HIS NAME WAS ORIGINALLY HEINRICH HERCHELROTH. A REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERAN HE FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN AS A MEMBER OF JAMES MONTGOMERY'S COMPANY.
HENRY SOLD HIS GRANDFATHER'S FARM IN PA AND SETTLED FIRST IN VIRGINIA AND THEN IN TN. "HE MIGRATED 1771-72 SOUTH ALONG THE EASTERN FACE OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS ALONG THE GREAT INDIAN WARPATH TO SOUTH WESTERN VA.
WHERE IN 1773 HE PURCHASED 113 ACRES IN FINCASTLE CO. THAT COUNTY WAS DIVIDED INTO THREE COUNTIES IN 1776, ONE OF WHICH WAS WASHINGTON CO., WHERE HENRY LIVED NEAR ITS COUNTY SEAT, ABINGDON ALONG BEAVER CREET IN 1775. LATER. SOUTH OF ABINGDON, HE ACQUIRED SEVERAL THOUSAND ACRES ALONG BEAVER CREEK SOUTH TO WHERE IT FLOWED INTO THE HOLSTON RIVER, AN AREA THAT BECAME TENNESSEE." - FROM NEIL HARKLEROAD
HENRY WAS A MEMBER OF BUELER'S CHURCH AND REPRESENTED SULLIVAN COUNTY AT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERN TENNESSEE SYNOD.
THE BOOK "GRAVES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOTS" LISTS HIS GRAVE AT BUTLER CEMETERY, BRISTOL, TN.
FROM NEIL HARKLEROAD
HENRY HARKLEROAD OF BEAVER CREEK
HENRY HARKLEROAD, A SADDLER BY TRADE, A PIONEER AND ORIGINAL SETTLE IN EASTERN TENNESSEE-THEN NORTH CAROLINA-BROUGHT HIS FAMILY TO BEAVER CREEK ABOUT 1793 FROM ABINGDON, VIRGINIA WHERE HE HAD LIVED SINCE 1772.
HENRY OWNED VIRGINIA ACRES ON BEAVER CREEK PLUS THREE SQUARE MILES OF LAND WHICH STRADDLED BEAVER CREEK IN NORTH CAROLINA ON THE VIRGINIA STATE LINE; THEREFORE, HENRY OWNED PRIME ACREAGE IN WHAT BECAME THE CENTER OF BRISTOL, VIRGINIA, AND ALSO THE ACREAGE WHICH BECAME BRISTOL, TENNESSES, BY HIS PURCHASES OF LAND PATENTS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. ALTHOUGH HIS 2,200 ACRES IN NORTH CAROLINA PURCHASES PEAKED IN 1792, HE CONTINUED BUYING ON THE HOLSTON RIVER. HIS HOLDINGS INCLUDED WHERE BLUFF CITY IS AND HARKLEROAD ISLAND JUST UP RIVER. THIS ISLAND WAS SOLD BY GRANDSON JACOB IN 1875 FOR FIFTY DOLLARS AND A RIFLE.
HENRY, BORN 7-14-1746 IN LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, OF GERMAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS, WAS ORPHANED YOUNG. HE REMAINED IN LANCASTER, MARRIED AND SOLD HIS GRANDFATHERS FARM TO MOVE SOUTHWEST. HENRY ARRIVED IN ABINGDON, VIRGINIA, IN 1772 WITH HIS BROTHER LAWRENCE AND HIS FAMILY. HE PURCHASED 112 ACRES AND RAISED FIVE CHILDREN. THE DESCENDANTS OF THESE TWO BROTHERS, HENRY'S THIRTEEN AND LAWRENCE'S FIVE CHILDREN, ACCOUNT FOR TODAY'S VIRGINIA/TENNESSEE HARKLEROADS - MORE THAN 100 FAMILIES.
IN 1780, HENRY WAS ONE OF THE PATRIOTS WHO FORMED THE MOUNTAINEER RIFLEMEN UNDER COL. WM. CAMPBELL THAT DEFEATED THE BRITISH FORCES OF ELEVEN HUNDRED MEN, KILLING THEIR LEADER, COL. PATRICK FERGUSON AT "KINGS MOUNTAIN" ACROSS THE LINE IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON OCTOBER 7, 1780. IMMEDIATELY, THESE PATRIOTS RUSHED HOME TO PROTECT THEIR FAMILIES FROM THE UPRISING INDIANS. HENRY'S TWO-STORY BLACK WALNUT LOG CABIN STANDS ON A KNOLL OVERLOOKING BEAVER CREEK, EAST OF VOLUNTEER HIGHWAY OFF TYLER ROAD.
HENRY'S FIRST FAMILY BY CATHARINE EBY, WERE DANIEL BORN 1769, DIED 1840; MARTIN BORN 1771, DIED 1840; REBECCA BORN 1772; HENRY BORN 1774, DIED 1858; AND WILLIAM BORN 1775. CATHARINE EBY HARKLEROAD 1749-1780 DIED AND HENRY'S SECOND WIFE REBECCA SAVIERRE ALSO DIED WITHOUT ISSUE.
LATER, HE AND HIS THIRD WIFE-ELIZABETH EMMERT, OF A LOCALLY PROMINENT EMMERT FAMILY, RAISED SIX SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS. THEY WERE HENRY BORN 1788 DIED 1869 (WHO WENT TO ARKANSAS); JOHN; JACOB ISAAC BORN 1799 DIED 1876; LUCY; ISAAC J. BORN 1801 DIED 1881; HIRAM; EMMA AND WILLIAM L. BORN 1809 DIED 1877. MOST OF HENRY'S CHILDREN MOVED ON WEST AND ALSO BECAME PIONEERS IN KENTUCKY, MISSOURI, ILLINOIS, IOWA AND ARKANSAS. ONE SON, JACOB ISAAC, WITH HIS NINE CHILDREN REMAINED ALONG THE HOLSTON WHERE SOME DESCENDANTS LIVE TODAY.
THIS STURDY MAN LIVED ALMOST NINTY YEARS. SOME LATER GENERATIONS HAVE SIX FOOT MEN AND SOME WITH RED HAIR. COULD HENRY HAVE BEEN A RED-HEADED SIX-FOOTER? HIS TWO WIVES CONTRIBUTED THEIR SHARE TO A STRONG STOCK THAT HAS GENERATIONS OF LARGE FAMILIES WITH MOST REACHING OLD AGE --BUT NO KNOWN CENTURIANS.
HENRY DIED FEBRUARY 19, 1836 AND WAS BURIED ALONGSIDE HIS WIFE ELIZABETH EMMERT HARKLEROAD (BORN 4-10-1746 DIED 6-14-1829) IN BEELER'S CEMETERY OFF WEAVER PIKE.
FROM HISTORIC SITES OF SULLIVAN COUNTY -"HARKLEROAD-MILLARD PLACE" THE LILLIAN AND CECIL HATCHER PLACE, AN ALUMINUM SIDING COVERED LOG HOUSE, LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF WEAVER PIKE AND ROYLES LANE, WAS FORMERLY THE HOME OF ELHANAH MILLARD, SOLDIER OF THE WAR OF 1836. BEFORE THE MILLARD FAMILY OCCUPIED THE PROPERTY, IT WAS THE PLANTATION HOUSE OF HENRY HARKLEROAD, OWNER OF MUCH PROPERTY AND A REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO. THIS EDIFICE IS REPUTED TO CONTAIN A FRIENDLY GHOST, DATING BACK TO THE CIVIL WAR DAYS.
