Benjamin Pryor appears only on the 1850 Census. By that time he was living with William O. Pryor in Ellis Co., TX. Benjamin was born about 1788 in Virginia. I’m alway curious when I find an “older” Pryor on the records and then can’t find them in earlier census, so I set out to try to fill in the “blanks”… where was Ben Pryor living, who was he related to?
I found in 1807 that Benjamin W. Pryor had a letter waiting for him at the Nashville Post Office. Not only did this provide a middle initial for this Pryor, but it again helped to establish ties to Tennessee.
Google Books has been a terrific resource. I found that a B. W. Pryor in 1813 was subscribing to a publication called the “Mountain Muse” apparently book of the adventures of Daniel Boone. While the book recounts frontier stories, it was published in Rockingham, VA. The copy of the book in Google bears the personal inscription of the owner, Matthias Coats 1830 and later a Collin Coats. The book is poetry in the elevated language of the English poets (it would be a while before America had a Mark Twain!).
“His word a lively echo found.
O yes! companions in the joys of bliss!
We will refine, exalt, and humanize
Th’ uncivilized Barbarians of the West.
The point? The persons who subscribed to this book either had to know the author or were somewhat scholarly, educated readers.
B. W. Pryor is noted in “The Letters and Times of the Tylers” by Lyon G. Tyler, published in 1884. The book contains an account of a ballot cast in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1815-1816 session states Pryor was from Elizabeth City, an intimate friend of John Tyler, and a vetern of the Battle of Hampton (1813 battle during the War of 1812). John Tyler was a graduate of William and Mary College and became the 10th President of the US in 1840. In another account of Pryor’s heroics in the Battle of Hampton (Calendar of Virginia State Papers, published 1892) he is referred to as “Captain”.
In the 1820’s B. W. Pryor was still affluent and still in Virginia. “An Account of General LaFayette’s Visit to Virginia, in the Years 1824-1825” (pub. 1881), he is listed as a member of a committee to make arrangements for the Revolutionary War hero’s visit and is recorded as General B. W. Pryor.
So now knowing Pryor’s place of residence I went back to find him on the census. I found him in the Ancestry index to the 1820 Census listed as B. W. Tryon (Ooos!). His age in 1820 was between 26 and 45 (born 1775-1794), which puts him in the right age range to be Benjamin W. Pryor born in 1788.
I found “B. W.” Pryor on the 1810 Census in Elizabeth City, VA (left image), however the name on the census record doesn’t look like Benjamin or an abbreviation thereof. So, I went back to look at the Benjamin Pryor in Ellis Co., TX. Is he the same man who was in Elizabeth City, VA?
The Pryor in Ellis Co. arrived there around 1846. In 1850 he was living with William Oscar Pryor who was born 1827 in Louisiana (LA on the 1850 Census and TN on the 1860 & 1870 Census). William O. was either a late-comer to Texas or had ties to Tennessee in that he married Laura E. Barnard in 6 January 1850 in Tipton Co., TN. I’ve suspected that William was Benjamin’s son since William named a son “Benjamin.” Land records ID the elder Pryor as Benjamin W.
Where was Benjamin and William in 1830 and 1840? I uncovered another indexing error on Ancestry: Benjamin Pzzer (double Ooops!) in Nashville, Davidson Co., TN on the 1830 Census. This Benjamin was 60 to 69 years old, born 1760 to 1770. This Benjamin Pryor is recorded on the same page as Nicholas B. Pryor, however any connection is questioned since the census was recorded in alpha order.
Some researchers state there was one John C. Pryor: the brother of Nicholas B. Pryor b. 1771-1780 of Nashville and the same John C. Pryor b. 1794 in VA who married Ann Bullard and lived in Franklin Co., TN, Rapides Co., LA, and Desoto Co., MS. Yet another John C. born 1761-1770, the one who had married the mother of explorer John C. Fremont, was living in Elizabeth City, VA . The John C. born in 1794 was from VA and lived in LA and TN like Benjamin W.
Without a conclusion to this query, it should be noted that the Pryors in Elizabeth City were well-educated. B. W. appears to have supported poetry and attended grammer school at William and Mary College. John C. Pryor of Elizabeth City witnessed a will of for a John Tyler (not the President) and sat on the board of Govenors of William and Mary College, leading speculation that he was connected to B. W. Pryor.
Whew! Work is needed to tie all the loose ends together
