William Hamby states on his application for pension for his service in the Revolutionary War that he was born in Baltimore, Maryland on Jan. 4, 1744. Some sources speculate that his mother was Elizabeth Hamby, the oldest daughter of William Hamby who came to North Carolina from Maryland.
Little is known of his life as a child, and the circumstances of his birth and his parentage are unclear. Recent DNA analysis of descendants indicate some discrepancies in his story, likely due to the laws of the time that punished young women who bore a child outside the bonds of marriage.
There was an Elizabeth Hamby age 13, that was tried and convicted of bastardy in 1743, within nine months of his birth in Baltimore, Maryland. Some descendants say that may be the reason the family moved from Maryland to the north fork of the Yadkin River in North Carolina shortly after.
In colonial America, young women who became pregnant and bore a child out of wedlock were often treated badly. They were repeatedly drilled about who fathered their child so the father could be held accountable for financial support of the child. Elizabeth Hamby, who was convicted of the crime of bastardy in 1743, refused to disclose the name of the father.
Some sources list William Hamby’s mother as Anne Amee Merritt and his father as William Hamby, they may have been his grandparents. Elizabeth Hamby moved to South Carolina and started a life there after the family moved to North Carolina from Maryland.
On his application for pension, William Hamby says that he was recruited to serve in the North Carolina militia in Rowan County, North Carolina for a three-month tour against the Cherokee.
He further states in his pension request that he was in Capt. James Morrison’s Company, Col. Baitman’s Regiment.
He then moved into Burke County, North Carolina and was drafted for another three months, serving again for Morrison and Baitman. He remembered one skirmish with the Cherokee and says he was discharged in late 1780 or early 1781.
There are conflicting dates about when William Hamby married Judith Jarritt Hamby (1778-1851) in Virginia. It was about 1801. Family sources indicate that William and Judith had a son Thomas who died while they lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
A man named William John Deaver is said to have married one of William Hamby’s daughters. She passed away and John Deaver married his brother’s widow, and they settled in Buncombe County. By this time William Hamby was 71 and likely had been living with his daughter’s family. Deaver’s son, Thomas, moved to Cades Cove about 1815. William Hamby moved there also.
In 1832 William applied for a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War.
He gives the following men to support his veracity: Joseph Camel, Jacob Tipton, Isaac Hart, and Michael Jones. William MacKey and Reuben Deaver gave supporting documentation, and the application is signed by Reuben Deaver Justice of the Peace with William Hamby’s mark. William Hamby was approved for his pension and awarded 20 dollars per year for his service.
The Deaver children of William and Thomas Deaver were named in William Hamby’s will and inherited all his property.
William Hamby passed in 1840, at the age of 96, and was buried at the Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in a marked grave. Judith Jarrett Hamby, his wife, died in Henry County, Tennessee in 1850, and is buried there in a marked grave. Elizabeth Hamby Farris (1805-1886) is listed as the daughter of William and Judith Hamby. Robert Jarett Hamby (1808-1853) is listed as their son. Both are buried in Henry County.
William Hamby is unique in his place among the Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Blount County.
He is the only known soldier of that war to be buried in Cades Cove.
Most Popular
Comments / 0