Meshack Hembree
Meshack Hembree (Sept. 2, 1812 – Jan. 21, 1885) was a resident of Smokey Creek in what became southeastern Scott County, and the forefather of most Hembrees in Scott County today.
Biography
Born Sept. 2, 1812, Meshack Hembree was the son of John H. Hembree Jr. (1772-1836) and Mary Laws (born 1780). His siblings included James Hembree, W.B. Hembree (1820-1872), Robert Bluford Hembree (1820-1915) and Lucinda Hembree Gibson (born 1830).
John Hembree Jr., Meshack’s father, was originally from South Carolina. He died in the Barbourville, Ky. area in 1836. His grandfather (Meshack’s great-grandfather) was John Amory from England. John Amory migrated to the American colonies and settled in South Carolina, along with his wife and children. He landed at Savannah, Ga. on Dec. 21, 1737, and was granted land on Pipe Makers Creek in 1738. He moved to the Charleston area of South Carolina colony in December 1738 and was named administrator of the estate of Gov. Robert Johnson, who had died in 1735. John Amory died in October 1746. John Amory’s son, John Amory Hembree, was the first to take the Hembree surname. According to oral history, John Amory Hembree was closely associated with David Hembree of Virginia, and so he began spelling his last name as David did.
John Amory’s second wife, Mary Moore, was a half-Cherokee Indian from Keowee, a Cherokee town in South Carolina. She was the daughter of Col. John Moore. Her grandfather is believed to have been Gov. James Moore of South Carolina. (A separate theory is that her grandfather was a James Moore other than the South Carolina governor.) Mary was John Amory Hembree’s mother, and Meshack Hembree’s great-grandmother.
John Amory Hembree married three times. One of his children was John H. Hembree Jr., who married Mary Laws. They left South Carolina and moved to eastern Kentucky. From there, several of their children moved to present-day Scott County, including Meshack, James, W.B. and Robert Buford. James and W.B. are buried at Huntsville Cemetery. Robert also died in Scott County, though it isn’t clear where he was buried. Their sister, Lucinda, married in Scott County, though she may have returned to Kentucky before her death.
Meshack Hembree married Martha Katherine “Kissiah” Carroll (1812-1879), the daughter of John “Drewry” Carroll (1776-1852) and Nancy King (born 1780). Drewry was the first Carroll to live in present-day Scott County, settling on Smokey Creek at about the same time as Mikel Low, who is believed to be the first settler in Scott County.
Meshack and Kissiah eventually divorced, after Kissiah accused him of adultery with Ibey Surilla Smith (1853-1884), the daughter of William Smith and Pherbie Jeffers. At the time, Ibey was 20 and Meshack was 60. They were married in 1873 and had six children together.
Meshack’s children included Nancy Louise Lowe (born 1833), Rebecca Low (1834-1912), William Alexander “Bill” Hembree (1836-1928), Sarah Jeffers (1838-1912), Ezekiel Hembree (1841-1919), Jennie Keathley (1844-1931), Jemima Low (1845-1906), Elizabeth “Betty” Lewallen (1845-1926), Harmon Hembree (1871-1950), Mary Jane Hembree (1874-1930), Kissiah Hembree (1876-1891), William Hembree (born 1878), James Martin “Jim” Hembree (1880-1965), and Julia Ann Hembree (1882-1884).
Adult Life
Meshack Hembree lived in the area of Smokey Creek that is today known as “Shack’s Creek,” named after him. He served in the Union army during the Civil War, enlisting at Somerset, Ky. on Dec. 7, 1861. He was assigned to Co. G, 2nd Regiment, East Tennessee Volunteers. He was given a medical discharge on Jan. 22, 1863 at Nashville, Tenn. He applied for an invalid’s pension on June 4, 1866, claiming a disability after being struck by a barrel of salt in 1862.
One of Hembree’s sons, William Alexander “Bill” Hembree, also fought in the Civil War. He was a captain in the Scott County Home Guard, and legend has it that he was wounded on 13 different occasions during the war. According to local historian David Jeffers, there was a cave on Smokey Creek to which Bill Hembree would return after being wounded. There, his wife and mother would nurse him back to health. At one point late in the war, he was severely beaten by Confederate guerrillas at New River and left for dead. The guerrillas attempted to force Hembree’s horse to trample him. When the horse refused, the soldiers shot the horse dead and left Hembree to die. He survived, and became a noted leader in the Smokey Creek community after the war. He ran a grocery store and boarding house, and donated the property where the Hembree School was established. He also served as the first postmaster of the Hembree Post Office.
Death
Meshack Hembree died on Jan. 21, 1885 in Scott County, at age 72. He was the fourth person buried at the Hembree Cemetery.
Meshack’s death resulted in three children being orphaned. His wife, Ibey, had died the year before. Orphaned were 10-year-old Mary Jane, 8-year-old Kissie, and 4-year-old James Martin. Bill Hembree, their older brother, was appointed their guardian.
Legacy
Hembree is no longer an official place name in Scott County, but it does continue to show up on some maps. Shack’s Creek is still the name of the stream that flows by Meshack Hembree’s old farm, and many members of the family are buried at the Hembree Cemetery nearby. Hembree’s Store at nearby Smokey Junction is operated by a descendant of the family.
A bridge on Smokey Creek Road is named in honor of Bill Hembree.