Chapter Ten
Pennsylvania Origins, Middle Tennessee, the DAR, and Religion on the Frontier in Kentucky,
the Great Revival at Cane Ridge of 1801-1804; Levi Purviance’s Biography of His
Father David Purviance, an uncle to Mrs. Edwin Alexander McCorkle of Wilson
County, Middle Tennessee, then Dyer County, Tennessee
Contents
1.
William McCorkle, son of
Alexander & “Nancy” Agnes
Montgomery McCorkle -- by James Richmond
2.
Elizabeth King married Rev.
James Blythe
3.
Martha King (widow of
the “scalped” John Purviance, 1792)(Mrs.
William McCorkle)
4.
Pennsylvania Origins of Many Family
Members—scattered collections from Internet Entries by Others
5.
Do You Wish To Join the DAR? -- page 5
6.
Religion
on the Frontier in KENTUCKY in the early 1800s: a second Great Awakening --page 8
7.
The First Meeting of a Presbytery in Kentucky -- page 8
8.
Rev.
John Lyle’s Diary, 1828, about the Great Revival, 1801-1803 in Paris, Kentucky --page 12
9.
```````”Elder”
David Purviance does a Holy Dance --Page 14
10.
Excerpts from
Levi Purviance’s book, The Biography
of [Levi’s father] Church Elder David
Purviance, with a brief Sketch of the Lives of David’s Father & Mother, Lt. John
Purviance & wife Mary Jane
Wasson Purviance --Page
11.
````````John Purviance Married Mary Jane Wasson,
Served in the American Revolution, Moved from
Rowan County, North Carolina, to Middle Tennessee, and
after his
son John Purviance Was Scalped in 1792 Removed
up to
Kentucky, Then
Returned to Middle Tennessee
Now to the rich contribution of James Richmond
of Napierville, Illinois:
I found the following on the Internet: KING family.—1st
Generation
This Mary Morrison
must somehow be kin to our Margaret Morrison (2nd wife of Robert McCorkle). I do NOT know how, if at all. Robert & Margaret Morrison McCorkle’s
children included Edwin Alexander McCorkle, born 1798 or 1799 in Rowan Co.,
NC. Edwin A. McCorkle was father of, inter alia , John Edwin McCorkle, my (Marsha
Huie’s) great-grandfather.
James Richmond took me into the ancestry of “Peggy”
Margaret Blythe, 1st wife of William McCorkle; and of “Lizzie” Elizabeth Blythe, 1st
wife of Robert McCorkle, who marred 2nd “Peggy” Margaret
Morrison. Their mother was née Elizabeth KING; and she married Rev. James Blythe.
Robert1
King birth date unknown
married Mary Morrison.
Their children were: (1) Rebecca R. King b. in
Rowan Co., NC.; (2) Margaret King
b. in Rowan Co., NC, circa 1766. (3) Martha King
b. in Rowan Co., NC, circa 1767; (4) Richard King
b. 1768 in Rowan Co., NC, 1768.(5) Anna King b. in Rowan Co., NC, 1773.
(6) Rev. Samuel King
b. in Rowan Co., NC, April 19, 1775. (7) Mary “Polly” King born in Rowan Co.,
NC, circa 1775. (8) William M. King b. in Rowan Co., NC, July 17, 1777. (9) Elizabeth
King born in Rowan Co., NC, 1779. (10) Davis King in Rowan Co.,
NC, 1784. (11) Rhoda King born in Rowan Co., NC, October 5, 1787.
Robert King and Mary Morrison
had the following children:
Rebecca
R.2 King (Mrs. John Bell) was born in Rowan Co., NC. Rebecca
died October 17, 1843
in Madison Co., Tenn. N. John became the father of Elizabeth Weir Bell in
Winchester, Franklin
Co., TN, May 16,
1807.
Margaret King (Mrs. Thomas Donnell)
was born in Rowan Co., NC circa 1766. Margaret died December 25, 1827
in Sumner Co, TN, at 61 years of age. Her body was interred after December 25, 1827
in Sumner Co., TN, Rice-Henley Cemetery. She married Thomas Donnell in Rowan Co., NC, August 26, 1786.
Thomas was born in maybe NC March
18, 1755. Thomas died February 8, 1842
in Sumner Co., TN, at 86 years of age. His body was interred after February 8, 1842
in Sumner Co., TN, Rice-Henley Cemetery.
Martha King (Purviance)(McCorkle)
-- [widow of the John Purviance
who was the “scalped”Purviance] and 2nd wife of WILLIAM McCORKLE. She was born in Rowan Co., NC circa 1767. She married twice. First, John Purviance in Rowan Co., NC, circa 1768. John was born in Rowan Co., NC 1768. John died March,
1792 in Sumner Co., TN, at 23 years of age; John was a son of “Colonel” John
Purviance, Sr., & Mary Jane Wasson (Purviance). After John
Purviance [Jr?] was scalped in Sumner County, Tennessee, Martha “Mattie” King married William McCorkle
in Sumner Co., TN, on December
25, 1794. –I’ve seen her listed as Martha Purvoines or Purvines.
Richard
King was born in Rowan Co., NC 1768, and died July 14, 1834 in Sumner Co.,
TN, at 66 years of age. He married Rachel Blythe. Rachel was
born in Rowan Co, NC circa 1774 and died August 16, 1815
in Gallatin, Sumner Co., TN, at 41 years of age. [Our Robert McCorkle
married 1st Elizabeth Blythe.]
Anna
King (Mrs. Rev. Wm. McGee was born in Rowan Co., NC 1773. Anna died in
MO. She married Rev. William McGee in Sumner Co., TN, May 13, 1796. William was born
in Guilford Co., NC, about 1768. William McGee died September 20, 1817
in Bedford Co., TN, at 49
years of age. His body was interred after September 20, 1817, in Bedford Co., Tenn., Three Forks Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery. His body was moved to Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Hendersonville, Tennessee, on February 4, 1993. He was a C.P. minister.
Rev.
Samuel King was born in Rowan Co., NC April 19, 1775.
and died September 13, 1842
in Johnson Co., MO, at 67 years of age. His body was interred after September 13, 1842
in Johnson Co., MO, Shiloh C.P. Church Cemetery. He married Anna Dixon. Anna was born 1779.
Mary
“Polly” King (Mrs. Rev. James Farr) was born in Rowan Co., NC
circa 1775. and died in KY. She married Rev. James Farr in Sumner Co., TN, March 3, 1793. James Farr was
born Mecklenburg Co., NC 1767and died September 11, 1834 in Graves Co., KY, at 67 years of age.
William
M. King was born in Rowan Co., NC-- July
17, 1777. William died September 9, 1814
in Sumner Co., TN, at 37 years of age. His body was interred after September 9, 1814
in Sumner Co., TN, King Cemetery. He married Priscilla Hassell in Sumner Co.,
TN, December 8, 1808.
Priscilla was born in probably Tyrell Co., NC June 13, 1788. Priscilla died March 3, 1822 in probably Wilson
Co., TN, at 33 years of age. Her body was interred after March 3, 1822 in Sumner Co., TN,
King Cemetery.
Elizabeth King was born in Rowan Co., NC 1779
and died September 30, 1820
in Rowan Co., NC, at 41 years of age. Her body was interred after September 30, 1820
in Rowan Co., NC, Thyatra Cemetery.
