Monthly Archives: May 2011

Samuel Pryor and Frances Morton: Was Frances Mrs. Meriwether?

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Over  the winter I was contacted by a researcher who was trying to piece together the line of Dr. Samuel Pryor of VA and his wife Frances Meriwether, nee Morton.  Before her marriage to Samuel, Frances married Nicholas Meriwether, a man from a prominent Goochland County, VA family.  In this first marriage, Frances gave birth to a son in about 1745 and he was named George Meriwether. After the death of her first husband, Frances married Samuel Pryor on August 27, 1760 per the records of St. James Northam Parish in Goochland County.  The parish records also record that Samuel and Frances were the parents of young Samuel Pryor who was baptized on January 12, 1762.

The researcher points outs that Frances was married to Nicholas Meriwether from 1740 to about 1758, but a son John Alexander Pryor born about 1750 is attributed to her marriage to Pryor.  She wisely questioned whether Frances was having children with Samuel Pryor while she was still married to Meriwether.

Now that I’m looking at what I have on Samuel and Frances, I question the children attributed to their marriage: Nancy, John Alexander, and Marietta. Where did these names come from? What’s the proof that the right people are in the right positions in this branch of the Pryor tree?

While doing a little online research on this union I found The Encyclopedia of Louisville By John E. Kleber states that Frances and her first husband were the parents of George Meriwether and Nicholas Meriwether born in 1745 and 1749 respectively.  Yet… here’s my real beef… Dr. Samuel Pryor  the son of Col. William Pryor and the husband of Frances Meriwether  was born somewhere about 1740.  Was Samuel only five years younger than George Meriwether, his step-son?

I looked for records that would prove the relationship.  The only record is the marriage of Samuel Pryor and Frances cited in the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, volume 15 published in 1915. The magazine published the St. James Northam parish records, including the marriage of “1760, Aug. 27. Samuel Pryor , of Amelia County, & Frances Morton, of this parish.

There are mostly second-hand references to Frances Morton as the same person who was the widow of Nicholas Meriwether:

1915 – The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 13 by Kentucky Historical Society. A letter from Judge William S. Pryor to Henry Strother dated December 1, 1914.

The Meriwethers and Their Connections, published 1991 by the Meriwether Society references a earlier publication, “Frances Morton about 1740. After his death she married Samuel Pryor. Frances Morton was listed as “Mary Frances Pryor” in Louisa HA Minor’s genealogy in 1892.”

Is this a Pryor genealogy question that people searching their Virginia Pryors have know about for a long time? Is there a source to answer it?

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , ,

Pryor And Rector Family Virginia Connections

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I remarked in an earlier post that I was leaving the Rectors for another day.  Well, today’s the day.

The Rectors were German immigrants that settled in colonial Virginia. Though my research and the research of others, we have turned over numerous connections to the Pryors in Virginia and later in Tennessee.

My own Pryor line is descended from John Pryor and Massie Taylor who were married in Campbell Co., VA in 1812 and settled in Sumner Co., TN. Massie’s sister Spicy Taylor married a William Pryor in 1809 and settled in Overton Co., TN.  John and William Pryor are probably brothers, sons of an older John Pryor from VA (I’ll refer to him as John Sr. throughout the rest of this post).

John Sr. AND a Rector were first documented together in 1790..

On 15 March 1790, John PRYER witnessed the following deed “from Murrell CUNNINGHAM of Campbell to William BURNETT of Campbell, for 30,000 weight of nett, inspected tobacco, 1 Negro woman, Fanny, and 9 children viz. Sam, London, Lymas, Agness, Betty, Charlotte, David, Coye, and William. Signed – Murrell CUNNINGHAM. Wit – John PRYER, Charles RORK,  Martin RECTOR (X his mark) . This bill of sale was recorded Apr 1, 1790.” (Campbell County Virginia Deeds, 1784 – 1790 published by T.L.C. Genealogy (Miami), p. 72, referencing deed book page 474)

The following year Martin Rector appears on another document.  Edward Deckey, believed to be Edward Dickey is also a signer. Edward Dickey was the father of Sally Dickey, the first wife of Hezekiah Taylor,  a brother in law of both John and William Pryor (Hezekiah was Massie and Spicy Taylor’s  brother.

Petition dated August 1, 1791 Connected Campbell Co. Signers:
John DECKEY, Edward DECKEY, Wrenny CREWS, Martin RECTOR, Thomas OGLESBY, Murrell CUNNNINGHAM.

