Family Trees in the Works for Goochland and Henrico County Pryors

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Goochland Pryor Charts

I know I’ve been hung up in Virginia lately and I’ve also been a bit “charty.” It doesn’t look like either of these conditions will be clearing up soon. I now have 4 Family Trees on my wall for Pryors who have connections to Goochland County. I’m still hoping that as I solve the puzzle of the Virginia Pryors families we’ll have answers for our Tennessee Pryor lines.

Why 4 Charts?

Why 4 Family Trees and not 2 or 6? I’m working off of lines that have been discussed in blog posts, lines that have source information that confirms a connection or alliance.  So far I’ve got the Goochland/Henrico County Pryors boiled down to 4 groups with the oldest known records in the 1720’s and the most solid information on individuals born around 1740.

Who are the Groups?

Group I – Samuel Pryor and Prudence (Thornton)
Records of a Samuel Pryor in Goochland County begin in 1735. Researchers have attributed Samuel as a son of Robert Pryor and Virginia Betty Green of Gloucester County– naming tradition makes this a possibility (Samuel named a son Robert). There is a disconnect in the records of Samuel and his suspected father Robert Pryor: Robert was granted land in Gloucester County in 1692– Are there later records of Robert? Samuel may have held land in both Goochland and neighboring Hanover County. Samuel witnessed a will in Hanover County in 1717 which if Samuel was 21 years old, could mean he was born in 1696 or earlier.

Group II – John Henry Pryor of Orange Co., NC
John Henry is connected to Goochland County by researchers who state he was a brother of Samuel (Group I) and a son of Robert Pryor and Virginia Betty Green.  Again, if naming tradition comes into play, John named his eldest son Robert and another son named Green. John Henry died in Orange Co., NC and because of the surplus of John Pryors in VA, I’m not positive that he is the same man on any document in VA. However, his son Robert owned land in Halifax Co., VA (later Pittsylvania County), his children married into the Perkins family from Henrico County (their spouses were niece and nephew of William Harding who was surety for Nicholas Pryor’s estate in Henrico Co.)

Group III – John Pryor (and Mary New)
John was first mentioned on a deed in 1722 in Henrico Co. Henrico is one of the oldest counties in VA– In 1728 Goochland Co. was formed out of Henrico which probably explains why thereafter this John Pryor was named in Goochland County records. John Pryor died in Goochland County in 1755 (per his will) and left only two living daughters. Although there were no male heirs he may have had siblings because Harris Pryor b. 1740 was a witness to John Wright’s will (son in law of John Pryor and Mary New).

Group IV – Nicholas Pryor
Nicholas Pryor died around 1746 when his wife petitioned the court in Henrico County requesting letter of administration (William Harding was surety, see Group II above). Nicholas’ children were in Henrico Co., and in Arbemarle County in the 1740’s when it was formed out of the northern part of Goochland Co. and in Pittsylvania Co.  Nicholas’ oldest children were born in 1710-1715, which means Nicholas could be the headright who obtained land Henrico Co. in 1688.

It looks like a lot less Pryors to contend with when they get condensed into groups.

 

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John Pryor on Beaver Dam in Goochland – There’s More…

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I think I’m developing a crush on the Virginia DOT. I recently found a report they’ve published on old road records. This publication has the best-selller title: Goochland County Road Orders 1728-1744 (I guess it’s a title only a genealogist could love).

Thank you DOT, I now have the earliest records of ANY Pryor in Goochland County. This man appears to be the John Pryor on Beaver Creek (see John Pryor and Mary New – This John Pryor on Beaver Creek Dam).

1729 John PRIOR appointed surveyor of the road from Lower Beaver Dam Bridge to Little Licking Hole Creek. 17 Feb 1729

And there’s more. We now have the names of more of John Pryor’s neighbors and their positions on specific waterways.