Davis
King was born in Rowan Co., NC 1784 and died February 23, 1813
in Sumner Co., TN, at 28 years of age. He married Sally Joiner in Sumner
Co., TN, January 27, 1808.
Rhoda King was born in Rowan
Co., NC October 5, 1787.
She married John Baker Prendergast in Sumner Co.,
TN, circa 1804. John was born in Rowan Co., NC circa 1780 and
died 1846 in Limestone Co., Texas, at 66 years of age. At 28 years of age John became
the father of Luke Baker Prendergast in Sumner Co., TN, November 25, 1808.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Mattie” Martha King (Purviance) (McCorkle)
born: circa1767 - Rowan County, North
Carolina, 1st married circa 1785 - Rowan County, North Carolina
1st husband: John Purviance [scalped by hostile Indians while in Middle
Tennessee, then called Sumner County] born: 1768 - Rowan County, North
Carolina, and this John Purviance died: March 1792 - Sumner County,
Tennessee. This John Purviance was a son of Revolutionary War Colonel
John Purviance, Sr., & wife Mary Jane Wasson Purviance. A
sister of this John Purviance who was scalped was Elizabeth Purviance (Mrs.
William Thomas); and another brother was “Elder” David Purviance, a minister
and Ky then Ohio legislator. “Mattie King (widow
Purviance) then married William McCorkle on 25 December 1794 in Sumner County, Tennessee
[bondsman: Samuel King]
This William
McCorkle was a brother to our ancestor Robert McCorkle. –William McCorkle’s niece Elmira Sloan McCorkle Roache’s letter
says Mattie King Purviance (McCorkle) died on the way from North Carolina and is buried in a rude grave on the road. The above
entry from the Internet about the King family says Martha King died in
1792 in Sumner County, Tennessee.]
Richard King m. Rachel Blythe. Was this Rachel Blythe a sister to Elizabeth
“Lizzie” Blythe McCorkle (Mrs. Robert McCorkle), and “Peggy” Margaret Blythe
McCorkle (Mrs. William McCorkle)? Richard King was born: 1768
- Rowan County, North
Carolina and
died: 14 July 1834 - Sumner
County, Tennessee. Richard King & Rachel Blythe
married: 21 July
1794 - Sumner County, North Carolina [bondsman: Andrew Blythe] To repeat,
was Rachel Blythe a sister to the 1st wife of our
ancestor Robert McCorkle (Elizabeth Blythe) I think Rachel Blythe
was a daughter of Rev. James Blythe and Elizabeth
King—Rachel Blythe King was born: c1774 - Rowan County, North
Carolina and died: 16 August 1815 - Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee
__________________________________________________________________
Westward from Pennsylvania
... former tavern owner, John Purviance
who, sensing the real estate opportunity at hand, bought several lots along the
road then offered them up for sale. ...
www.newdce.com/westward_from_pennsylvania.htm
- 106k
Internet
news from Washington County, Pennsylvania:
:Crumrine – Donegal Township
John Purviance had been
keeping tavern
in his large log house a number of years
when the preliminary surveys were made for the great National road from ...
www.chartiers.com/crumrine/twp-donegal.html -
Darke
County, Ohio
1825 Census of Males
... John Wooden, Moses Woods, John Brawley, John Purviance, Anthony Woods, William
Wiley, Nathaniel S. McClure, Neal Lawrence, John McClure, Jacob Miller, ...
census.dcoweb.org/1825non.htm
- 8k -
Cached -
Similar pages
Maryland Historical Society Library: J. Hall Pleasants
Papers ...
John Purviance opinion -- Wallis and Company, 1820 January 17. c.
from Edward Canning -- bond, 1820 October 30. Box 10. d. articles of
agreement with Thomas ... This is not our direct ancestor
Revolutionary War “Lt ” John Purviance of Rowan County, NC.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
\ Do you wish to
join the D.A.R.? Well, listen up if you do:
·
May 1998 Lancaster County Surname Queries
Seeking ancestors and descendants of Margaret McKnight b ca 1713/4 d Lancaster
Co., PA. married John Purviance
d 1749 Lancaster Co., PA. ...
www.pa-roots.com/~lancaster/query/qa0598.html
·
__________________________________________________
·
Presbyterianism in
Paris and Bourbon County, Kentucky
Colonel John Purviance was
appointed Collector in the Cane Ridge
congregation.
The following persons of the Cane Ridge Church were subscribers:
...
shawhan.com/presbyterianism.html
[This Colonel –really, a Revolutionary War
lieutenant-- John Purviance was the father of the John Purviance [Jr] who was
scalped in 1792 in Sumner County, Tennessee, by Indians. The widow of
John Jr then married William McCorkle, a brother to our Robert McCorkle who m.
Margaret Morrison. I think this Colonel John Purviance [wife: Mary
Jane Wasson] moved on back down to Middle Tennessee after the
Indian threat lessened; but somewhere I’ve read he is buried up in New Paris,
Preble County, Ohio, when visiting his son “church elder” David Purviance, who
moved on to Ohio from Cane Ridge, Kentucky. His wife Mary Jane Wasson Purviance
long predeceased him, I think in 1810. I
do not know where our “Colonel” John Purviance is buried, Middle Tenn. or Preble County, Ohio? Nor do I know where
his wife Jane Purviance [née Mary Jane Wasson] is buried.
Pension: John Bone 1833, Revolutionary War: Muhlenberg County ...
The other three months same service, he was under Captain Graham and Lieutenant John Purviance. The
other officers of his company not recollected. ...
ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/
ky/muhlenberg/pension/b5000001.txt
The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
John Purviance, as
follows: 1. WL McCown (b. 1843) m. 1869 Anna L. Mendenhall (b.
1850). ... John Purviance (1743-1823) served as lieutenant in Col. ...
www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/dar.htm
Iowa DAR members. Here is one who
claims DAR membership through John Purviance, my ancestor, too:
Volume 100 page 11 Miss
Nellie Mccown. DAR ID Number:
99029
Born in Shelby County,
Iowa. Descendant of Lieut.
John Purviance, as follows:
[Edwin Alexander McCorkle & wife Jane Maxwell Thomas McCorkle produced
a bunch of people, and they can get you into the DAR. For example,
John Edwin McCorkle’s daughter Sophie King McCorkle m. Howard Anderson Huie.
Children included Howard Ewing Huie, father of Sophie Joyce Huie Cashdollar and
Marsha Cope Huie.]
John Purviance (1743-1823)
1. W. L. McCown (b. 1843) m. 1869 Anna L. Mendenhall (b. 1850). [Using this DAR application and placing me in it, this generation for Marsha Huie
would be: John
Edwin McCorkle
whose 2nd wife was Mary Elizabeth Cotton .]
2. William McCown (1809-95) m. 1831 Anna Purviance (1809-65). [For Marsha Huie,
this generation would be: Jane
Maxwell Thomas, daughter
of Elizabeth Purviance Thomas.
Jane Maxwell Thomas m. Edwin Alexander McCorkle born in Rowan Co., NC in
1798 or 1799; moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, then to Dyer Co., Tennessee.
3. David Purviance (1766-1828) m. Mary Ireland
(1762-1835). [This David Purviance was a brother to my Elizabeth Purviance (Mrs. William Thomas).
