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This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.
Size | 10.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4500 items) |
Abstract | William Parsons McCorkle (1855-1933) was an educator and Presbyterian minister in Virginia and North Carolina. The collection includes papers of William P. McCorkle and of his father, Alexander B. McCorkle (1806-1886), Presbyterian ministers, the father primarily in Talladega, Ala., and the son in Martinsville, Va., and several towns in North Carolina, espcially Burlington. Earlier papers are family correspondence, writings, and sermons. After 1910 there are some letters and writings on theological and social problems, with W. P. McCorkle expressing his views on the University of North Carolina, particularly the humanistic ideas of Howard Odum and others; the Mormon Church; Christian Science; and the Communist Party; and church participation in political activity, particularly Prohibition. Also present are papers of the family of Lutie Andrews (Mrs. William P.) McCorkle, daughter of Ezra Harnwood Andrews, a Charlotte, N.C., dentist in Charlotte, N.C., and prisoner at Point Lookout during the Civil War. Volumes include a diary of Lucilla Agnes Gamble (Mrs. Alexander B.) McCorkle, 1846-1860, chiefly concerned with religious and domestic activities. There is a large number of sermons by both ministers. |
Creator | McCorkle, William P. (William Parsons), 1855-1937. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: James Eldridge, 1936; Rebecca Hollingsworth, October 1991
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, April 2010
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
William Parsons McCorkle, clergyman and religious writer, was born in Talladega, Ala., the second son and third child of Alexander B. and Lucila Agnes Cambol McCorkle. Alexander (1806 1886) was a native of Rockbridge County, Va., and a descendant of the McCorkle and Glasgow families of that state. A Presbyterian minister, he preached widely in Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama and later helped to found a synodical college for women in Talladega (later the Presbyterian Collegiate Institute and Isabell College). Lucila Cambol McCorkle was the daughter of an Alabama minister.
William McCorkle received his early education in private schools in Alabama, and, in 1870, he entered Washington and Lee University. Although referred to as "Dr. McCorkle" later in life, he was never graduated from Washington and Lee nor did he ever receive a D.D. degree. Rather, according to a eulogizer, "this degree was conferred upon him by those who knew him and his work."
After leaving Washington and Lee, McCorkle taught briefly at private schools in Staunton, Va., and Lenoir, N.C. In 1876, he was licensed to preach by the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and five years later was ordained. In 1879, he married Sarah Tallulah (Lutie) Andrews, a Charlotte writer. From 1881 to 1884, he served as pastor to churches in Beaufort, LaGrange, and Elkin; he then was called to serve in El Paso, Tex. On his return to North Carolina in 1888, he became a minister of the Presbyterian Church and remained so until his death. After a brief pastorate in a rural church near Charlotte (1888-1889), McCorkle served churches in High Point, Jamestown, and Lexington (1889-1891), Shelby (1891-1896), Graham (1896-1901), Savannah, Ga. (1901-1907), Martinsville, Va. (1908-1919), and Burlington, N.C. (1920-1921). From 1921 until his death, he served several churches of the Orange Presbytery in the Burlington area, and, in 1927, he became pastor-at-large for the presbytery.
Although McCorkle was well known among Presbyterians for his preaching and pastoring, he became best known to the public through his many writings. His interest in the relationship of Christianity to science and the modern world led him to publish one book, Christian Science; or, the False Christ of 1866 , and a host of articles in church publications. Particularly during 1925 and 1926, he became a leader of ministerial opposition to the sociologist Howard W. Odum and the Journal of Social Forces at the University of North Carolina. McCorkle wrote frequent articles expressing his views in newspapers in Charlotte, Greensboro, and other Piedmont cities, and he produced a controversial pamphlet attacking Odum and modern science, entitled Anti Christian Sociology as Taught in the Journal of Social Forces During this time, he also was active in mustering the support of Presbyterians for the Poole bill, introduced by Representative D. Scott Poole in 1926 to prohibit the teaching of evolution in the state's schools.
