Alternate Biography for Abraham Hembree

Profile manager: Kathie Forbes [send private message]

Research Notes

About twenty people related to Abraham filed applications for a share of the Eastern Cherokee (Guion Miller) payment in 1907. Those of his direct descendants were grouped with Mahala Clout’s application, cited above. All of the claims were rejected since neither Abraham nor any of his children appear on any Cherokee records. None of the places Abraham is known to have lived were in the Cherokee Nation.

Records of the Tyger River Baptist Church 1801-1804 list as members David, Hannah, Ira, Isaiah, James, Mary, Matilda, Nancy, and William Hembree. Abraham and Winifred are not listed and it is not known if any of these people were their children. ^[1]

Men named David, James, Joel, and John Hembree all were landowners in the same area of the 96 District of South Carolina between 1780 and 1799.

“Drewry” Hembree, believed to be a brother, appears on the same 1790 census page as Abraham.

Most of South Carolina was sold/ceded away long before the Revolutionary War. In 1721 some land was ceded, (1 on map) in 1755 the limits of South Carolina were extended (2 on map) to include the modern districts of Abbeville, Edgefield, Laurens, Union, Spartanburg, Newberry, Chester, Fairfield, Richland, and York, generally south and east of the Keowee River. Land between the Broad and Catawba Rivers was recognized as belonging to the Catawba. Fort Prince George was erected on the Cherokee frontier. The small remaining Cherokee area of what is now South Carolina (8 on map) was ceded in 1777. See map Abraham stated his birth date, but not his birth place in his Revolutionary War application. The Spartanburg area where he lived most of his life and where he joined the army was part of South Carolina at the time he was born.

Chelsea, I have to take issue with this text in the narrative:

"Genealogist and historian Larry Petrisky produced an extensively-researched report titled "The Abraham Hembree Data Project," in which he gave compelling evidence to this widely-held theory. Petrisky's extensive research on the Hembree family is often used as a primary source for genealogists such as David Alden Hennessee of the Hennessee Family Genealogy Pages, which is often used as a primary source for many profiles that are protected by Wikitree's Native Americans Project."

As Kathie has demonstrated and my own review concurs: there is nothing extensive or compelling about Petrisky research. Many statements are not sourced, and many citations do not support the statements he has written. What specifically do you find compelling? I just don't see it.

The last sentence implies that wikitree's protection of a profile conveys that we recommend any source cited in the profile. Far from it. Please remove that sentence. It is misleading. Please familiarize yourself with wikitree's help page about project protected profiles. The project's Reliable Sources page does not include Hennessee's work.

I also just looked at Hennessee's page: he did a copy/paste of Petrisky's text onto his personal family tree. There's nothing "primary" about it. Also misleading is the statement that Petrisky's work "is approved as part of the official library of the South Carolina Genealogical Society." The newsletter you link to is from a chapter of the society, and the Petrisky work is included in the list of the chapter's inventory. No where does it say that any of the items in the inventory are approved or recommended by the Society.

I encourage you to document and cite what is known about Abraham. Kathie has listed a number of additional sources to support the profile. Then use a Research Notes section to discuss the theories, preferably in a neutral tone.

Here's an example of another profile you might use as a model: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Troxell-17

Quoting from Petrisky’s “Abraham Hembree Project document:

“A young Cherokee woman who may have attended those delegations [referring to Cherokee trade delegations hosted by John and Sarah Amory] because she understood many languages also served as a trading interpreter in Purrysburg, where Swiss, German, and Dutch were being heard as often as English, French and Spanish. She was the consort/translator of Thomas Ayers (Eyres) the Cherokee agent for Georgia. Citation: Colonial Records of Georgia, Candler, IV 372, 424, 487, 501, V 276, 277].