4. John Purviance m. 1764 (Mary) Jane Wasson. This John
Purviance (1743-1823) served as lieutenant in Col. Griffith Rutherford's regiment, Rowan County, North Carolina militia but post-war was given the honorific
“colonel.” He was born in Pennsylvania and died in Wilson County, Tenn., I think, unless perchance he was visiting his son
church elder David Purviance who by then had moved on from near Paris, Bourbon County, KY, up to New Paris, Preble County, Ohio.
So, my kinfolk—we
can gain admission to the DAR through Lt. John Purviance who m. Mary Jane Wasson; and through
William Thomas, son of Jacob
Thomas & Margaret Brevard Thomas, the parents of Mrs. Edwin Alexander
McCorkle. Also, we can gain admission
through Alexander McCorkle, Sr., who died
in 1800 in NC and is buried at Thyatira Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
·
Now, back to RELIGION in KENTUCKY in the early 1800s. On the frontier, a second Great
Awakening…
·
·
Presbyterianism in
Paris and Bourbon County, Kentucky
”Colonel” [Lt.] John Purviance was
appointed Collector
in the Cane Ridge congregation.
The following persons of the Cane Ridge Church were subscribers:
...
shawhan.com/presbyterianism.html [ -- Cane Ridge is the site of the formation
of the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ-Church of Christ.]
·
PARIS, Kentucky
THE FIRST MEETING OF A PRESBYTERY EVER HELD IN PARIS [Kentucky]
INTERMEDIATE SESSION
Sinking
Spring Church, Nov. 12th, 1793. Presbytery met according to appointment & was
opened with a sermon on Luke 13,5, by Mr. James Moore.
ROLL U.p.p.s. Messers. David Rice, Robert Finley & Robert
Marshall, ministers. John Lucky, William Trotter, Thomas Maxwell,
William Henry & Henry McDonald, elders. Absent the Rev. Thomas
Craighead, James McConnel, James Crawford, Samuel Shannon, Terah Tamplin, James
Kemper, James Blythe.
(p.
12) Mr. Rice is chosen Moderator, pro tempore, & Mr. Marshall, Clerk.
Ordered that calls & supplications be presented.
CALL.
A call from the united congregations of Cane Ridge &- Concord for the Rev. Robert Finley is presented.
Pby.
adjourned to meet at William Henry's this evening at 7 o'clock.
William
Henry's Pby. met according to adjournment, u. p.p.s.q.s. except Messrs. Thomas
Maxwell & Henry McDonald. [Note: one of Elizabeth Purviance’s
Purviance sisters m. a Maxwell—our ancestor Elizabeth Purviance m.
William Thomas, who begot Jane Maxwell Thomas (Mrs. Edwin Alexander McCorkle),
inter alia.]
J.
MOORE EXAM. Mr. James Moore's discourse was read at large
from his notes & maturely considered & the Pby. are unanimously of
opinion that it be not sustained as part of trial. [Poor fellow; his sermon didn’t suit his judges]
Mr. Moore is appointed to prepare a sermon against the next meeting on 2nd Corinth, 7,10, as a further part of trial.
The
call from the united congregations of Cane Ridge & Concord
was presented to the Rev. Robert Finley which he accepts, & Mr. Marshall is appointed to
install him in said congregations as soon as convenient. [Our ancestor
Mrs. Alexander McCorkle, née Nancy Agness Montgomery,
had a mother MARTHA MONTGOMERY who was née Martha Finley.
As mentioned earlier, one of Nancy Agness Montgomery McCorkle’s brothers
was the Presbyterian minister Joseph Finley, born 1733 and died in the 1790s up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the home of a daughter.]
Adjourned
to meet at 8
o'clock tomorrow morning.
Concluded with Prayer. Nov. 13th.
Pby.
met according to adjournment, et. p p s q s. Thomas Maxwell
present. * * * * *
Paris Citizen Desired To Have The Kentucky Academy
Located in Paris At a
Meeting at Pisgah of the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Academy March 9th
and 10th 1796 we extracted the following facts. Members of the Board present
were:
David
Rice
Caleb Wallace
James Thompson
James Crawford
Andrew McCalla
Robert
Marshall
James Moore
William Calhoon
James Welch
Archibald Cameron
Stephen Bovelle
Robert Patterson
(p.
13) The Board requested Mr. Moore, Mr. Welch, Mr. Patterson and Mr. McCalla to
prepare a financial statement of the Academy.
March
10. In addition to the above who were present yesterday trustee Samuel Shannon
was present at this meeting. The board adopted the following resolution:
"Resolved that
a permanent seat for the Kentucky Academy Ought to be fixed on as soon as
possible;
"And, whereas
this Board is not yet possessed of the funds adequate to purchase a seat,
Resolved That Mr. Blythe,
Mr.Crawford, Mr. Patterson, Mr. McCalla and Mr. Moore or any three of them be
appointed a committee to receive proposals from those who may think proper to
contribute Land for that purpose and to give assistance in erecting buildings
thereon, for the use of the Seminary, or otherwise to increase the funds; and
to make a report to the next meeting of the Board, of all the proposals which
they may receive, that the Board may be enabled to proceed to fix on a seat
without further delay. Resolved that until it shall be otherwise ordered by
this Board, it will hold its sessions at McGowan's Tavern in Lexington."
The
Board met on June 3, 1796
at McGowan's Tavern
in Lexington. At this time four sites for the Academy were
considered. Harrodsburg offered lots in town, about 30 acres and cash
subscriptions of about $1,150. Danville offered a brick house, manufactory, two lots and
$1,000 in cash. Lexington was willing to sell a lot of four and three-fourths
acres for $525. Bourbon had cash subscriptions of $1,576, lots in good
location and 97 acres in sight of Paris at $4 per acre.
In
June 1797 the Board having considered all propositions decided to locate the
Academy at Pisgah.
Paris did not get the Kentucky Academy but a few years later founded Bourbon Academy
in which many young people received good classical training.
Revival Days In Paris The
Paris Church shared with other churches in Kentucky a great revival from 1826 to 1830. We quote from the
Western Luminary dated December
19, 1827, page 196, as follows:
"Revivals in Kentucky, Paris, Bourbon County
"It will be
seen by the following extract from a communication, in the Western Citizen,
printed in Paris, that the good work of the Lord has commenced at that
place. The meeting commenced on Friday, the 7th inst.
"The state of
the weather was apparently, very unpropitious, but God in His providence,
brought several of the public servants, unexpectedly to the place; and the
meeting was peculiarly solemn, from the commencement. The high waters and
increasing rains prevented many from attending. The number and the deep
interest increased every day. On Sabbath morning 22 persons were admitted to
communion on a profession of the faith in Christ. On Monday the serious impression
appeared to extend and become more deep and awful-about forty came forward at
night, as inquirers for the salvation of their souls. The public exercises were
continued on Tuesday afternoon and night, and (p. 14) about sixty came forward.
On Wednesday the services being continued the number of INQUIRIES amounted to
about ninety; and it appeared that there was not an unconverted person in the
house. Nine more were received into the Church on a public profession, and many
others gave reason to hope that they found refuge in the Saviour. In all,
thirty-two have been visibly added to the followers of the Lamb, and there are
more than 100, in this town and vicinity, seriously exercised, for the eternal
welfare of their souls. What is a little remarkable, there appears to be but
little opposition from the world. Some of the most respectable and influential
men in the place, are saying, we cannot oppose the work we cannot, and will
not, hinder our relatives and friends from going forward and securing their
salvation if we feel not yet disposed to go with them. May He who has begun
this good and glorious work continue it, until all shall have its blessed
effects."
