I can’t let go of David Ross. His connections to the Pryors are fascinating!
David Ross ran the Oxford Iron Works and helped to arm the Virginia militia during the Revolution. Whether it was by a land grant for his war effort or his own entrepreneurism, by 1790 Ross had land and business interests in Tennessee and had agents running his iron works in Sullivan County (see post).
I think I found the connection to Ross and the John Pryor in Sullivan County. If nothing else, they were business partners.
To COL James King’s Iron Works, where thousands of tons of iron were brought to Boat Yard and shipped to distant ports by flatboat.
http://discoverkingsport.com/searchmap/spoden.shtml
Now I get it… Kingsport was a PORT. John Pryor and his sons were building the flatboats that were being used to ship Ross’ iron.
Were there other Pryors involved in processing ore? You betcha! Nathaniel Pryor had a lead-smelting furnace on the Mississippi in about 1810-1812, near Dubuque, IA (see LewisAndClarkinKentucky.org). Now that I know the connection of the flat boats and the water ways it makes sense that Nathaniel Pryor was operating near the river. Why did explorer Nathaniel Pryor turn into lead-smelter Pryor? Maybe I should ask HOW he became a smelter? Does it take skill to create a smelting operation? Did Nathaniel apprentice in the metal trades as a youth? I did some Google searches to see if I could find out more about smelting or iron works in early Louisville. I was also interested to see if Obadiah Newman was involved in metal processing (remember Nathaniel and his brother were in his care when they were orphaned). I didn’t find an occupation for Newman.
The possible son of Nathaniel Pryor, Miguel Pryor of California, was a fur trapper and silversmith. I wonder if something got lost in the translation. Did he craft fine silverware or was he involved in mining and smelting the metal?
Then there’s William Harding (I’ll write more about him in a few days–there’s a lot to tell!). He was surety for the estate of Nicholas Pryor when he died in 1746 in Goochland County. Harding’s sister, Bethenia, married Nicholas Perkins–their sons Nicholas Perkins Jr. and his brother Constantine were partners in the iron works on Troublesome Creek in Rockingham County, NC.
Looks like they were more than farmers.
