Author: Joseph Foster Webb
Joel Chambliss born in Granville County, Virginia in 1756 as a 3rd or 4th generation Virginian whose great grandfather, John Chambliss, had emigrated from England around 1650 possibly with his father, Robert. The family was originally from France where the family name was probably Chambly and had emigrated to England, likely as a result of the persecution of Huguenots. Sometime prior to 1777 Joel removed to adjacent Granville County, North Carolina where he joined in the fight for independence as official pay records show him listed in May, 1777 as a North Carolina soldier. In the fall of 1777 he likely saw action in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown where his regiment, the North Carolina Light Dragoons was sent. Joel married Mary Bailey, daughter of Robert Bailey of Granville County, Virginia on Dec. 24, 1777 in Granville County as Virginia records attest. It seems as if he returned to his old home area to marry. In January, 1778 he is listed as a corporal in the 3rd Troop of Light Dragoons commanded by Capt. Cosmo Medici. These troops were organized as State troops of the North Carolina Line in 1775 and existed until 1779 when it was disbanded and organized into a new unit of State troops and became known as the Light Dragoons Regiment under the command of Colonel Francois DeMalmeady. It is not known if Joel served with this regiment which existed until September, 1781 when it disbanded after its leader was killed in a duel. It is a possibility that he did because his first child, Twitty, was born in 1782. After the Revolutionary War he continued to live in Granville County, North Carolina where United States census records have him living in 1790, 1800 and 1810. He and Mary eventually had seven children, 3 boys and 4 girls. On Dec. 20, 1800 he received title to 228 acres of land in Sumner County, Tennessee for service in the Revolutionary War. This land is located in the watershed of Drakes Creek about eight miles northeast of Hendersonville, Tennessee. He apparently never settled on this property and it is quite likely that he sold it during the years before he died as his will of 1816 makes no mention of it. When he died on Dec. 12, 1817 at the age of 61 he was survived by his wife and 6 children having lost his eldest son, Twitty, not long before he passed. He was a successful farmer but not a large plantation owner as evidenced by his will and its mention of numerous livestock, land and seven slaves.