I was looking for one of my other lines that traveled through Kentucky and it looks like I’ve stumbled upon the signature of John Pryor and maybe another KY Pryor. Continue reading
I was looking through the transcribed Amherst County VA Tax List from 1782. The transcriptions were driving me CRAZY. First the web developer in me was frustrated that the names in the lists were spelled, probably, as they written on the actual lists. It’s a good genealogy practice and historically correct to transcribe actually what is seen on the page, however there’s a point when the transcriber should use discretion and insert a good “guess” of what the actual name might be. For example when you know there is no such name as “Childrefs” make an educated guess and write “Childress” in parenths next to it so people know its an alternative spelling. Google and all the search engines don’t know to find Childrefs when someone searches Childress. Yup, I was searching Childress and was surprised to find them in Amherst Co., VA.
After I read through the tax list I realized this was another Pryor “neighborhood”– I can find connections a generation earlier or a generation forward! I’ve extracted the names that are of interest and added some notes. Really, with this many connections– Is it really just a coincidence that these folks were living around each other?!
Amherst County – 1782 Personal Property Tax List – Part 2
genealogytrails.com/vir/amherst/1782_personal_property_list_part2.html
Richard Tankorley / Richard Tankersley : Served with David Pryor in VA regiment encamped at Valley Forge in Revolutionary War. Named in Revolutionary War Pension application of William Pryor (from Amherst County). Read more: Amherst County VA – Pryor And The Richard Tankersley Connection
Amherst County – 1782 Personal Property Tax List – Part 3
genealogytrails.com/vir/amherst/1782_personal_property_list_part3.html
Zacharias Taliaferra / Zachariah Talliaferro/ Zachariah Talley : Is this a namesake of Zachariah Talley, the grandfather of William Anderson Talley who settled in Sumner County, TN? William Anderson Talley was the father in law of Allen L. Pryor.
Roderick McCullock / Roderick McCullough: Roderick witnessed 1774 deed for William and Margaret Pryor. Roderick’s daughter married a son of Charles Taliaferro. 1783 State Enumeration lists Roderick on same page with Nicholas Pryor, Charles Ellis, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero
Steward Ballow / Stewart Ballow: Deeded 340 acres on Pedlar Creek in 1775. Online researchers have him as a possible son of Leonard Ballew… remember David Pryor and Susannah Ballow/Ballew/Ballou named a son Leonard.
John Childrefs (of Pedlan) / John Childress (of Pedlar)
Henry Childrefs / Henry Childress: The Henry Childress who married Betsy Pryor?
Galorbey Childrefs / Golsbey Childress / Goolsby Childers: The namesake of Goolsby Childers born 1805 in VA and lived in Milam Co., TX
William Page – 1788 John PRYOR purchased land in Campbell Co., VA. William Page witnessed the deed. Possibly a former resident of Goochland County, VA (archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PAGE/1998-04/0893982570 see bio posted online)
William Edwards: Possibly related to Joseph Edwards who was a witness on 1773 deed with Philip Thurmond and Nicholas Pryor.
Isaac Wright: Isaac Wright was the father of Elizabeth Pryor who married Capt. William Pryor of Amherst. Isaac married Susannah Ellis, daughter of Capt. Charles Ellis and Susannah Harding– her first husband was John Beckley. A John Beckley was sued by a John Pryor in 1792 in Henrico County (see post)
Philip Thurmond: 1783 State Enumeration lists on same page Nicholas Pryor, Charles Ellis, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero
David New – A former resident of Goochland County, VA (see bio posted online genealogy.com/ftm/y/o/u/Wayne-Young/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0342.html).
Martha Golssby: I suspect Golssby is also “Gooslby/Goldsby/Goolsby, etc.” There is a Goolsby Childers/Childress born 1805 in VA and lived in Milam Co., TX
William Shoemaker: William Shoemaker and William Pryor on military payroll in Albemarle County in 1758. Zedikiah Shumaker fought with Capt. William Pryor at Fort Randolph (per his Revolutionary War pension application).
Ricahrd Taliafero / Richard Taliafero / Richard Taliaferro and may also be Talley or Toliver: Probably neighbor or David Crawford. David Crawford’s will states he purchased land from Richard Taliaferro.
