Category Archives: Tennessee Pryors

Updates and Corrections on the Tree of Thomas Pryor and Telitha C.

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At last an answer to some of the questions in a recent post (Tabitha is Telitha C. Pryor of Wilson Co., TN and Franklin Co., IL). The answer is a good one because it really helps to straighten out this line.

Josie Pryor Franklin Co. IL

I asked who were the parents of Josephine/Josie Pryor (or Prior) who married James Purcell. Was she the daughter of Thomas and Telitha Pryor born about 1861? — the Josephine born about 1861 who appears on the 1870 with her mother in 1870. Or is she the daughter of Young Pryor (son of Allen and Cinderella Pryor of Jackson Co., TN)?– there’s no Josephine in his household in 1870, she stated her age and therefore her year of birth on the 1920 census as 1868, and relations of Young Pryor were recorded in her household through various census records.

Well, thanks to the researcher who has provided her death record! It states her father was Young Pryor/Prior. So beware, there is no evidence to connect Allen and Cinderella to Thomas and Telitha. It may look like Josie/Josephine on the 1870 Census in Telitha’s household could be Young’s daughter (because she’s not in Young’s household), but go to the 1880 Census where she is still in Telitha’s household and is recorded as her daughter.

What happened to the Josephine Pryor, daughter of Thomas and Telitha C.? It’s possible that she’s the Josephine Pryor who married F. T. McNail on 7 Dec. 1874 in Franklin Co., IL. They are on the 1900 and 1910 Census in Hamilton Co., IL. In 1910 and 1920 (Logan Co., IL) her parents were recorded as born in TN and IL which match to the 1850 and 1860 Census records in Wilson Co., TN for the births of Thomas and Telitha.  The index to her death record states her mother’s surname as Durham and father “Pryor….”  and there are some family trees on Ancestry that include Telitha C. Durham and a 1849 marriage date to Thomas Pryor — just be aware that their sources are on the skimpy side and source documents or links are not attached.

Time to do some corrections on the TN Pryor website.

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Identifying Joseph Pryor by Signature?

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You may have seen a question I posted 4 months ago on the Pryor Lastname Genealogy Facebook page. I asked who was the man identified as “Little” Joseph Pryor in Botetourt County, VA records. Oct 1784, “Little” Joseph Pryor cited for cohabitating with William Fulton’s wife.  There was Joseph Pryor who married Mary Fleming and his son who was born after 1766. The Facebook conversation included speculation of who an elderly Joseph Pryor was who turned up in White County records around 1813. Then there’s the Joseph Pryor who lived in Jackson County, TN. I wish the Pryors had been a bit more creative with the names… it would make piecing together the genealogy puzzle so much easier! Who were all of these Josephs?

I started looking at signatures. I was curious to see if there were any documents on the web that were signed by Joseph Pryors with similar signatures.

The first two signatures are the Joseph Pryor Sr and Joseph Pryor Jr who were from Botetourt County records.  In 1800 a Chancery Court suit was filed in Augusta County naming Joseph Pryor as a resident of Botetourt County. Joseph Pryor “the elder” was a plaintiff and there’s  a deposition (although very short) given by Joseph Jr who states that the older Joseph was his father. This is the signature of Joseph Jr. in 1802.

josephpryor1803-2

josephpryor1803

Isn’t it interesting how different the same signature looks? I guess it depended on how you held the quill on a given day! The “J” though is very similar and the final “r” in Pryor is also very similar.

This is the signature of of Joseph Pryor Sr. Wow, very different than his son’s writing. Different J. Different P. Different curve on the Y.

josephpryor1802The next Joseph Pryor I looked at was the Joseph in Greene County, TN who signed the marriage bond in 1799 for Catharine Pryor and Enoch Odle.

josephpryor1799

 

Enoch Odle left his “mark” in 1799 (see above Joseph’s signature) as he did in 1855 when he applied for his 1812 land bounty warrant, but Joseph Pryor signed the bond. Was Joseph Pryor one of the educated men from among the Virginia Pryors? I don’t think this Joseph Pryor’s signature looks a thing like Jr or Sr Pryor from Botetourt County, so can we rule out that they are the same man?

