Robert Hendry, R.S.
Robert Hendry, R.S.

By Spessard Stone


Robert Hendry, a native of the Isle of Arran, Scotland, was a farmer, Revolutionary soldier, and patriarch of a prominent American family.

The Hendry family is believed to have lived mainly on the north and west of Arran; early records tend to confirm this. A Hendry, named John Hendry, who died in February 1738, age unknown, is buried in the churchyard at Lochranza.(1) The Book of Arran, in a list of principal tenants in 1766 recorded Robt. Hendry of Glenrosie farm. New divisions in 1773 had: Rot. Hendry in Little Laggan, Rot. Hendry in Penrioch, J. D. Hendrys in Algollach and Rt. Hendry in Glenrosie.(2)

Rev. John Littleberry Hendry in "A Brief History of the Hendry Family in the South"(3) related of John Hendry, born 1720:

"He was by trade a hatter. While walking one day to his shop in his bare feet, he stepped on a pin that penetrated one of his feet. Blood poisoning resulted and he died. This bit of history was handed down to us by our forefathers."

Tradition holds that John Hendry, born 1720, had three sons, Robert, James, and William, who migrated from Arran and settled in America.(4)

Robert Hendry, son of John Hendry, was born 17 March 1752 on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Circa 1770, Robert Hendry emigrated from Arran and settled in New Hanover County (now Pender County), North Carolina. In February 1778 in New Hanover County, he married Ann Lee. Born 26 December 1752 in the Black River Settlement of New Hanover County, she was the daughter of Ann Lee, who died 26 November 1800 near Buckhead, Burke County, Georgia. Ann Lee Hendry's father's name is unknown.(5)

Robert enlisted in the Revolutionary War on 20 September 1776 as a Continental (private) in the 5th South Carolina Regiment. His service carried him into North Carolina and Virginia where he served under Light-Horse Harry Lee. He was present at the surrender of the British at Yorktown on 19 October 1781 where he was mustered out of service.(6)

Robert and his family were listed in the 1790 New Hanover, North Carolina census; one male over sixteen, six males under sixteen, and three females comprised the household, who would be Robert and Ann, their six oldest sons, and two undetermined females.(7)

The Hendry family moved to Georgia about 1796 and lived in Burke County until 1801 when they settled at Taylors Creek, a rural community in the western part of Liberty County. There Robert purchased lands four miles northwest of Taylors Creek. About 1807, Robert, Ann, and most of the children are believed to have relocated to Morgan County, Georgia. On 24 December 1816, the state of Georgia granted 450 acres in Liberty County to Robert Hendry and his assigns. The family, except Neal and Archibald who had died there, returned, date uncertain, to Taylors Creek.(8)

Robert was a Scotch Presbyterian and a member of Midway Congregational Church of Liberty County, of which he was listed as a member in 1807. Ann Lee Hendry was a charter member of the Taylors Creek Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1807.(9)

Robert became Liberty County tax Collector in 1827 and served until his demise. His son, Robert, Jr., filled the unexpired term.(10)

In the 1827 Georgia Land Lottery, Robert, Sr. was granted lot # 229 in the 2nd District of the 1st Section in the County of Lee for his service as a Revolutionary soldier. After his death, Ann (Lee) Hendry was granted lot # 70 in the 9th District of the 4th Section in the County of Cherokee (now Walker County) as the widow of a Revolutionary soldier.(11)

Robert Hendry died 31 August 1830 at Taylors Creek. Ann (Lee) Hendry died 31 May 1834, also at Taylors Creek. They were buried in the Hendry Cemetery, which was about four miles northwest of Taylors Creek.(12)

A marker, formerly in the Hendry Cemetery, now in Taylors Creek Cemetery, erected by Elizabeth Ann Hendry Floyd, contains these inscriptions: (13)

Sacred
to the memory of ROBERT HENDRY a native of the
Island of Arran, Scotland. Died August 31, 1830,
Age 78 years, 5 months
ANN HENDRY. His Wife, Died May 31st, 1834
Age 81 years 6 months 6 days.
ARCHIBALD HENDRY, their son, Died December 22, 1818
Aged 27 years 8 months.
MARY HENDRY, their daughter, Died November 15, 1841,
Age 46 years 4 months 7 days.
GEORGE HENDRY, their son, Died April 15, 1852
Age 63 years 2 months 15 days.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Erected by Mrs. E. A. Floyd in memory of her
deceased parents, brothers and sister.


