Col. Frederick Hambright Family

Colonel Frederick Hambright

Born Freiderick Hamprecht in Neunstetten, Germany, May 17, 1727 (d May   , 1817), eleven year old Frederick Hambright and family members arrived in Philadelphia October 27, 1738 aboard the English ship St. Andrews, Captain Steadman, master.  It is generally believed that he was the son of Hans Conrad Hamprecht (b 1688) of Neunstetten, Buchen-Baden, Germany, who was the son of Hans Wilhelm Hamprecht (1657-1727) and Anna Barbara Streaner (1659-1753), who was son of Hans Wilhelm and Margaretha Hamprecht of Neunstetten, Buchen-Baden, Germany, son of Peter (ca 1587) and Eva (ca 1591) Hamprecht.  The Hambrights’ traveled westward and settled in Lancaster County, PA.

Frederick  married twice,  first  in his early twenties to  Sarah Hardin (b 1733 - d prior to Oct 1780 ), daughter of Catherine  and Benjamin Hardin, II of Virginia.  He is listed as one of the married men serving in Captain Samuel Corbin’s company of 48, during the Spanish Alarm, Wilmington, NC 1747-1748.  Frederick and Sarah  had twelve children, six died in infancy.  The surviving children were: Elizabeth , m Joseph Jenkins; John Hardin, m Nancy Black; Frederick, Jr., m Mary Eaker; Sarah, m Peter Eaker; Benjamin, m ________; James, m Rachel Wells.

In the early 1750’s, Frederick traveled south with a group from Virginia to the Carolinas, accompanied by Sarah and her brothers, Capt. Joseph, John, and Benjamin, and others. Upon arrival in Anson County, later to become Tryon and then Lincoln, these pioneers  erected log cabins and joined with neighbors in building a Fort for protection against the Catawba Indians.  Land was patented on the Catawba River, Aug. 30, 1753, and in May 1769 he purchased land in the fork of Long Creek and Still House Branch, near present Dallas, NC.  This is where Sarah died and is buried and where Frederick lived until 1781.

An early advocate of American independence, there are numerous references to Col. Frederick Hambright’s civil and patriotic services on the pages of county and North Carolina State histories, and in official records.  A signer of the Tryon Resolves in 1775, he was appointed as one of the representatives for Tryon County at the Third Provincial Congress held at Hillsboro, Aug. 1775.  He served as a captain in the 1776 campaign against the Cherokee Indians and was made Lt. Colonel in 1779.  He entered the Revolutionary War in 1777 serving in several campaigns prior to distinguishing himself  on October 7, 1780 as the Commander of the Lincoln County Militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Near the close of the battle, the 53 years old Hambright had already received three bullets  through his hat, and was shot through his thigh, cutting some arteries.  While his boot filled with blood , he was urged to quit the fight, but preferring to remain in his saddle, he magnanimously encouraged his men to continue the fight, calling out  in his German accent, “Huzza, my prave poys, fight on a few minutes more, and the battle will be over!”  It is said that Maj. William Ferguson, the British Commander, was so near that he responded with, “Huzza, brave boys, the day is our own.”  These were to be among his last words before being shot to death.

After the battle was won, Frederick was taken to his  previously built log cabin nearby .  As he recuperated  from his severe battle wound, he was nursed  by a young neighbor, Mary Dover.  The following year, Frederick and Mary Dover (b Jan. 9, 1762 - d  May 5, 1835/36) daughter of John Dover, were married  July 17, 1781 in York County, SC at the home of his friend, Arthur Patterson, Sr.  Later a two-story weather boarded log  house was built near the site of the log cabin and the historic battleground.  This is where he lived  and spent the remainder of his life until his death on March 9, 1817 at the age of 90.  Frederick and Mary are buried at the Old Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery, where he was an Elder, located in Cleveland County, one mile east of Grover, NC. They parented ten children, eight living to maturity:  Henry m. widow Anna Stewart;  Mary “ Polly“, m. Reese Price; Sophia, m. William Quinn; David, m. Sarah Jane Graham; Josiah, m. Elizabeth Moss; Charlotte “Lotsie”, m. Alex Norton; Susannah, m. William Dickson; Abner, single.

In February 1781, the North Carolina General Assembly resolved, “ … that an elegant mounted sword” be presented to each of the senior officers who had been at Kings Mountain.  By inadvertence, Hambright did not receive his sword.  The sword which is displayed at the Kings Mountain National Park Museum is Col. Hambright’s personal sword that he used throughout his military career.  In more recent years, the N.C. General Assembly voted to present a replica of the Overmountain Men pistol to the descendants of Col. Frederick Hambright.  The presentation was made at the battleground on October 7, 1980, the 200th Anniversary of the Battle, and has been donated to the Cleveland County Museum in Shelby, NC.

Source:  The Col. Frederick Hambright Family, by Bonny Mauney Summers;  Kings Mountain and Its Heroes, by Lyman Draper; Colonial & State Records of N.C.