1729 Surveyor of the Roads. On the motion of Ebenezer Adams on behalf of himself and others it is ordered that a road be cleared from Bever dam Bridge near John Prior’s to pass by John Wright’s Plantation cross Wild Boar swamp near Elk lick by William Owen’s Plantation cross the North Branch of the Bird to Elk ford on the Bird to end at Martin King’s. John Prior is appointed Surveyor of the said road from Bever dam Bridge to John Rights; John Laine from John Rights to Great Licking hole, Martin Dunken from Great Licking hole to the South branch of the Bird, John Bostick from the South branch of the Bird to Elk ford, Martin King from Elk ford to the River. [17 March 1729, O.S. p. 221]

Does anyone else have records of Pryors in Goochland County in the 1720’s? Was Samuel and Prudence Pryor there in the 1720’s or did their line show up in Goochland County later (a Samuel Pryor is in the vestry records in 1735).

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: ,

William Harding – Key Man Among the Virginia Pryors

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William Harding connected to Nicholas PryorEee gads, I know I created this chart, but really, every time I look at it I think it looks fractured and glued haphazzardly back together again. There are connections EVERYWHERE. There are lines of Pryors I don’t know if they really belong together, but they all seem to merge through William Harding.

Hello, William Harding!

I know it was a “small world” back in Colonial Virginia, but I think the number of connections between William Harding and the Pryors is astounding.

1. William Harding posted surety for the estate of Nicholas Pryor in 1746 (Goochland County, VA)

2. In 1751 William Pryor sold Albemarle County land to William Harding. This is the William Pryor who was engaged in a Henrico County suit with Grace Lafoon (Lafon). I suspect William was a son of Nicholas Pryor. He was also the father of Capt. William Pryor of Amherst Co., Nicholas, John of Fort Donnally, and Susannah.

3. When William Harding‘s daughter Sally married Thomas Pollard at St. James Northam in Goochland County, William Meriwether was surety. William Meriwether was also surety in 1760 for the marriage of Samuel Pryor (son of Samuel and Prudence) when he married Frances Morton Meriwether.

4. William Harding‘s sister Bethenia married Nicholas Perkins. Bethenia’s children married Pryors: Susannah Perkins married Green Pryor and Nicholas Perkins married Leah Pryor. Green and Leah were children of John Henry Pryor who died 1771 in Orange County, NC.

5. William Harding‘s sister Susannah married Capt. Charles Ellis. Their grand-daughter, Elizabeth Wright,  married Capt. William Pryor of Amherst County, VA.

I’ve written about Capt. Ellis in the past [see The Last of the Virginia Chancery Court Records] and his association with Peter Jefferson (father of President Thomas Jefferson) and military service in the 1750’s with a Richard, Nicholas, and William Pryor.

Is Nicholas Pryor who died in 1746 the man some researchers ID as F. Nicholas Pryor? I’ve thought he was Nicholas the headright who arrived in Henrico County in 1688.

Is the F for Frank or Francis Pryor? Could he be Francis Pryor the son of Samuel and Prudence Thornton?

I feel like I’m getting to know everyone in town.

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David Ross – Part 5 (Silver, Iron and Smelting)

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I can’t let go of David Ross. His connections to the Pryors are fascinating!

David Ross ran the Oxford Iron Works and helped to arm the Virginia militia during the Revolution.  Whether it was by a land grant for his war effort or his own entrepreneurism, by 1790 Ross had land and business interests in Tennessee and had agents running his iron works in Sullivan County (see post).

I think I found the connection to Ross and the John Pryor in Sullivan County. If nothing else, they were business partners.

To COL James King’s Iron Works, where thousands of tons of iron were brought to Boat Yard and shipped to distant ports by flatboat.
http://discoverkingsport.com/searchmap/spoden.shtml

Now I get it… Kingsport was a PORT. John Pryor and his sons were building the flatboats that were being used to ship Ross’ iron.

Were there other Pryors involved in processing ore? You betcha! Nathaniel Pryor had a lead-smelting furnace on the Mississippi in about 1810-1812, near Dubuque, IA (see LewisAndClarkinKentucky.org).  Now that I know the connection of the flat boats and the water ways it makes sense that Nathaniel Pryor was operating near the river. Why did explorer Nathaniel Pryor turn into lead-smelter Pryor? Maybe I should ask HOW he became a smelter? Does it take skill to create a smelting operation?  Did Nathaniel apprentice in the metal trades as a youth? I did some Google searches to see if I could find out more about smelting or iron works in early Louisville. I was also interested to see if Obadiah Newman was involved in metal processing (remember Nathaniel and his brother were in his care when they were orphaned). I didn’t find an occupation for Newman.

