Samuel Eusebius McCorkle

Samuel Eusebius McCorkle (August 23, 1746 January 21, 1811) was a pioneer Presbyterian preacher, teacher, advocate for public and private education in North Carolina, and the interceptor and progenitor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who first promoted the idea of establishing a university in the state.

Biography Early life Samuel Eusebius McCorkle was born on August 23, 1746, the eldest child of ten in the family of Alexander McCorkle and Agness "Nancy" Montgomery McCorkle near Harris's Ferry (present day Harrisburg) in Lancaster County in the Province of Pennsylvania. Both of his parents, from families of Scottish Presbyterian descent, were born in Ulster. They were brought to America during the wave of Scotch-Irish migration in the early 18th century. Samuel's parents took great care in naming him: Samuel for a prophet of God and Eusebius for an early Greek Church historian. At the age of four Samuel was put into an English public school where he learned how to read, write, cipher, and recite Bible verses. This education, very typical of the times, could be summed up as "the five R's" - Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, self-Restraint, and Religion. Samuel's schooling continued for five years, till he was nine.

In 1756 the McCorkles followed the Great Wagon Trail to North Carolina where they bought messuage tenement plantation. The tract of land lay on Back Creek, in the vicinity of present-day Mount Ulla near the border of Rowan and Iredell Counties west of Salisbury, North Carolina. There were no schools on the frontier, hence Samuel's schooling was briefly interrupted. During this time he became a very young teacher to his siblings - an experience that would chart the course for the rest of his life. On Sabbath the McCorkles would travel to Cathey's Meeting House (later renamed Thyatira Presbyterian Church), a substantial log church in the vicinity of Mill Bridge. Sermons were read by the elders of the church with an occasional visit from travelling ministers.

McCorkle was admitted to membership in Cliosophic Society, a literary and debating club at the College of New Jersey, where he was known under the fictitious name "Virgil". Membership in the society made him a principle target in the "Paper War" of 1771–1772 — a literary battle of polemics in doggerel, hudibrastics, and prose — from the rival Whig Society members Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Philip Freneau, and James Madison. Frequent references to the humble origins of the Cliosophians — the manual labors, the poverty, the piety — indicate there may have been a social class distinction between the two societies.

In 1772, Samuel graduated from the College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Clerical apprenticeship McCorkle was influenced by revival in the spring of 1772 at Princeton and McCorkle began to study for the ministry under his uncle, the Reverend Joseph Montgomery, his mother's brother.

Marriage and children On July 2, 1776 Samuel McCorkle married Margaret Gillespie, the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Gillespie (later Steele in second marriage), a prominent Salisbury, N.C. family. They had eight children, six of which lived into adulthood: one son, Alexander "Sandy", and five daughters, Nancy, Elizabeth, Sophia, Peggy, and Harriet. In 1786 their estate also included 7 enslaved Black people, 2 adults and 5 children. After the first constitution of the state of North Carolina was adopted in 1776 after the United States declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, work began to establish the independent State of North Carolina. Article 41 of the North Carolina Constitution called for the establishment of affordable schools and universities for the instruction of the young people in the state. Samuel McCorkle made the first attempt to implement article 41. In November 1784 he introduced a bill in the North Carolina General Assembly to establish a state university. The bill was rejected due to financial restraints and political turmoil. In 1789 McCorkle became an original trustee of the institution, the only one who was a clergyman and who had taught. McCorkle procured $42 from the Thyatira congregation after appealing for subscriptions for the foundation of a university. It was the only congregational contribution made in the early history of the university.

Zion-Parnassus Academy In 1793 McCorkle announced a new academy that would prepare men for future university study. The school was to open within the Thyatira congregation and enroll ten students. In January 1794 the academy, named Zion-Parnassus, began operations. McCorkle chose the name to signify the importance of both Biblical (Zion) and classical (Parnassus) education. The academy was modeled on the school of Dr. David Caldwell where McCorkle received his classical education. The instruction was in basic languages and science, using such instruments as globes, a barometer, a thermometer, a microscope, prismatic glass, and surveying instruments.

In 1787 McCorkle requested and received a collection of books on teaching and pedagogy from Germany that allowed him to introduce teacher training at Thyatira Church. Forty-five of his students entered the ministry, others became lawyers, judges, and officers of the state.

Influence John Brown was a pupil of McCorkle. He went on to become a professor at South Carolina College (later the university). He helped start Lancaster Academy (SC) in 1802, and Wadesboro Academy (NC) in 1803, and served as a trustee and president. Brown became President of the University of Georgia in Athens.

Personal library Samuel McCorkle possessed a large collection of books for back country frontier settlement, despite books being expensive and hard to procure at the time.

Some books in McCorkle's Library included:

works on theology by authors such as Calvin, Turretin, Stackhouse, Stillingfleet and Owen; works on church history by authors such as Owen, Shuckford, Prideaux, and Mosheim (in Latin); works on law and civil government by authors such as Puffendorf, Burlemaqui, Montesquieu, and Blackstone However, there are no interpretative markers to educate the public about McCorkle's contributions. McCorkle place is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Two UNC landmarks are located at McCorkle Place — the iconic symbol of the university, a neoclassical rotunda, nicknamed the Old Well, and an over 300-year-old tulip poplar tree, Davie Poplar.

The North Carolina Historical Highway Marker Program marked a site in the vicinity of Zion-Parnassus Academy to commemorate Samuel E.McCorkle on NC 150 west of Salisbury in Rowan County.