Category Archives: Tennessee Pryors

1822 – Peter Pryor and Green Pryor of Tennessee in NC Estate

Posted on by

State of North Carolina.
Rockingham County. Inequity.
April term, a d 1822.
Robert Galloway, administrator of the estate of Charles Galloway, deceased, against Elizabeth Gentry, administratrix of the estate of James Galloway, deceased, and others. It appearing to the court the
Thomas H Perkins
Nicholas Perkins
Peter Pryor
Green Pryor
Edward Williams
Green B Williams
Thomas Williams
Alexander M Williams
Thomas Worsham and Nancy his wife
Steven Coleman and Polly his wife
John T Johnston
Luis Dillabunty and Lucinda his wife
—- Hardy and Sally his wife
Meredith Johnston
Minerva C. Johnston
Nicholas Scales
Joseph H Scales
Robert Scales
Constant Scales
Peter Scales
George W. L. Man
John Man
William M Man
Sally Man
Constant H. P. Man
Peter N. Man
Agatha Man
Matthew Daniel and Agatha his wife
reside without this state, and they being part of the defendants to the bill of complaint filed in this state, it is ordered, that publication be made for 6 weeks in the Raleigh Register, for the above-named defendants and each of them to appear at the next term of this court, on the 5th Monday after the 4th Monday of September next, then and there to answer, plead or demur to the said bill, or the same will be taken Pro confesso against them, and heard ex parte. Test. James T Moorhead, c. M. E. May 4th 1822.
(Weekly Raleigh Register June 7th, 1822)

I took a look to see what I could find out about the people named in this notice.

Peter and Green Pryor

Peter and Green Pryor, the orphans who were raised in Williamson County, Tennessee. Peter and Green Pryor Pioneer Children of Williamson County by Dorris Callicott Douglass concludes they were the children of John Pryor and Elizabeth Perkins, who married Headly Stone after the death of John.

Nicholas Perkins

It’s probable, although there were several men who were named Nicholas Perkins, this Nicholas Perkins was one of the 3 men of this name counted on the 1820 Census in Williamson County, Tennessee.

Alexander M. Williams and Green B. Williams

He is possibly the Green B. Williams who was counted on the 1820 Census in Maury County, TN. Alexander M. Williams was counted in the same county in 1820.

Nicholas Scales and Peter Scales

Nicholas Scales married Elizabeth Perkins – Their children moved to Williamson County, TN (Clarion Ledger, Jackson MS August 27, 1963). Nicholas Scales was the Principal Assessor for the 5th Dist, Williamson County, TN (Nashville Whig, June 25 1816)

Peter Scales appointed assistant marshal for Rockingham County, NC in 1840 (North Carolina Star, March 25, 1840)

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , ,

Amherst County Legislative Petitions Pryor Signatures

Posted on by
Pryor signatures

Hello all, I’m back with some new Pryor posts. The Pryors are not my full-time job so sometimes like in these past month, I have to focus on work first. Thanks for inquiring about my good health while I was on a hiatus. My health is fine– I’ve just been blessed with a busy schedule.

I’m still intrigued by Pryor signatures. It’s interesting that on some documents (like census record) a Pryor claims not to be able to read nor write and yet they sign their name to another record years before or years later. Some documents, like petitions appear to be have been signed by one person (all the signatures are the same). That issue led me to question if some documents were merely transcriptions of the original.

Pryor Signatures

I’ve collected some Pryor signatures from Amherst county, VA. Some of the signatures, because of the date of the petition, help to place when a Pryor lived in the county. Sometimes the signature helps to place where the Pryor lived (ie. upper Amherst county). The nature of the petitions also give clues to what the Pryor was interested in. And at times when more than one Pryor signature appeared on a page, it could be a clue to who were Pryor kin or even Pryor neighbors.