(p.
14) In the Western Luminary, January
23, 1828, page 236, we have as follows:
8 8 8 8 8 8 88 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
The Revival,
1801-1803, in Paris
Notes from Rev.
John Lyle's Diary
One
gets a good idea of the great Revival, 1801-1803, in Kentucky from John Lyle's Diary. He tells of three meetings in
Paris. One was on the Saturday preceding the fourth Sabbath
in August 1801. The second was the first Sabbath in June 1802, and the third
was on the second Sabbath in June 1803.
"The Saturday
preceding the fourth Sabbath in August 1801, I went to Mr. Rannels' Sacrament
at Paris. Mr. Crawford was nearly done preaching when I got
there. Mr. McNamara preach'd in the afternoon a contradictory jumble of a
discourse with a number of good expressions here and there in it. Some people
were attentive & seemed pleas'd but others inattentive & some
displeas'd. We had society
in the woods at night several spoke but no work or liveliness appear'd except
in two or three. One poor ignorant man of the (p. 15) name of Rosin was much
convulsed but got comfort, Monday evening. Mr. McNamara spoke last on
Saturday evening. He
stamp'd slapt & roar'd Hell & Damnation loudly but still no crying out
or falling that I knew of. I talked to Mr. McNamara about these violences
I do not know what effect it will have. He acknowledg'd that stamping slapping &- c. were
no gospel institution & as we had no promise of a blessing to attend them & as they were
a cause of offense & stumbling to many we had better let them alone.
Sunday I preached the action sermon but as there were I suppose 7 or 8 thousand people I extended my
voice so loud that I was soon exhausted & thought I would have died
or fainted yet not withstanding spoke an hour. While I preach'd about four
thousand people seem'd attentive & behaved well but multitudes wandered from place to place as most did
all day some singing some one thing some another. I never saw a more confus'd
careless audience since the work began. Monday, six ministers deliver'd at three places six discourses
but more attended Mr. Howe at the stated place where two or three were struck. After sermon came on
rain & in the evening a shower
of divine influence. Many young persons wept &- some
cried for mercy. Becy Crawford was taken down & when she came to exhorted sinners to come
to Christ. Betsy Todd
the Doctor's oldest daughter found comfort we would hope in Jesus & invited
many to Jesus. Dr. Cogswell's son we hope found peace & little boy about 7 years old whom I
saw in distress & then heard him with joyful countenance invite his
comrades to Christ. Mr. Mitchell's two sons were much affect'd.
Mr. Wright's son found
peace & he and his father had a joyful meeting the old man burst out glory to
God in the highest & invited all to Christ. The old lady & two daughters wept
much & one daughter lay speechless under exercises. It was an
affecting time indeed. I understood that several men enter'd arm'd with clubs to drive the people
off the grounds but no actual attempt was made. I saw about 5 such
men & the people gathered & M. Cameron exhorted & then went
to Dr. Todd's about one o'clock. Next morning went to camp found a number there. Old Mr. Patton
of Stonermouth was down in a long
agony. When he recover'd he told the people his views were too bright for him to bear
up under etc. etc. He settle'd into a calm and describ'd his case etc. I deliver'd a discourse as a caution against formality
& delusion & exhort'd to get the wisdom that comes from
above & that divine ebarity spoken of by Paul I Cor. 13 etc. & came home. The Governor
was more moved under this discourse than I had observ'd him before.
"Paris 1st. Sabbath of June 1802. The Sacrament was
administered. Ministers present, David Rice, John Campbell,
Robert Wilson, Barton
Stone, Wm. Robinson,
I. Tull, Joseph Howe,
Jas. Welch, Rannals & myself. No Methodist Ministers on Sunday & but one Baptist old Mr. Todd.
About 3000 people on Sunday. Brother Wilson & Campbell
preached on Friday. Brother Robinson Saturday morn. On Isaiah 53d, 3d,
1st clause. He is despised etc. a practical feeling sermon. Br. W. Sat. Even.
on Psal. The Lord reigns etc. He aim'd at (p. 16) philosophy & reasoning
was dry & cold. Had a cold society in the Meeting house at night. Sunday B. Campbell
preached on Jesus Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Tolerably lively. People
all this time were attentive. Some very solemn. Individuals felt tenderly. Some very disorderly
people on Sunday. James Welch introduced the tables with a low
cold discourse & very long. While the tables were serving Mr. Stone preach'd at another
stand. After I had communed & served a table I went & spoke to
the people, felt a tender lively frame both at the table & exhorting from
the waggon or other stand. I had felt very bad all the time before. When my deliverance began I began to weep &- before all
was over I felt my faith & joy increased. Some people seemed
affected at the tables. I believe it was a solemn time to Christians. But few fell. Old Elder McConnel fell when
waiting on the tables. Sally Martin fell & it was thought might have
refrained more than she did etc. Mrs. Young fell. Sunday
evening old Mr. Rice spoke on religion false & true. People were
very attentive. It rain'd
on Sun. evening part staid at the tent, the others went home & to
the Meeting house. I spoke on faith in the meeting house. Felt a kind of . . .
a flat dead frame. People
seem'd dead. Old Mr. Rice spoke after me. Monday Br. Welch
gave us another long sleepy discourse. The preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness etc. Several people went to sleep, others heard that there was
lively times at the stand where Howe & Stone preached. They
left the meeting house & went there. I preached to a small assembly a short
sermon on 1st Jon. 1:16. Had some liberty people were attentive & some solemn but nothing
remarkable. I heard of no one being newly convicted throughout the Sacramental
occasion.
[Well now, the
following describes DAVID
PURVIANCE doing a holy dance. Please recall: “Elder” David Purviance was
a brother to, inter alia, Elizabeth Purviance Thomas, the
mother of Mrs. Edwin Alexander McCorkle, 1801-1855.]
"I then with
admiration beheld Ireland, David Purviance, Malcolm Wardly
leaping up in an unartificial a kind of Dance - clapping their hands & crying
glory to God. How
many were employ'd in the same exercise I can't say. I looked at them only.
I went up & shook hands with them & (p. 18) exhorted them to go to the
stand where Bro. Rannals was exhorting. They complyed. I went to the stand & they insisted
on me to preach which I attempt'd from 1 Peter 4:8. Above all things have fervent charity
among yourselves etc. I observed that charity was not a plant that grows in the natural soil of
the human heart. That it was produc'd by the spirit of God, etc. Gave
some marks of true brotherly affection. Then after many cautions introduced
the subject of order & the
impropriety of many praying at once, etc. I spoke above 2 hours to a very attentive
audience. There appear'd a solemnity on the minds of many. Mr. [David] Purvience, Col. Smith,
Mr. Tull & Mr. [Barton W.] Stone seem'd the most hurt because they had been
the right leaders & public advocates of those irregularities.
Col. Smith soon after I was done speaking begun to pray & in his prayer to
use his arguments in favor of all praying at once. He said there was one spirit
but a diversity of operations as though the spirit by an unusual operation
would excite to an act directly contrary to the word of God. I rose &
address'd the people. Told them I hoped they would not suppose___ "Behind the stand two women
were agonized & pray'd out. One who appear'd to be a young man of the Methodist society ran in among them & with
apparent rage call'd on them to pray out. One of the Irelands, an old man
pray'd out with clinched fists, etc., but few comparatively joined.