The Joseph Pryor who was in Tuscaloosa, AL left a family Bible and will. I don’t know who wrote the names into the Bible or even if they are contemporary inscriptions. The writing doesn’t compare with any of the Josephs noted above– there are green dots next to “J” and “P” that differ from the above samples.

josephpryorinal

 

Joseph in Alabama left a will but it’s signed with a “mark” rather than a signature.  Was he unable to sign his name due to old age or infirmity? Or was he a different man than the one who was in Green County, TN?

josephpryorwill

I’d love to compare another signature.  In 1801 Joseph Pryor signed a petition in Smith County to prevent consolidating part of Smith County with White County. Enoch Odle also signed or left his mark. Does anyone have a copy of this document?

 

 

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Logan Pryor of Overton County, TN and Perry County, IL

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I’m passing along a small find in case it helps to advance someone else’s genealogy research. Logan Pryor was the son of James and Nancy Pryor of Overton County, TN. On the 1870 Census in Perry Co., IL Elmana Swallows age 9 was living in his household. I think she’s Ellen A Swallows buried in the Mueller Hill Cemetery, Pinkneyville, Perry Co. She died 3 Dec 1871, and she was the daughter of E A Swallows and L M. I betting the L M inscribed on her gravemaker is incorrect, there is no actual photo of the gravemarker online so I can’t tell if I’m right. I suspect possibly someone transcribed in it incorrectly and it’s actually I M Swallows. I found Isaac M Swallows (IM?) also buried in Pinkneyville, IOOF Cemetery. He died 15 Feb 1862 in the Battle of Fort Donelson (that was a Civil War battle in TN). On the 1860 Census Isaac Swallows is in Jackson Co., TN. He was 28 (born 1832) married to Elizabeth Swallows 24, with a daughter Sarah 3. I found another interesting Swallows: Alfred P Swallows b. 1855 in TN. On the 1860 Census in District 10 of Overton Co. living with his parents Reuben and Bethenia Swallows. Ruben and son Alfred were in District 13 of Jackson Co., in 1870. Alfred P Swallows was in Tyrone, Franklin Co., IL in 1880. He was married and just a couple houses from Isaac Copeland. Children of Allen and Cinderella Pryor of Jackson Co., TN were in Franklin Co. in 1880 and living very close to Alfred Swallows. I’m not saying there’s a connection… just making an observation. I checked the 1850 Census and found that Rueben Swallows had a son named Isaac, but he was 10 years too young to be the Isaac in Pinkneyville. But I found Isaac born 1832 in Dist 1 of Overton Co., he was the son of Andrew Swallows. I suspect that the two Swallows, Alfred and Isaac, were cousins. Hmmmm I wonder if Alfred’s middle name was Pryor. Sorry I don’t have anything definite, but on the way (perhaps) to explaining who Miss Swallows was who was living with Logan Pryor.

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More Pryors and the War of 1812

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Another Pryor marriage from the War of 1812 Pensions: John Bohannon married Sarah PRIOR on 6 Jan 1812 in White County, TN. They were married by Thomas Bounds Esq., a justice of the peace.  The marriage information is a big find because there’s a note in the pension file from the county clerk in 1871 searched for the marriage record and deemed it lost or destroyed. The Bohannons were living in Putnam County in 1850 and at the time they were applying for pensions. John Bohannon used attorney Winburn W. Goodpasture in Livingston, TN to apply for his pension in 1850. It’s been speculated that Sarah Pryor was the daughter of William Pryor of White County. Witnesses who swore on the character and knowledge of their marriage were J. D. Hyder, John Barnes, Curtis Mills, William Bohannon, Vivrett Henry, Susan Roberson (speculated by researchers to be a sister of Sarah Pryor Bohannon), H Denton, B. D. Hunter. There’s an additional application for William Bohannon, John’s brother.  For Bohannon researchers — William Bohannon married Polly Job on 9 January 1816 at Winchester, TN (that’s in Franklin County). Both men claimed to have served at the Battle of New Orleans.

