Here’s a Pryor story right out of the cold case files! I stumbled upon an article on the Leader-Union’s website that tells the story of the murder of a Pryor in Illinois over a hundred years ago. https://www.leaderunion.com/content/james-lafayette-pryor-murder-solved
I had to look to see which Pryor line these folks are from. Researchers have posted online that James Lafayette Pryor was the son of Thomas Washington Pryor and Nancy Graves Haynes, however it’s likely that Thomas was his grandfather, not his father. There’s an obituary online at archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRANSON/2008-10/1224982766 of Elizabeth Constance Branson Pryor who was married to George A. Pryor (from Pittslyvania Co., VA and settled in Fayette Co., IL)—it states she was the mother of James Lafayette Pryor. Another obituary posted to an Ancestry.com family tree states Prudence Pryor Lansford of Fayette County, IL was a daughter of Thomas and Nancy Pryor. It states that the family came to Illinois in about 1843 from Virginia. They first settled in Clay County and a year later went to live in Fayette County, however I haven’t been able to find them on the 1850 Census.
James Lafayette Pryor and his wife Lydia Cheshier are on the 1870 Census, the 1880 Census, and Lydia appears on the 1900 Census recorded as a widow. I found James’ and Lydia’s tombstone on Find A Grave website.
Sorry, even after sifting through my database I don’t know where the Pittsylvania Co., VA Pryors come from.