I suspect it was John Sr. who witnessed Jacob Rector’s will in 1779.  John’s known children were William born 1761-1770, John born 1780-1789, and probably Elizabeth Pryor Harris born about 1780.  The ages of his children help to determine that John Sr. was an adult and alive at the time of Jacob Rector’s will.

John PRYER with Gideon MARTIN, Jane PRESTON, Thomas STOVALL witnessed the will of Jacob RECTOR in Bedford County VA on 26 Oct. 1779. John Pryer along with Gideon Martin proved the will by oaths on 22 Nov. 1779. John Pryer along with David Martin and Thomas Stovall inventoried the estate of Jacob Rector on 3 Dec. 1779, returned 22 January 1781. “Prier” also used at one place in the record. (Abstracts of Bedford County Virginia Wills, Inventories and Accounts by Joida Whitten, Taylor Publishing Company (Dallas), pp. 101 and 113, referencing will book pp. 359-60 and 387.)

Another connection that helps to place John Sr. and Martin Rector in the same community: their minister, William Flowers.

Martin RECTOR and Sarah MARTIN, bond 20 December 1804. Consent David Martin, father of the bride. Martin Rector (b) and David Martin (b); David Martin Jr. (w) and James Martin (w). M. R. 25 December 1804 by William Flowers. Marriages of Campbell County, Virginia, 1782-1810 By Lucy Harrison Miller Baber, Hazel Letts Williamson.

If you search the records of Fentress and Overton County, you’ll see Flowers families who migrated to Tennessee from Virginia. William Flowers of Campbell County performed not only the marriage of Martin Rector—he also married Elizabeth Pryor to John Harris in 1800,  and another Hezekiah Taylor from Campbell Co., VA who married Polly Oglesby in 1807 (this Hezekiah died in Canada during the War of 1812).

The Pryor and Rector connections continue in Roane and Anderson Counties, Tennessee.

William PRYER, S#362 2-1-1811, E#812 1-21-1811. 5 acres on Piles Turnpike  Road on Rocky Branch of Little Emerys River . SCC: Reuben Williams, John RECTOR. Recorded 2-22-1811. Lifted 1-22-1812 by William PRYOR. Ansearchin’ News, East Tennessee Surveys, 1807-1813, Roane County.

On the 1830 Census there there’s a Rector living near Harris PRYOR; John RECTOR is enumerated on the line below Harris.
Martin Rector’s estate is described in this case in Roane Co., TN, revealing the names of his heirs.  Martin Rector. No Pryors mentioned.
http://www.tngenes.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132:rector-martin-a-david-martin-rector-estate-case-roane-county-tn-1833-&catid=42:transcriptions&Itemid=54

The most confounding connections are the Pryors and Rectors who appear out side of  Roane, Anderson, and Morgan Counties in Tennessee.

– John Pryor b. 1833, son of James and Nancy Pryor in Overton Co. married a Kitty Rector.
– John T. Pryor b. 1788 in KY is mentioned with “T” Rector in a 1823 Gasconade Co., MO will.
– Philip Pryor b. 1791 in NC (son of Matthew Pryor Sr.)  married a Miss Reeter. Since there were no Reeters in TN, it’s speculated she was a Rector.

Category: Tennessee Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

James Pryor of Harpers Ferry, VA

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I’ve wondered if the Ross Co., OH Pryors were related to established Pryor families in Virginia.  James Pryor was on the census in Ross Co. in 1830 and 1840. His children: Hiram, Wesley, Silas, and Bennett were all born in VA; his son Silas was born near Harpers Ferry, VA (now WV).

The US government purchased 125 acres at Harpers Ferry, building the Armory and Arsenal in 1796. The town became an industrial center after 1800, producing small guns for the US Army up to the time of the Civil War in 1861. And yes, it’s the same arsenal raided by abolitionist John Brown.

James Pryor was on the 1810 and 1820 Census in Jefferson Co., VA. The census record for 1820 is unique in that actually states the town: Harpers Ferry. It’s even more unique in that an extra column has been added with the occupation of the head of household. James was recorded as a “musket stocker.”

Unfortunately James died before the 1850 Census when birth places were recorded. Only his son Bennett B. Pryor lived long enough to state his father’s birthplace on the 1900 census and 1910 census: Virginia.

Researchers state that James was the son of Silas Pryor who also was recorded in Ross Co., OH. Like his son, Silas died before the 1850 Census. A research has posted in their Ancestry Family Tree that Silas is the same person named as an heir, and probably a son, of James Pryor in a 1761 Chester, PA.

So it’s likely that these Pryors immigrated in through Boston or Philadelphia and are not related to Pryors who were early immigrants to the tidewater counties of Virginia.

Category: Missouri Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,