About Rev. Richard Blythe McCorckle
Birth: Nov. 11, 1786 Rowan County North Carolina, USA Death: Feb. 11, 1854 Washington Tazewell County Illinois, USA
Richard Blythe McCorkle
Was the second born son of William McCorkle and Margaret Blythe. He was born in the Salisbury District of Rowan County, North Carolina on the 17th day of November 1786. His mother was the daughter of Rev. James Blythe and Elizabeth King, who were among the earliest settlers of Rowan County. His father, William McCorkle, was one of ten children born to Alexander McCorkle [a patriot of the Revolution] and Nancy [Agnes] Montgomery.
At the age of twenty-four Richard Blythe McCorkle began his married life when he married Isabella C. Campbell, daughter of Joseph Campbell and Sarah Givens of Lincoln County, Kentucky. They were married in Wilson County, Tennessee on the 10th of January 1811. During the next twenty years Blythe and Ibby, as he called his wife, moved about the country a great deal and tried a number of "utopian" societies. It is likely that their brothers and/or sisters and their families moved with Blythe and Ibby to these experimental cooperatives, communes, or settlements of one type or another.
When Blythe's father passed away in Rutherford County, Tennessee in about 1818, Blythe inherited a slave known as "Micah". Micah was of the same age as Blythe, and the boys grew up together. Blythe did not believe in slavery, so he set Micah free in 1830 when they lived in Monroe County, Indiana. However, Micah did not want to go, and so he stayed with "Mr. Richard" and his family as they moved about the frontier.
Micah was with Blythe and Ibby when they joined Ibby's sister and husband, Polly and Jim McClure, in Holland's Grove in October of 1830. And he helped build the McCorkle's first home in Tazewell County. The wanderlust of Blythe and Ibby did not stop in Washington, as in 1847, with their family of 12 children mostly grown and on their own, Blythe and Ibby moved across the Illinois River to the city of Peoria. Here they lived for a few years, prior to moving back to Washington, where he came to rest on the 11th day of February 1854.
"His father [Joseph Byram McCorckle's], Richard B. McCorkle, with his family, moved to Tazewell County about 1830 and settled a few miles north of Washington. There he built a strong log residence that furnished a home and a safe place for women and children during the raids of Indi ans upon the early settlers. His eldest daughter married John Johnson, and became the mother of three noted preachers--B. W., R. H. and J. B. Johnson.
Richard B. McCorkle founded the church in Washington, Illinois. "The Evangelist, Jan 29, 1973, p. 33, has an obituary of his wife.
https://www.geni.com/people/Rev-Richard-McCorckle/6000000022643840729
