Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright was born in Germany in 1727, emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1740, and after remaining there a short time removed to Virginia about 1755, where he married Sarah Hardin, with whom he lived happily until her death during the Revolution.  A few years after his marriage he moved to Tryon county in North Carolina, being accompanied by his brothers-in-law, Colonel Joseph Hardin, John Hardin and Benjamin Hardin; also, by James Kuykendall, Nathaniel Henderson, Robert Leeper, and others.  He first settled at the Fort, erected near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba river, as a protection against the attacks of the Indians.  From that place he soon afterward moved to Long Creek, in the same county, and was living there when the battle of King’s Mountain took place, in which he so gallantly participated.  A short time previous to that battle he had purchased a tract of land on King’s Creek, and had built a cabin upon it, preparatory to a future removal of his family.

Colonel Hambright was twice married.  By the first marriage to Sarah Hardin, previously noticed, he had twelve children, of whom six were raised, viz:  1.  John H. Hambright, who fought at King’s Mountain. 2.  Elizabeth. 3.  Frederick. 4.  Sarah. 5.  Benjamin, and 6.  James Hambright.  Of these, Elizabeth married Joseph Jenkins, and Sarah Peter Eaker, both of whom have worthy descendants.

By the second wife, Mary Dover, whom he married in 1781, he had ten children, of whom eight were raised.  Mrs. Susannah Dickson, the tenth child by the second wife, and the youngest of the twenty-two children, is still living and retains in her memory many interesting traditions of the Revolution.

Colonel Hambright early displayed a fervent patriotic zeal for the independence of his adopted country.  In 1777 he received the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel, and was throughout the war an active and courageous officer.  He was constantly watching the movements of the Tories, whose malicious influence and plundering habits seriously disturbed the peace and welfare of society.  His name soon became a “terror to the Tories, who well knew the determination of his character and the vigilance and prowess of his arms in arresting disaffected persons, and defeating their designs.”

At the battle of King’s Mountain Col.  William Graham, having charge of the Lincoln regiment, not being present on account of sickness in his family, the command devolved on Col.  Hambright and most nobly and courageously did he sustain the responsible position.  No portion of the advancing Whig columns evinced more irresistible bravery, and suffered more severely than the troops under his immediate command.  Major William Chronicle, one of his most efficient and gallant officers, fell early in the action.  There, too, Captain John Mattocks, Lieutenants Robb and Boyd, and others, all from the same neighborhood, lost their lives in that fiercely contested battle, which resulted so gloriously for the cause of liberty.