Some Pryor Men Named in Obion County, TN Records

tn-pryorsAccessed on FamilySearch.org
Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927
Obion County
Inventories, Settlements, Wills 1834-1844

State of Tennessee
Obion County
July Term 1835

William Andrew Administrator of the Estate of Enos Hay deceased Present the following Statement of his Administration of S. Estate to wit

No. 1 Paid to Benjamin Totten of note deed $16.40
2 Paid to Doctor N. L. Allen on Proven acct 5.00
3 Paid to Benjamin Totten on note 1.45
4 Paid to James N. Cullen on note V (viz) Interest 11.58
5 Paid to Lonsdale Walton due on note .88
6 Paid to Byrd Turner on note V (viz) Interest 8.47
7 Paid to THOMAS PRYER on Proven account 8.43
8 Paid to Joshua C Richmon Proven accout 2.50
$49.7_

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Inventory of notes belonging to the Estate of A. Linn Dec’d–

… One note on HENRY PRIAR Due the 25th of Decr. 1835— 6.00

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State of Tennessee
Obion County

Know all men by these presents that we HENRY PRYOR all of the County of Obion and State of Tennessee are held and firmly bound unto Newton Cannon Governor of the State for the time between and his successors in the Penal Sum of ….. dollars for the payment of which well and truly to be made we bind our selves our  heir s executors administrators and assigns jointly and Severally firmly by these presents. Sealed with our Seals and dated this 4th day of April 1835—

The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bound  Henry Pryor administration of all and singular the goods and chattels lands and Tenements of MATTHEW YOUNG Deceased, do make or cause to be made a true and perfect inventory of all and Singular the goods & chattels Eights & credits of Said Matthew Young Dec’d which have or shall come to the hands or possession or Knowledge of him the Said Henry Pryor or into the hands or possession of any other person or persons and for him and the same so made do exhibit or cause to be exhibited to the County Court when orders for administration passed within ninety days after the date of these presents and the Same goods chattels and credit and all other goods chattels and credits of the Said deceased at the time of his death or which at any time after Shall come to his hands or possession of the Said Henry Pryor or into the hand or possession of any other person for him well and truly administrator according to Law and further do make or cause to be made a true and perfect account of his said administration within two years after the date of this presents and all the rest and residue of the said goods chattels and credits which Shall be found remaining upon the said administrator’s account the same first being examined by the court and allowed of by the county court. Shall deliver and pay unto such person or persons respectfully to whom the same shall be d…,  unto pursuant to the true intent and meaning of the act of assembly in such cases made and provided.  An d if it shall appear than any last will and Testament was made y the deceased and the Executor or Executors therein named do Exhibit the same into court making request to have it allowed and approved accordingly. if the said Henry Pryor be thereunto requested do render and deliver the said letters of administration approbation of such Testaments being first had and made in the said court then this obligation to be Void and of no Effect, or otherwise to remain in full force and Virtue.

Henry Pryor

Abraham Enloe

Jos. S. Enloe

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The amount of Property of the Estate of Matthew Young Dec’d amounted to fifty eight dollars and 18 cents—H. Prior, administrator

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1837

Account of the estate of George H. Long
1 Log chain purchased by Henry Pryor
2 saws purchased by Henry Pryor

Notice of the Estate Auction of Capt. Samuel Pryor

samuel-prior-auction

To be SOLD at public auction, at the Butterwood Spring, in Dinwiddie county, on the first day of January next, About FOURTEEN very likely NEGROES, Part of which for ready money, the other part one year’s credit will be allowed the purchasers, giving bond and security. Also the whole flock of horses, cattle, and hogs, with the corn and fodder, working tools, etc. The whole is the estate of Capt. Samuel Pryor, deceased.
WILLIAM PRYOR, administrator.
All those indebted to the estate are desired to make immediate payment. They will have no father notice.
[Rind’s Virginia Gazette, (Williamsburg, VA), 23 Nov. 1769 , p. 4]

An Old West Pryor Family: The Miner And The School Marm

Sometimes exploring a Pryor history has nothing to do with genealogy, and everything to do with the story. And this one is a fun story!

Harry Pryor appears to have come to Arizona as a miner. It was reported on January 25, 1901 in the Graham Guardian (Safford, AZ)

Chris Gish, Enoch Wooworth, Harry Pryor and W. B. Bond started Wednesday last on a prospecting trip.  They will go into Old Mexico by way of Bisbee. We wish them success.

He must have found something sometime after their prospecting trip because on April 7, 1905 the newspaper reported Harry Pryor filed for a $20,000 bond for a deed on “S mines.” Could that be silver mines? Good grief, how much was $20k worth in 1905? Boodles!

