Tennessee Pryors • Page 67 of 122 • Southern Pryor Family Genealogy

Jefferson Pryor Killed in Chicot Co., AR – 1831

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Vanessa Wood

Again 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.

Clifton O. Pryor Buried in Overton County, TN

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Vanessa Wood

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.”

Category: About TN Lines, In Context of History | Tags: Deaths, michigan, overton county

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

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Vanessa Wood

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!

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: California Pryors

Major John Pryor of Richmond… And Gloucester

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Vanessa Wood

Dirty, dirty, politics. If you think things are bad now, well, they were no better in the distant past. On August 27th, 1856 The Weekly Wisconsin published an article titled “The Slanders on Col. Fremont’s Mother.” Apparently this was published about the time that John C. Fremont was considering a run for the White House. His opponents were making accusations that he had been born out of wedlock.

Remember this article was written about 30 years after the death of Maj. John Pryor of Richmond… we’re now almost 200 years from his death. Perhaps there is some accuracy in this being closer to the events. It states Fremont’s mother was from Gloucester, and Maj. Pryor, her first husband, was also from Gloucester.

I found that interesting because of the connection I’ve pondered between Major Pryor and Christopher Pryor of Gloucester. It states that the Major was 62 years old when they married (in 1796), but I think they added about 20 years on to his age, perhaps to make him look bad and to make Fremont’s mother look less culpable for leaving the Major. The article states that a divorce was granted before Major Pryor and his wife remarried, yet there is a document that shows the divorce was rejected and no later order granting the divorce. The writer states Pryor remarried his “housekeeper”, when in fact he married the grand-daughter of a well-respected officer of the Revolutionary War who probably had ties to Pryor’s own family.

I suspect Major Pryor has been maligned in history as a slovenly, elderly husband to the young Anne Whiting (later Fremont). But I’ll take the Gloucester County connection as an interesting lead!

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: Gloucester County, Major Pryor

1833 – Report of William Pryor Murdered in Nashville

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Vanessa Wood

Finding an old news article may fill in blanks when wondering what happened to all the people counted on a census…

It was reported in the Nashville Banner that a William Pryor and a Michael Hoover were attacked and beaten in a room they shared. They were found on Sunday, March 31st, and by April 17th the news article had made it’s way into the New York press (published in The Evening Post). The men had been gambling the night before and in the morning a servant went to the room to build a fire and found they had been attacked. It looks like the report made it into the northern paper because there had been several deaths in Nashville within a short period.

The same story was printed in The North Carolina Star (Raleigh) on 19 April 1833. I love having a second source because the NC paper states Hoover was from Nashville and William Pryor was from Clarksville (Montgomery County). Yes, there’s a Pryor on the 1830 Census Montgomery County! — It’s Samuel Pryor who I believe is a son of Joseph Pryor and Mary Fleming of Bourbon County, KY. Samuel has only one known son, E. L. Pryor of Arkansas, but there were other males younger than the head of household on 1830 Census. We may have found another son!

There’s another option… This may be Samuel’s brother William. William was named in his father’s 1812 will and in the 1828 petition concerning the estate of his brother Edward. I haven’t found him on the 1830 Census.

The NC paper reported the suspect was Thomas Hill who was about 20 years old. Hey, John Hughes Pryor had a daughter who married a Thomas Hill who was about the same age. Hmmmm.

Anyone want to try to solve a 180 year old mystery?

Category: About TN Lines | Tags: Bourbon County, Montgomery County, Nashville