"A
sister-in-law of Doctor Saldon came & shook hands & in a kind of agony told me to
set my slaves free. I told her the setting my slaves free
depended on the will of another. And if they were free they could not support themselves. Col. Fleming
& brother insisted that I would preach upon the subject of emancipation. I told them I
would talk to them about that at the proper time. Mr. Welch who had
just arrived on his return from Philadelphia, gave us an exhortation & told us of the revival in Delaware
& the Jerseys & considerable additions to the churches there & that
there is a growing attention to religion in Philadelphia. I then made a
short address on the joyful tidings. Told them what satisfaction it gave me to
find so many who set out 2 years ago now fervently engag'd etc., urged them to
diligence at home & in every walk of life. Afterwards concisely address'd
sinners. After I came off the stand Mr. McCune of Stonermouth
told me that he always loved me, but that he loved me more today than ever. If ever he had liked to
pray out in his life it was today, but, (said he) I never have pray'd out in
society because I thought it not
agreeable to the word of God. Mr. Patton of Stonermonth told
me that he had been trying
for a year past to regulate matters but found his labours in vain & when he heard me on the subject he was exercised & fell with joy because God had, he hoped, excited
me to do what he as a private character had failed in.
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 Paris, Kentucky: Saturday, March 12, 1831:
John Todd advertises a Female Academy.
[Sophie King McCorkle, 1882-1915, Mrs. Howard Anderson
Huie of Newbern-Yorkville, Tennessee,
attended Bourbon College in Paris,
Kentucky.]
Jottings From the Records of the Session of the Paris
[Ky., Presbyterian] Church
July 13, 1823, William Holmes
McGuffey received from the Flemingburg Church.
September 15, 1823.
George W. Ashbridge is dismissed.
December 23, 1823.
The church decided to contribute to the support of Samuel Taylor, a member of
this church who is a student at Princeton Seminary.
January 2, 1824. Scipio,
a Negro slave of Dr. Andrew Todd, disciplined because he did
not attend family worship in his master's home.
May 18, 1824. The Session
decided that it was proper to
take collections at the Church on Sunday. Mr. Joseph Mitchell protested this
action.
Harriett Larkin, a woman of color, and a member of the Paris Presbyterian
Church, departed this life about the first of December 1830, having been for a number of years in full communion
in said Church.
* * * * *
Presbyterianism
in Paris and Bourbon County, Kentucky
Colonel John Purviance was appointed Collector in the Cane Ridge
congregation. The following persons of the Cane Ridge Church were subscribers: ...
www.shawhan.com/presbyterianism.html
Guide Introduction: Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations
...
... George Presstman (of Baltimore, Maryland), John Purviance, Alexander
Quarrier (of Richmond, Virginia), Mrs. Hannah Raley (of Loudoun County,
Virginia), ...
www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/
guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantm2.htm
Levi Purviance. The Biography
of [his father] Elder David
Purviance, with His ...
John Purviance. Marriage [to Mary Jane Wasson]. Serves in the
Revolution. Moves [from North Carolina] to [Middle] Tennessee. His son [another John
Purviance] is murdered by the Indians [in Middle Tennessee in 1792]. Removes to
Kentucky. Returns to Tennessee. ...
docsouth.unc.edu/nc/purviance/purviance.html
- CONTENTS.
Biography of Elder David Purviance.
·
CHAPTER I.
His Ancestry. Col.
John Purviance. Marriage.
Serves in the Revolution. Moves to Tennessee. His son [John a son of John Purviance,
Sr., & Mary Jane Wasson (Purviance) is murdered by the Indians. Removes
to Kentucky. Returns to Tennessee. A Revival and split in the Presbyterian Church.
He joins the Cumberland Presbyterians. His last affliction and
death. His family. 7
·
CHAPTER II.
Elder David Purviance's birth. Education. Writes in the Clerk's
office, Salisbury [NC].
10
·
CHAPTER III.
His marriage. Settlement on the
Yadkin River. Emigrates to
Tennessee, and afterwards to
Kentucky.
14
·
CHAPTER IV.
His settlement on Caneridge.
Elected to the [Kentucky] State Legislature. Debate with Breckenridge. Debate
with Grundy. He fails to be elected to the State Convention on
account of his opposition
to Slavery. Sketch of
the lives of Breckenridge, Garard, and Grundy. The Lexington Insurance Company.
The District Court system. He returns from
Political life, and engages in the Ministry.
17
·
CHAPTER V.
A remarkable religious
Revival. Leaves
Legislation, and becomes a candidate for the Ministry. A split in the
Presbyterian Church. The Springfield Presbytery. Takes the name Christian. The last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, and the Witnesses address.
47
·
CHAPTER VI.
His opposition to Slavery. The selection of four young men to aid in the
Ministry.
57
·
CHAPTER VII.
His calling as a Minister
of the Gospel. He came well nigh destroying his
health. Fasting, Prayer and Meditation. The support of the Ministry. His preparation
to move to Ohio.
61
Page vi
·
CHAPTER VIII.
His Removal to Ohio. The Quaker. A Revival
in a Dutch neighborhood. Marshall and Thompson's return to Presbyterianism.
Their attack on the [new Christian] Church. D. Purviance's reply.
66
·
CHAPTER IX.
His election to the State
Legislature of Ohio. A Bill to repeal the Black laws. A part of a colored family
kidnapped. A negro man murdered.
93
·
CHAPTER X.
His Pastoral duties. An excitement and division in the Church at Paris. Elder [Barton W. ]Stone's
visit.
100
·
CHAPTER XI.
The character and death of his Companion.
106
·
CHAPTER XII.
His employment in old age. His manner of Preaching. His distress on the account
of the lethargy of the Church.
108
·
CHAPTER XIII.
His Character as a man. A citizen. A husband. A Father. Punctuality. Kindness
to the oppressed.
110
·
CHAPTER IV.
His last trip to Conference. His chills and fever. The death of his Grand
Daughter. His last affliction, death, and funeral. An account of his death and funeral, by
Elder E. Williamson.
Obituary, by a Catholic--by O. H. Kendrick; by his Grand Son.
118
·
CHAPTER XV.
o
[PART FIRST.]
Memoirs of Elder David Purviance--written by himself. His Religion. Early
instructions. His exit from Presbyterianism. The Shaker difficulty. His
views on the subject of Baptism.
132
·
CHAPTER XVI.
o
[PART SECOND.]
Memoirs of Elder David Purviance--written by himself.--The Person, Character,
and Divinity of Jesus Christ.--The Atonement.
181
Page vii
·
CHAPTER XVI.
Remarks of the Author of Barton W. Stone's Biography. Extracts from a letter
written by David Purviance, and published in Stone's Biography--page 120. A
letter to a skeptical friend.
235
APPENDIX.
·
Biographical Sketch of Elder John Hardy.
CHAPTER I.
His Birth. Marriage. Conversion. Removal to Ohio. His Character. Last
sickness and death.
246
·
A Sketch of the Life of Elder Thomas B. Kyle.
CHAPTER II.
His Birth. His Father settles in Kentucky. Profession of
Christianity. Impressions to preach. Labors in Ohio. Ordination. Sickness.
Death.
251
·
Biographical Sketch of George Shidler.