Placing this citation after the above text certainly implies that the citations support the statements. Nothing could be farther from the truth. (The books cited are freely available at archive.org, FamilySearch, and other places on the Internet) specifically:

Vol. IV p. 372 – no mention of any women, makes references to Indian traders

p. 424 no mention of any women; Mr. Eyre, "a Cadet with the regiment" is mentioned in connection with the expectation of a visit from a Cherokee delegation

p. 487 no mention of any women. Mr. Eyre arrived “in his way to the Cherokee nation”

p. 501 no mention of any women. Mr. Eyre “took his Way up the River”

Vol. V, p. 276 no mention of any women, references a letter written 12/23/1739 by Mr. Tho Eyre.

p. 277 no mention of any women, “Mr. Eyre mentioned above”

Larry Petriski's article does not include sources that connect the many people he discusses and he includes many claims that are totally unsupported. William Emory was born in 1731 ad arrived in America as a six year old child in December, 1737. John and Sarah Amory married in 1726 and there is no evidence they had any children other than the four named in parish records which record the marriage of John Amory and Sarah Wilson in 1726, and the births of four children, "John son of John , Sarah bap 30 Oct 1727 Great Hale; Sarah d of John and Sarah bap 8 Sept 1730 Great Hale; William s of John and Sarah bap 15 Sept 1731 Great Hale; James s John and Sarah bap 19 sept 1732 Great Hale; James s John and Sarah bur 27 May 1737 Great Hale." (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/5dd9ae084325a6b045c9f507?locale=en Amory) There is nothing to suggest that he had a first wife and other children or that the "two menservants" mentioned in colonial records (John Amory, his wife, three children and two menservants) were related to him in any way. (Calendar of State papers , Oct. 10, 1737, Oct. 5 There are no records that even suggest that the daughter of Ludovic Grant (called "Mary Grant" by many although her name is actually unknown) had more children than daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Susannah. There is nothing whatsoever to suggest that John Amory had a child with a Cherokee woman in 1744. The citations Petrisky lists from the Colonial Records of Georgia have nothing to do with any Cherokee women.

Petrisky discusses someone he calls "Old John Hembree"

The name of “Old John” Hembree’s mother is not known but her “nicknames” were “Mary Ayers/Eyres” and “Many Ears” – it was written both ways in her notes and my great-grandmother could not make sense of it. She thought it was Ayers. Family legend says she went to England on tribal business, was “presented to the queen”, and died overthere from a sudden illness. Since her father was a Moore and her first husband was Ayres, we construct her name Mary (Moore) Ayres, b.c.1721, d.c.1751. no records of anyone by this name. No Cherokee went to England in the 1750's.

:Her death supposedly happened while “Old John” was in mid-childhood. The best fit for this legend happened in 1751 when a delegation of Cherokee from Keowee, Tellico and elsewhere (mostly from South Carolina) set out to be heard by the king of England concerning their frustration with the governor of South Carolina. Little Carpenter (Attakullakulla) and Wauhatchee were among them. The “Young Emperor” recalled that the king told them in 1730 that if they ever needed to speak with him they could go to the royal governor in Carolina or Virginia and be heard. So off to Virginia they went. [The Colonial Records of South Carolina : Documents Relating to Indian Affairs 1750-1754: p.151-154, 161. Some of the attendees at the conference in Williamsburg are named: The Raven, the Raven's son, named Moytoy, Tossetee (a Notchee), Good Warrioe of Estatoe, Moytoy of Telliquo, Caesar, Blind Warrior, Chucheechee, Tosetee, Skiagunta, and the Chote King. There were 19 other unnamed chiefs in attendance, several of the mens' wives, and some other women, all unnamed. There is no mention of any women involved in discussions. South Carolina Indian Affairs Vol 1, p. 161

Sources

1. ↑ Townsend, Leah. South Carolina Baptists 1670-1805. Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland. 1974. p. 136 note. Digitized at archive.org

• See also:
• David Alden Hennessee, "Hennessee Family Genealogy Pages," profile of Abraham Hembree This site compiles information from other researchers.