Forgotten TN Pryor in Pennsylvania

Posted on by

Popular history covers the frequent migrations of pioneers over the Appalachian trail from Virginia and the Carolinas. But what about the people who were born in the frontier and returned to the East?

James R. Pryor, the lone Tennessee Pryor on the census records of Blair Co., PA has been identified by his descendant. In 2005 I was contacted by a Pryor researcher who offered terrific information that connects him to the Pryors of McNairy County, TN. James R. is now identified as JAMES RICHARD Pryor. His grave marker states his name as J. Richard, although the 1870 and 1880 Census records in PA state his name as James R. His descendant has discovered through an old letter and family information that James Richard came from McNairy County. He was captured during the Civil War while serving in the Confederate Army and when released, stayed in the North. There is a Richard Pryor of the correct age on the 1850 census in McNairy County, living in the home of Andy Smallwood.

Category: Blogroll, Genealogy, Instant Downloads | Tags: , , , ,

Was a Pryor at Mountain Meadows Massacre?

Posted on by

I was recently contacted by a researcher who is looking for information on any Pryor family members who may have been on the ill-fated wagon train that was attacked in 1857.

In 1857 a group of settlers from Carroll, Benton and Johnson County, Arkansas were ambushed outside of Cedar City, UT in what would become known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. 17 children lived and were returned to their families in Arkansas.

I’ve searched several of the websites who mention the names of the survivors and victims, but have not been able to find any Pryors. There were several Pryor families in Arkansas at that time, but no one seems to be missing from the census records. I’ve looked at the family of Lindsey W. Pryor who was reported to have died en route to the California Gold Rush. I suspect that he died before 1850 (his widow may be the Jane McMillan with son John S. counted on the 1850 Census in Franklin Co., MO).

Is anyone award of a Pryor that may have been involved in this tragic event?

Category: African-Americans, Genealogy, Missouri Pryors, Research Help | Tags: , , , , ,

“SEARCH” Added to Website

Posted on by

Now that the TN PRYOR WEBSITE has grown to  more than 200 pages it was time to add a search box. It’s now on every page!

Category: Genealogy, Missouri Pryors

Virginian Pryor Traveled to Tennessee

Posted on by

I stumbled upon Benjamin Pryor and wife Fanny on the 1850 Census in Henrico Co., VA.  His birth was recorded as Tennessee. I’ve wondered which line of Tennessee Pryors he descends from. Was that a census taker’s mistake? (No, his children also stated their father was born in TN on the 1880 Census and later). Who was his family in Tennessee? Which line of Tennessee Pryors does he connect with?

Finally an answer!  I found the will of William S. Pryor of Hanover County, VA. William was one of the more urbane Pryors. He left a piano forte to his daughter Ellen and stressed that he wanted his children to receive training in music and “languages”– a traditional “English” education. William wrote his will in about 1835 and added codicils that give insight to his family’s status and identity. His son Benjamin and wife F. B. are named in one of the codicils.

“King and Queen County, Virginia” By Alfred Bagby indicates that Doctor William S. (Smith) Pryor was the son of David Pryor and Susan Ballow. Several of David Pryor’s children migrated from Virginia to Tennessee: Judge John C. Pryor who married Anne Bullard (or Bullock) in Nashville in 1818 and settled in DeSoto Co., MS; Leonard Pryor who died 1830 in Sumner Co., TN; Zachariah Pryor counted on the 1820 and 1830 Census in Davidson Co., TN; and Nicholas Ballow Pryor who married 1813 in Sumner Co. and was in Davidson Co. in 1820-1830.

The birth of his son in Tennessee is the only tie to that state I am able to find for William Pryor.

Sources:
1. “Hanover County Chancery Wills and Notes: a compendium of genealogical, biographical, and … ” By William Ronald Cocke
2. “King and Queen County, Virginia” By Alfred Bagby
3. “National calendar, and annals of the United States, for … 1822-1824; National calendar, for … 1828-1831; National calendar, and annals of the United States 1832-1835” by Peter Force
4. “The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography” By Virginia Historical Society

Category: Genealogy

John Pryor and Rebecca Cook: Connection to Other Pryors?

Posted on by

I’ve heard from a researcher who is working on the line of William Pryor who married Mahala Lewis in Montgomery Co., AR.  William is probably William Henry Pryor who was born in 1829 in TN, the same man who served in Co. H. , 1 (Colquitt’s Arkansas Infantry) during the Civil War.  It’s suspected that he’s the Henry Pryor who was working as a farm hand in Wilson Co., TN in the Ricketts household at the time of the 1850 Census.

Some researchers have included Henry William Pryor as a son of John Pryor and wife Rebecca Cook.

So which line of Pryors is this John Pryor from?  He was married in Rutherford Co., TN in 1823.  There’s an Allen Pryor on the 1820 Census in Rutherford Co. John and Rebecca were on the 1830 and 1840 Census in Wilson Co., TN. From these census entries we can surmise that John was born between 1800 and 1810. By 1850 John was probably deceased, his wife and several children were in Chistian Co., KY.

I’m now wondering if John Pryor is the connection to link up some of the “straggling” Pryors in the census records. There’s the Allen Pryor in Rutherford Co. 1820, then an Allen Pryor on the 1830 and 1840 Jackson Co. census. We know the Allen born in 1810 in SC and living Jackson Co. in 1850 is related to the Thomas Pryor born 1813/1814 in TN who was living in Wilson Co., TN in 1850. Are John, Allen (and Alfred in Jackson Co.), and Thomas related? How?

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