Jacob Pryor / Jacob Reager of Louisville, KY

On 27 February 1883 The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) published an article titled The Famous Falls. The actual title is a bit more wordy The Famous Falls of the Ohio and Their Pristine Surroundings Eloquently Pictured at the Polytechnic. Yes, quite a mouthful! It is by Col. R. T. Durrett, “Who produces much valuable historical material hitherto hidden.” And he managed to produce a Pryor name I have not seen associated with Louisville!

The topic of Col. Durrett’s speech was on the great floods that the Ohio experienced and how through erosion land was being swept down to the Gulf of Mexico. He mentioned the “great flood” of 1832 and another in 1847 — which swept away landmarks. I suppose this would be important to know for anyone, including genealogists, searching property lines from the old days of Jefferson County.

Durrett mentioned the names of the early explores, but under a separate section he names “Early Settlers.”

Jas. Patton, his wife Mary and three daughters, Martha, Mary, and Peggy. Martha married John Nelson, Mary married John Vaughn, and Peggy married Nathan Pryor.

He mentions also

Jacob Pryor, his wife Elizabeth, his two daughters, Dora and Maria, and his son Henry.

and another family connection

Edward Worthington , his wife Mary, his son Charles and his two sisters, Mary Ann and Elizabeth. Mary Ann married James Graham and Elizabeth (married) Jacob Pryor.

Something must have gotten scrambled. Perhaps it was that darned old handwriting again. Perhaps the “G” looked a bit like a “Y?” I suspect Jacob wasn’t a Pryor. There are several family trees that state his name as Jacob Reager there is indeed a Jacob Reager on the 1789 Jefferson County Tax List. There’s an online family tree that names a Henry Reger — I wonder if this is the Henry, so of Jacob that Durrett was talking about. http://susanleachsnyder.com/Genealogy/Generation7HenryReger.html

Back to chasing down Pryors!

All Migration was NOT to the West – Pryors who went back to the East

Migration Direction

This is one of my favorite topics — migration paths. When I was a kid the teacher pulled down a map (this was done over the blackboard because it was long before green boards, before white boards, and before smart boards). The map showed the US and with a swoosh of his hand he pointed out how people came into the colonies in the east and then made their migration westward through the Cumberland Gap. It was one direction– WEST. No swooshes going back.

My fifth grade teacher missed something. People did go back and that’s one of the nagging concepts as I look at the Pryors. I have to forget what my teacher said and look in unexpected places… like where they started off originally.

If you have a spare moment, take a look at the 1850 Census of Lee County, VA. There aren’t any Pryors, but an over-zealous census taker wrote down not just the state of birth but the actual county of birth when he was recording the households. It’s amazing to see all the people who were born in Hawkins County, TN and Hancock County, TN– and that they were back in VA. It’s a great demonstration of how people moved through the Cumberland Gap and then moved back again.

I recently read a terrific old newspaper clipping about Pryor Reynolds (See news article on Find A Grave website).

Pryor Reynolds was a grandson of Catherine Pryor and Henry Lansford of Pittsylvania County, VA. He went from VA to NC to Williamson Co., TN, down to Alabama, and back to Rockingham Co., NC.

So for my own Pryor line, John and his sons John and William Pryor who were in Campbell Co. (later  Appomattox County, VA), I’m starting to look elsewhere. They aren’t on the 1790 Census, nor the 1800, can’t find them on the 1810 Census either. I think William Pryor in Overton County in 1820 is one of the sons, but John Pryor didn’t show up on a census until 1830 in Sumner County, TN… and there’s  no trace of their father on any census.

I’m looking to the west. Not because of my teacher, but if they can’t be found in VA then I have to consider they are some of the Pryors who had already moved into Tennessee and maybe even into KY or other states/territories.

But I’m not just assuming the West was the only direction — they may have gone to another Virginia county, East to the Carolinas, North, or down into LA, MS, AL, or GA. FL has nice weather!

Wish me luck, I’m digging in!

Jefferson Pryor Killed in Chicot Co., AR – 1831

February SnowAgain another reminder of a Pryor who disappeared from the records and family memory. I’d really like to know which family Jefferson Pryor connects to. Could his full name be Thomas Jefferson Pryor?

The Newbern Spectator (New Bern, NC) republished on 15 July 1831 a report of a grizzly murder originally reported in the York, Pennsylvania Gazette. A fight broke out at a house in Old River Lake, Chicot County which was still in Arkansas Territory at the time Arkansas didn’t become a state until 1836). The fight occurred on February 19, 1831 between Jefferson Pryor and two brothers — James and Stephen Ferrel. It started out as a fist-fight, but ended with all three drawing their knives. All 3 of the men were stabbed to death and there was one surviving witness— a female.

The men were reported to be single with no children which makes me think they were in their twenties.  In 1840 there were 2 “Farrell” men on the Census of Chicot County, however there were no Pryors. This Chicot County is very close to the Mississippi border so this may have been a MS Pryor. It’s also close to Ashley County and Desha County where Pryor families were living.

Category: Arkansas Pryors | Tags: ,

Clifton O. Pryor Buried in Overton County, TN


I recently received a link to the casualties of the Detroit Riots in the 1960’s from a family history researcher. They had stumbled upon a Tennessee Pryor and thought he may be one of our TN Pryors.  He’s listed on the Rutgers University website as Clifton Pryor, a white male from Tennessee. http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_victims.htm (Wayback Machine Link).

This poor guy was working in Detroit when he was mistaken for a sniper and shot by the National Guard. I found that he’s buried in Overton County in the Stover Cemetery. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56850519

I don’t have the families of Overton County Pryors researched into the 60’s. Does anyone know which line of the Pryors he was related to? Was he buried in Overton County or related to a family in Overton County?

If you want to read more about this event Google “Clifton pryor sniper.”

The Pryor Families of Colusa County, CA – Where Are They Now?

Pioneer Homestead

Where have all the Colusa County, CA Pryors gone? The Pryors in this Northern California county were early settlers, arriving just after the Gold Rush. Their roots go back to some of the very same Pryors we’ve been tracing through Colonial Virginia. I’ve done some hard work to find a present-day descendent of this line but  have lost them in the records.

Looking for a Pryor related to the folks who came from Virginia to Colusa, Yolo, Tahoe, Williams area. You can contact me, the website administrator, at tnpryors@gmail.com. You probably connect to my own Pryor line, so happy to hear from you!