Connecting Daniel Farley to the Pryors

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Virginia and U.S. Flag, Yorktown, Virginia (VA)

Here’s a case for Pryors descended from the Goochland County, VA line of Samuel Pryor and his wife Prudence Thornton!

Samuel Pryor vs William Pryor, et al
Filed in Chancery Court of Louisa County
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=109-1835-021

A 1799 Summons for not answering a bill of complaint exhibited against him in the county court of Louisa by Samuel Pryor, son of Samuel, John A Pryor, Daniel Farley and Patsey his wife by order of the court.

A copy of the summons was left for Samuel Pryor on the 8th day of May 1799. William Pryor is no inhabitant.

The Commonwealth of Virginia to the sheriff of Louisa County greeting we command you that you attach Samuel Pryor executor of William Pryor dec’d who was administrator of Samuel Pryor deceased if he be found within your balliwick and have save by keep so that you have his body before the justices of our county court of Louisa at the court house. (for Oct 17, 1799)

Col William Pryor who was married to Sarah Wood, was deceased by the time of this suit and he had been the executor of his father Samuel Pryor’s estate. Col. William’s own son named Samuel was his executor and he was also deceased. The suit notes that this younger Samuel Pryor’s children were John A Pryor, Martha Patsy Pryor married to Daniel Farley, and Samuel Pryor.

The youner Samuel Pryor was in Henry Co., KY by 1800. Perhaps he was already in KY by 1799, explaining why he could not be served in Louisa County. John A. Pryor was in KY by 1799 as his son Daniel Farley Pryor was recorded as born in KY in July 1799 in a family Bible.

Daniel Farley must  have been a beloved or well-respected family member after marrying Patsey (or Martha) Pryor. His brother-in-law John A Pryor named his youngest son Daniel Farley Pryor.

Category: Kentucky Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , ,

William Pryor Photo with Overton County Connection

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41_georgenwilliam
This photo has been on the TN Pryor website for some time and is begging to be identified.  It was shared with the website by a descendant of Edward Pryor (son of Spicy and William Pryor) of Overton County, TN.  On the back is written “William Pryor and son George Pryor.”  I’ve mulled over this relationship with several researchers and we can’t come up with a William who was kin to Edward Pryor who would have been about this age in roughly the early 1900’s.

We’ve speculated that this may be Overton Pryor b. 1816. Was his full name William “Overton” Pryor?

Or was this William Anderson Pryor b. 1865 son of Edward Pryor and Eliza Knight with his son George Bryant Pryor b. 1893? William Anderson Pryor moved to Pulaski Co., KY after 1880 and lived there until his death in 1950. There’s even some question whether William Anderson was actually the son of Edward Pryor in that he was born while Edward was away serving in the Civil War and only Shadrack, Ellen and Eliza were stated to be his children on his Civil War pension application (William and 3 other children were omitted). Possilby the birth of 3 children while Edward was away explains why he and Eliza listed their marital status as divorced on the 1880 Census.

Can anyone give us a positive ID of these folks?

Category: Photos, Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , ,

Jesse Pryor of Knox County– Is He the Jesse Pryor in Overton County?

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juda-pryorWow, the TN Tax Lists are INTERESTING! In 1804 there was a Jesse Pryor on the Knox County Tax list. I can’t tell much about him — he had one pole and no acres recorded. There was also a Samuel Pryor in Knox County with the same status. They were both in Captain Steel’s Company that consisted of 66 taxpayers.

I wondered in print (Harris Pryor of Knox Co., TN and Bedford Co., VA) if Jesse Pryor of Knox County was the same Jesse Pryor who went to Overton County, TN.  Myself and other researchers have long speculated that Jesse was the father of Juda Pryor who married William Huston Hummel (Juda is on the 1850 Census with an older Anna Pryor who may be her mother). When Juda’s son John McDonald Hummel died in 1915 his mother was reported as “Julie Pryor” born in “East Tenn.” How about that… Knox County is in East Tennessee.

If Jesse is the of Harris Pryor of Bedford County, then I suspect Samuel is related to this line. They seem to stick with each other through the records. This is the point to pour your second cup of coffee before we jump into the puzzle.

Yes, the pieces of the puzzle start to stack up to complete the picture that Jesse and Samuel were related.

