I’ve wondered for some time where the Haymarket Gardens amusement park was located in Richmond, VA. This was the house and park owned by Major John Pryor, retired Revolutionary War soldier and ex-husband of Anne Beverly Whiting. I stumbled upon a map of Poe’s Richmond. Yes, that’s the same guy who was the founder of modern mystery fiction, author Edgar Allen Poe. Who knew that Poe would even remotely tie into the Pryors!
Ann Beverly Whiting, the future mother of explorer John C Fremont lived there. President Jefferson’s cousin stayed there and to some accounts was treated more like a servant than a house guest. Major Pryor’s Revolutionary War Widow’s pension file has a sworn statement in it that Rev. Edmund Lacy, a methodist minister, performed Major Pryor’s second marriage to Elizabeth Quarles Graves at Haymarket Gardens.
The map states “1799 site of Pryor’s or Haymarket Gardens, was on Petersburg R. R. Station location, Byrd and 7th Sts.” I’ve added a small red dot to mark the location above. Major Pryor died in 1823, while Poe was living in Richmond. I wonder if the Haymarket was still in operation at that time or if had already closed to make way for the railroad station.
I wonder where Major Pryor was buried. Centenary Methodist is a 200 year old church in the Richmond.
