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 was one of ten children born to Alexander McCorkle [a patriot of the Revolution] and Nancy [Agnes] Montgomery.

Richard Blythe McCorkle began his married life at the age of twenty-four 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 lived at the Christian Settlement at Allison's Prairie and at the Blue Spring Owenite community near Bloomington, Indiana.

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 in Bloomington, Indiana. However, Micah did not want to be alone, 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 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 1851.