Kentucky Pryor Signatures on Mercer County KY Marriage Bonds

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Comparing signatures can feel like figuring out if you’ve got the right name for any of John and Kate’s sextuplets… after a while they all look the same! The samples below are of 4 John Pryor signatures from Mercer County. They range from 1793 to 1833.

I think #1 and #3 were written by the same hand. The “J” in John has a bottom loop that floats to the left. The “P” has a straight back and the “y” has a bottom loop that points almost to the same angle as the bottom of the “J” in both signatures.

The second and fourth signatures are up for good guesses. I think the fourth is the most interesting because it’s signed by John Pryor and witnessed by people who signed their names “Prior”.

1793 Marriage Bond from Mercer County, KY – John PRYOR and William Robertson, for marriage of William Robertson and Sally PRYOR. Witness Thomas Allen.

robertson-pryor

1795 Marriage Bond in Mercer County, KY – William Crawford and John PRYOR for marriage of William Crawford to John Pryor’s daughter Mary PRYOR. Signed 12 May 1795

crawford-pryor-2

1795 Marriage Bond in Mercer County, KY – William Crawford and John PRYOR, for marriage of John Pryor to Mary Crawford signed 18 May 1795.

crawford-pryor

1811 Marriage Bond in Mercer County, KY – Rebecca PRYOR, daughter of John Pryor to William Martin. Witnesses John PRIOR and Agnes PRIOR. Signed 23 September 1811.

john-pryor-agnes

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Category: Kentucky Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Judge William H Pryor Jr. – Possible Trump Appointee

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I recently read that a Pryor is being considered for an appointment in the Trump administration. I wondered which Pryor line he could trace his ancestry to. From his photo he doesn’t look to be one of the red-headed Pryors.

Judge William H Pryor Jr (photo from Wikipedia)

Judge William H Pryor Jr (photo from Wikipedia)

 

Wikipedia states he is the son of William Holcombe Pryor Sr. and Laura Louise Bowles. William H. Pryor was born in Mobile, AL. I located his parents marriage announcement in the newspaper. It states his grandfather was William F. Pryor of Mobile.

Monroe Morning World, 28 August 1960

Monroe Morning World, 28 August 1960

William Frank Pryor was born about 1889 in AL, but is one of the Pryors who were in Florida at the turn of the century. .

The Pensacola journal., July 24, 1906, Page PAGE [THREE], Image 3
Frank Pryor, formerly of this city, but now of Mobile, spent Sunday here and was cordially greeted by his many friends. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. O. M. Pryor are now located in Mobile.

The 1906 announcement (above) helps to ID his parents as Obed Pryor and Susie Nord (the judge’s great grandparents).

1900 Census Escambia Co., FL
Pensacola Pct 13, ED#22, sheet 19a, house 723 Obed M PRYOR July 1861 AL GA GA furniture dealer, Sallie C. wife Mar 1870 30 AL AL Al, William F son Jan 1889 11 AL, DeWitt M. son May 1890 10 AL, Lillian L. dau Oct 1891 AL, Leana dau May 1893 7 FL, Rothmeyer dau Nov 1894 5 FL, Fannie Mae dau Apr 1896 4 FL.

Obed Pryor was the son of Francis Pryor and wife Caroline who were on the 1860 Census in Butler County, AL  I did some digging on Francis a couple years ago and the post can viewed online. (read more). The Pryors were slave owners, possessing one female black around age 22 in 1860. Francis’ personal estate was recorded as $1500 on the 1860 Census.

Category: Alabama Pryors | Tags: ,

Joseph Pryor and John Pryor Signatures in Bourbon and Owen Counties KY

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I heard from another researcher in answer to the last post. Thank you to Beverly Watson from the My Jackson Purchase Families website. She has an 1815 Bond from Bourbon County, KY signed by Joseph Pryor and John Pryor. These men were seeking a bond to open a tavern. It looks like their signatures are a very good match to the signatures on the 1829 marriage bond for Juliet Pryor in Owen County, KY.

I think the strongest part of the match are the “P” in both Pryor signatures. It’s also a good match on the tilt of the “h” in Joseph and the loop shape and direction in the “y” in John Pryor.