McCorkle continued to preach until his death, becoming involved near the end of his life in efforts to oppose the national unification of Presbyterian, Reformed, and other Calvinist churches. He died and was buried in Burlington. He was survived by his wife; no record exists of any children.
(This biographical note was taken from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography , volume 4.)
Back to TopThis collection consists primarily of sermons and related writings by William Parsons McCorkle of Virginia and North Carolina and his father Alexander B. McCorkle of Alabama. Also included are volumes, clippings and printed materials, some correspondence, other writings, and pictures.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Correspondence includes include a letter (1846) giving a description of the Hudson River, Niagara Falls, and Quebec, which was called a very dirty, walled city with "fortifications next to Gibralter"; a letter (1861) commenting on Lincoln's "foolish steps" and on "his last act--war with Europe"; a letter (1864) giving some insight into camp life including the writers having to slept on naked board, complaints about lack of food, and the great desire to return to his family; a letter (1872) commenting on the life and customs of Hang Chow, China, and describing to some extent this city and Yokahoma, Japan; letters (1870s) that reveal experiences of a missionary in China and give insight into the character and lives of the Chinese; a number of letters (and papers in series 5) (early 1900s) pertaining to Christian Science; and a letter (1897) by Edward Everett Hale giving an account of Mary Baker Eddy's way of life and the services in her Christian Science Church in Boston.
There are also letters containing discussions of the First World War with comments on events leading up to the entrance of the United States into the conflict and descriptions of camp life and scenes from the war area.
After the war, correspondence includes letters (and papers in series 5) (circa 1924) on modernism and fundamentalism; letters concerning criticisms of the Journal of Social Forces; letters (1927 and 1929) criticizing the McNair lectures and one (1927) with information relating to John Calvin McNair; letters (and papers in series 5) (1927 and 1932) pertaining to communism, activities of radical organizations, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, and alleged atheistic teachings at the University of North Carolina; and letters (and sermons in series 2, clippings in series 4, and papers in series 5) (1909, 1930-1932, and other dates) discussing temperance, prohibition, and the participation of the Presbyterian Church in politics with particular reference to the proposed prohibition amendment and the Alabama constitutional amendment.
Folder 1 |
1806-1849 |
Folder 2 |
1850-1859 |
Folder 3 |
1860-1869 |
Folder 4 |
1870-1879 |
Folder 5 |
1880-1899 |
Folder 6 |
1900-1904 |
Folder 7 |
1905-1907 |
Folder 8 |
1908-1909 |
Folder 9 |
1910 |
Folder 10 |
1911 |
Folder 11 |
1912-1914 |
Folder 12 |
1915-1916 |
Folder 13 |
1917 |
Folder 14 |
1918-1919 |
Folder 15 |
1920-1924 |
Folder 16 |
1925 |
Folder 17 |
1926 |
Folder 18 |
1927 |
Folder 19 |
1928 |
Folder 20 |
1929 |
Folder 21 |
1930 |
Folder 22 |
January-September 1931 |
Folder 23 |
October-December 1931 |
Folder 24 |
January-August 1932 |
Folder 25 |
September-October 1932 |
Folder 26 |
November-December 1932 |
Folder 27 |
1933 and undated |
Arrangement: chronological.
Sermons, notes, and addresses. Sermons are of at least two different ministers and delivered at Talladega, Ala., and vicinity, El Paso, Tex., Lexington, High Point, Shelby, and Graham, N.C., and Martinsville, Va., from 1907 through the 1920s. There are sermons (and letters in series 1, clippings in series 4, and papers in series 5) (1909, 1931-1932 and other dates) on temperance, strong drink, prohibition, and the participation of the Presbyterian Church in politics with particular reference to the proposed prohibition amendment and the Alabama constitutional amendment.
Addresses include "Christian Science, or the False Christ of 1866"; "David Livingston--the Man and his Work" (1913); "Pastor Russel and his Gospel" (1916); "A Word as to the Mecklenburg Declaration" (1917); "State Education in its Relation to the Churches"; "Ecclesiastical Censorship of the Press"; "Education and the Growth of Skepticism"; and "Education and Religion."