Things sometimes got a little out of control for Harry who was in his early twenties:

A shooting was narrowly averted at Safford last week. Harry Pryor, drunk and disorderly, rode through the streets in Rough Rider style against the repeated protests of the local officers: and finally ran over the little son of Marshal A. A. McKenzie.  The boy was severely bruised, but not fatally injured.  The father trailed the rider to a saloon and drew a sixshooter, but was prevented from discharging the weapon.  He finally succeeded in knocking Pryor down with the weapon, cutting his head severely.  Pryor swore out a warrant for the arrest of the marshal on a charge of assault wiht a deadly weapon.
Arizona Silver Belt (Globe, AZ). February 7, 1901

And in 1905 poor Harry was in trouble again:

The case of Harry Pryor charged with assault with intent to kill, was continued until next term of court. Pryor is the man who stabbed J. E. Carpenter with a miner’s candlestick, in September.
Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ). October 18, 1905

harry-pryor-azIn 1913 Harry B Prior (sic) is listed in a Phoenix city directory as a lino operator (linotype), so perhaps he had given up prospecting at this point and maybe given up the whooping it up through town and given up whacking other miners. At about the same time a new school marm had come to town and her back story is right out of central casting!

Oehlese Williamson was born Hillsboro, NC (I found that on her DAR file) and attended Converse College in Spartanburg, SC.

oehlese-williamson-pryor

Converse College 1905 Yearbook

By 1911 she was in Arizona. Her employment as a teacher is hardly “P.C.” by our standards a hundred years later. Can you imagine a school board hiring teachers based on their good looks?

THE OSBORN FACULTY HAS BEEN COMPLETED

The faculty of the Osborn school for next year was completed at a meeting of the board of trustees on Saturday night and is now as follows:… Miss Oehlese Williamson, English and physiology… The new teachers are Miss Williamson, Miss Ellingson, and Miss Wiberg. It was stated sometime ago by The Republican and widely published that the trustees of the district, grown wise by the embarassment which had been regularly caused them by the marriage of the lady teachers, had decided to adopt the policy of employing teachers who, though possessing all necessary qualifications as teachers would be less personally attractive and who therefore, could be retained year after year. The board weakened however and that proposed policy was discarded with the result that the standard of beauty has been raised rather than lowered.
The Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ). April 24, 1911

After Miss Williamson came to town there were no further reports of Harry Pryor on the rampage. They married in May 19, 1913 in Maricopa County, AZ (she didn’t last long as a single teacher!). A birth record for their son Harry Williamson Pryor identified his father as Harry Browning Pryor. Miss Oehlese was referred to as Mrs. Harry B. Pryor in news articles that stated she was a music teacher and discussed her students accomplishments.

I’ve given it my best shot to figure out which Pryor line can claim Harry B Pryor. Census records state he was born 1879-1880 in Texas. I found a Harry B. Pryor on the 1910 Census in Dallas, TX. I’m wondering if Harry was drifting back and forth between AZ and Texas in the early years.

Justice Precinct 1, Dallas, Texas. Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0020
Annie P Wiley 25 head AR TX TX married 1
Inez Wiley 4 daughter TX TX AR single
Louise Wiley 2 daughter TX TX AR single
Harry B Pryor 31 brother TX TX TX widowed
Edwin R Pryor 22 brother TX TX TX single
Edwin R Pryor 4 nephew TX TX TX single
Rodger A Pryor 19 brother TX TX TX single

Annie, Edwin R., Harry B. and Roger A. are children of E. R. Pryor a son of the Samuel Pryor who was the first mayor of Dallas.

Category: Texas Pryors | Tags: , ,

TN Pryor: Wild West Sheriff

sheriff-badge

Russell August Pryor born 1835 in TN was a real sheriff deputy in the wild west. In 1880 he and his family were recorded in Humbolt County, NV and his occupation was stated as deputy sheriff. Did they really have twins they named Florence and Lawrence? The 1900 Census (below) solves that question… no.

1880 Census Humboldt Co., NV – Winnemucca
Page 269B R. A. PRYOR 46 TN TN TN Deputy Sheriff, Maggie 33 Scot Scot Scot, Edward son 14 CA, Lorance son 12 NV, Florance dau 12 NV, Maggie J. dau 5 NV, Jane Jinerson (sic) mother in law 58 Scot Scot Scot

Santa Rosa Mountains

“Santa Rosa Range, NV 2008” by Zack Sheppard from San Francisco, USA – FlickrUploaded by PDTillman. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Rosa_Range,_NV_2008.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Santa_Rosa_Range,_NV_2008.jpg

Deputy Pryor got his name in the paper, praising his efforts track down a thief.

