Z 1655.000 S
MCCORKLE (SAMUEL) PAPERS


Biography/History:

Samuel McCorkle was born in North Carolina on January 1, 1795. He had moved to Paris, Tennessee, by 1818 and was employed as a bill collector, land speculator, and surveyor in the Obion River Valley. There, McCorkle ran the Cypress Bridge land lottery in 1832.

Following the Chickasaw Cession of 1832, McCorkle became more involved in land speculation. He worked as land appraiser and surveyor for Chickasaw land agent Benjamin Reynolds in 1833. After sales were completed, McCorkle had secured between sixty-eight and seventy-six square miles of Chickasaw Cession lands in north Mississippi.

Concurrently with his land-purchasing activities, McCorkle also became involved with several land companies. These included the Pontotoc Land Company (1835); Hernando Railroad and Banking Company (1837); and Holly Springs Real Estate Banking Company (1837), of which he was president.

The Holly Springs Real Estate Banking Company was an unchartered institution, which issued its own currency based upon declared land values rather than the sums actually paid for land. The company functioned from 1837 until the early 1840s, when it was forced to close following a financial panic. McCorkle and other company officers reportedly pledged private funds to cover the banks debts.

McCorkle and several Holly Springs Real Estate Banking Company partners were involved in the development of the towns of Lauderdale and Norfolk. Lauderdale was laid out, plans were developed, and some stocks were sold. Norfolk was similarly laid out, roads cut, and stock and even some lots were sold. Neither town flourished, however.

Kate McCorkle, daughter of Samuel McCorkle, married C. G. Nelms of Holly Springs on September 25, 1842. The land comprising the town of Norfolk was later listed on tax rolls as a plantation owned by Kate McCorkle Nelms.

Samuel McCorkle died on October 9, 1850, and he was buried in Holly Springs.

Scope and Content:

Series Identification:

  1. Correspondence. 1820-1853.

    2. (box 1; oversized items in box 9)

  2. Land Surveys and Claims. 1820-1848.
    3. Official surveys, 1822; 1824-1826; 1829; n.d. (box 1)

    Surveyors notes, 1820; 1822; 1828-1829; 1834; 1848; n.d. (box 1; oversized item in box 11)

    Occupants claims 1821-1822; 1826; n.d. (box 1)

  3. Land Lists. 1836; n.d.
    4. Land lists signed and unsigned (valued), 1836; n.d. (box 2)

    Land lists signed (not valued), n.d. (box 2)

  4. Records, Plats, Diagrams, and Stock Certificates. 1831; 1836; n.d.
    5. Papers pertaining to the development of land and townships, including Lauderdale and Norfolk:

    Ledger for land sales, Norfolk, 1836. (box 2)

    Cypress Bridge lottery tickets. (box 2)

    Lottery ticket receipts. (box 2)

    Lottery ticket record book. (box 2)

    Land plats. 1831; n.d. (box 2)

    Township diagrams; town plats of Lauderdale and Norfolk. (box 2; oversized items in boxes 9 and 11)

    Stock certificates for towns of Lauderdale and Norfolk. (box 2)

  5. Pay Notes. 1831-1832; 1837-1841; n.d.
    6. Pay notes of the Holly Springs Real Estate Banking Company, 1831-1832; 1837; January-March, 1838. (box 3)

    April-December 1838; 1839-1841; n.d. (box 4)

  6. Deposit Slips. 1838-1840.
    7. Deposit slips of the Holly Springs Real Estate Banking Company, 1838-1840; n.d. (box 5)
  7. Promissory Notes. 1822-1842; n.d.
    8. Includes some currency. (box 5)
  8. Land Finance Records and Tax Receipts. 1820-1856; n.d.
    9. Surveyors financial records, 1822-1823; n.d. (box 6)

    Land receipts, 1820-1821; 1823-1826; 1828-1829; 1835-1837; 1839-1840; 1842; 1844; 1854; 1856; n.d. (box 6)

    Tax receipts. (box 6)

  9. Receipts. 1822-1877; n.d.
    10. Receipts for bill collection, business transactions, legal actions, and personal loans; financial memoranda, 1822-1877; n.d. (box 7; oversized item in box 9)

    Receipts for personal and unspecified matters, 1824-1875; n.d. (box 8; oversized items in boxes 9 and 10)

  10. Legal Records and Public Documents.
    11. Conveyances, deeds of trust, legal actions, powers-of-attorney, published documents, and a sketch of the Chickasaw Cession by Erasmus P. McDowell. (box 8; oversized items in boxes 9, 10, and 11)