I’m working through the Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications that are now on Ancestry.com. I think Seth Pryor, a Revolutionary War Soldier from South Carolina, needs a closer look. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: November 2011
Mary Pryor, another Pryor from VA! She’s the mother of Reuben Meriwether found in the Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications. Reuben Meriwether born 15 December 1743 in Goochland County, VA and later of Ann Arundel Co., MD, was a signer of the “Declaration of Freeman, the first declaration of independence. His father was Nicholas Meriwether (husband of Mary Pryor – or Prior). Using Reuben’s birthdate as a frame of reference, Mary Pryor would have been born around 1720, putting her in the same generation as the grandchildren of Robert Pryor and Betty Virginia Green. Yet I don’t have anyone in my database of Pryors who seems to match this Mary. Several months ago I posted about Pryor and Meriwether connections (https://tennesseepryors.com/kentucky-pryors/more-meriwether-connections-to-va-and-ky-pryors/), so we can probably add this Pryor to the list!
On many old records so many ancestors couldn’t read nor write, I was surprised by all the Pryors with a higher education in early America. As I was searching for clues to the lines of Virginia Pryors I became aware that the descendants of John Pryor and his wife Ann Bland had a very high percentage of men who went to college and attained positions in institutions dedicated to higher education.
Richard Pryor b. 1805 (grandson) – He was the trustee of Spring Hill Academy
Theodorick Pryor b. 1805 (grandson) – Graduated Hampden Sydney College
Roger A. Pryor b. 1828 (great-grandson) – Graduated Hampden Sydney College and Law School at the University of Virginia.
Luke Pryor b. 1820 (grandson) – US Senator (did he have a higher education?)
John Benjamin Pryor (Grandson) – race horse trainer, his children received a private education in England.
Samuel B. Pryor b. 1820 (grandson) – First class of Virginia Military Institute, graduated Hampden Sydney College, first mayor of Dallas, TX.
Charles R. Pryor b. 1832 (grandson) – Graduated University of Virginia
Pryors of other Virginia ancestry were also well-educated:
Christopher J. D Pryor b. 1800 – Graduated from William and Mary, president of the Greensboro Female Academy in Alabama.
Major John Pryor – Sat on the board of Hampden Sydney College.
Peter and Green Pryor who were born in VA were attending the Harpeth Academy in Williamson Co., TN when the War of 1812 broke out.
And the ladies:
Rachel Medora Pryor b. 1829 was a daughter or John C. Pryor and Ann E. Bullard of VA. In 1850 she was recorded on the census while a student at the Nazareth Female Academy in Nelson Co., KY