David Crawford: David Crawford wrote will 1801 in Jefferson Co., KY naming his children and land in Amherst Co. Witnessed by John Pryor and William Pryor. 1783 State Enumeration lists on same page Nicholas Pryor, Charles Ellis, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero
Joseph Goodwin: The Goodwins were associated with the Pryors as early as 1776- Feb 3 1776 William Pryor deeded to David Burford 99 acres Wit: Micah Goodwin, Virginia Burford, Edmund TAYLOR, Elizabeth Goodwin, Edward Goodwin
Nicholas Pryor: 1783 State Enumeration lists on same page Nicholas Pryor, Charles Ellis, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero
Phillip Gooch / Philip Gooch : Not the same man, but there was a Philip Gooch b. 1807 who married a daughter of Robert Pryor in Gasconade Co., MO. Robert may have been born in KY in 1780’s.
Estate of Robert Boling:
John Buford: see Daniel Burford below.
Isaac Rucker: John Pryor b. 1818, a grandson of Capt. William Pryor, married into Rucker family, daughter of Peter Rucker.
Edmund Taylor: Possibly the Edmund Taylor who was brought up on a complaint for harassment of William Pryor and Margaret Pryor. There’s also the possibility that this is the same man who was the father of Massey Taylor and Spicy Taylor who married respectively John and William Pryor in Campbell County– Why? Because of the proximity of Campbell County and also the the inclusion on this list of Giles Perrin and Richard Oglesby (see below)
Daniel Burford Sen.: Daniel mentioned in 1794 deed, “14 Feb 1794 JNO. FLOYED, Ga. Power of Attny to PHILLIP THURMOND, AC – DANL. BURFETT of Va.”.– John Floyd, uncle of Nathaniel Pryor, was married to a daughter of Daniel Burford. See Philip Thurmond above on this tax list.
Thomas Stovall: Possibly Thomas Stovall, father of Benjamin Stovall who went Sumner Co., TN. Benjamin Stovall fought in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Stovall was born in Bedford Co., VA (per his Rev War Pension App). Benjamin named a son George Pryor Stovall. Thomas Stoval /Stovall (and John Pryor) witnessed the will of Jacob Rector in Bedford County in 1779.
Thomas Street: Edmund Taylor, possibly father of Massey Taylor Pryor and Spicy Taylor Pryor, had Lefever Street witness his will.
Amherst County – 1782 Personal Property Tax List – Part 4
http://genealogytrails.com/vir/amherst/1782_personal_property_list_part4.html
Micajah Goodwin: see 1776 deed above, Micajah acted as witness.
John Bowling
Edward Bowling
Perrin Giles: He is thought to be the first husband of Sally Dickey. He died around 1816. Sally Giles remarried in 1818 to Hezekiah Taylor in Campbell Co., VA. Hezekiah was the brother in law of John Pryor who married Massey Taylor and William Pryor who married Spicy Taylor, both daughters of Edmund Taylor.
Richard Oglesby: He is probably the father of Mary “Polly” Oglesby who married Hezekiah Taylor who was NOT the son of Edmund Taylor. This second Hezekiah died in the War of 1812.
Charles Taliaferro: 1783 State Enumeration lists on same page Nicholas Pryor, Charles Ellis, David Crawford, Philip Thurmond, Charles Taliafero
In an older post I wrote about men named John Pryor Logan Co., KY and Christian County who seem to be connected (Richard and Mourning Pryor: Christian County, KY Tie-In). I looked again at the names in the John Pryor estate filed 1807 in Christian County. If we weren’t sure that the Pryors in Christian County were related to the Pryors in Logan County, then hopefully this Christian County document is a good confirmation of their Logan County residency.
This is an exercise in several project I’m working on that “builds neighborhoods” (looks at Pryor neighbors on early records). Then looking at maps to see what the geography says. The maps are saying that Christian County, KY existed side by side with Logan County because Todd County was not formed until 1820.
I think what we have in the 1807 estate is a nice way of shedding light on who was living near each other in Logan County and… associating with each other.
So, here are the names on the documents and some information about them.
Robert Sharrard – Robert Sherrod received a land grant in Logan Co. in 1816 and is on the 1810 and 1820 census in Logan Co., KY. He may be the Revolutionary War soldier who filed for a pension in Todd County (next to Logan Co.) In 1790 he was in Edcombe County, NC.
Elizabeth PRIOR: Possibly the Elizabeth Crawford who married a John Pryor in Logan County, KY in 1803. It’s unknown if she married John Sr. or Jr. because there were both a Sr. and Jr. in Logan County. These men were involved in survey of Richard Pryor property in Logan County in 1796.
John PRYOR: John Jr. or John Sr. who was in Logan Co., KY.
Elizabeth Henkman (or possibly Kirkman): See Dunlop below.
