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!
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
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?
Have you found the (old link not available)? The project was started a couple years ago to attempt to identify all Pryors who had were born in or resided in Tennessee before 1850. The project is in the form of a Google spread sheet and can be accessed through the Tennessee Pryor Project link on the website. It’s in alpha order by first name and contains known information, such as year of birth and year of death, places the person resided, their parents and their spouse. Today the 508th Pryor was added to the chart– Nancy Pryor Tittsworth born 1795 in Sullivan Co., TN.
I admit I’m a bit behind. I’m not whining. I’m just catching up.
I’ve added more photos to the website.
Edgar Lawrence Pryor b. 1877 Marion County, TN
William Allen Pryor b. 1895 in Pickett County, TN
Enjoy.