2. Francis Marion McCORKLE Sr. was born on 1 Sep 1742 in Rowan Co., NC. He died on 9 Oct 1802 in Lincoln Co., NC. Major Francis McCorkle, son of Matthew McCorkle, of Scotch Irish descent, was an early settler in Rowan (now Lincoln) and was a member of Rowan Committee of Public Safety in 1774-75. He lived on Mountain Creek about two miles north of Denver and never failed to attend a Public Safety meeting thirty miles away in Salisbury. He was a brave patriot of the Revolution and fought at Ramsour's Mill, Kings Mountain, and was with Peter Forney in the skirmish against Tarleton at Torrence Tavern.
He lived on Mountain Creek where Locke had camped the night before he marched to Ramsour's Mill was a soldier in that battle, and it was rumored that he was among the killed. He later, however, got home and when it was so reported in the neighborhood some of his friends went to his house by night pretending to be Tories who came to kill him. They called him out and when they asked how he stood he replied, "I won't die with a lie in my mouth, for I stand for Liberty." Then the visitors made themselves known as his friends and neighbors who had come to rejoice with him over the victory which he had helped to win. This battle was fought one-half mile north of Lincolnton on the lands of Christian Reinhardt, the pioneer and ancestor of a long line of notable descendants.
He married first to Sarah, daughter of Alexander Work, by whom he had
five children:
They are all buried in the McCorkle family graveyard and death dates
are found on their tombstones.
His second marriage was to Elizabeth (Betsy) Brandon, daughter of Richard
and Margaret Locke Brandon of Rowan. She was the Betsy Brandon who served
the breakfast to President Washington and several of his aides in 1791
at the Brandon home six miles south of Salisbury, as the party was en route
from Charlotte to Salisbury. [Annals of Lincoln County]
On June 14, 1933, a marker erected by the Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter, D.A.R. of Salisbury, commemorating the event, was placed by the roadside in front of the original homesite of her father, Richard Brandon. Today, this is the McCorkle Cemetery.
He was married to Sara Jean WORK on 26 Aug 1768 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Sara Jean WORK was born before 1750. She died on 1 Jan 1779 in Mountain Creek, Lincoln Co., NC. Francis Marion McCORKLE Sr. and Sara Jean WORK had the following children:
4 i. Matthew
McCORKLE III was born on 15 Aug 1769 in Anson Co., NC. He died on 10
Sep 1844 in Catawba Co., NC. 6/97 From History of Rowan Co. Matthew lived
in Mountain Creek and never married.
+5 ii. Isabella
McCORKLE.
+6 iii. Jane
(Jean) (Jenny) McCORKLE.
7 iv. Alexander
Work McCORKLE was born on 26 Jul 1775 in Anson Co., NC. He died on
26 Jan 1854 in Catawba Co., NC. 6/97 From History of Rowan Co. Alexander
lived in Mountain Creek and never married. He was a man of wealth and of
fine judgment and business talents. He was frequently called upon to advise
his neighbors in business affairs, and to aid them in making deeds and
conveyances.
+8 v. Rebecca
McCORKLE.
He was married to Elizabeth "Betsy" BRANDON on 13 Apr 1780 in Rowan Co., NC. Elizabeth "Betsy" BRANDON was born in 1761. She died on 20 Jan 1821. Elizabeth Brandon is the mother of Francis, Jr., Thomas, Richard, William and John. As well as Sarah, Elizabeth, and Margaret. Francis Marion McCORKLE Sr. and Elizabeth "Betsy" BRANDON had the following children:
+9 i. Margaret
McCORKLE.
10 ii. Molly
McCORKLE was born on 20 Oct 1783.
+11 iii. Sarah
McCORKLE.
+12 iv. Elizabeth
McCORKLE.
+13 v. Francis
Marion McCORKLE Jr.
+14 vi. Nancy
Agnes McCORKLE.
+15 vii. Richard
McCORKLE.
+16 viii. Thomas
L. McCORKLE Sr.
+17 ix. William
Brandon McCORKLE.
+18 x. John
H. McCORKLE.