CHAPTER III.
Elder George Shidler's Birth. Marriage. Removal to Ohio. Conversion.
Ordination. Life and Death.
253
·
Biography of Elder William Dye.
CHAPTER IV.
His Birth. Life and Death.
257
·
Biographical Sketch of Elder Reuben Dooly.
CHAPTER V.
Birth. Education. Conversion. Preaches to the Indians. The death of his wife.
His removal to Ohio. His second marriage.
Trip to Missouri. Sickness and death.
His character and talents as a Preacher. The domestic circle.
259
·
Biographical Sketch of Elder William Kinkade.
CHAPTER VI.
His early life and profession of Christianity--written by himself.
The last Will and Testament of
Springfield Presbytery [Kentucky]. -- [Thus began the schism. These people whether
they knew it or not were creating a new religious denomination, the Christian
Church-Church of Christ. David Purviance was a signatory to this last
will and testament.
In
due time a great Camp-Meeting to be held at Caneridge, in the coming month of August, was
published. Such was now the general interest of the public mind, that when the
meeting came, it was attended by about 2500 souls. Persons were said to be
in attendance from most of the States in the Union. Particularly, were gathered
together, on that memorable occasion, the thousands of Israel, from all the
religious orders of the land--Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, &c.
&c., were there, as one mighty spiritual host, assembled together, to fight
the battles of the Lord. They had come up to the help of Zion.
THE GREAT MEETING AT CANERIDGE commenced on
Friday before the third Lord's day of August, 1801. From the commencement the roads were
literally crowded with wagons, carriages, horsemen, and people on foot; all
pressing to the appointed place; till by the Sabbath day, the grove that was
then open near Caneridge meeting-house, was filled with wagons, tents, and people. It was supposed that
there were between twenty and thirty thousand people there. Elder [Barton W. ] Stone
in his journal remarks "A particular description of this meeting would
fill a large volume, and then the half would not be told," Stone's
Biography pa. 38. For the sake of the present and future generations, I will attempt a faint discription.--
This was not a sectarian meeting, although it was held at a Presbyterian
meeting house. Baptists,
Methodists, and Presbyterians were
simultaneously engaged. Perfect friendship, unanimity, and brotherly kindness prevailed.
They had come together, to the help of the Lord against the mighty, and "Zion was terrible as an army with
banners." The meeting
lasted six days--the last sermon that was delivered on the occasion, was
by a Methodist preacher, by the name of Samuel Hitt. It is known only to God,
how many were converted at this meeting. There were no means, by which, even to
ascertain how many professed religion. The object of the meeting was not to build up any sect or party; but to
bring sinners to the Savior. When the meeting was over, the people
returned to their homes and friends.--There were many there from Ohio,
and some from Tennessee, and the excitement spread with the people, and the
young converts joined the churches of their choice; and the good work of
reformation went on with irresistible force, and appeared like carrying every
thing before it. Many were fully persuaded that the glorious millennial day had
commenced, and that the world would soon become the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But alas! That enemy of God and man, sectarianism, raised its hydra
head, and "made war upon the saints of the most High God and overcame
them," and the fair prospects of Zion were in some degree blasted. A cruel jealousy began to show
itself among the leaders--some concluded that the spoils were not
equally divided; others, that their craft was in danger. This engendered a
disposition to draw off from each other, and the mighty army became weak by
division, which always has a bad effect. If the preachers had continued in the
spirit of the reformation, and all let fall their sectarian names, and united
in one tremendous phalanx against sin and all unrighteousness, it is my humble
opinion, that before this time, infidelity would have been driven from the
world. Notwithstanding the pride and selfishness of little minded men, raised a
barrier in the way of the work, and in some degree, obstructed it; yet, where
the people
… finis … …
.________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now, back to
James Richmond whose wife is a descendant of William McCorkle, son of
Alexander & “Nancy” Agnes Montgomery, last of Rowan County, NC. Many
thanks to James M. Richmond,
who is married to our kin, a descendant of William McCorkle. He has
kindly given his permission for using the following work of his as part of
the McCorkle Old Letters.
ww.iltrails.org/tazewell/ceme/bak/bakercb.html
-
Baker Cemetery
Bios., Tazewell County, IL
Isabella C. Campbell married Richard Blythe McCorkle in Wilson County, Tennessee on the 10th of January 1811. ...Richard Blythe McCorkle was a son of William McCorkle [who was
a brother to our Robert McCorkle. The wives of thrice-maried William McCorkle
were: Margaret “Peggy” Blythe;
Mattie Martha King (Mrs. John Purviance); Jenny or Jennie Graham.]
Isabel McCorkle (Mrs. Richard Blythe McCorkle) Baker Cemetery, Washington, Illinois.
View Photograph
Isabella C. Campbell, as calculated from the inscription on her gravestone,
was born on the 31st of March 1796, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, of parents Joseph Campbell and Sarah [Givens] Campbell. Joseph Campbell was a soldier of the Revolution from
Virginia. She had five sisters and three brothers. One of her
sisters, Mary, who was called “Polly”, married James McClure and was living in
a two-room log cabin in Tazewell County, Illinois prior to the arrival of Isabella and her family in
October of 1830.
She
married Richard Blythe McCorkle in Wilson County, Tennessee on the 10th of January 1811. Thomas
Hobbs, husband of her younger sister, Sarah [Sally], was the bondsman. John
Allcorn, who lived on Barton’s
Creek near Lebanon,
in Wilson County, performed the ceremony. From the date of birth calculations from her
tombstone, it suggests that she was fourteen years and nine months of age
at the time of her marriage.
Some
discussion about her birth date is appropriate, as some have been lead to
believe that she was born in 1792. A printed obituary, obtained from family
members and reported by family researcher Clarke C. Miller on the 31st of
December 1951 stated the
following: “Her obituary as printed said she was b. in the State of Kentucky in 1791, was married in her 18th year [15th written
in]. It said that she was 62 years old at the time of her death [76 written
in].” “The John Johnson’s [her daughter Martha Olivia’s family], with whom she
was living at the time of her death thought that she was older than she was.” Latina Patrick Crum, a granddaughter, wrote in June of
1924, “Isabel Campbell was born 128 years ago.” This would place her birth
in 1796. Also she wrote, “Richard Blythe McCorkle was her
senior by ten years.” This would also place her birth in 1796. From the
above, and from her gravestone inscriptions, one can conclude that the year of
her birth in her obituary was incorrect, and that she was born in the
year 1796.
Her
husband [Richard Blythe McCorkle, son of William McCorkle] was of
Presbyterian stock, as his uncle, Rev. Samuel Eusebius McCorkle,
was a noted Presbyterian minister in [Thyatira Presbyterian Church] North
Carolina and helped start the University of North Carolina. Rev. Richard
Blythe McCorkle had listened to the discussions of the day from men
such as Walter Scott,. Barton W. Stone, and Alexander Campbell, and soon
became a follower of Barton Stone, who had split from the Presbyterian Church,
in order to follow the more traditional and strict interpretation of the Bible.
The “Restoration Movement”
was underway, the Christian
Church was created, and Rev. R.B. McCorkle was active
in both.
