Everyone has a Richard Pryor in their family tree? Not everyone, well then most people. There’s a boy named Richard Pryor on the 1850 Census in Pike County, GA that can be explained (up to a point).
Richard appears on the 1850 Census in Pike County in the household of James Shipp and wife Rhoda. Richard was 12 years old and born in KY. I ended up looking at James Shipp in order to figure out a bit more about Richard.
James Shipp married Rhoda Parker in 1819 in Columbia county, GA. Richard was born about 20 years after their marriage.
In 1851 James Shipp made his will and explains that Richard was adopted.
Georgia Pike County
November 15th 1851
In the name of God Amen.
I James Shipp being affected in body but sound in mind have though? purpose to dispose of my worldly affairs in the following manner to wit– 1. My just debts shall all be paid
2 There shall be three hundred dollars of many given out of my estate by my administrator unto the church at Flat Rock to the trustees so long as the church remains an established church.
3. My negro man Isaac to be sold unto the highest bidder and the money given unto my brother William Shipp’s son James Shipp.
4. My land and farming implements and my negros: Mariah, Hannah, Manda, Gabriel, Lee and a boy Hampton, Milas boy shall be kept together on any farm belong unto my wife during her lifetime or widowhood.
5. And my adopted son Richard Prior shall remain with my wife Rody and be supported out of the proceeds of my estate until he arrives at the age of twenty one and if my wife Rody hereto marry someone, he the said R. Prior shall be and I here by make him my heir of my whole estate but not until her death or intermarriage with some other man and should Richard Prior depart this life before my wife Rhoda Shipp without lawful heir then and in that event after the death of him and my wife there without heirs my whole estate shall —-? unto my two brothers William M. Shipp and Lemuel G. Shipp or their heirs with an equal devise.
6. I hereby ordain and appoint Josiah Pyron of the county of Pike and Lewis Pyron [sic] of Meriweather my executors of this my last will and testament Signed and delivered in presence of W. P. Irvin, John Foxworth, Abraham D. Woods.
Will proved 1st December 1851
The progression of Shipp’s estate went from his death in 1851 to his wife who died in 1853 to his young adopted son, Richard Prior, who died in 1856. An administration bond was taken out in Pike county for Richard Prior, deceased with William Pryor and Matthew Coggin (the son in law of John Pryor who had died in 1848 in Pike County). Was Richard connected to the line of John Pryor? If Richard was really born in KY, who were his parents?
While digging about in Georgia records I became interested in Marlow Pryor who was in Baldwin County. What piqued my interest was the War of 1812 record that popped up on Ancestry; it stated that James Brooks had served as a substitute for Marlow Pryor. James Brooks applied for a pension in 1851 (see below) and the application (found on Fold3) is the source for the information on Ancestry.
There were two Marlow Pryors in Baldwin county on the 1820 census: one age 26 to 45 years old (born between 1775-1794), and another over 45 years old (born 1775 or earlier). The older Marlow is recorded as Marlow L. Pryor. The younger Marlow had no slaves in his household. Marlow L had 18 slaves.
A notice published in 1828 refers to Marlow L. Pryor dec’d and the sale of slaves. The initial and the possession of slaves points in the direction of the older Marlow.
Under an order of the Inferior court of Baldwin county, when sitting for ordinary purposes, will be sold at the court house in the town of Milledgeville, on the first Tuesday in January next, one house and lot in said town, situated West of the Government lot, being the same where on the late Marlow L. Pryor resided; also a few young negroes; all sold for the benefit of the creditors of Marlow L. Pryor, dec’d. Terms on the day. The Executors.
The Georgia Journal. December 01, 1828
Records for Marlow L. Pryor’s estate can be found on familysearch.com in the Baldwin county probate returns for 1813-1831. The newspaper notice and the estate returns refer to a executor, however his will is not among the those on Ancestry.com. There are several enslaved people named in the estate: Tilman, Marcus, Douglas, Cicero, Jim & family, Harriet, Malinda, Rosettta & her children, Jerry, Arthur, Davey, Jack, John, and Minty.
The estate returns give more insights into Marlow’s family. An entry dated December 31, 1826 states $1782.82 was spent on the plantation and family supplies for part of 1825 and the whole of 1826. In 1827 the estate owed Mrs, Kurkley (?) for tuition and there’s another entry for money due to the Baldwin Academy. These entries hint that Marlow had a family and that his death probably occurred sometime during 1825.
A final account for the estate from January 1829 contains entries for Mrs. Pryor which would indicate he had a wife that outlived him.
I think Marlow’s wife is the Ann C Pryor who was in Muscogee county. Mrs Ann C Pryor of Baldwin county entered the 1827 land lottery for land in Muscogee county. Ann and her possible children are on the 1850 and 1860 census in Muscogee county. The census records give her year of birth as about 1790. Upon Ann’s death, her son Alexander P Pryor applied for letters of administration in 1867. Alexander lived to 1880 and stated on the census that his mother was born in NC and his father was born in England.
