Richard Drewry

A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Richard Drewry was born on September 8, 1762 in Southhampton Count y, Virginia. He was one of seven children born to William and Rachel Drew ry.

He served three tours of duty in the Virginia State Militia during t he Revolution, his first tour began soon after his 16th birthday. He w as involved in the seige of Yorktown in 1781, the place where Lord Cornwal lis and about 7000 British troops surrendered to General George Washingto n, bringing the fighting to a close and attaining America's freedom from E ngland. In Richard's Declaration to the war Department for a pensio n, he states that "He saw General Washington in Williamsburg, Virginia.

At the age of 26 Richard married Nancy Murry Harwood in Sussex Count y, Virginia on November 5, 1788. Richard and Nancy had four children th at grew to maturity (two boys and two girls). In 1799 Richard and his fam ily moved from the well settled area of Eastern Virginia to the remotely s ettled county of Davidson in Middle Tennessee. He soon purchased 100 acr es of land, this was located a few miles south of Nashville. He also ma de several other purchases of property as time went on including some lo ts in the town of Nashville. They remained in that area for about 24 year s.

While living in Davidson County, Richard's wife Nancy apparently die d. He then married Jemima Adams. Three of Richard's children were marri ed while living in the Nashville area. Both of his sons were commission ed as officers in the War of 1812. In 1823 richard sold a large part, b ut not all, of his land in Davidson County. He was apparently getting rea dy to move to West Tennessee. In the Spring of 1824 the Drewry's we re in the wilderness of West Tennessee, living in Henry County. West Tenn essee had only been purchased from the Indian's five and a half years at t hat time. Richard moved to his final destination in 1827, this was on t he South Fork of the Obion River in North East Gibson County. Richard's f amily settled on a 596 acre tract of land purchased from Adam Hustsma n, a lawyer and land speculator from Madison County, Tennessee. Richard 's family were the first white people to live on this tract of land, belie ved to be covered in timber. They picked a spot near a good spring to bui ld some log houses for themselves and their servants. We presume this bui lding was done with a few hand tools and supplies that they brought with t hem.

Three of Richard's children and their families settled near their fat her on the Obion River. We believe one of Richard's daughters married whi le the Drewry's were living in Henry Couty and remained there. Richard's t wo sons were active in county government, John in Gibson, and Richardson C lark in Weakley.

Richard Drewry lived for about 20 years on his last settlement. Becau se of a change in the county line he was a resident of Weakley County f or the last 12 years of his life. Richard must have been a pretty rugg ed man to tackle the wilderness as much as he did. He was about 67 yea rs old when he made his final move to the South Fork of the Ofion. From o ur research it would seem that Richard was a fairly successful business ma n, as he sirvived several panics or bank closings.

Although Richard was a slave-holder it appears that he and his fami ly had compassion for them. In Richard's will he mentions 14 servants, a nd he requests that the helpless servants be cared for, from money receiv ed from the more valuable servants. In the settlement of his estate $1500 .00 was set aside to defray the expense of caring for a distracted servan t. The will also states that one of the servants "Has long since been rel inquished" (this means a Negro that has been set free many years before ). If the servants had been badly mistreated this one would have been lo ng gone.

Despite Richard Drewry's many experiences he lived to the ripe old a ge of 88. He died on Deptember 12, 1850, and was buried in the family cem etery plot only a couple of hundred yards from where he lived.

Written By Gene Rogers.[Drurylestory[1].FTW]

A soldier of the Revolution

Follow the link for more information on Richard Drewry.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kinfolke/Richard_Drewry_Re...

This is transcribed from official Gibson County TN circuit court records of actual testimony of Richard Drewry for a Revolutionary War pension. He says he was born in Southampton County VA which is where he enlisted at 16 years old, he also resided in that County after the War until 1799 when he moved the family to Tennessee, Nashville, Davidson before finally settling in Gibson and Weakley Counties.
Submitted by JJCC6391

Richard Drewry first married Nancy Murray Harwood (1773-1819) 6 Nov 1788 in Sussex County, Virginia. They were the parents of at least four children.

John Drewry born 16 Oct 1789 in Virginia and died 8 Nov 1861 in Weakley County, Tennessee.
Richardson Clark Drewry born 1793 in Virginia and died 7 Apr 1855 in Weakley County, Tennessee.
Nancy Murray Drewry born about 1803 in Davidson County, Tennessee. She married Robert Henry Elam.
Mary Drewry born about 1805 in Davidson County, Tennessee. She married James Monroe Wilson.

After Nancy's death Richard Drewry married Jemima Williamson Adams 21 Apr 1819 in Davidson County, Tennessee.

Gravesite Details
Burial information from Weakley County Cemeteries Volume I page 87

Family Members
Spouse
Jemima Adams Drewry
1772–1857 (m. 1819)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184682637/richard-drewry