Since Joseph Pryor Sr. was deceased by about 1813, the signature is most likely Joseph Pryor Jr. on both documents.

Another observation is the time span between documents… 14 years. John Pryor’s projected year of birth from most researchers is about 1773. He was 77 at the time of the 1850 Census. It’s interesting that his signature was consistent.

Category: Kentucky Pryors | Tags: , , , , , ,

Joseph Pryor, John Pryor and Thornton Pryor Signatures

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There are 3 Pryor signatures on a bond signed in Owen County, KY.  Signatures on the marriage bond of Juliet Prior (sic) are dated 30 March 1829. It’s possible that the Joseph, John and Thornton who signed the bond were brothers, sons of Joseph Pryor Sr. Joseph Pryor Sr. died in about 1813 (his will was probated in February 1813) — making it unlikely that he was the Joseph who signed the bond.

thornton-pryor-1

Is this the same Joseph Pryor who signed as a witness on the estate of Thomas Lang in 1804 in Botetourt County? I created a graphic to do a side by side comparison. The signature on the left is from 1829 and the one on the right is from 1804.

Even if we aren’t handwriting experts we can look at these signatures and make some comparisons.

  • The “J” on the left has a bottom loop that tilts upward and more left. Its tail intersects with itself. The “J” in left sample ends with a tail that flows to the right, connecting with the “o”.
  • The “o” in Joseph differs between signatures. On the left, it’s open at the top and connects with the next letter. The right “o” is made from the tail of the “J” and doesn’t connect.
  • The left “s” is in cursive. The right “s” is in printed font.
  • The “p” in Joseph is also different in both scripts. On the left it has a tail with a loop at the bottom and on the right there is no loop.
  • On the left the “h” connects to the “p” and on the right the “h” stands alone.
  • Both “r”s in Pryor are made the same on the left as well as on the right, however they differ in structure in both signatures.
  • The capital “P” in each signature differ wildly as does the “y”

joseph pryor botetourt

My rudimentary conclusion is that the signatures were not made by the same person. Perhaps they were written by Joseph Sr. and Joseph Jr. of even someone else.

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , ,

George L Pryor, black attorney and politician

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george-pryor-black-lawyer

George L Pryor is on the 1900 Census in Norfolk. He was recorded as born May 1857 and “black” which means he was an African American born before the end of slavery. He and both of his parents were born in Virginia and his profession is recorded as “lawyer”.

He married Mary Sewell in Norfolk in 1888. His parents were recorded as P Pryor and L. A. Pryor.

George L is on the 1880 census in Elizabeth City, VA in the household of Peter Pryor and Lucy A. Pryor. George’s occupation at that time was “school teacher.” Both Peter and Lucy were recorded as “black” and Peter’s profession was recorded as carpenter and Lucy was a seamstress.

The 1870 Census was the first census after the end of slavery. Peter Pryor and his family, including George, were recorded in Elizabeth City. Peter was a carpenter and owned a house worth $1200 and had a personal estate valued at $200. Peter was recorded as a mulatto at this time, indicating he was part white.

George L Pryor appears to have been a prominent African-American engaged in politics.

  • 1880 speaker at Republican gathering in Hampton, VA (Richmond Dispatch, 28 August 1880)
  • 1881 appointed clerk in the pension office (Baltimore Sun, 9 April 1881)
  • 1884 represented Norfolk, VA at the Republican National Convention.
  • 1888 represented Norfolk, VA at the Republican National Convention.
  • 1896 second vice president of Republicans in Norfolk, 4th Ward.
  • 1897 secretary for the development of the first colored beach resort
  • 1898 recognized by the Federal government as an agent to prosecute cases before the Department of Interior. He was disbarred from this practice in 1898 without explanation. (National Archives)
  • 1900 he was the president of the Central Republican League. (Virginian-Pilot, March, 15, 1900)

1901 appears to have been a rough year for George L Pryor. The Times in Richmond reported that he was also a clerk at the Navy Yard and was fined for charging illegal fees in a pension case as a government employee.

My curiosity is piqued on how out of slavery George L Pryor became a lawyer. How did he get from point A to point C?

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , ,
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