The will of Ann Hendry was made 3 February 1834 and was probated 14 May 1835 in Liberty County.(14) It follows:

State of Georgia
Liberty County In the name of God, Amen. I Ann Hendry, of the State and County aforesaid, being very sick and weak of body but of perfect and sound mind and memory, Do make and ordain the following as my last will and testament.
1st. I give and bequeath unto my daughters, Elizabeth Ann and Mary, the lot of land drawn by me in the late Land Lottery in the County of Cherokee, together with all the personal property of which I may be seized in my own right at my decease of every kind whatsover, to be shared by them equally, to them and their heirs.
2nd. It is my will that the fractional lot lately drawn to my name should be sold by my executor, and divided equally among my children which are now living, and the children of those which are dead, each family of orphans of my deceased children to have a part equal to my children which are living.
And lastly, I hereby appoint my son Robert Hendry executor of this my last will and testament.
         February 3, 1834
Signed, sealed & published by the testratix her
as her last will & testament this Ann X Hendry
         day of 1834 in mark
presence of
         Eli H. Hendry
         Andrew Floyd
         Jackson Drigers
         X
         his cross

State of Georgia
Liberty County Andrew Floyd, being duly sworn, deposeth and
saith, that he is a subscribing witness to the within last will
and testament of Ann Hendry deceased, which he saw duly executed
by the said testatrix in the presence of Eli Hendry & Jackson Drigers, the other two subscribing witnesses; and that the said
testratix appeared at the time to be in her perfect senses.
Sworn to before us this 4 May 1835 Andrew Floyd
         John Dunwody
         Enoch Daniel
         W. B. Fleming Recorded 14 May 1835
         E. Baker, Clk.

The old Hendry plantation is now a part of U. S. Army Fort Stewart. The old tombstones were removed from the cemetery in 1944 to the Methodist Cemetery at Taylors Creek. The church and town of Taylors Creek were razed.(15) When the work of removing the tombstones began, it was found that the marker of Robert Hendry's grave had been gently pushed up by the limb of a growing oak, which over the years had elevated the stone to a distance of about fifteen feet above the ground.

Issue of Robert and Ann (Lee) Hendry, all born in New Hanover County, North Carolina:

1. John Hendry, born 1 Dec 1778; died in Dec 1858 in Hamilton Co., Fla.; married 13 Dec 1808 Catherine McFail, daughter of James McFail and Judith McFail.

2. Neal Hendry, born in Jul 1780; died 21 Apr 1820 in Morgan Co., Ga.; married ca. 1805 Pamelia _______.

3. William Hendry, born 12 Feb 1783; died 6 Jun 1840 in Lowndes Co., Ga.; married 7 Dec 1807 Nancy McFail, daughter of James McFail and Judith McFail.

4. James Hendry, born 1784; died 25 Dec 1803 in Liberty Co., Ga.; never married.

5. Robert Hendry, Jr., born 4 Mar 1787; died 30 Jan 1846 in Liberty Co., Ga.; married 25 Mar 1819 in Liberty Co., Ga., Nancy Daniel, daughter of Abraham Daniel.

6. George Hendry, born 1 Feb 1789; died 15 Apr 1852, Liberty Co., Ga.; married (1) Levicy (Luisa?) Fuller 2 Dec 1817 in Morgan Co., Ga.; (2) Mrs. Sarah Miller 2 Dec 1846 in Liberty Co., Ga.

7. Archibald Hendry, born 20 Mar 1791; died 22 Dec 1818(16) in Morgan Co., Ga.; married in Morgan Co., Ga. on 20 Dec 1816 Nancy Johnston.

8. Elizabeth Ann Hendry, born 26 Feb 1793(17); died 12 Mar 1879 in Liberty Co., Ga.; married 4 Apr 1843 Jesse Floyd. No issue.

9. Mary Hendry, born 8 Jul 1795(18); died 15 Nov 1841 in Liberty Co., Ga.; never married.




Endnotes for Robert Hendry, R.S.


(1) Anonymous, "The Ancestry of the Hendry Family of Georgia and Florida and Some Descendants of Robert Hendry," n.d., pp. 1, 4. The inscription reads, “Here lys the corpse of John Hendry in Altgolach, died February 1738, aged ___ [illegible].”

(2) J. A. Balfour, The Book of Arran (Glasgow, Scotland), 1910.

