McCorkle came to Fort Smith in May 1883 from Oxford, Miss. He was born in Demopolis, Ala., on Aug. 22, 1835. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and Nashville University, graduating in Nashville, Tenn. McCorkle was a Confederate Army surgeon and served at the battle of Franklin, Tenn.

In Fort Smith, he was listed variously as a physician, a druggist and a dentist.

John Brown was executed while McCorkle was in school in Philadelphia. There was so much animosity against the Southern students that they met and resolved to quit the college en masse. A professor of anatomy of Southern origin told them, "Young gentlemen, you are taking the first step in the dissolution of the Union." McCorkle said this remained a vivid memory for the rest of his life.

The Times Record said his "nature was most kindly and sympathetic, of a retiring disposition, not disposed to push himself foward, yet to those he admitted to his confidence and friendship he was always amiability and kindness itself."

McCorkle was married to Miss Mary J. Buford on Jan. 9, 1867, at College Hill, Miss. They had four children, Will McCorkle of Fort Smith, Mrs. E.B. Pierce of Chicago, Miss Jessie McCorkle of Fort Smith and Mrs. David E. Dodd of Mena.

J.S. McCorkle died Dec. 11, 1914, at an early hour. His funeral was held in the family residence at 102 N. 17th St. and he was buried at Forest Park Cemetery.

Martin, Amelia, Physicians And Medicine, Crawford and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas, 1817-1976, Fort Smith: Sebasian County Medical Society, 1977, p. 466; "Dr. J.S. McCorkle Called By Death," Fort Smith Times Record, Friday, Dec. 11, 1914, p. 3.