Category Archives: Virginia Pryors

Knox County TN Pryors: William Pryor from Botetourt Co., VA?

Posted on by

Click image to enlarge

Who knows, I may look at the projected line of Harris Pryor, thinking they connect to John Pryor and Mary New only to find they connect to another line all together. I’ve had to tweak the Botetourt County Pryor Chart by “annexing” some of the Knox County Pryors.

I also looked up William Anderson (the guy on the Harris Pryor bastardy case) in the the Virginia Chancery Cases. I found a man by that name had been sued by Archibald Franklin (who appears to be the relative of Harris Pryor (Sr) as he had a son in law named Edmund Franklin).

There’s another Chancery case in Bedford County, VA filed in 1805:  Thornton Pryor vs Archibald Franklin, et al. Joined as plaintiffs Thornton Pryor, Peter Nance, and John A. Anthony against Thomas Creasy.

Lets go  back to Knox County. I was able to get my hands on a 1836 case from the Knox County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions: State vs. William Pryor and Pryor Nance. This is one of those twists in the road where the Pryors give me a true headache — are we looking at one Pryor line or two Pryor lines in Knox County?

The headache stems from Botetourt County, VA where descendants of Samuel and Prudence Pryor married into the Nance family. Then by 1805 there’s the lawsuit mentioned above in Bedford County that appears to involve the Botetourt line. In the same year John Pryor (son of Joseph Pryor from Botetourt County?) married Sally Nance in Bedford County (Peter Nance surety). It doesn’t make it true, but numerous researchers have posted online that Pryor Nance in Knox County is the son of Peter Nance and Mary “Polly” Pryor. Pryor Nance married in Knox County in 1833; I haven’t seen any earlier records of the Nance family in Knox County.

The 1836 court record is very short, all that was located is a sheet tallying the costs, it includes the following names:
Justin Lindsey
C—? L Cox, warrants
Sheriff (William) Dunlap
James Badgett witness
Allen Perry witness
J. P. Kennedy witness
Susan Badgett witness

Allen Perry and James Badgett are on the same page of the 1830 Census in Knox County.

I’m glad I write a blog and it’s always in flux. I have thought that the Pryors in Knox County who match the names of sons of Harris Pryor in Bedford County, VA were all his sons, however we need to leave the decision open pending more documentation– William Pryor and some of the other Pryors in Knox County appear to be from the line that settled Botetourt County, VA.

This discovery also changes my own list of 5 lines to test for my own Pryor family DNA. I need a DNA tester from the family of Harris Pryor (his children and their descendants or from his brother’s descendants). If Harris is from the line of Boutetourt County Pryors, I won’t need a DNA tester at all– because we aren’t related.

Using the Knox County records, I tried to separate out Harris and William Pryor:

1799 – William Pryor signed petition for tax relief
1805 – Harris fathered child with Keziah Maxey
1806 – Harris Pryor on the tax list
1807 – Harris Pryor married Keziah Maxey
(1819 Harris Pryor in Louisville)
1830 – Harris Pryor (born 1761-1770 with 3 males in his household ages somewhere between 15 to 30 which may include the child born in 1805 to Keziah Maxey)

1830 – William Pryor on the census (born 1791-1800, likely not the William Pryor who signed petition in 1799 – ages don’t match up)
1831 – Deed William and Nancy Pryor & Burwell F. Badgett to Jabez Thurman, witnessed by Reuben Tipton, Nancy Badgett, and John Gordon
1835 – James Pryor married Lucy Cruse, bondsman Jacob Kennedy and William Pryor
1839 – Samuel Pryor married Merrian Crews

I can’t completely tease out the Pryors or merge them together as one family, however it should be noted that by 1820 Peter Nance was in Breckinridge County, KY as was Juggy Pryor (Harris’ sister) and her husband Richard Mays.

HINT: If you want to see the chart larger… just click on it .

Category: About TN Lines, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , ,

Explaining Botetourt County, VA Pryors

Posted on by

Chart - Botetourt

Here goes… Botetourt County.

It’s another of my charts that attempt to make sense out of what we’ve found this year. I’ve used numbers in identifying the Pryors who link to the line of Samuel and Prudence Thornton. I’ve used letters for the Pryors who I can’t yet identify a line. Even then I think there are a few questionable matches… they just may not be from the lines they appear to be from!

  • I’m pretty sure that Joseph, Luke, and John were brothers. They are named as brothers in Luke’s (#2) will. Joseph owned land on Looney’s Creek.
  • I’m certain that Samuel Pryor (#8) was NOT the brother of Joseph, Luke, and John because their brother Samuel died in 1766 (see Chancery Court suits in prior posts). Samuel seems likely to be the Samuel Thornton Pryor who was the executor of his father William Pryor and his mother Sarah (Wood) estates. I’ve gone through the other grandchildren of Samuel and Prudence who were named Samuel and they were either dead or living in other counties, or too not yet adults in 1800 to be called as a witness on the suit involving Norvell. There’s always the possibility that he’s not that Samuel, but the Samuel who eventually married Fannie Ferguson and died in 1815 in Anderson County, TN.
  • John Pryor (#9) who sold land on Looney’s Creek is possibly, though not probable yet, Luke and Joseph’s brother. John was married to Mary Dennis. He died in 1785, so perhaps he was cleaning up his estate when he sold the land.  He may also be the John Pryor who was in Albemarle and Campbell County, however not enough information is available and we don’t have the name of his wife.
  • I’m not convinced that John (#9) who was married to Mary on Looney’s Creek is the same man who fought in Captain Preston’s Rangers. I think the one who fought with the Rangers is more likely to be an older John Pryor.
  • The Mitchell Bible said Samuel and Prudence had a son Frank Pryor. So where is Frank or Francis in records????

