdock, Charles Musser, George Mustain, G. A. Nagel, Gloria Neal, Sandra Neidholdt, Chris Nelson, Abby Newell, Nadine Stark Newman, Raymond Nieder, Barb Norvell, Jeanette Johnson Nycz, Irene Mount Ochsenbine, Joe Ogle, Nancy P. Olson, Betty Orsi, Don Ort, Cecillia Ostermeyer, Patty Overfield, Valeria K. Pahl, Darren Page, Kit Parker, Nathaniel Mason Pawlett, Bill Penington, Lloyd Peternell, Gene Phillips, Ellen Joann Geralds Pierce, Vivian Herrin Pope, Diana Powell, Clarence Pratt, Sidney Howk Price, Barbara Proffitt, Carol Proffitt, Gilbert Puckett, Betty Pulley, Nick Questell, Debra Wagner Quillen, Susanne Hendrickson Radford, Martha Woodruff Rains, Lorna Remy, Charles Rhea, James & Ruth Ann Ricketts, Clay Riley, Mitzi Roberts, Terry Roberts, Shay Rockman, Anthony Rockefeller, Marilyn Heuett Rowell,Jethro Rumple, Thomas Llewellyn Samuel, Marge Samuelson, Barbara Wooley Saxon, Dick Say, Clifford Scarberry, Peter Schlup, Danielle Schmidt, Bryan T. Schneider, Sandy Scott, Sandy Sealy, Karla Willis Sharp, Tammy Sharp, Nancy Shaw, Thomas Wilson Shawcross, Doneva Shepard, Terri Sherrod, Anita Short, Larry G. Shuck, Andre' Jack Shye, F. Leonard Sibel, Nancy J. Silkey, Helen T. Sills, Darwin Simmons, Livia Nye Simpson-Poffenbargar, Joyce M. Slack-Sadler, Lisa Smalley, Karen Dunagan Smith, Susan Ellis Smith, Terry Smith, Janet Smoot, John Snowden, Mary Fern Vanpool Souder, Jeannie Southers, Cantrella Speed, Sandy Spradling, Robert Allen Spurgeon, J. Allan Stanard, Cleda Stephens, Lillian Florence Stephensen, Kristy Stevens, David Scott Stewart, Jennifer Stewart, Kathline Stewart, Nancy Jones Stickley, Helen S. Stinson, Joseph H. Stoker, Wilbur Fiske Stone, John Stroud, John Hale Stutesman, John Stutzman, Patricia Suiter, Betty Summers, Ben H. Swett, Diane Szeliga, Chrystal Bailey Talbott, Mary Tarr, Tresa Tatyrek, Joseph Taylor, Sandra Taylor, Linda J. Arthur Tejera, Paulette Bevins Templeton, Richard A. Thomas, John Thomason, Laurie Thompson, Robert Thompson, Judith Thorp, Sandra L. Tidwell, Angeline Milbourn Tucker, Bill Turley, Barbara Turner, Mary F. Twyning, Pat Tyler, Roger Van Cleve, Jeannie W. Vaught, Don L. Verdiani, Patricia G. Viellenave, Frederick Adams Virkus, Darrellchael Wedell, Lela C. McCorkle Welch, Mary Wells, Robert M. Wells, Donna Welsch, Carolyn Whitaker, Donna White, E. S. White, Julie Whitfield, Barbara Whitters, Becky Wilkinson, Ray V. Willardson, Michele Williams, Robert M. Willis, DeWayne Wilson, George F. & Maryhelen Wilson, Gwendolyn Wilson-McSwain, Robert Wilson, Ronald C. Wilson, Carolyn Winch, Dianne Wintch, Eliza Warwick Wise, Carol S. Wolfe, Meldon J. Wolfgang, Moria Wolfinger, Howard W. Woodruff, Louise McCaffrey Woody, Barbara Wright, Glenn Wright, Janet Ehrhart Wright, Carol Van Tine Yocom, Denver C. Yoho, Judy Zaros, the staff of the LDS Family History Centers in Decatur, Alabama; Port Charlotte, Florida; Fort Myers, Florida; Naperville, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Green Tree, Pennsylvania; & Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Chicago Branch of the National Archives, the staff of the Wheaton Library Genealogy Department, Wheaton Illinois, the staff of the Briggs Lawrence Co. Library Genealogy Department, Ironton Ohio, the staff of the Fort Myers – Lee Co. Library, Fort Myers Florida, the staff of the Mid-County Regional Library Reference Department, Port Charlotte, Florida, the staff of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knoxville, Tennessee, the volunteers of the Cass Co., Missouri Historical Society and the staff of the Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois. Any omissions are unintentional. We are especially grateful transcribers of old documents. This is a very difficult task and every serious researcher should try their hand at transcription. Copies of original census records are a good place to start. Most of the authors of the transcriptions that we have used are included in the above.

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1990 McCorkle Surname Distribution

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1990 U.S. Census: Surname - Population Frequency - Frequency Rank

Smith - 1.006% - 1
McCorkle - .004% - 3,347
Corkill - less than .001% - 26693
McCorkell - less than .001% - 55584
All other variations - less than .001% - greater than 88799

Revised 5 May 2021