James PRYER: My theory is that this is the James B. Pryor who was married to a Rebecca (surname unknown) and lived in Christian County, KY; Stewart County, TN; and Pike Co., IL per her obituary.
John Burdine: ?
Obadiah Dewhit (DeWhitt): Obadiah Dewitt on 1800 Tax List Logan Co., KY
John Bayley (Bailey): Mourning Pryor White was counted on page 175 of 1810 Census, Logan County. John Baily is on page 176.
Vinson Layston: ?
Jacob Dalmaldson (possibly Donaldson?): Jacob Dollason (sic) counted on the 1810 Census in Russellville, Logan County on the same page with Robert Sherrod and Abel Crawford (sic)
Hoxa Boren: Hosea Borren was counted on the 1800 Tax list in Logan County, KY.
James Nunn: James Nunn counted on page 183 in Russellville, Logan County
Able Crawford: Abel (sic) was counted on the 1810 Census in Russellville, Logan County on the same page with Robert Sherrod and Jacob Dollason (sic)
Matthias House: Possibly the man by this name who was the father of Revolutionary War pensioner Adam House (see pension application https://revwarapps.org/r5260.pdf). Adam House served under Bohannon. Remember the Bohannons and the Pryors married and lived near each other in White Co., TN.
William Dunlop: William and Benjamin Dunlop are on the 1810 Census in Christian County, KY. On the line above William Dunlop is James Kirkman (see Elizabeth Kirkman above) and on the next page William Kirkman. Benjamin Dunlop received a land grant in Logan County in 1806.
Peter Simon: ?
I’ve been going back and forth discussing Christopher, John and David Pryor with a couple of other Pryors. The chart in an older post (Connecting Major John Pryor of Richmond to More Pryors!) was gnawing at us. We decided to play with the the relationships to see if there is a way to make better sense out of these Pryors. Maybe it will feel less like a bowl of spaghetti?
We decided to move John Pryor of Richmond right up next to David Pryor of Buckingham County and Christopher Pryor of Gloucester — all brothers.
- “Major” John married Anne Beverly Whiting. Christopher Pryor’s son was the administrator of Thomas Whiting’s estate, Anne’s father.
- “Major” John housed the cousin of President Jefferson during a scandal. David’s daughter married Jefferson’s brother.
Now, you know what that would mean? John and David are the orphan sons of David Pryor who died in 1747 in Goochland County. Hmmm. That would certainly steer some Pryor research in another direction.
One of the naggy questions we mulled over was why in the senior David’s estate different guardians were bestowed on John and David: Samuel Taylor was John’s guardian and Abraham Childress was David’s grandfather and guardian. One of my Pryor cousins thinks it was to divide duties. I think it was because John and David had different mothers. David’s mother was obviously a Childress, but if we look at this John as his brother, then he may have dropped a clue while serving in the Revolutionary War — he wrote a letter indicating his mother was still alive:
October 10th, 1782, Richmond.
Capt. John Pryor to Col. Davies
Asking leave to visit his mother “in great distress with a probability of losing her husband, who is my Father in Law, by sickness, and wishes much to see me.
— Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts, pub. 1883
There is also a Carrington connection that wends its way through these Pryors:
- In May 1778 David Pryor was serving with Lt. Mayo Carrington (Mayo, son of George Carrington). see post
- “Major” John Pryor of Richmond attended the marriage of Capt. Dandridge in 1782 with Col. Edward Carrington (Edward, son of George Carrington, brother of Mayo Carrington, and the foreman of the Aaron Burr jury). see post
- “Major” John Pryor received land grant in 1785 in KY, near C. Carrington (Codrington, son of George Carrington) see post
- 1747 George Carrington deeded land to John and David, their father had already paid him for the land. see post
You know I’ve got my pencil out and I’m working around the Pryor chart testing out new relationships. Autosomal testing, as annoyingly hard to decipher as it can be, showed a connection between testers in my line to the Childress family (see post). As I said… Hmmm.
I spread out my John Pryor chart again and added some notes about their Revolutionary War service, so I’m sharing.
