Embree family

Family

Staff Only

Biography

Robert Embree appears in New Haven Colony records in 1644. Later he moved to Stamford, Connecticut, where he lived until his death in 1656. Robert's son, Moses Embree, was born at Stamford in 1652. After Robert's death, the family moved to Hempstead, Long Island, birthplace of Moses Embree, II. According to Quaker Records, in 1725 Moses Embree, II resided in Oxford Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. His son, Moses Embree, III, born in 1719, grew to manhood in Oxford Township and moved to Oley Valley, Pennsylvania, in 1745. In 1752, he married Margaret Elleman, and in 1753 Moses Embree, III, his wife, and young family moved to Alamance County, North Carolina. Later, Moses acquired land in East Tennessee, where he built mills and ironworks. Thomas Embree, son of Moses Embree, III, lived in Washington County, Tennessee, where he had a stonemason build a limestone house which still stand at Limestone, Tennessee.

Thomas later moved to Ohio, where he build mills and a nail factory. After Thomas sold the Ohio factory and mills, his son Elijah returned to Tennessee, joining his brother Elihu in the purchase of the Pactolus Ironworks located in Sullivan County, Tennessee. In Jonesborough, Tennessee, Elihu Embree published the Manumission Intelligencer, later called the Emancipator, the first newspaper devoted to the abolition of slavery in the United States. [The journal was called the Manumission Intelligencer in 1819; in 1820 it was entitled the Emancipator.] After Elihu Embree died on December 4, 1820, the Emancipator was taken over by Benjamin Lundy who moved to Ohio and published the journal under the title The Genius of Universal Emancipation in the years 1821-22. In 1822 Lundy move to Greeneville, Tennessee and published the Genius for two years, from 1822 through 1824. Subsequently, Lundy moved to Baltimore where he continued to publish the journal. Elijah continued to own and operate the Embree Iron Company. But perhaps the most enduring contribution of Thomas and his sons, Elihu and Elijah, was in the area of slave emancipation. True to their Quaker principles, they opposed slavery and served the abolition movement through their newspapers and deeds.

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:

Ella P. Buchanan Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: AppMs-0657

Scope and Contents The Ella P. Buchanan Papers document Mrs. Buchanan’s family and personal life, as well as that of some of her illustrious ancestors in the Sevier, Brown, Pierce, and Embree families. With documents spanning across three centuries (1785-1999), the collection provides a rich source of research material for local and family history of Washington County and Tennessee.The collection includes correspondence, legal documents, scrapbooks, account books and ledgers, genealogical files,...

Dates: 1785-2002; undated

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Ella P. Buchanan Papers

Embree Family Papers

Collection — Box 1

Identifier: AppMs-0061

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of photocopies of manuscript transcriptions of correspondence from Evan Embree, who resided on the Nolichucky River, to his uncle, Abner Elleman of Bush River, South Carolina. The correspondence deals primarily with Quaker theology and some family and local news.

Dates: 1780 - 1807

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Embree Family Papers

Mickey Mantle Slimp Papers

Collection

Identifier: AppMs-0174

Scope and Contents The Slimp Papers consist of research material and drafts of a paper entitled "The Foundation of Tennessee Quakerism, 1786-1810." The paper was prepared for credit in an Individual Study in humanities course (Humanities 4910) while the donor was an undergraduate student at East Tennessee State University (1972-1976). The paper was apparently submitted for publication in Quaker History, the official publication of the Friends Historical Association (est. 1873), but was not published....

Dates: 1955-1982

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Mickey Mantle Slimp Papers