Rhoda Pryor, a widow, shows up on the 1910 Census in Lynchburg, VA in 1910. I looked around online to see if I could find a marriage for her to a Pryor. I now think I know who she married. Continue reading
Greenwich, CT is noted for old wealth and high society. So a marriage announcement for a Pryor wedding in Greenwich can be assumed to be a society event. The marriage of Jacques F. Pryor was announced in the New York Tribune in January 1921, stating the family was from New York and Greenwich (a double-barreled proclamation of social status!). Follow this link to view the original newspaper on the Library of Congress website:
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1921-01-16/ed-1/seq-43/#date1=1836&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Pryor&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=17&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=Pryor&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=33
But these Pryors weren’t always living on the East Coast. Jacques F. Pryor was living with in his father’s household in 1910 in St. Louis, MO. His father was Samuel Frasier Pryor. On the 1910 Census his grandmother Frances Frasier Pryor (nee Bailey) was was also living in the household. Frances Bailey married Joseph W. Pryor in 1850 in Fayette County, VA. They later lived in Marion County, MO. There is an unsourced bio of Joseph W. Pryor www.genealogy.com/ftm/p/r/y/Daniel-Corbit-Pryor/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0161.html that states his parents were William Pryor and Charity Bynum.
Charles McClung is mentioned in Kanawha County, VA– more precisely with George Clendenning’s fort that began the settlement of Charleston, WV (see researcher’s post). McClung, Clendenning, and 3 Pryors were recorded on the 1792 Kanawha Tithetables.
Joseph Carroll
Geo. Clendenin
Wm. Clendenin
Alex. Clendenin
Shadrack Harriman (married to Susannah Pryor, probably daughter of William Pryor of Amherst County, VA)
John Jones
Chas. McClung
Leonard Morris
Abner Pryor
Allen Pryor
Wm. Pryor
There’s record of Allen Prior (the man from Connecticut?) meeting with Clendenning and McClung in 1793.
Jan 27th, 1793 – George Clendenin to the Governor (of VA). Clendening wrote the governor concerning two scouts that were appointed to protect the garrison in Kanawha from Indian attach. The Scouts were Charles McClung and Lewis Newton. Clendenin sent the Governor a certificate of service to sign for the scouts. Allen PRIOR brought him the certificate and request for payment to the scouts. [Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts]
Earlier in the same month, Clendenning was recorded with the name William Pryor:
Jan. 1st, 1793 – Information from Col. Clendenin, Major Clendinin, and co. received Col. Donnelly (Donnally?) and Watkins. Received from Capt. John Morriss, from Capt. W. Morris, Leonard Morris, William Pryor, Joseph Carroll, and John Jones, with all their people,were at one time collected at Will. Morrisses–some continued two weeks some 6 some, 3 weeks.
In 1809 a Charles McClung comes up again when a William Pryor was deeded…
35 acres on waters of the Indian Fork of Poplar Creek in Roane Co., TN Beginning on Charles McClung’s 3,000-acre tract…corner to Michael Hosstlar’s 25-acre survey…near foot of Waldens Ridge.
I have to wonder if this William Pryor mentioned in the Kanawha was the same man in Roane Co., TN or were names over-lapping as people moved into the frontier.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this relationship before. Chesley Taylor, brother of both Spicy Taylor Pryor and Massey Taylor Pryor served in the same regiment (3 REG’T (DICKINSON’S) VIRGINIA MILITIA) during the War of 1812 with a John Pryor. I suspect this is John Pryor who was married to Massey Taylor. They married in December 1812 — perhaps it was spurred by the beginning of the war.
I looked through the list of soldiers in this regiment. There are some familiar names, like John Jared (Garrett?). There were a few names that point directly to Campbell County, VA:
Tarlton Asher – His father John Asher lived and died in Campbell County, VA. A researcher posted online that the senior Asher owned land near Pryor Wright’s property in 1795
Isaac Crews – he married Mary/Polly Oglesby the widow of Hezekiah Taylor who was killed in the War of 1812 in Canada (related to Edmund Taylor, but not his son Hezekiah Taylor who lived to a ripe old age in TN). Isaac Crews was counted on the 1820 Census in Campbell County, VA on the same page with with Edmund Taylor and his son Hezekiah.