In a recent post I referred to an older post about William G. Pryor of Overton County who served in the War of 1812.  William married Spicy Taylor in 1809 in Campbell County, VA and it appears that he was in Tennessee before the death of his father-in-law, Edmund Taylor (after Edmund’s death in 1824 Spicy’s siblings moved from Virginia to Tennessee).  Here’s the complete list of the company in which William Pryor served.

CAPT. JOEL PARRISH, JR.’S CO. OF ARTILLERISTS, TENNESSEE MILITIA

John Allen
William Allen
John Armstrong
James Atkins
William N Barham
John Batts
George Black
Lewis C Bryant
Alexander H Clifton
John Cobler (or Cobbler)
John Collins
William C Drew
William H Elam
E Folks
Abel Fulks
Daniel Fultrill
John Garrett
Samuel Gealnet
Corace Harding
Isaac Henry
Thomas P Henson
Joseph Herton
James B Hindman
Anderson Howell
Herbert J Lee
James Lewis
John Marchant
James Markum
William McCandless
John McClure
John Merchant
James Nail
John L Nail
Joel Parrish, Capt.
John Pintard
William G Pryor
Wright A Reeder
Ebelleam Reaves
Henry Redley
John Ross
William Russell
Jerres Rust
Gabriel Taylor
William Thompson
Grain Townsend
John Waggoner
Richard B. Walthall
Eser Whytus (Whitis?)
Jesse Wilkinson
Benjamin Williams
James Williams
Etheldridge Williams

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , , , ,

Mary Pryor and Lodrick (or Ludwig?) Garrett of Overton Co.

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mary-pryor-garrett-xI found a terrific record for the Pryors in Overton Co., TN. It’s a Mother’s Application for Army Pension (file number 116383) which was filed by Mary Garrett wife of Loderick Garrett, or in this application it is spelled at times “Ludwig”.  The application was made 9 Oct 1867 for the pension of their son James M Garrett.

To date I didn’t have a James on Mary’s family group sheet. I believe he is the son named “Marion” who was on the 1850 and 1860 Census. If so, James Marion Garrett was born about 1836.

His enlistment date is given as 1Sept. 1861 at Camp Robinson, KY. Their son James M. Garrett served in Co. D, 2nd TN. He was captured in Rogersville, TN on 6 Nov 1863. He died in Richmond, VA on 15 March 1864 (the army paperwork gives his date of death as 18 Feb 1864). The cause of death was listed as “starvation in Rebel Prison.”

Mary Pryor Garrett’s address at the time of the application was “on wagon rode leading from Livingston Tennessee to Albany KY about 15 miles from Livingston.”

We now have a marriage date for Mary Pryor (daughter of Spicy Taylor and William Pryor):  Mary Pryor to Ludwig Garrett, married by Joel Parris, a justice of the peace, on 15 Nov 1831 in Overton Co., TN.  Witnessed by Robert Barnes and Calvin H. Cope. This is from the sworn statement given by Robert Barnes and Calvin H. Cope who state they were at the wedding.

A quick connection… back in 2011 I wrote about William G Pryor in the War of 1812 with Joel Parrish and that he lived near him in Overton County. Is this the same man who performed Mary Pryor’s marriage ceremony?

Other names:

Sarah Taylor and Calvin H Cope completed an affidavit that they were acquainted with Mary Pryor and her family. (Sarah b. 1836, wife of Hezekiah Taylor Jr. She would have been Mary’s cousin)

John Padgett and Elizabeth Rome completed an affidavit that they were acquainted with Mary Pryor and her family.

Elisa Pryor and Tennessee Huddleston completed an affidavit that they were acquainted with Mary Pryor and her family for 15 years. (Eliza Knight Pryor, wife of Edward Pryor, was Mary’s sister-in-law.)

Witnesses on additional documents: Julia Ann Owen, Dolly Taylor, James Amonett, Eliza A Beaty.

Although Loderick Garrett wasn’t on the 1870 Census, he was living at the some of the papers were completed in November 1867. Mary Garrett died about 1899 when the pension was dropped off the rolls on 30 June 1899 due her death.

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