Category Archives: Tennessee Pryors

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

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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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Pryors on Blackburn’s Fork of Roaring River in Jackson County, TN

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Confluence of Blackburn Fork Creek and Roaring River, Jackson Co, TN Confluence of Blackburn Fork Creek and Roaring River, Jackson Co, TN

I’ve been using the TN and NC Land Grants to put together a picture of which Pryors lived near one-another, get an idea of where they were from, and who was related to whom.  More than 5 years ago I wrote about the Pryors in Jackson and Williamson Counties who seem  to be related (Leroy B. Pryor – Part II: Can We Connect the Cousins?). Knowing where they lived seems to add perspective to their connection.

Nancy Crocker b. 1764 is suspected to be related to the Pryors — Polly and Rhoda Pryor, daughters of Henry B. Pryor of Williamson Co. were living in Jackson County in 1850 and married Crocker brothers.

1828 Land Grant In Jackson County, TN. To David Lovall assignee of Nancy Crocker, 50 acres per survey dated 1 June 1827 on West Side of Blackburn Fork of Roaring River, house where Nancy Crocker formerly lived. Dated 11 Sept 1828.

There were several Pryors near William Swearingin in 1840– Nancy, Allen and Cinda. William Swearinging was on Blackburn’s Fork so it’s probably safe to assume that Nancy Allen and Cinda were also living near that location. It’s interesting to see the Bruington name because William H. Pryor of Overton County was connected to the Bruingtons.

1830 Land Grant to James Bruington for land on Blackburn’s Fork of Roaring River. Near William Swearingin’s line.

Hewitt J Dennis is another name that connects the Pryors. Nancy Crocker was living with his family on the 1850 Census. His children share names with John Y Crocker’s family– Darcus, Sary. I believe Hewitt J Dennis went to Iron Co., MO with the Crockers and  Pryors.  There’s a 1870 marriage for a Hewitt J. Dennis performed by William T. Crocker in Iron Co. Hewitt J. Dennis bought property in Iron County in 1882.

1838 Land Grant to Hewitt J Dennis assignee of Leah Harris on the waters of Blackburn’s Fork of Roaring River on the East Side of William Pryor’s spring branch. Grant includes the house and improvements formerly occupied by William Pryor.

I wonder which William Pryor used to live on the land that was purchased by Hewitt J Dennis. Was it the William Pryor on the 1840 Census? Was it the William Pryor married to Alsey on the 1850 Census?

The last grant I found on Blackburn’s fork is sale of Nancy Pryor’s property, including her house, to Isaac Haney. This is the Nancy Pryor who I’ve referred to in the past as “Nancy the Weaver” due to her occupation. On the 1850 Census she was living with Love McGehee who was married to her daughter Cassa Pryor. The death record for Nancy’s son Amos Pryor stated his father was Caleb Pryor. I’ve never found a Caleb Pryor, so that’s another Pryor still open to research and debate.

1847 Land Grant in Jackson County, TN – No. 9388, Granted to Isaac Haney assignee of Nancy PRIER 50 acres per survey of 26 Sept 1838 on Blackburn’s Fork of Roaring River, near tract owned by David Lovall. The grant includes the house and improvements where Nancy Pryor was living. 30th June 1848.

So which Pryors are related? It certainly helps to know who was living around Blackburn’s Fork.

  • Alfred, Allen, and Thomas Pryor born 1808, 1810, 1813. Alfred and Allen were born in SC and Thomas on the 1850 and 1860 Census states he was born in TN. Alfred’s children migrated to Dent County, MO. Allen’s and Thomas’ widows and children migrated to Franklin County, IL.
  • Caleb Pryor b. 1800? married to Nancy the Weaver. All of their known children were alive in 1880 and stated their father was born in TN. Whether his actual name was Caleb or something else, I now suspect this man was a brother of Alfred, Allen, and Thomas Pryor due to all of their connections to Blackburn’s Fork.
  • Sarah or Sary Pryor b. 1764 who was living with John Y Crocker in 1850 is somehow related to the 4 Pryor men noted above.  Ah, but who was she married to? I’m wondering if it was someone obvious. Joseph Pryor of Tuscaloosa, AL was born about 1767. He was allegedly married to Sarah Patton or Odle. Could she have stayed behind rather than moving to AL or was she visiting TN?

I suspect this is another piece of the puzzle. Still playing with the whole picture and testing which pieces fit.

