Joseph Walker McCORKLE, Congress, CA (1819-1884)

1819-1884

McCORKLE, Joseph Walker, a Representative from California; born in Piqua, Ohio, June 24, 1819; attended the common schools and Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; studied law; was admitted to the bar about 1842 and commenced practice in Dayton, Ohio; postmaster of Dayton 1845-1849; moved to San Francisco, Calif., in 1849; unsuccessful candidate for judge of the eighth judicial district in 1850; member of the State assembly 1850-1852; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1853); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1852; moved to Marysville, Calif.; appointed judge of the ninth judicial district in 1853 and served in that capacity until 1857; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1855; resumed the practice of his profession in San Francisco, Calif.; moved to Virginia City, Nev., in 1860 and continued the practice of law; moved to Washington, D.C., in 1870 and practiced before the Mexican Claims Commission; died in Branchville, Md., March 18, 1884; interment in Forest Hill Cemetery, Piqua, Ohio.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present