Among other writings are "Some War-Time Stories--General Sherman in Savannah" (1917), an account of the treatment accorded by Sherman and his army to the city of Savannah on its capitulation, and of the generosity of certain Northern cities to the poor people of the South near the close of the war; a manuscript "Cast Among Thorns" (1932), detailing McCorkle's experiences as a temperance preacher; "Walthall--A Story of Life in the New South"; "The Real John Calvin"; "The Life Work of John Calvin"; "Debt of the World to Puritanism"; "Mary Slocumb"; "Onslow Fifty Years Ago and Now"; "The Puritan Parson of New England"; and "An American Poet (Poe) Prophet of Science."
Folder 28a |
1854-1861 |
Folder 28b |
1861-1880 |
Folder 29a |
1881-1884 |
Folder 29b |
1885 |
Folder 30a |
1886-1889 |
Folder 30b |
1890 |
Folder 30c |
1891-1892 |
Folder 31a |
1893-1897 |
Folder 31b |
1898-1899 |
Folder 32 |
1900 |
Folder 33 |
January-August 1901 |
Folder 34 |
September-December 1901 |
Folder 35a |
January-May 1902 |
Folder 35b |
June-November 1902 |
Folder 36 |
December 1902 |
Folder 37 |
Folder number not used |
Folder 38 |
1903 |
Folder 39a |
January-May 1904 |
Folder 39b |
June-October 1904 |
Folder 39c |
November-December 1904 |
Folder 40 |
January-June 1905 |
Folder 41 |
July-December 1905 |
Folder 42a |
January-April 1906 |
Folder 42b |
May-September 1906 |
Folder 43a |
October-November 1906 |
Folder 43b |
December 1906 |
Folder 44a |
January-May 1907 |
Folder 44b |
June 1907 |
Folder 45 |
July-August 1907 |
Folder 46 |
September-November 1907 |
Folder 47 |
December 1907 |
Folder 48a |
January-March 1908 |
Folder 48b |
April-May 1908 |
Folder 49 |
June-August 1908 |
Folder 50a |
September-November 1908 |
Folder 50b |
December 1908 |
Folder 51 |
January-March 1909 |
Folder 52a |
April-May 1909 |
Folder 52b |
June-August 1909 |
Folder 52c |
September-October 1909 |
Folder 53 |
November-December 1909 |
Folder 54 |
January 1910 |
Folder 55a |
February-March 1910 |
Folder 55b |
April-May 1910 |
Folder 55c |
July-December 1910 |
Folder 56a |
January-April 1911 |
Folder 56b |
May-July 1911 |
Folder 57a |
September-October 1911 |
Folder 57b |
November-December 1911 |
Folder 58a |
January-April 1912 |
Folder 58b |
May-June 1912 |
Folder 59a |
July-August 1912 |
Folder 59b |
September-October 1912 |
Folder 59c |
November-December 1912 |
Folder 60a |
January-March 1913 |
Folder 60b |
April-May 1913 |
Folder 61a |
June-July 1913 |
Folder 61b |
August-September 1913 |
Folder 62a |
October |
Folder 62b |
November-December 1913 |
Folder 63a |
January-February 1914 |
Folder 63b |
March-April 1914 |
Folder 63c |
May-June 1914 |
Folder 64a |
July-August 1914 |
Folder 64b |
September-October 1914 |
Folder 65 |
November-December 1914 |
Folder 66a |
January-March 1915 |
Folder 66b |
April-May 1915 |
Folder 67a |
June-August 1915 |
Folder 67b |
September-October 1915 |
Folder 68 |
November-December 1915 |
Folder 69a |
January-February 1916 |
Folder 69b |
March-May 1916 |
Folder 69c |
June-September 1916 |
Folder 70 |
October-December 1916 |
Folder 71a |
January-May 1917 |
Folder 71b |
June-September 1917 |
Folder 71c |
October-December 1917 |
Folder 72 |
January-March 1918 |
Folder 73a |
April-June 1918 |
Folder 73b |
July-December 1918 |
Folder 74a |
January-April 1919 |
Folder 74b |
May-December 1919 |
Folder 75a |
January-July 1920 |
Folder 75b |
August 1920 |
Folder 75c |
September-October 1920 |
Folder 75d |
