Category Archives: About TN Lines

From Talley to Taliaferro to Tolliver

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talley1The Talleys are a strong family connection to the Pryors in Sumner Co., TN. Allen L. Pryor married Elizabeth Talley, daughter of William Talley and Polly Dowdy of Cumberland County, VA. Elizabeth’s sister married Thomas Jefferson Pryor, a son of the mysterious William Pryor of Sumner County. Another sister, Lucy, studied at a girls’ school in Nashville and married Robert Anderson Wright in Sumner County in 1868.

The Talley name is found in VA records where it melds from Talley, to Tally, and other variations, like Taliaferro and Tolliver.

A good example of the Taliaferro name being used as Tolliver is Baldwin Taliaferro. He’s on the 1850 Census in Pike Co., MO as Tolliver and in 1860 as Taliaferro. I think he’s related to the KY Pryors.  In 1850 he was living with the Spottswood and Hall families and in 1870 with John P (Pryor?) Lain. Baldwin was married to a Spottswood because he’s also in the Williamson Co., TN records.

I’ve picked out some of the more interesting Talley’s from the records:

1784 Census Amherst Co., VA. Page 85: Nicholas PRYOR 10 whites, no non-whites (Note: On same page with Nicholas: Charles Ellis, Roderick McCullough, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero)

1801 – Jefferson Co., KY Will, David Crawford. Bondsman: Charles Taliaferro, Nathaniel Warwick. Witnesses: William Pryor, John Pryor, Stella Sullivan. Willed land to his sons: land in Amherst County, adjoining Buffalo Ridge.

1810 Census Cumberland Co., VA – William Talley Sr
1810 Census Amherst Co., VA – Benjamin Taliaferro, Charles Taliaferro
1810 Census Albemarle County, VA – Francis Taleafero
1810 Census Campbell Co.  – Roderick Taliafero – near Mourning Christian

1820 Census Cumberland Co., VA (alpha order census) – Daniel Taliaferro with John Sandridge, Jackey Talley, Phineas Thomas, William Talley
1820 Census Goochland Co., VA – Elkanah Talley

1834 Land Deed Overton Co., TN – Elizabeth Taylor, of Sumner Co.., of Tenn…for $200.00 sells and convey to Elijah Garrett the undivided interest of a tract of land >in Overton Co.,on Obed’s R. where William PRYOR now lives and formerly owned by the heirs of Edmond Taylor & now owned by the , said Elizabeth (Taylor) and Spicy Taylor, wife of William Pryor, as trust in common. The tract was 150 acres. Witness: Pleasant Taylor and Willy Dickerson. Reg. Aug. 8, 1834  (Note: William Dickerson married Maggie Belle Talley in Overton County, TN. He may be the same Wiley Dickerson who was in Sumner Co., TN in 1850 (age 65, born in VA)

I’ll be watching out for more Talley connections to the Pryros.

Category: About TN Lines, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , , ,

Iron Ore In Jackson County, TN

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Do you ever read records and then interpret them completely differently when read again months or even years later?

My interest was piqued by an old Jackson County, TN deed:

John Swain and Armistead Stubblefield, 2560 acres, on the headwaters of Brimstone Creek… to include the salt lick and two banks of iron ore. 2 April 1803.

There was a guy, who seems to be recorded as John Swan, who no one can ever find. He married Nancy Pryor in 1825 in Sumner County, TN. I wonder if it’s the same guy as John Swain.

Then “banks of iron ore” caught my eye. I wonder if he has anything to do with David Ross and the Pryors who were close to his foundry businesses in VA. Or is he a relation of the NC Pryors who were running the Troublesome Creek Foundry during Colonial times.

Still looking for clues to see if the iron industry follows some of the Pryor lines.

Category: About TN Lines | Tags: , ,

Next Change On The TN Pryors Website

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I wanted to let folks know that it’s time for some changes on TNPryors.com.  

When the site was first started it seemed relevant to put up family histories. They have become difficult to update as the story of all the Pryor families evolves through newly found documents and new DNA results. If I don’t get to an update, there’s outdated (and sometimes bad) information left online. This can mislead researchers, which is far from the purpose of the website.

The History section will be removed from the website and I’ll continue to post on families here on the blog (TennesseePryors.com), which is better suited for the ever-changing information on the Pryors. I’ll also repost to the blog some of the information previously displayed in the History section.

What we know about the Pryors keeps evolving and so will the website.

Category: About TN Lines, News

Sumner County: Estate Sale of Massey Taylor Pryor

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photo (24)I’ve had one of those moments. The moment when you look at a document you’ve seen before and start thinking about what the “back-story” might be.  When I requested records on the Pryors from the Sumner County Archives they sent a copy of Massey’s estate sale (1867).  I went to a name that has always raised questions: Grant Taylor. He is recorded as “col.” (colored) next to his purchases.

Grant Taylor is on the 1870 Census living in District 11 of Sumner County, near Massey’s brother Pleasant Taylor:

House 100 Pleasant TAYLOR 66, Sarah 34, Mary 17, George 15, William 12, James 10, Laura 9, Alice 4, Charles 1
House 114 Grant TAYLOR 23 (m/mulatto) TN stonemason, Annie 22 (m/mulatto) TN.

Grant Taylor purchased a Bible. Did he buy the family Bible?

The estate sale was just two years after the end of the civil war. Was Grant Taylor a freed slave?

The census states that Grant Taylor could not write– but could  he read? It seems like a good question when considering someone who had bought a book.

He shared the Taylor surname with Massey and Pleasant– was he a former slave of the family? Neither Massey nor Pleasant Taylor were slave owners on the 1860 Census.

So many questions, but I always want the whole story.

Category: About TN Lines, African-Americans | Tags: ,

Pryor and Work Surname

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Sometimes I find names or places that spark my attention, however I have no idea what they mean… yet.

Jackson County, TN Deed — 5 August 1802 – Jacob Work … 250 acres. Roaring River, south side of a path that leads from William PRYOR to John PRYOR

Roane County, TN Marriage – John H. Taylor married Louisa Work in 1849. On the 1850 Census in Roane Co. there were 3 children living in the household with the surname Work, including a 5 year old Jacob A Work. Jacob died in 1868 and is buried with John H Taylor and Louisa in Parker Co., TX. John H. Taylor was a related through marriage to Hezekiah Taylor, brother in law of William Pryor of Overton County, TN.

The Work surname surfaces among the Sumner County Pryors:

James W. McCullough b. 1826 of Davidson County had an Elizabeth Pryor b. 1837 living in his household in 1850. I don’t think James was Elizabeth’s father— he was just too young. However, I suspect that James was the brother of David McCullough born about 1826 who married Louisa Pryor in 1850 in Sumner County, TN. Louisa is the sister of Allen L. Pryor; they were both children of John and Massie Taylor Pryor. David named one of his sons James W.

Where’s the Work connection? James W. McCullough married 3 times. His third wife (according to children’s death records) was Elizabeth Work.

Category: About TN Lines | Tags: , ,
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