Curator's Note: Although there are many holes in this ancestry, I am basing the construction of this tree on the well-researched work of Larry Petrisky (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~tnmcmin2/AbrahamHembree.htm andhttp://sites.rootsweb.com/~tnmcmin2/johnhem2.htm).

Petrisky and other Hembree researchers believe that Drury Hembree and his brother Abraham were the sons of William Emory, the Indian Trader (son of John Amory, Indian Trader, both of Charleston, SC), and his half-Cherokee wife Mary Susannah Grant, daughter of Ludovic Grant, Indian Agent to SC.

Born in upstate South Carolina, Drury and his large family migrated into the midwestern frontier to Tennessee, Indiana, and Missouri.

Petriskey writes of Drury:

Abraham’s brother Drury (Drewry)

Drury Hembree was born December 12, 1755 upper South Carolina (by tradition, the Spartanburg County area). In many ways he is even more elusive than his brother. The lack of other siblings has led to the conclusion that their mother died rather young, leaving uncle John, Drury, and Abraham to raise themselves.

Drury moved to Tennessee, then perhaps back to South Carolina, then back to Tennessee, then up to Indiana, then finally to Missouri, where he died around the age of 90 years old.

It is possible that Drury’s first name was Andrew and that he went by that name at times. Some think that his only name was Andrew and “Drewry” is a nickname based on Andrew, but his war record with the British and a civil lawsuit in 1787 suggest “Drury/Drewry” as his correct name (whether first or middle). (See also reference to Andrew Amory as a family name back in England.)

In Henry Guppy’s 1890 book, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, he indicates the following surnames among those peculiar to Lincolnshire: Drewery, Drewry, and Drury. [www.genuki.org.uk site]

Who was Drury’s wife? She is known as “M” born in Pennsylvania c. 1756 (1766 is more likely given the earlier census ages and childbirths for her). She died after 1850 in Taney County, Missouri. Some believe she was part Cherokee; another guess is that she was from Virginia, the sister of James Harbison (1763-1841). If that guess is true, James Harbison would have been Drury’s brother-in-law, neighbor, and son-in-law in DuBois County, Indiana, all at the same time! (Another theory is that her last name was Shirley.)

Of Cherokee note, though, is Drury’s sons Andrew & Benjamin who most likely married a Cherokee woman and is the father of some central Tennessee Cherokee Emorys, including Andrew, Catherine, Benjamin, and Thomas. (Note that the DeKalb County, Tennessee Cherokee Emorys come from a different Thomas b.c. 1805 and his sons and grandsons include Thomas b.c.1830, Carroll David b.c.1835, and John Richard b.c.1855.)

One little mystery surrounding Drury is this notation in Virgil D. White’s Index to Revolutionary War Service Records (Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1995): II, 865:

• Emery, Abraham, srv as a Pvt in the 6th SC Regt
• Emery, Drury, srv as a Pvt in the 2nd VA State Regt

Could this be a transcription error? (It appears in another book of Virginia colonial military rosters.)

And there is a Drury Emery in the 1812 Virginia Militia (which could include Kentucky and Indiana) as a private in Company I, Allen’s Regiment. [Roll Box 63, Rec # 2363.]

Drury went to Tennessee before 1800 and records in that area are incomplete but we are hoping some notice of him can be found there that can help shed some light on him.

Wikitree writes:

Drewry was born in 1755. He passed away in 1845.

Little is known of the origins of Drury Emory/Hembree. Many believe him to be the son of Indian Trader William Emory and a Cherokee mother. He appears in the 1790 census in Spartanburg, S.C. as Drury Hemeree. [1]. He appears next in the 1830 Census in Campbell, Tennessee as "Drewrey Hembree". [2] In 1834 he filed an application for a Revolutionary War pension, stating that he volunteered in August, 1777 in Spartanburg, S.C. for action against the Cherokee and served off-and-on until 1780 in various other actions against the Indians. [3] By 1840 he is living in Indiana. [4] He is believed to have died in Missouri about 1845. His widow filed a request for payment of his pension in 1850. [3]

Sources

1. ↑ 1790; Census Place: Spartanburg, South Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 11; Page: 26; Image: 35; Family History Library Film: 0568151
2. ↑ Census Place: Campbell, Tennessee; Series: M19; Roll: 178; Page: 221; Family History Library Film: 0024536
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900 Record Group: 15
4. ↑ Census Place: Dubois, Indiana; Roll: 78; Page: 317; Image: 649; Family History Library Film: 0007723

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