After
their marriage in 1811, they moved about the region a great deal. They tried
several “Utopian” societies,
some of which were promoted by a wealthy individual called Robert Owen. By 1815
they were living in the “Christian Settlement” of Allison Prairie, near Lawrenceville, Illinois, with two sisters and a brother and their families, who had each
married into the Berry family. By 1821 they were living in Kentucky. By 1828-29 the family had moved to Monroe County, Indiana, near Bloomington and were living at Blue
Springs in an “Owenite” community. At Blue Springs twenty-seven members and their families were living
on three-hundred and twenty-five acres in a group of log houses built in the
form of a square, including a granary and school. And then just prior to moving to
Washington, Illinois, in October of 1830 they tried the “New Harmony” communal living experience for a few days, in New Harmony, Indiana. New
Harmony began as a cooperative, where it
thrived, but evolved into a commune, which eventually
caused its demise.
A
description of events that occurred just prior to the McCorkle’s departure from
“New Harmony” was reported in a personal letter by Isabella’s granddaughter,
Latina Louisa [Patrick] CRUM, in 1927, when Latina was 85 years of age:
“Grandmother
did the making, mending, sewing, also from barks of trees colored the wool-that
through the loom provided the family clothing. As she, grandmother, looked at a
large roll standing by loom, she was justly proud. Presently, in came other
lady of "dechex" with scissors in hand, cut off what she wanted
without even a By your leave."
When
grandfather came in, was told, at once he discovered it wasn't a "with
your one-mind crowd." Quietly preparations were made for a removal to Illinois where grandmother's
sister lived”
During
these years and the next few years in
Washington, Illinois, she gave birth to thirteen children. They were: Martha Olivia [who
married John Henry Johnson], William, Elizabeth [who married Thadeus Bowman],
Eliza Jane [who married Allan Patrick, son of Revolutionary War veteran Edward
Fitz Patrick of McLean County], Joseph Byram [who married Cynthia Kice], Mary
Amanda [who married Eli Patrick, son of Edward Fitz Patrick], Sarah Eunice [who
married John Osbourne McCord], Miles Blythe [who married Martha Lucinda
Gorin, daughter of Sanford Pell Gorin], William Milton [who married (1) Mary
Smith and (2) Abigail Westerman Zumwalt], Elmira [who married Cyrus J. Gibson],
George Washington, Celetia Amelia [who married Alva S. Greman], and Rhoda
Louise [who married Martin Henry Hornish].
In
about 1847 Ibby [as she was called by
her husband], her husband,
her youngest son, William, and her two youngest daughters,
Elmira and Rhoda Louisa, moved west across the Illinois River to
Peoria, where they lived for a few years. They returned to Washington sometime after the 1850 census. Her husband passed away in 1854 in Washington, Illinois. She
died on the 7th of
January 1873, while she
was living with the family of her eldest daughter, Mrs. John Henry Johnson. She
lived on this earth seventy-six years, nine months, and seven days. She was
buried beside her husband in the Baker Cemetery of Washington, Illinois.
By: James M. Richmond, ©October 2003
Marsha Huie: -- Again,
many thanks to James M. Richmond for the above information which he has kindly
allowed us to use here.
Richard
Blythe McCorkle, born 1786, to William McCorkle & Margaret Blythe
[McCorkle].[William McCorkle was one of the children of Alexander McCorkle
& Nancy “Agness” Montgomery McCorkle, immigrants to the colonies. Our
ancestor Robert McCorkle married as his 1st wife Elizabeth
Blythe, a sister to Margaret Blythe.] Reverend James Blythe
married. Elizabeth King and produced (1) Mrs. William McCorkle, née
Margaret Blythe; and (2) Mrs. Robert McCorkle, nee Elizabeth “Lizzie” Blythe.
The
following is again the work of James
M. Richmond, not Marsha Huie, except for Marsha’s comments in
brackets:
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 [“Peggy” Margaret BLYTHE] was the daughter of Rev. James Blythe and
Elizabeth King, who were among the earliest settlers of Rowan County. His father was one of ten children born to Alexander
McCorkle [a patriot of the Revolution] and Nancy [Agnes] Montgomery.
When Blythe, as Richard was called when he was young, was no more than
two years of age his parents, with Blythe’s brother, Samuel Montgomery McCorkle, moved from North Carolina across the
mountains to Fayette County, Virginia [now Kentucky, near Lexington], where they were “admitted” to the Walnut Hill Presbyterian Church,
on 2nd day of June of 1788.
The obvious migration route from Rowan County would have been over the rugged “Wilderness Road” and through the Cumberland Gap. They had many narrow escapes here from hostile
natives, and were required to live in a fort, to keep their weapons at the
ready, and to be on watch day and night.
The Blythe
grandparents also made the move and were also members of Walnut Hill. [Note: The
following is our, Marsha Cope Huie’s, ancestor, Robert McCorkle.] Blythe’s uncle, Robert McCorkle, who had married
Blythe’s mother’s sister, Elizabeth Blythe, also was a member
of Walnut Hill, along with his
wife. And a second
uncle, Joseph, was also
admitted at the same time as Blythe’s parents.
The following year, in October of 1789, Blythe’s sister, Asenath McCorkle was born in the wilderness
of Fayette County. Asenath was an Egyptian name meaning “gift of the
sun-god”. She was named after this Egyptian goddess, mentioned in the Bible.
Within a few years Blythe and
his family moved south to Tennessee, probably to escape the Indian unrest of the area.
On the 2nd of October 1793 Blythe’s
father [William
McCorkle] paid $37.50 to James Wilson for thirty acres of land on the waters of
“Station Camp Creek” in
Sumner County, Tennessee, north of Nashville. Station Camp Creek flows south through Sumner County and empties into the Cumberland River a few miles south of Gallatin, Tennessee.
The same year, 1793,
Blythe and his family were present during the organization of the Shiloh Presbyterian
Church, in Sumner County [near Gallatin].
Rev. William McGee from the Muhlenburg Presbytery organized this church in
1793, and it soon became active in the Great Revival. Within about a year Blythe’s
mother passed away, leaving three small children aged 6, 8 and 9. She
was buried in the King Cemetery, near Gallatin.
The cemetery is also known as the Old Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Also
a member of the Shiloh Church was Jane
Purviance,
[Marsha
Huie adds: There is a problem here. I think “Mattie” Martha King, the widow
of John Purviance, [the one who was scalped in 1792], is being confused
with the mother; it was Jane
[Wasson) Purviance was the mother of the poor, scalped John
Purviance.
[Martha
King, née “Mattie” Martha King , Mattie or Martha King became Mrs. John Purviance [wife of the scalped
one]; then Mrs. William McCorkle. It was the mother of John Purviance,
Jr., who was named JANE: Mary Jane Wasson (wife of “Colonel” Lt. John Purviance,
Sr.] --Martha King became Mrs. Purviance, then Mrs. William McCorkle.
-- -- ---- Or was perchance the wife of John Purviance,
Jr., née Martha JANE King (later Mrs. John Purviance, Jr.)
(then Mrs. William McCorkle)?] I don’t think so ] ,
a widow [the mother of?] of John Purviance, who had been shot, scalped, and left weltering in his own blood by the
Indians in Sumner County in May of 1792. She was so
near the murder that she could hear the savage yells. Friends prevented her
from attempting to stop the attack and restrained her from preventing his
demise. The couple’s only child, a daughter, was born a few months
later.
[It was John Purviance son of
John Purviance & Mary Jane Wasson Purviance who had been scalped; not Colonel Lt. John Purviance, Sr., whose wife was Jane Wasson (Purviance),
actually Mary Jane Wasson.]
