View source for Absalom J. Hembree

{{Short description|American politician (1813–1856)}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Absalom J. Hembree
| image         = 
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = 
| office        = Member of the [[Oregon Territorial Legislature]]
| term          = 1849, 1851, 1854
| constituency = [[Yamhill County, Oregon|Yamhill County]]
| nominator     = 
| appointer     = 
| predecessor   = 
| successor     = 
| office2       = Member of the [[Provisional Legislature of Oregon]]
| constituency2 = Yamhill District
| termstart2    = 1846
| termend2      = 1849
| nominator2    = 
| appointer2    = 
| predecessor2  = 
| successor2    = 
| birth_date     = December 14, 1813
| birth_place    = [[White County, Tennessee]]
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1856|4|10|1813|12|14}}
| death_place    = [[Washington Territory]]
| party         = Democrat
| spouse        = Nancy Dodson
}}
'''Absalom Jefferson Hembree''' (December 14, 1813 &ndash; April 10, 1856) was an American soldier and politician in what became the state of [[Oregon]]. A native of [[Tennessee]], he served in the [[Provisional Legislature of Oregon]] and the [[Oregon Territorial Legislature]] before being killed in action during the [[Yakima War]].

==Early years==
Absalom Hembree was born in [[Warren County, Tennessee]], on December 14, 1813, to James and Nancy Hembree (née Pettie).<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. [[Binfords & Mort Publishing]]. p. 111.</ref><ref name="gaston">{{cite book|last=Gaston|first=Joseph|title=The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912|publisher=Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company|year=1912|volume=3|pages=899|url=https://archive.org/stream/centennialhisto01gastgoog#page/n903/mode/1up/search/hembree}}</ref> On January 14, 1835, he married Nancy Dodson in White County, Tennessee, and the two would have ten children.<ref name="gaston"/> In 1843, he and his family that now included three children (William, Ann, and Nancy), along with an older brother Joel, immigrated to the [[Oregon Country]] across the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref name=pioneers>Flora, Stephenie. [http://www.oregonpioneers.com/1843.htm Emigrants to Oregon in 1843.] Oregon Pioneers, accessed June 12, 2008.</ref> Hembree's infant son died along the trail, with the family arriving in [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] where they stayed until the Spring of 1844.<ref name=pioneers/>

==Oregon==
In 1844, the family moved to the newly organized [[Yamhill County, Oregon|Yamhill District]] and settled on a land claim near the present community of [[Carlton, Oregon|Carlton]].<ref name=pioneers/> Hembree's land claim was one of the first in what became a Yamhill County.<ref name=Oregon/> There the family raised livestock and Absalom operated a store in nearby [[Lafayette, Oregon|Lafayette]].<ref name=pioneers/> While in Oregon, the couple would have seven more children.<ref name=Oregon/> Hembree served as a director of the Portland & Valley Plank Road Company that started construction on [[Canyon Road]] in 1849, and was involved with the creation of the Pacific Telegraph Company in 1855.<ref name=Oregon/>

In 1846, Hembree was elected to the [[Provisional Legislature of Oregon]] to represent the Yamhill District, and won re-election the following year.<ref name=Oregon/> He won election to the final session of that body in 1848, serving through the early 1849 session.<ref name=prov1848>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislative Assembly (4th Provisional) 1848-1849 Regular Session.] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on June 12, 2008.</ref> The creation of the [[Oregon Territory]] and take over by the federal government superseded the [[Provisional Government of Oregon]]'s authority. In 1849, he was elected to serve in the first session of the [[Oregon Territorial Legislature]], representing Yamhill County.<ref name=ter1849>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislators_guide.aspx Oregon Legislative Assembly (1st Territorial) 1849 Regular Session.] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on June 12, 2008.</ref> Hembree served again in the 1851 and 1854 sessions in the lower [[Oregon House of Representatives]] as a Democrat.<ref name=Oregon/> He had run for the office of U.S. Marshall for the territory, but lost to [[Joseph Meek]].<ref name=pioneers/>

==Death and legacy==
In 1855, the [[Yakima War]] between the United States government and Native Americans broke out in the eastern part of the [[Washington Territory]].<ref>Becker, Paula. [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5311 Yakama (Yakima) Indian War begins on October 5, 1855.] HistoryLink.org. Retrieved on June 12, 2008.</ref> Following the defeat of [[Granville O. Haller|Major Haller]] on October 5, 1855, Hembree and many others in the [[Willamette Valley]] volunteered to fight the Native Americans.<ref name=Oregon/> A captain, he was in charge of a company of troops when he and a small group of his men were doing reconnaissance on Satus Creek on April 10, 1856.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walling|first=Albert G. |title=Illustrated History of Lane County, Oregon|publisher=Printing House of A. G. Walling|year=1884|pages=176|isbn=9780598541451 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXEUAAAAYAAJ&q=hembree&pg=PA120}}</ref><ref name=yakima>{{cite book|last=Splawn|first=A. J. |title=Ka-mi-akin, the Last Hero of the Yakimas|publisher=Kilham Stationery & Printing Co.|year=1917|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kamiakinlasther00splagoog/page/n89 69]–70|url=https://archive.org/details/kamiakinlasther00splagoog|quote=hembree yakima april 1856.}}</ref> The group was ambushed and Hembree was killed, the lone casualty for the Americans.<ref name=yakima/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Bonney|first=William P. |title=Monument to Captain Hembee (sic)|journal=The Washington Historical Quarterly|year=1920 |volume=11|pages=181–182|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbsUAAAAYAAJ&q=hembree+yakima+april+1856&pg=PA181}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rowe|first=Mary Ellen|title=Bulwark of the Republic: The American Militia in Antebellum West|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2003|pages=175|isbn=978-0-313-32410-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiswqRZnUnUC&q=hembree+yakima+april+1856&pg=PA175}}</ref> His body was returned to Oregon and he was given a Masonic burial at the Hembree Cemetery in Yamhill County.<ref name=pioneers/> On June 20, 1920, the [[Washington State Historical Society]] placed a monument at the site of his death.<ref name=Oregon/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hembree, Absalom J.}}
[[Category:Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature]]
[[Category:Members of the Provisional Government of Oregon]]
[[Category:People from Warren County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from Carlton, Oregon]]
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1856 deaths]]
[[Category:Oregon pioneers]]
[[Category:People from Lafayette, Oregon]]
[[Category:People from White County, Tennessee]]