1. “Major” John Pryor of Richmond
All the documents are pretty clear that Maj. John Pryor of Richmond [see post] served as a Capt. Lt. during the Revolutionary War. He has the most records by far. He served in the 1st Artillery Regiment, Continental Troops. Rank Capt. Lieut’n’t | Capt. Lieutenant. His pension file (filed by his widow with sworn statements from people who knew him) states he became William Alexander, Lord Stirling’s Aide de Camp. The following notes are from his service records– where the records go “thin” there are letters I’m marked with ** that indicate where he was and what he was doing
Commissioned Jan 13. 1777
Oct 21, 1777
May 1778 / June 3, 1778 Valley Forge (Pennsylvania)
June 1778 / July 25, 1778 White Plains (New York) “Sick near camp”
July 1778 / Aug 8, 1778 White Plains
Aug 1778 / Sept 6 1778 White Plains “Sick near camp”
Sept. 1778 / Sept 9/1778 “Sick in the country”
Oct. 1, 1778 Fredericksburg “Sick near camp” (Virginia)
Nov. 3, 1778 Fredericksburg “Sick near camp”
Dec. 21, 1778 Camp Pluckamin Inn (a little Googling shows that there was a “Pluckemin” Inn in Bedminster, Somerset Co., NJ)
Jan. 16, 1779 Pluckimin
Feb 1779
Mar. 4, 1779 Pluckimin
Mar & April 1779, Apr. 30, 1779 Camp Pluckamin
May 1779 / June 3, 1779 Pluck/n “On command Lord Sterling”, additional note “Aid to Maj. Gen. Lord Sterling.”
July 9, 1779 Camp near Chester (Pennsylvania) “Aid to Maj. Genl Lord Sterling.”
Aug 14, 1779, Park of Art’y near Chester, Comd. Light Corps.
Sept. 17, 1779. Light Camp, “Aid to Maj. Gen. Lord Sterling”
Oct. 11, 1779. Light Infantry Camp, Kakialt “Aid to Maj. Gen Lord Sterling”
Nov 9, 1779 Art’y Park near Chester “A. D. Camp L’d Sterling”
Dec. 1, 1779 Light Infantry Camp, near Newark (New Jersey). Aid to Maj. Gen.Lord Sterling
Jan 24, 1780 Park of Arty Morris Town (New Jersey)..
Mar 7, 1780 Park of Arty Morris Town. “Furlough”
Apr. 13, 1780 Park of Arty Morris Town. “Furlough”
** Oct. 10th 1781 letter from Richmond to Col. Davies
Feb. 5, 1782 Receipt for pay
** Feb. 23, 1782 Pryor was a groomsman at marriage of Capt. John Dandridge (Dandridge’s pension application)
** May 18, 1782 letter to Col. Davies re money for materials for drums and fifes.
** July 13, 1782 letter to Col. Davies
** Oct. 26, 1782 letter to Col. Davies re cannon
Jany. 29, 1783 Receipt for pay
Appears on list of “showing Arrangement of the Virginia Line 1st January 1783 – “officer who wishes to retire”
Jany 10, 1786 payment
Issued warrant 10 Aug 1789
2. John Henry Prior – NC
Pension application for David Barnett of NC states in 1781 “that he and three others hired a substitute for the eighteen months and paid him and got a discharge fora six months tour. The substitute was named John Henry Prior.”
3. John Prior from VA, later GA
Pension application states in 1775 he was in the 10th VA regiment commanded by Col. Wood, then in the 8th VA Regiment commanded by Col. Posey. Signed his application in Burke Co., GA. Stated he had one boy and two girls. Marched to Charleston, SC. Private in Swearingen’s company in Col. Wood’s 12th VA Regiment. Taken prisoner at Charleston.
4. John Pryor, GA Service
Served in Georgia battalion of Continental Troops. Col. Robert Rae. April 1 to November 1, 1779. This is the John Pryor thought to be from Wilkes County, GA, son of Edward Pryor. John died in Pike Co., GA.
5. John Prior or Pryor of Amherst County
John Prior of VA
Rank: Private
By whom received Wm McKee
Day when Oct 20 1787
Sum 33.6.8
The War ended in 1783– payment wasn’t received until 4 years later?
6. John Pryor the Spy
Paid by Gen. George Rogers Clark for spying in Illinois in 1783. Payment was issued out of Richmond, VA. I haven’t found any rosters that include this Pryor in Clarke’s regiments. I know I’ve read the speculation that he as a paid civilian scout. I know some researchers have melded John #5 with John #6 so we may be talking about one man or two. The same John Pryor who battled Indians in Kentucky (see post)? What do you think?
7. John Pryer of South Carolina
4th South Carolina, Artillery Regiment. Enlisted 28 April 1777. This Regiment was formed in Charleston in November 1775 and saw their first battle and saw their first battle in June 1776. Throughout 1779 into 1780 they were involved in skirmishes in GA and SC. An interesting note about this regiment is that they were captured May 12, 1780 by the British. The Regiment disbanded in 1781 before the end of the War.