Blythe’s father, William
McCorkle, married his
second wife, Jane [No; unless the 2nd wife’s name was MARTHA Jane King. I thought
the 2nd wife’s name was “Mattie” Martha King] Purviance] in Sumner County on Christmas Day, 1794. In October of 1796 Blythe’s father [William McCorkle] was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Sumner County Militia.
In about the same year Blythe’s half brother, Miles McCorkle was born in Sumner County. Miles
McCorkle later became a successful Lebanon physician
and Tennessee state legislator.
In April of 1799
Blythe’s father again was again met with sadness, as his second wife passed
away [Martha ?Jane? King Purviance/McCorkle]. She also was buried in the Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery. [Elmira Sloan McCorkle Roache said no, Mattie King
McCorkle was buried in a “rude grave” between NC and Middle Tennessee. --Elmira Sloan McCorkle Roache
wrote her nephew James Scott McCorkle otherwise. Elmira said William McCorkle’s 2nd
wife Mattie Martha King (widow
Purviance) McCorkle was buried in a “rude grave” on her trek between Rowan Co.,
NC, and Middle Tennessee] Blythe was
now about thirteen years of age. His brother was about fourteen, his younger
sister was ten, and his half-brother was about three.
[Marsha Huie: Our old letter from Elmira Sloan McCorkle Roache to her
nephew James Scott McCorkle, M.D., in Newbern, Tennessee, says that her uncle
William McCorkle’s 2nd wife died on her way to or from North
Carolina and was buried by the roadside in what was then wilderness, in a rude
grave.]
Blythe’s father [WILLIAM
McCORKLE, brother to
our ancestor Robert McCorkle] married,
in Sumner County, a third time on June 9, 1800. He married Jenny Graham, who was about thirty years of age
at the time. During the next ten years she gave birth to John, Amelia, and Blanche Locke McCorkle.
Blythe now had a brother, a sister, two half-brothers, and two half-sisters.
Three years later on the 5th of December 1803 William McCorkle sold his property in Sumner County and moved
a few miles south to Rutherford
County where he settled on a farm “on the north side of the Main
East Fork of Stones River”. [Marsha
writes: I’m so glad to get this location. I didn’t know it. --It was William McCorkle and his brother
Robert McCorkle who inherited their father’s Revolutionary War land grant in
Rutherford County; see the will of Alexander McCorkle, who died 1800 in Rowan
County, NC, and is buried Thyatira Presbyterian Cemetery there.]
The Great Western
Revival religious movement began in 1800 and reached its crest in about 1803. The primary areas of
this movement were in Tennessee and Kentucky. On the weekends in May and June of 1801 there were a
series of revival meetings near Lexington, Kentucky where as many as 10,000 people attended just one of the meetings.
Barton W. Stone emerged from these meetings as a leader of a splinter group
that formed the Christian
Church . All of these
happenings were followed by Blythe’s father [WILLIAM McCORKLE, brother to our Robert McCorkle] and
led him in his last years to begin preaching. Young Blythe, no doubt, was influenced by the religious
background of his family and of the religious events of the day that were
sounded by Stone.
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.
They
were at the “Christian Settlement” at Allison Prairie, near Lawrenceville in about
1815, and in 1821 were in Kentucky.
They lived at the Blue
Springs
“Owenite” Harmony community near Bloomington, Indiana up until about1830; then they were living at “New Harmony”, Indiana for a few days, before moving to Washington in Tazewell County, Illinois in October of 1830. Here in Washington, Blythe started the Christian Church and became a
successful farmer on land located in Sections 10, 11, and 15 of Washington Township. Blythe was also a private in the company Captain
Charles Dorsey of Tazewell
County, Illinois in 1831 during the Black Hawk War.
When Blythe’s father [William McCorkle, brother to our
ancestor Robert McCorkle] 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. 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 [Illinois].
The wanderlust of Blythe and Ibby did not stop in Washington, as in 1847,
with their family of 13 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.
By: James M. Richmond, ©October 2003
George
Washington McCorkle,
George Washington McCorkle was born in Illinois [probably Washington, Illinois] on the 3rd of February 1833
to parents Richard Blythe McCorkle and Isabella [Campbell] McCorkle. He was one of five boys in a family
containing eight sisters.
He moved with his parents from Washington, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois in about 1847, when he was fourteen years of age. At the time of the
1850 census in Peoria he was enumerated with his parents and was listed as
a “Carpenter” for his profession.
Washington McCorkle, as he was known, died on the 16th day of September
1850 when he was seventeen years, seven months and eight days old.
By: James M. Richmond, ©October 2003
Sarah
Eunice McCorkle,
Sarah Eunice McCorkle was born on the 23rd of March 1823 to Rev. Richard Blythe McCorkle and Isabella [Campbell] McCorkle. She was one of eight daughters born to a
family containing thirteen children.
She married John Osbourne McCord on February
12, 1845 in Tazewell County, Illinois. She died seven days later at the age of twenty-one years, eleven
months, and twenty-seven days. She was buried in the Baker cemetery of Washington, Illinois, where her parents and other family members were
later buried.
By: James M. Richmond, ©October 2003
Children
of Joseph Byram McCorkle
Four children of Joseph Byram McCorkle and Cythia Ann Kice were buried
in the Baker Cemetery.
James Lafayette McCorkle, also known as Charles Lafayette McCorkle, son
of Joseph Byram McCorkle and Cynthia Ann [Kice] McCorkle, a native of Augusta Co., VA, was born on the 15th of
December 1841 and died
in his first year, on the 17th of March 1842.
Laura J. McCorkle was born on the 16th day of April 1851 to parents
Joseph Byram McCorkle and Cynthia Ann [Kice] McCorkle.
And an infant daughter, who died on the 30th of April 1846, was also buried in the Baker Cemetery.
And the fourth child was of unknown name and sex, but died on 23 April 1844 at the age of two years, eleven months.
Their father, Joseph Byram McCorkle, was born in Lawrence County,
Illinois, and then as a young boy, settled in 1830 on a farm a few miles north
of Washington, Illinois with his parents Rev. Richard Blythe McCorkle and his
wife Isabella [Campbell] McCorkle. Joseph B. McCorkle was a farmer for several
years and marketed farm products at Fort Dearborn, now Chicago. After moving to
Washington County in 1848, he began to build wagons with a successful
business. Began preaching in about 1860, was a successful evangelist in the Church of Christ, and organized in 1872 the Christian Church at Roanoke in Woodford County, Illinois. During his public ministry he baptized over one
thousand persons.
This McCorkle family had eleven siblings. They included: Josephine
Maria, Laura J., Richard H., Mary E., Orpha J., Eunice A., Cyrus B., James
Lafayette, and Z. A. McCorkle. There was also an infant sister, and another
child of unknown sex, both of whom died young.
They were buried in the Baker Cemetery of Washington, Illinois, with their grandparents.
By: James M. Richmond, ©October 2003
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pension List
Pvt John Purviance, NC Cont'l Cav, 23 Oct 1833, 71. Pvt Howell Sellers, SC Cont'l,
02 May 1833, 72. Pvt James Turley, VA Militia, 16
Mar 1833,
72 ...
www.iltrails.org/1835pensioners5.htm -
Again, many thanks to James
M. Richmond.
[End of Chapter Ten]