William Howard McCorkle, born May 9, 1861, studied two years in Washington College, and in 1883 settled as a farmer and stockman in Fayette county, Kentucky. At length he removed to Lexington, where he followed several years the wholesale and retail mercantile business. A political career began in 1892. He was then elected a member of the General Council of Lexington under the administration of Mayor Henry T. Duncan, father of General George B. Duncan of the present war. During this term he was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Since then he has been almost continuously in public life, serving as president of the Board of Aldermen, president of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Lexington Board of Education. He was also a chairman of the County Board of Equalization. He was very instrumental in inducing the American Tobacco Company to locate its first warehouse in Lexington. This step has resulted in Lexington becoming the largest loose-leaf tobacco market in the world. Under Mayor Skain, Mr. McCorkle became superintendent of Public Works, and when Lexington adopted the commission form of government in 1912, he was at once assigned to the Department of Public Works, and this position he is still filling. He is also Vice-Mayor. His popularity and efficiency are evidenced by the fact that whenever he has stood for the office of city commissioner he has run ahead of his ticket. During his six years as Commissioner of Public Works, he has built twenty-eight miles of improved streets, two large viaducts, and completed the city's sewerage system. He has also constructed a modern sewage disposal plant at a cost of more than $200,000. The city owns and operates its own street cleaning equipment, and is one of the first in the South to use a motor-driven sweeper. The first wife of Mr. McCorkle was Sarah McMichael. In 1902 he was married to Mrs. Jean T. Miller, of Canton, Ohio. Oren F Morton's A History of Rockbridge County, VA, 1920, McClure Co., Staunton, VA, p 291.