There’s a family tree on Ancestry that connects Ann C and Marlow (probably because they have a son named Marlow) but it’s unsourced and no comments on how this relationship was determined. So we have pieces of the puzzle that connects them.
Marlow L. Pryor was deceased in about 1825.
Ann C. Pryor was a widow by 1827.
The adult children counted in Ann’s household were born between 1810 and 1826 (Was Ann pregnant with Sarah b. 1826 when Marlow died?)
Marlow L. Pryor’s estate settlement made provisions for a wife and family.
Marlow L. Pryor is counted on the 1820 census with a woman aged 26-45 (his wife?) and several younger household members (his children?).
There are several letters beginning in 1776 from William Ancrum to Marlow Pryor, his overseer at Redbank Plantation in Kershaw Co., SC. Was this overseer over 21, if so he would have been born in the 1750’s–making him almost twenty years older than the Marlow L. Pryor in Baldwin County.
Can we connect the Marlow L Pryor in Baldwin County to the Marlow Pryor who was on the 1790 census (the first census) in Orangeburg, SC. Argh! There was a male over age 16, 3 males under 16, and a woman over 16. He had 12 slaves. The woman is probably not Mrs. Ann C Pryor who was born in about 1790. The oldest male in the 1790 household who born in 1774 or earlier. It’s a tight squeeze to fit Marlow Pryor in 1790 fit with the Marlow L. Pryor on the 1820 census if he was born between 1775-1794, however it could be that Marlow was born around 1774 – 1775.
An interesting tid-bit on the 1790 census is there’s a John Brooks recorded a few lines before Marlow Pryor. I wonder if this Brooks is related to the man who was the War of 1812 substitute.
The SC census records offer another argument for the 1790 Marlow being an even older Pryor and not either of the ones in Baldwin county. There was a Marlow Pryor as head of household and then an Elizabeth Pryor as head of household in 1800. The household consisted of 2 young males and a woman over 45 years old. There are several Friday households on the same page of the 1800 census. A Google book family tree states that Elizabeth Friday (Fridig) first married William Arthur then Marlow Pryor and was the mother of Jesse, Ruben, and Friday Pryor. The house recorded above Elizabeth in 1800 was Jesse Arthur. Elizabeth was born in 1731 so she was either older than Marlow or her husband much older than the men in GA.
I’m not going to solve the mystery of Marlow Pryor in one post. Just poking around in the Georgia Pryors makes me wonder if there aren’t more questions that point in the direction of Marlow
Who was the Marlow Pryor who married Mary Amour in Greene County, GA in 1816? The Marlow counted with Ann C Pryor’s family was a mere child and too young to marry in 1816. Is he the younger Marlow Pryor who is on the 1820 census in Baldwin county?
If there’s a Marlow Pryor born between 1775-1794 on the 1820 census in Baldwin County and the man identified at Lane M Pryor (researchers state his name as Marlow Lane Pryor) counted near Ann C wasn’t born until 1815, what is the kinship?
Are any of the other Pryors who moved between SC and GA related? Are any of the
The older Marlow in SC shows up with another Pryor on records. Marlow Pryor and Seth Pryor were the appraisers of the estate of Daniel Blake deceased, February 1781. They were counting slaves at Brewton’s Plantation. Prince Williams Parish, Greenville countyand alsoat other plantations in SC: Board House Plantation, Waltnut Hill, and Crooked Hill, Mount Pleasant at Greenville.
Remember laying out the cards and paying Concentration? Can you match two aces? How about laying out the Pryors and matching signatures? I think we should consider that a John Pryor is the one man and not two different men.
In 1784 John Pryor “from Virginia” became a headright of 200 acres in Franklin County, GA (see post)
If the “P” used on the headright document is John Pryor’s mark, then we may have another John Pryor using the same mark. John Pryor from Cornwall who made his will in Edgefield county in 1797 used a “P” mark.
I think the John Pryor in Edgefield has a complicated story and there’s more to investigate.
First, he immigrated from Britain to the American colonies. We don’t know where he landed. Most of what is known of him is through his will in Edgefield county. He died a millwright (lots of lumber left in his estate) with slaves and children through a common law wife. Cornish records state he went to American in about 1779. What and where was John during his time in America?
We also know that this John Pryor wasn’t trapped by colonial borders. After his death it came out in the press (see post) that John also had property in Augusta (Richmond county), GA.
This is the only John Pryor in GA who seems to be a possible match to the man in Edgefield — all the others either died before him or after his known death.
The Franklin county headright document opens up another possibility: John Pryor was in Virginia or had an interest in Virginia before or during his time in South Carolina.
While going through Revolutionary War Pryor men I dug into looking at the John Pryors in Georgia. How many were there? Were any of them the same man? What I ended up with were 4 John Pryor (or John Priors) who were in Georgia before 1800. I’ve created timelines for each man and some long-winded answers to how we know it’s the same man. I’m using their death dates to ID each Pryor. Let’s go…