GOT HIS MAN. On the first inst. a man stole a watch and a sum of money in Winnemucca, and disappeared. Officer R. A. Pryor, of that town, took charge of the matter and followed the fellow so persistently that he could not escape, and the officer came upon him in Truckee ten days after…
(Nevada State Journal (Reno Nevada). 13 October 1878)

Sometime in the 1880’s Russell moved his family to CA. He started appearing on the California Voter Registrar in 1886 as Russell Augusts Pryor born 1835. By 1900 Russell Pryor and his family had moved to CA

1900 Census San Francisco, CA
ED#179, page 301A. 660 Broderick St., house154/219 Russell A. PRYOR Aug. 1835, 64, md. 30 TN TN TN watchman (day), Margaret wife Mar. 1850, 50, 4 children/4 living Scotland Scotland, Scotland, Laurence W. son Feb. 1870, 30, NV, Florence dau Sept. 1871, 28, NV, Margaret dau Sept. 1876, 23 NV.

His obituary confirms he died in 1906. I tried to figure out his birth date… I’m miserable at these types of calculations. Was his birthday 4 October 1835? If you’re tracing this line, there’s good news– there’s a death record in California.

PRYOR – In this city. March 11, Russell A. Pryor, beloved husband of Margaret M. Pryor, and father of L. W., E. R. and Miss M. Pryor and Mrs. C. W. Conlisk, a native of Tennessee. aged 71 years, 6 months, and 25 Days. Remains at the parlors of N. Gray & Co. 612 and 614 Van Ness avenue. between Golden Gate avenue and Turk street.
San Franciso Chronicle (San Franciso, CA. 12 Mar 1906)

I think Russell Pryor is the one Russell Pryor who was on the 1850 Census in Missouri:

1850 Bates Co., MO
Page 259B. House 424. William Pryor 59 TN, Elizabeth 22 MO, Russell 15 TN, James 17 TN

It’s speculated that Russell’s father, William,  is one of the sons of William Pryor of White County, TN who migrated to Missouri in the 1840’s.

I also think he’s the R. A. Pryor living in Mud Springs, California in 1860. This was after the Goldrush but men were still working as miners in Northern California. I looked up the Donner Party (you know that ill-fated immigration through the High Sierras in winter) and Russell’s friend Patrick Donner is not listed among them.

1860 Census, El Dorado Co., CA
Mud Springs, Page 980B, House 2367 G.H.H. Forester 45 miner MA, Patrick Donner 47 miner Ireland, R. A. PRYOR (male) 26 miner TN.

I think from MO he went to CA. His son Edwin Russell Pryor was born in Placerville, CA (Placer County) in 1866 (California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985). His daughter, Florence born 1868, has a stated place of birth as NV on census records. I’m wondering what he did during the Civil War.

1870 Census, Nye Co., NV
Page 238, Belmont, Twp., house 3 R. A. PRYOR 35 ranchman TN, Margaret 24 keeping house Scotland, Edwin 4 CA, L. W. 2 NV, F. J. 10/12 NV

Pryor Clue? Taylor Land in Campbell County and Appomattox County, VA

Campbell County Pryor FamiliesI think I’ve found another clue as to where John Pryor and William Pryor (of Sumner and Overton Counties) may have lived in Campbell County, or at least where their Taylor in-laws had lived.

About a decade after the Pryors and the Taylors moved to Tennessee, the heirs to Edmund/Edward Taylors estate sold some land in Campbell County.

Horatio Goff (grantee), from (grantors) M., Hezekiah, Chesley, Spicy PRYOR, Pleasant, Elizabeth, Polly Taylor 11/1838 Book 22 Page 213

I went to the 1840 Census to get a sense of where Mr. Goff was living. He was counted in the North East District of Campbell County. His neighbors’ surnames aren’t anyone I recognize with a connection to the Taylors or the Pryors: Dobins, Thurman, Saunders, Echols, Legrand, Buckley.

I looked again at the 1850 Census. Horatio Goff 66 was counted in Appomattox County (this county was formed out of part of Campbell County in 1845). His neighbors share surnames very familiar to this line of the Pryors: Elbert Legrand 50, Wilson M Wright 46, James D Wright 51, Josiah Woodson 50, Jacob Woodson 85, and several Stratton families (the Taylors married into the Strattons).

This information helps to support that the Pryors and Taylors were from the part of Campbell County that became Appomattox County.