Hartwell T. Pryor 
1849



1.23.1847
Jno Pryor (Jno Pryor)
Flour Inspection
Accession Number 36121, Box 13, Folder 25

1.6.1845.
Jno. Pryor, secretary
John Pryor, Director
President & Directors of the Lynchburg & Buffalo Springs Turnpike Company: Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 13, Folder 23


12.20.36
Hartwell T. Pryor, Robert H. Pryor, Wm Pryor Jr., Nicholas Pryor, Richard I Pryor. 
Inhabitants of Amherst & Lynchburg: Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 25


1.3.1833
John Pryor
Citizens Petition regarding bridges
Accession Number 36121, Box 12, Folder 76a

12.31.1830
John Pryor
Inhabitants of Amherst & Nelson: Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 12, Folder 71


12.28.1829
Richard I Pryor
Elections petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 12, Folder 65


12.7.1827
Ro H Pryor (Robert H Pryor)
Residents of Amherst, Nelson, & Albemarle: Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 12, Folder 61



12.21.1826
John Pryor and Thomas M Pryor (signature below Wiatt Gatewood)
Inhabitants of Amherst, Campbell, Bedford, & Lynchburg: Petition


12.22.1807
William Pryor and Wm Pryor Junr. (William Pryor Jr.)
Inhabitants petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 19

12.9.1807
John Pryor
Inhabitants of county: division of county
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 18

12.9.1803
Wm Pryor Jr. (William Pryor Jr)
Jesse Pryor
Inhabitants Petition: Flour Inspection
Accession Number 36121, Box 12, Folder 9


12.18.1800
John C Prior
Citizens of Upper Part of Amherst County Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 11, Folder 99


12.15.1800
David or Daniel Pryor, Wm Pryor?, John C Prior
Inhabitants: Remonstrance – Division of county
Accession Number 36121, Box 11, Folder 98


12.15.1798
William Pryor
Freeholders & Inhabitants: Remonstrance
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 13



Nicholas Pryor
Inhabitants Petition, Tobacco
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 9


Nicholas Pryor
Inhabitants Petition, Tobacco
Accession Number 36121, Box 11, Folder 73 


10.11.1792
William Pryor (near Zedikiah Shoemaker and Hugh McCabe), Nicholas Pryor, David Pryor
Flour Inspection Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 11, Folder 65

1790 – Earliest Pryor Signatures

10.20.1790
William Pryor (near Zedekiah Shoemaker), Wm Pryor
Inhabitants of Lexington Parish: Petition
Accession Number 36121, Box 307, Folder 2

*Pryor and Shoemaker were both living in Lexington Parish when they filed their applications for Revolutionary War pensions in 1832.

Category: Tennessee Pryors

Pryor Inheritance Announced for Noble Descendants

Posted on by

When I came across this a news article of a Pryor inheritance; I thought of all the Pryors who hope to find their ancestry in Wales:

A Fortune for somebody. The Marquis of Cordoroy, a Welch nobleman, whose family in a direct line has become extinct by his decease; has left a large personal property, worth, it is said, seven millions sterling. The family name is Pryor. which has been modernized into Pry. Numerous descendants are in America, and they are called upon by the Crown-officer, who has charge of lapsing estates, through the columns of the London Times. There are branches through the female line, entitled to shares, of the names of Smith, Tompkins, and Shores; and the Crown-officer says if there are any persons in America, by these names, they will notify him of that fact, their address, residence, &c. &c.— Not time should be lost in making applications they ought by all means to telegraph.
Arkansas Intelligencer, May 4, 1848

My suspicious were aroused by the use of “welch” rather than “welsh”. I think this akin to the modern-day email offers from Nigerian princes, although not on such a grand scale. I’ve searched for this article in other newspapers from the time and there are no other reports. There is no such person as the Marquis of Cordoroy, nor is there a Marquis of Corduroy. There’s not even a place named Cordoroy/Coorduroy.

I think this was a spoof played upon one of the Pryors living in Van Buren, Crawford County, AR. Cornelius D Pryor (a son of Nicholas Ballow Pryor of Nashville, TN) had been one of the editors of the Arkansas Intelligencer from 1845 to 1847. Perhaps the story was aimed at him or one of his kin living in the area.