(3) Rev. John Littleberry Hendry, "A Brief History of the Hendry Family in the South," (6 1/2 double-spaced pages), n.d., p. 1. Rev. Hendry (1854-1934) was a son of Littleberry and Amanda (Bradley) Hendry and a grandson of Robert, Jr. and Nancy (Daniel) Hendry. A graduate of Emory College, he served almost forty years as a missionary to China.

(4) Folks Huxford, History of Brooks County, p. 472. The exact names of the brothers are, however, in dispute.

(5) Milton D. Wilson, Pioneer Families of Polk County and South Florida The Hendry Family With Data on the Alderman Family, the Carlton Family, the McFail Family, the Wilson Family, Bartow, Florida, 1940s. This unpublished work is on onionskin paper in several large bound ledgers in the Polk County Historical & Genealogical Library in Bartow, Florida. See also Folks Huxford, “Hendry, Robert 1752-1830,” Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 1, 1951, pp. 120-121.

(6) Muster roll for Robert Hendry (5th SC), National Archives; Folks Huxford, “Hendry, Robert...,” Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 1, 1951, p. 121; Anonymous, "The Ancestry of the Hendry Family of Georgia and Florida and Some Descendants of Robert Hendry," p. 7.

(7) 1790 census of New Hanover County, North Carolina.

(8) Land grant, dated 24 December 1816, to Robert Hendry, Georgia Archives. Sources differ on the move. Milton D. Wilson’s Pioneer Families of Polk County and South Florida stated, “He then moved to Morgan Co. in 1807 and lived there until 1820 when he moved back to Liberty Co..” According to Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, however, Robert “was commissioned Justice of the Peace of the 17th District of Liberty County July 9, 1802, serving until 1811, and again commissioned Sept. 15, 1819, serving until 1824.” Rev. Hendry in "A Brief History of the Hendry Family in the South," p. 2, placed the move to Morgan County in 1802 and return to Liberty County in 1818.

(9) Anonymous, "The Ancestry of the Hendry Family of Georgia and Florida and Some Descendants of Robert Hendry," p. 5; Bird and Paul Yarbrough, Taylors Creek Story of the Community And her People Throughout 200 Years 1760-1960, 1963, p. 57. The former identified the Hendrys respective church membership. The Yarbroughs noted: “The church [Taylors Creek Methodist Church, 1807-1945] was organized in 1807 by the Rev. Angus McDonald, an itinerant Methodist circuit rider. James Darsey, Mrs. James Darsey, and Robert Hendry are known to have been among the 7 original members of the church.” The latter was most likely Robert Hendry, Jr., born 1787.

(10) Folks Huxford, “Hendry, Robert Jr. 1787-1846,” Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 2, 1954.

(11) Folks Huxford, “Hendry, Robert 1752-1830,” Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 1, 1951, p. 121; Ruth Blair, Reprint of Georgia Land Lottery 1827, p. 127; The Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832, p. 362.

(12) Milton D. Wilson, Pioneer Families of Polk County and South Florida; Folks Huxford, “Hendry, Robert 1752-1830,” Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 1, 1951, p. 121; Rev. John Littleberry Hendry, "A Brief History of the Hendry Family in the South," p. 2.

(13) Anonymous, "The Ancestry of the Hendry Family of Georgia and Florida and Some Descendants of Robert Hendry," p. 6.

(14) Will of Ann Hendry, L.D.S., Salt Lake City, Utah.

(15) Milton D. Wilson, Pioneer Families of Polk County and South Florida.

(16) The death of Archibald Hendry is also given as 23 December 1818. Wilson and Huxford both have 23 Dec 1818, but Wilson also has 22 December 1818. The earlier cited tombstone inscription, “Died Dec. 22, 1818,” confirms 22 December 1818.

(17) Huxford has the date of death of Elizabeth Ann Hendry as 26 March 1793, but Wilson has 26 February 1793. Rev. John Littleberry Hendry, "A Brief History of the Hendry Family in the South," pp. 2-3, commented of Aunt Lizzie: “Aunt Lizzie developed into a lady of fine parts. She collected a library of good books...was a devout Christian, a liberal contributor to the support of the Methodist Church of which she was a member...She was married to Jesse Floyd when both of them were in their old age. She asked him to come and take charge of her farm and stock of several kinds and this he did successfully...”

(18) Huxford has the date of birth of Mary Hendry as 3 July 1795, but Wilson has 8 July 1795. The earlier cited tombstone inscription, “Aged 46 yr. 4 mo. 7 dys.” confirms 8 July 1795.



February 02, 2001 & links = October 16, 2001