  • Samuel and Jesse were on the 1804 Tax List in Knox County – Both living in Captain Steel’s Company.
  • The administratrix of Samuel Pryor’s estate was Fanny Ferguson Pryor and a later Roane County court case ID’s Samuel Pryor as the grandfather of P. Miller Freels. There was a John Foggueson (sic) also in Captain Steel’s Company on the 1804 Knox County Tax List.  John Ferguson may have been Fanny’s brother as there is a John Ferguson, deceased, named on a 1839 Cumberland County Chancery Court suit that also names Fanny Pryor and her children.
  • Jesse Pryor is spectulated to be the father of Juda Pryor Hummel of Overton County whose son’s death record states she was born in East Tennessee.
  •  Samuel Pryor died in Anderson County, TN in about 1815 (that’s when Fanny was appointed administratrix). There’s a Jesse Pryor on the 1805 Tax List for Anderson County. Jesse was recorded as #119. I found #85 Isaac Freels, #96 Burrell Hudson, #157 and #158 were Edward and Thomas Freels, #191 John Rector–a daughter of Samuel and Fanny Pryor married Edward Freels around 1813 or earlier. Another daughter, Mary, married Barry Hudson. John Rector was recorded near Fanny Pryor and her son Harris Pryor on the 1830 census in Roane County.
  • Jesse Pryor, son of Harris Pryor and Mary Kinnerson was from Bedford Co., VA. Juda Pryor Hummel stated her parent’s place of birth as VA on the 1880 Census.
  • The Jesse Pryor on the 1830 Census in Overton Co., TN was born between 1771-1780. Samuel’s wife is on the 1830 Census in Roane Co., TN and was also born between 1771-17780, so perhaps Samuel was also born about the same time, which would make Samuel and Jesse contemporaries.
  • I believe sons of Harris Pryor of Bedford County, VA came to Knox County at the end of the 1790’s. In 1799 William Pryor (Harris’ oldest son) signed a petition for tax relief for an impaired neighbor (Richard Shields). In 1801 Harris Jr. (he didn’t use Jr on documents – I’m just using it to distinguish him from his father) was on the deliquent tax list for Knox County. In 1801 Jesse Pryor was a defendant in a crime.
  • Samuel is not mentioned in any Bedford County, VA records so, I don’t yet see how he’s related, though he lived around Harris’ family in TN and named his son Harris.

Happy to hear from anyone who wants to contribute to this theory with a pro or con!

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , , ,

John and William Pryor on Sumner County Tax List

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tax-listI’m not ready to scrap my question of the ID early Pryors in Sumner County. I see that William is connected to Richard Pryor, but still wondering if he was a son or other relative.

  • I read through the early Tax Lists of Sumner County and found that Philip Trammel Sr. and Jr were in the county by 1789 and were recorded near William Pryor in 1793. The Trammells are kin to William Pryor of Stewart County (William of Stewart County was married to Betsy Trammell).
  • Richard and Mourning Pryor were in Logan County, KY where Richard bought land in 1796. Philip Trammel went to Logan Co.
  • I see that the land transactions in Sumner Co. are for land that was later in Smith County, TN. John Pryor was bonded to (borrowed money from?) Howell Tatum in 1791 and William Pryor bought land from Tatum in 1794, William’s tract was recorded as bordered by land owned by John Pryor and John Hannah (a Mary Pryor had married John Hannah). In 1802 Richard’s widow sold land “formerly the property of Howel Tatum.” to James Ewing and the deed was recorded in Smith County.
  • Researchers have speculated that the Jonathan Pryor born 1788 living in Logan County was the son of Richard and Mourning Pryor. I think he’s too young to have been the John who was bonded to Howell Tatum in Sumner County in 1791. Do they let 3 year-olds enter into legal arrangements? Yet because of the proximity of John’s Sumner County land to William Pryor and William’s land mentioned in the 1802 deed, it’s likely that John was kin to William who was kin to Richard and Mourning Pryor
  • Going through the TN Tax Lists is vexing.  There are obviously years missing and the images show frayed edges and missing portions of sheets.  John Pryor was recorded in Sumner County in 1791, yet he doesn’t appear on a tax list until 1793. I know I ask this all the time… Where’s John Pryor?! He could be the John Pryor recorded with Richard Pryor on the 1783 Tax List in Greene County, TN. Could be.
Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Pryors on the Tennessee Tax Lists

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TaxesApril 15th has passed and now we can look at taxes for fun (hopefully). The Tennessee Tax Lists are up on Ancestry.com and I’ve had some fun going through them. There are a couple of connections that I’d like to share – just in case they will help out another Pryor researcher.

First I found on the 1794 Sumner County Tax List William Pryor. I’ve had several researchers tell me that this William was a son of Richard Pryor and Mourning Thompson. I looked at his neighbors on the list and found Elijah Ewing and Benjamin Downs are close by. In the early 1800’s Benjamin Downs is on several records in Stewart County with the William Pryor who later migrated to Austin’s Colony in Texas. So is William in Sumner County the same man?

I love these kind of questions because it’s like a domino effect… ask one question and how we look at other data comes into question.  Was he the same William who was surety for the Sumner Co. marriages of Mary Pryor to John Hannah, and Jenny Pryor to George Fairly (or Farely). Was he the William Pryor who in 1796 signed a bond for Richard Pryor for 200 pounds VA money for a tract of 2565 acres on the Cainey Fork of the Cumberland? Wouldn’t it make more sense in that kind of transaction that William might be Richard’s brother and not his son?

I mentioned Elijah Ewing. He is on the 1805 Tax List for Blount County—on the same page as a Thomas Pryor.  Let’s throw another name into the mix for Blount County — There’s a Joseph Pryor in that county on the 1805 Census.  I suspect that he was the same Joseph Pryor who was on the 1803 Tax List for Jackson County because both men were recorded near John Whitson.  The Whitsons were connected to the Pryors of White County. Researchers report Jeremiah Whitson married Susannah Pryor in about 1804, and Elizabeth Pryor married James Whitson.

It’s been speculated that Thomas is Thompson Pryor, who was a son of Richard and Mourning Pryor, and that Joseph, Susannah, and Elizabeth are additional children of Richard and Mourning Pryor.

Puzzle solvers welcome!

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , , , , ,
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