If anyone can find anything different, let me know — willing to reconsider this one!

Category: Arkansas Pryors, Tennessee Pryors | Tags: ,

C J D Pryor: Semple’s Seminary in James City VA

Posted on by

“I have established on my Farm, in the County of James City, about 12 miles from Williamsburg, and about one mile to the est of the main stage road, a Male and Female Seminary, to which I beg leave to invite the attention of the public.”

“The Institution will be entirely under the direction of Mr. C.J. D. Pryor and such other teachers as he may associate with him.”

Richmond Enquirer, December 31, 1839

Pryor had taught at Hampton Academy before teaching at Semple’s Seminary.

Posted by John T. Semple, who was C.J.D. Pryor’s cousin in law. Semple was married to Elizabeth Armistead Pryor (C.J.D. and Elizabeth were both grandchildren of Christopher Pryor.

Category: Tennessee Pryors

Pryor and Taylor Names in Overton County Records

Posted on by

William B. Churning dec’d, Rachel Chourning adm. Money due to the following:
Roland Flowers due 1 Jan 1837
Overton PRYOR due 26 Apr. 1837
Hezekiah Taylor Jan 1832 (Brother of Spicy and Massie Taylor Pryor)
J.H. Storie, Overton PRYOR and Elijah Garrett $9.45 (William & Spicy Pryor>Overton Pryor)

13 Nov 1846 Estate Sale of Enid Huddleston, Levi and Roland Flowers buyers. (Edward Pryor, probable son of Wm and Spicy Pryor was living near a Roland Flowers in Clinton Co., KY in 1850)

27 Jul 1849 Joseph Bates estate, Hezekiah Taylor purchased 2 lots of shoemaker tools, 1 lot barrels, 1 large kettle, William Richardson also made a purchase (Hezekiah Taylor, brother to Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor. William Richardson may be kin of Hezekiah’s wife Margaret Richardson?)

1850 Estate of William Harp, dec’d. (The top part of this document is now obscured, but there are groups of debtors and creditors listed by the county they lived in). Persons in Overton Co..Jno. R. Buck, S. Tipton, Joseph Duncan. Persons in Fentress County: John Rogers, Jas. K. Brown, William Poor, Hiram Hills, Michael H. Frogg, William R. Cambell, William Travis?, James Finley?, Jacob Rich. Persons in Fentress County: Joshua Owens, David Smith, John Albertson, George W. Ashburn, Evan? D. Frogg, PLEASANT TAYLOR (note due June 1841), William M. Simpson, William Wright, –? Wood.

15 Aug 1850 Andrew Boswell dec’d, note due to Pleasant Taylor, Isaac Stockton and Eddy Paul: $100.91 (Pleasant Taylor, brother of Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor)

30 Jul 1852 William H. Harrison, 1 Dec. 1852… 19 head of geese for Mary, James, Wesley and Jeremiah Taylor.

Benjamin McDonald – supplemental. Joseph Garrett, David Garrett’s son a note dated 1852, Samuel Taylor (residence unknown) 1852, Robert B. Garrett (residence unknown) 1852 and 1853.

3 Jun 1853 Thomas Cope dec’d, J. M. Garrett, B. Flowers, Nancy Garrett, Louisa Garrett, Ki Taylor, J. Taylor, T. A. Garrett, John Taylor, Kiah Taylor (Kiah Taylor is probably Hezekiah Taylor, brother to Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor. )

30 Jul 1862, James Fancher dec’d, money due to William Parrott, Simeon Taylor and Samuel Taylor

7 May 1879 M. I. Taylor, M. V. Taylor , administrator

13 Aug. 1895 A. J. Taylor filed a claim of $25 against the estate of T. B. Lee, dec’d

20 Nov 1912 J. K. Taylor, J. S. Hargrove, administrator

20 Feb 1913 Mrs. M. C. Taylor

4 Jun 1913 J. W. Burnes filed claim against the estate of T. S. Taylor.

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , ,
← Newer Entries Older Entries →