Drewry Carroll
John Drewry (or Drury) Carroll (1776-1852) was a Scott County pioneer and one of the first people to settle on Smokey Creek in what is now southeastern Scott County.
See Also: The Scott County Lineage Project
Biography
Born June 8, 1776 in North Carolina, John “Drewry” Carroll was the son of John Carroll (~1741-~1830) and Nancy Hollingsworth (born about 1743). He married Nancy King (1879-~1850) in North Carolina on December 21, 1797. They moved to Smokey Creek sometime in the early 19th century, though it’s not clear exactly when. There is an early land grant record in Anderson County for John Carroll dated January 17, 1825. This was likely a land grant for Drewry, though it cannot be conclusively proven that it wasn’t a land grant for his father. John Carroll — again, likely Drewry — appears in the 1830 census for Anderson County. Smokey Creek was located in Anderson County until the formation of Scott County in 1849.
There are disputed claims that Nancy King Carroll was a Cherokee Indian. According to some, her parents were Peter “Man Who Tells Stories” King and “Mother Who Has Empty Heart.”
Among the children of Drewry and Nancy King Carroll were Drewry Carroll Jr., Morton Carroll, Jane Bowman, Sarah Nancy Low, and Martha Katherine Hembree.
Sarah Nancy Carroll (1806-1864) married Phillip Low in 1820. He was the son of Mikel Low, the first settler of Scott County, who also settled on Smokey Creek.
Martha Katherine Carroll (1812-1879) married Meshack Hembree in 1831. They also lived on Smokey Creek and most Hembrees in Scott County today are directly descended from them.
Jane Carroll (1805-1870) married William Bowman (1804-1871) and they eventually settled in Whitley County, Ky., near Williamsburg.
Morton Carroll (~1800-1840) married Sarah Jane Bowman (~1812-~1893).
Drewry Carroll Jr. (1800-1874) married Ceila Ward (1806-1879).
War of 1812
Drury Carroll served in the War of 1812 as a member of Bunch’s Regiment, Mounted, East Tennessee Volunteers.
This helps nail down his arrival in present-day Scott County as being well before 1825.
Death
It’s not clear exactly when Drewry Carroll or his wife died, or where they’re buried. Both died after 1850; when the 1850 census was taken, they lived on Smokey Creek, ages 74 and 70. Neither appeared in the 1860 census.