November-December 1920 |
Folder 76a |
January-March 1921 |
Folder 76b |
April-June 1921 |
Folder 77a |
July-September 1921 |
Folder 77b |
October-December 1921 |
Folder 78 |
January-March 1922 |
Folder 79 |
April-June 1922 |
Folder 80 |
July-October 1922 |
Folder 81 |
November-December 1922 |
Folder 82 |
January-March 1923 |
Folder 83 |
April-May 1923 |
Folder 84 |
June-October 1923 |
Folder 85 |
November-December 1923 |
Folder 86 |
January-April 1924 |
Folder 87 |
May-December 1924 |
Folder 88 |
January-August 1925 |
Folder 89 |
September-December 1925 |
Folder 90 |
1926 |
Folder 91 |
1927-1930 |
Folder 92 |
1931 |
Folder 93 |
January-August 1932 |
Folder 94 |
September-December 1932 |
Folder 95 |
1933 |
Folder 96-158
Folder 96Folder 97Folder 98Folder 99Folder 100Folder 101Folder 102Folder 103Folder 104Folder 105Folder 106Folder 107Folder 108Folder 109Folder 110Folder 111Folder 112Folder 113Folder 114Folder 115Folder 116Folder 117Folder 118Folder 119Folder 120Folder 121Folder 122Folder 123Folder 124Folder 125Folder 126Folder 127Folder 128Folder 129Folder 130Folder 131Folder 132Folder 133Folder 134Folder 135Folder 136Folder 137Folder 138Folder 139Folder 140Folder 141Folder 142Folder 143Folder 144Folder 145Folder 146Folder 147Folder 148Folder 149Folder 150Folder 151Folder 152Folder 153Folder 154Folder 155Folder 156Folder 157Folder 158 |
Undated |
Diaries kept by Lucila Agnes (Cambol) McCorkle, mother of William Parsons McCorkle, 1846-1860 and 1901-1907. Entries, 1846-1860, are long and introspective, primarily concerning Lucila McCorkle's religious views, prayers, and meditations; she also wrote of her family, her husband's activities, church services and their Sunday school work, the activities and amusements of her children, friends, neighbors and visitors, and of the synodical college for women in Talladega, founded by her husband Alexander B. McCorkle. As political affairs became more agitated, Lucila made a few references to them, mentioning an attempted slave insurrection in Talladega that led to the arrest of some of the slaves of the town, including the McCorkles' boy Dave (he was proved innocent and freed, though a number of others were hanged). In general, however, the diary is concerned with home life and religious life. Entries, 1901-1907, are shorter and less religious in tone, with greater emphasis on mundane family matters. In all three volumes, there are gaps between entries ranging from days to months in duration. Also included (in volume 2) is the daybook of John P. Davidson & Co., a general merchandise business in Talladega, Ala., 12 January 1835-20 October 1835.
Folder 159 |
Volume 1 (formerly v. 19) 1846-1858 |
Folder 160 |
Volume 2 (formerly v. 20) 1858-1860 (and daybook, 1835) |
Folder 161 |
Volume 3 (formerly v. 6) 1901-1907 |
Mostly poetry (some original, by members of the McCorkle family) and some literary excerpts. The passages were presumably chosen by Mildred W. McCorkle, sister of William P. McCorkle (her name is written on the flyleaf).
Folder 162 |
Volume 4 (formerly v. 2) |
Eight pocket diaries containing miscellaneous notes, including many quotations from books and magazines.
Folder 163 |
Volumes 5-12 (formerly v. 8-15) |
Two volumes of complete sermons, one begun at Shelby, N.C., on 3 August 1894, and the other begun at Graham, N.C., on 1 May 1896; and one volume of notes, quotations, and fragments. All three volumes were presumably written by William P. McCorkle.