The possible son of Nathaniel Pryor, Miguel Pryor of California, was a fur trapper and silversmith. I wonder if something got lost in the translation. Did he craft fine silverware or was he involved in mining and smelting the metal?

Then there’s William Harding (I’ll write more about him in a few days–there’s a lot to tell!). He was surety for the estate of Nicholas Pryor when he died in 1746 in Goochland County. Harding’s sister, Bethenia, married Nicholas Perkins–their sons Nicholas Perkins Jr. and his brother Constantine were partners in the iron works on Troublesome Creek in Rockingham County, NC.

Looks like they were more than farmers.

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David Ross and the Pryors – Part 4 (Sullivan County, TN)

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Back to what I’ve found on David Ross. There’s a David Ross and a John Pryor mentioned as neighbors in Sullivan County, TN.

1787, John PRYOR was living on land James Gaines had sold to James Anderson in 1780. “The large Cloud plantation adjoined the John Pryor plantation, and land owned by David Ross opposite the mouth of the North Fork Holston River. Together these plantations covered today’s Ridgefields area. The Clouds and Pryors, in addition to managing their plantations, worked as flatboard builders and boatmen. and both…”

We know the John Pryor in Sullivan County was born in 1757 because he lived to be counted on the 1850 Census. In 1850 he was quite elderly, living with his son, and his place of birth was recorded as England. The same son he lived with in 1850 lived to 1880 and stated on that census that his father was born in England. Like all things “Pryor” I take John’s place of birth with a smidgen of skepticism.

The David Ross I’ve followed through my searches died in Virginia in 1817/19 and I can’t find anything of him being in Tennessee. David Ross of VA had a son named David who lived to 1857, but that David is on the 1850 Census in Shenandoah Co., VA, not in Tennessee. So, I was ready to write-off this Sullivan County connection as just a coincidence.

Not so fast.

In 1927 the history of Rotherwood Mansion in Kingsport was printed in the Kingsport Times-News (read Famous Rotherwood Is Veiled In Romantic History (Wayback Machine link)). There is a brief history of Frederick Augustus Ross who happens to be the son of David Ross — yes, the same David Ross who keeps popping up with the Virginia Pryors. (Frederick was also mentioned in the Fluvanna deed in my last post- see post)

In the spring of 1818, his father having died in the previous year, 1817, Mr. Ross made his first visit to the large landed estate left to him in Sullivan and Hawkins counties, East Tennessee. There on the North Fork of the Holston, he built “Rotherwood.”

It sounds like his father is the David Ross in Sullivan County who died and left him the land. Once you know who David Ross of VA was then there are several clues on discoverkingsport.com/searchmap/spoden.shtml which help to confirm his identity and what he was doing in Tennessee. He probably wasn’t there himself, but he had his businesses in Sullivan County.

  • 1789, David Ross’ Log Agency and Tavern was occupied and operated by Ross’ agents (Capt. John Hunt by 1792; Thomas Hopkins by 1811; Perley Fairbanks by 1816, among others).
  • 1792, George Roulstone, offered a handsome reward for his high spirited brown mare, lost near Ross Ironworks. (David Ross made his fortune in the Revolution with his foundries in VA and NC.  TN was part of NC until 1796).
  • 1793, David Ross purchased 5 acres of King’s iron bank.
  • 1790, David Ross’ Iron Forge was operated by his agents.
  • 1818, F. A. Ross settled on land inherited from his father (David Ross) and built the first bridge (ruins SS) over North Fork Holston River.

OK, we’ve got David Ross figured out but who’s the John Pryor in Sullivan County? Is it Major John Pryor of Richmond? — Nope, he died in 1823. Is he John Pryor who married Mary Dennis?– Nope, he died in 1785. Is he the John Pryor of Campbell County whose sons John and William settled his property in 1812? — Nope, he was deceased. The list of who he ISN’T seems rather long.

Was John in Sullivan County really from England or are we still missing some Virginia Pryors from the family tree?

Category: About TN Lines | Tags: , ,
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