Over the snow break I got distracted and ended up in Colonial Virginia again. This time I was looking at who the Pryors in Albemarle County were connected with in hopes of solidifying some of the genealogy I’ve been speculating on this past year.
In 1758 it was recorded that Richard Prior, Nicholas Pryor, and William Pryor served under Capt. Charles Ellis in the militia. These men must have all been close friends and neighbors. I found that Capt. Ellis was the father of Susannah Ellis who married Isaac Wright. The captain’s grand-daughter was Elizabeth Wright who married William Pryor.
I’ve already speculated that the William Pryor who married Elizabeth Wright was the same William Pryor who made a statement in 1832 for a Revolutionary War pension (copy of the statement). The William who gave this statement says he was born around 1752, so it’s likely that the William serving with Capt. Ellis was an elder William Pryor, perhaps the father of Nicholas and William born in 1752. The same statement refers to Nicholas as an “elder” brother, so it appears he was old enough for military service in 1758.
In 1761 the part of Albemarle County where these Pryors lived was sacrificed to form Amherst County. A later deed in Amherst County (Deed Book D, p. 166 3 Jan 1774) records that William and Margaret Pryor (the parents of Nicholas and William of Albemarle) made a deed that was witnessed by Isaac Wright (their son’s father-in-law): WM. PRYOR & wife MARGARET, AC, to PHILIP THURMOND, AC, for L114-11, 395 acres on the blue ridge; branch of Irish Creek. Wit: Roderick McCulloch, David Crawford, Isaac Wright, Wm. Crawford.
It’s so fun to see how the puzzle of relationships come together.