Folder 164 |
"Sermons and Notes By Wm P. McCorkle Begun at Shelby, N.C. Aug. 3/94," Volume 13 (formerly v. 3) |
Folder 165 |
Volume 14 (formerly v. 4) |
Folder 166 |
Volume 15 (formerly v. 5) |
One volume of notes on the grammar and vocabulary of the Greek language and one volume of notes on the Greek text of the Bible, possibly written by William. P. McCorkle.
Folder 167 |
Volume 16 (formerly v. 1) |
Folder 168 |
Volume 17 (formerly v. 18) |
Two writing tablets containing rough drafts of chapters for a novel ("Walthall," author unknown), and a scrapbook probably compiled by Lucila Agnes McCorkle.
Folder 169 |
Volume 18 (formerly v. 16) "Walthall" |
Folder 170 |
Volume 19 (formerly v. 17) "Walthall" |
Folder 171 |
Volume 20 (formerly v. 7) scrapbook |
Arrangement: chronological.
Clippings and other printed material on such topics as Christian Science, temperance and prohibition, Joseph Smith and Mormonism, and other subjects of interest to McCorkle. Included are pamphlets on church, religious, temperance, and prohibition subjects: "Rowan (N.C.) Records--Early Settlers" (1914); "Should Churches Engage in Politics" (1914); "Historical Sins of Omission and Commission" (1915); "So-Called Fundamentalism" (1923); a pamphlet (1932) concerning criticisms of the University of North Carolina's admitting radical lecturers; and a pamphlet (1932) that allegedly corrects false historical records and accounts of the attitudes of Virginia leaders toward slavery and secession.
Folder 172 |
1789-1889 |
Folder 173 |
1890-1892 |
Folder 174 |
1893-1894 |
Folder 175 |
1895-1897 |
Folder 176 |
1898-1903 |
Folder 177 |
1904-1906 |
Folder 178 |
1908 |
Folder 179 |
1909 |
Folder 180 |
1910-1911 |
Folder 181 |
1912 |
Folder 182 |
1913-1914 |
Folder 183 |
1915 |
Folder 184 |
January-May 1916 |
Folder 185 |
June-December 1916 |
Folder 186 |
1917-1919 |
Folder 187 |
1920-1925 |
Folder 188 |
1926-1927 |
Folder 189 |
1928-1929 |
Folder 190 |
1930 |
Folder 191 |
1931-1932 |
Folder 192-194
Folder 192Folder 193Folder 194 |
Undated |
Folder 195-198
Folder 195Folder 196Folder 197Folder 198 |
Other printed material |
Among these papers are a copy of the will of John Calvin McNair (1857); papers pertaining to Christian Science (early 1900s); papers on modernism and fundamentalism (1924 and other dates); papers on fundamentalism and liberalism in religion; papers on communism, activities of radical organizations, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, and alleged atheistic teachings in the University of North Carolina (1927 and 1932); papers on temperance and prohibition (1909, 1930-1932, and other dates); and papers on Sidney Lanier's career.
Folder 199-200
Folder 199Folder 200 |
Other Papers |
12 photographs.
Image P-450/1 |
Miss Lois Petaway, local editor and manager of the Onslow County Record |
Image P-450/2 |
Portrait of unidentified man |
Image P-450/3 |
High school building, Jacksonville (N.C.) |
Image P-450/4 |
Sheriff's office (Jacksonville?) |
Image P-450/5 |
Section of Main Street, Jacksonville (N.C.) |
Image P-450/6 |
Courthouse, Jacksonville, N.C. |
Image P-450/7 |
Grade school building (Jacksonville?) |
Image P-450/8 |
Tombstone of Dr. R. L. Payne |
Image P-450/9 |
Tombstone of Hugh Miller |
Image P-450/10-11
P-450/10P-450/11 |
Tombstone of Thomas Chalmers |
Image P-450/12 |
Tombstone (unidentified) |