 

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William Pryor Photo with Overton County Connection

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41_georgenwilliam
This photo has been on the TN Pryor website for some time and is begging to be identified.  It was shared with the website by a descendant of Edward Pryor (son of Spicy and William Pryor) of Overton County, TN.  On the back is written “William Pryor and son George Pryor.”  I’ve mulled over this relationship with several researchers and we can’t come up with a William who was kin to Edward Pryor who would have been about this age in roughly the early 1900’s.

We’ve speculated that this may be Overton Pryor b. 1816. Was his full name William “Overton” Pryor?

Or was this William Anderson Pryor b. 1865 son of Edward Pryor and Eliza Knight with his son George Bryant Pryor b. 1893? William Anderson Pryor moved to Pulaski Co., KY after 1880 and lived there until his death in 1950. There’s even some question whether William Anderson was actually the son of Edward Pryor in that he was born while Edward was away serving in the Civil War and only Shadrack, Ellen and Eliza were stated to be his children on his Civil War pension application (William and 3 other children were omitted). Possilby the birth of 3 children while Edward was away explains why he and Eliza listed their marital status as divorced on the 1880 Census.

Can anyone give us a positive ID of these folks?

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Jesse Pryor of Knox County– Is He the Jesse Pryor in Overton County?

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juda-pryorWow, the TN Tax Lists are INTERESTING! In 1804 there was a Jesse Pryor on the Knox County Tax list. I can’t tell much about him — he had one pole and no acres recorded. There was also a Samuel Pryor in Knox County with the same status. They were both in Captain Steel’s Company that consisted of 66 taxpayers.

I wondered in print (Harris Pryor of Knox Co., TN and Bedford Co., VA) if Jesse Pryor of Knox County was the same Jesse Pryor who went to Overton County, TN.  Myself and other researchers have long speculated that Jesse was the father of Juda Pryor who married William Huston Hummel (Juda is on the 1850 Census with an older Anna Pryor who may be her mother). When Juda’s son John McDonald Hummel died in 1915 his mother was reported as “Julie Pryor” born in “East Tenn.” How about that… Knox County is in East Tennessee.

If Jesse is the of Harris Pryor of Bedford County, then I suspect Samuel is related to this line. They seem to stick with each other through the records. This is the point to pour your second cup of coffee before we jump into the puzzle.

Yes, the pieces of the puzzle start to stack up to complete the picture that Jesse and Samuel were related.

  • Samuel and Jesse were on the 1804 Tax List in Knox County – Both living in Captain Steel’s Company.
  • The administratrix of Samuel Pryor’s estate was Fanny Ferguson Pryor and a later Roane County court case ID’s Samuel Pryor as the grandfather of P. Miller Freels. There was a John Foggueson (sic) also in Captain Steel’s Company on the 1804 Knox County Tax List.  John Ferguson may have been Fanny’s brother as there is a John Ferguson, deceased, named on a 1839 Cumberland County Chancery Court suit that also names Fanny Pryor and her children.
  • Jesse Pryor is spectulated to be the father of Juda Pryor Hummel of Overton County whose son’s death record states she was born in East Tennessee.
  •  Samuel Pryor died in Anderson County, TN in about 1815 (that’s when Fanny was appointed administratrix). There’s a Jesse Pryor on the 1805 Tax List for Anderson County. Jesse was recorded as #119. I found #85 Isaac Freels, #96 Burrell Hudson, #157 and #158 were Edward and Thomas Freels, #191 John Rector–a daughter of Samuel and Fanny Pryor married Edward Freels around 1813 or earlier. Another daughter, Mary, married Barry Hudson. John Rector was recorded near Fanny Pryor and her son Harris Pryor on the 1830 census in Roane County.
  • Jesse Pryor, son of Harris Pryor and Mary Kinnerson was from Bedford Co., VA. Juda Pryor Hummel stated her parent’s place of birth as VA on the 1880 Census.
  • The Jesse Pryor on the 1830 Census in Overton Co., TN was born between 1771-1780. Samuel’s wife is on the 1830 Census in Roane Co., TN and was also born between 1771-17780, so perhaps Samuel was also born about the same time, which would make Samuel and Jesse contemporaries.
  • I believe sons of Harris Pryor of Bedford County, VA came to Knox County at the end of the 1790’s. In 1799 William Pryor (Harris’ oldest son) signed a petition for tax relief for an impaired neighbor (Richard Shields). In 1801 Harris Jr. (he didn’t use Jr on documents – I’m just using it to distinguish him from his father) was on the deliquent tax list for Knox County. In 1801 Jesse Pryor was a defendant in a crime.
  • Samuel is not mentioned in any Bedford County, VA records so, I don’t yet see how he’s related, though he lived around Harris’ family in TN and named his son Harris.

Happy to hear from anyone who wants to contribute to this theory with a pro or con!

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