Samuel Davidson – possibly the same man who married William Pryor and Spicy Taylor in Campbell County in 1809 (read more)
This is not another Lewis and Clark story… for the most part. The Lewis-Clark.org site has an article titled “A Curious Piece of Workmanship” (see the article). It should perhaps be titled “A Curious Piece of History.” The website reports the meeting of Meriwether Lewis, as he set off on the great expedition to the Pacific, and Thomas Rodney who was on his way to Natchez, MS and his own place in history.
I first read about Thomas Rodney when I was looking for Abner Pryor, however I stumbled upon Abraham Pryor from Delaware who received a letter from Thomas Rodney giving the account of a vision he had before the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War (see the letter). I can’t help thinking of “Ancient Aliens” and their recount of George Washington’s visions at Valley Forge as encounters with creatures from outer space. Yes, it’s pretty a far-fetched idea.
I like working with the research desk at my local library. They found that Rodney kept a diary were able to find a copy of the book: “A Journey through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory.” I wanted to read about Mr. Rodney’s curious meeting with Mr. Lewis, then I found he mentioned some meetings with a Mr. Pryor and possibly a second Mr. Pryor.
OHIO: CINCINNATI TO LOUISVILLE: … As we akord (anchored) in the evening near to a settlement I went on shore while the rest were cooking. A Mr. Pryor and his wife from near Richmond, Virginia, and their nine children, 4 girls and five boys lived there; and there was a nephew to D. Boon and his wife there and several others who had come to see them. Pryor told me he had lived there five years, that it is 25 miles below Kentucky river and 35 above Louisville, and that there are but few settlements till we git within ten miles of Louisville…
There’s may be a clue to the ID of this Pryor family — it sounds like Samuel Pryor and Mary “Polly” Curd who settled in Henry County, KY. I think another clue is in “THE OLD MEN OF CLAY COUNTY, Liberty Weekly Tribune; Date: 1870 Sep 02. We request every citizen in Clay county, over sixty years of age, to send us his name, age, place and date of birth, disfranchised or not, and any prominent circumstances connected with his life.” (https://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/clay/newspapers/theoldme55gnw.txt)
I was born in Henry county, Kentucky, on the 20th day of February, 1804. My father was a native of Goochland county, Va., and emigrated to Kentucky in 1790. My maternal uncle – John Curd, now, if living, in Logan county, KY., – was a soldier in the Continental army and was wounded. My father died when I was so young that I was unable to retain in memory any facts connected with the Revolution. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1835, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. I am a voter. GEORGE M. PRYOR.
It could also be John A. Pryor, Samuel’s step brother. He was in the same area of northern KY with 5 boys and 4 girls, however his children were older and were not likely “boys” or “girls” and some were married before 1803.
There’s another Pryor who shows up in Rodney’s journal in 1803. He refers to him as “A” Mr. Pryor which sounds like he was a different Pryor than the family from VA. Remember, Point Pleasant is on the Ohio side of the river.
This is a noble river in appearance. We saw the Major and Shields on shore at Point Pleasant and the Major requested me to come on shore; and I ordered Buckhanan to throw out the ankor and I went on shore on the point. The Major has several human bones in his hand. A Mr. Pryor was with him and informed us there was 40 ft. water in the Canhawah and a 70 gun ship would go 50 miles up and a boat of 5 turns about a hundred; but beyond that there was so many rocks and falls there was no navigating it.
An interesting side note is that Thomas Rodney also spent his last years in Natchez, as a judge. And how’s this for a little plot twist– in January 1807 Aaron Burr (read post) was brought before Judge Thomas Rodney before he was returned to the east for stand trial for treason (see BelcherFoundation.org).