This was a good exercise to see who was in Botetourt and when. All ideas welcomed.

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Mary Kennerson Pryor born around 1720

Posted on by

I’ve been checking more of the families who associated with the Pryors. Going back to an older post I wrote about Harris Pryor (see post) I was able to ID Harris’ wife as Mary Kinnerson. I gotta say the handwriting is really difficult. Her surname is written at least 3 times in the Chancery Court case I used to ID her. The best 3 examples I’ve shown below:

kinnerson

You can see, sometimes it’s spelled in the document with a “C” and sometimes it’s spelled with a “K”. I looked up the name online and saw that it’s a variation of Gunnison, Gunneson, Kenneson, Kenniston, Kennison, Kennerson, Gunnerson, and Kenson.  I’m adding this to my list with Pryor and Ballew that have more variations than you can shake a stick at.

They must be out there. I just haven’t found anyone living near the Pryors in Prince Edward County, Bedford County, Henrico County, or Goochland County with similar surnames.

You’ll notice familiar names on the deed below (George David vs. Harris Pryor, filed in Prince Edward Co., VA 1773). Yes, it’s Charles and Landis Patteson/Patterson who with Harris Pryor, were witnesses to the will of John Wright in Prince Edward County in 1775 (John Wright was the son in law of John Pryor and Mary New).

harris pryor

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , ,

Who Married William Pryor and Spicy Taylor?

Posted on by

William Pryor and Spicy Taylor of Overton County, TN were married 18 August 1809 in Campbell County, VA. Consent was given by the bride’s father, Edward Taylor. If ages from the census records are correct, William was between 39 – 48 years old. Spicy was 19. William’s age may indicate this was a second marriage for him. John Taylor was both a bondsman and a witness (probably Spicy’s brother John—we know she had a brother by that name because he is named with the family in an 1829 indenture in Overton County, TN – Deed Book F, page 176). The marriage was performed by Samuel Davidson. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find Rev. Samuel Davidson and see if there were any clues to the whereabouts of William and Spicy.

Samuel Davidson was in Lynchburg, Campbell, Co., VA in 1810. Familiar surnames around him are Josiah Patteson, James Bailey, Richard Pollard, Overton Evans, William Oglesby, Alexander Davidson, James Maxey, William Taylor, John Woodson, Jacob Woodson, James Taylor, George Davidson, Wirt Taylor, Robert Wright, Robert Wright Sr., George Wright, Silvy Wright.

One researcher posted online- “Rev. Samuel Davidson married Frances Oglesby on 18 Oct 1802 in Campbell County, VA, and he died in Appomattox County, VA around 1861. He had a son named Reverend John A. Davidson.”  This is an excellent clue as it coincides with what we already suspect about the location of this Pryor line—they lived in the part of Campbell County that became Appomattox County in 1845.  It also states Davidson’s family was in Prince Edward County which we already know that through divisions part of it became Campbell County.

Frances Oglesby is important too because she was the daughter of Richard Oglesby. Her sister, Mary Polly Oglesby, had married Hezekiah Taylor a relation of Edward Taylor (not to be confused with Edward’s son who was also named Hezekiah Taylor).

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: ,

Digging for Deeds Pertaining to Pryors in Campbell County, VA

Posted on by

Campbell County Pryor FamiliesThis post is all about my current genealogy search for my own line of my family tree. I’ve been posting about other Pryor lines, mostly what I find as I work my way through records that may lead to my own family. The fact is, and I’ve shared this with several researchers, I’m stuck in 1812.

1812 is interesting on 3 points… and these 3 points are the last records in VA before my Pryor line started showing up in TN.

1. There is supposed to be a 1812 deed in Campbell County, VA for the sale of the property of John Pryor, deceased, which involves his sons John and William.

2. Son John, who I believe is my ancestor, married on December 23, 1812 to Massa Taylor in Campbell County, VA (a Quaker marriage).

3. Son William, who I believe to be the brother of my ancestor and married to Massa’s sister Spicy (another Quaker marriage in 1809), was serving in the War of 1812. He was in Joel Parrish’s unit, a man who was counted near him on census records in Overton Co., TN.

Why does 1812 matter? Because I haven’t been able to find John (Sr.) on the 1810 census nor his son John (Jr.) in 1820. The connection of these people is tenuous without the records to prove it.  I could make a leap out of 1812 and onward (and I think I know into which Pryor line), but there’s no solid evidence. Yet.

So, I’ve contacted the Campbell County court house to get the deed from 1812 to see what the exact language is and maybe get some more hints to the heirs of John Pryor. I’ve also requested the 1788 deed to John Pryor for what appears to be the same land in Campbell County. Wouldn’t be nice if the deed has specific wording that points to John’s parents, siblings and place of origin? I know… I’m awfully optimistic!

I’m asking this question: Do I have all the deeds for my line of Pryors? I’ll know more when I get the deeds from Campbell County. I’m also asking other researchers, “Do you have all the deeds?” Let’s not rely on those truncated, abbreviated, shorthand deed extractions in the books. Let’s get our hands on copies of the deeds and make some headway!

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