Log House Belonging to Richard Pryor of Greene County, TN?

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Francis Hughes Home and Stagecoach Stop

Is this really a building owned by Richard Pryor (as in Richard and Mourning Thompson Pryor)? I found online a discussion of the property owned by Francis Hughes in Greene Co., TN. Hughes bought this log structure where the Jonesborough Road crosses Camp Creek probably before 1792 because in that year Hughes sold the property to Thomas Hardwick, who in turn sold to Richard Pryor in 1793. Richard Pryor didn’t hold onto it for long, selling in 1795 to James Penny.

Richard Pryor was in Greene County as early as 1783 when he appeared on a tax list in that county. Was this a move into a larger house from perhaps a smaller home he built when first settling in Tennessee? Or was this an addional property… perhaps commercial investment property of its day?

Sources:
https://sites.google.com/site/familytiesprojectsite/hughes
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PRYOR/2007-02/1171635365
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/u/g/David-M-Hughes/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-1275.html

Category: About TN Lines | Tags: , , ,

A Story of Vigilante Justice in GA

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Polk Co., GA – photo by Jimmy Emmerson

I realized I haven’t written any posts about Georgia Pryors. I’m catching up- trying to share some of the interesting Pryor stories I’ve been reading online. This one is from Polk County, GA. I found an account written as a first-person interview of  John T. Pryor who was born in about 1839, probably in Paulding County, GA.

“It was on April 6, 1865, shortly before the assassination of Lincoln, that my father was murdered by some of the desperadoes we had arrested.” The story talks about John T Pryor vigilante quest to avenge the death of his father.  Again so many John Pryors, so who was the father of this John Pryor?

I found through census records that John T. Pryor is the son of Haden Pryor.   I’ve updated the Georgia census records on the TN Pryor website. https://tennesseepryors.com/pryor-website/state-records/georgia-counties-m-s/ These Georgia Pryors are kin to the line of Matthew Pryor who settled in Marion Co., TN.  Both lines share Philip Pryor, son of Robert Pryor and Virginia Betty Green as a common ancestor.

This story baffles me. I thought all states had no statue of limitations on murder. Why on earth did John T. Pryor feel free to speak of his deeds in 1897?

Source:
The Revenge of John Pryor: The true and thrilling story of the life of a noted North Georgian, written by Houston R. Harper of the Rome, Georgia Tribune on April 18, 1897  http://www.angelfire.com/ga/firstgacav/JohnPryor.html

Category: Georgia Pryors | Tags: ,

Mysterious Death of A Pryor in 1899 (Illinois and Virginia Pryor Lines)

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Vandalia, IL

Here’s a Pryor story right out of the cold case files! I stumbled upon an article on the Leader-Union’s website that tells the story of the murder of a Pryor in Illinois over a hundred years ago. https://www.leaderunion.com/content/james-lafayette-pryor-murder-solved

I had to look to see which Pryor line these folks are from.  Researchers have posted online that James Lafayette Pryor was the son of Thomas Washington Pryor and Nancy Graves Haynes, however it’s likely that Thomas was his grandfather, not his father.  There’s an obituary online at archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRANSON/2008-10/1224982766 of Elizabeth Constance Branson Pryor who was married to George A. Pryor (from Pittslyvania Co., VA and settled in Fayette Co., IL)—it states she was the mother of James Lafayette Pryor.  Another obituary posted to an Ancestry.com family tree states Prudence Pryor Lansford of Fayette County, IL was a daughter of Thomas and Nancy Pryor. It states that the family came to Illinois in about 1843 from Virginia. They first settled in Clay County and a year later went to live in Fayette County, however I haven’t been able to find them on the 1850 Census.

James Lafayette Pryor and his wife Lydia Cheshier are on the 1870 Census, the 1880 Census, and Lydia appears on the 1900 Census recorded as a widow.  I found James’ and Lydia’s tombstone on Find A Grave website.

Sorry, even after sifting through my database I don’t know where the Pittsylvania Co., VA Pryors come from.

Category: Illinois Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Yet Another Look at Brazure W Pryor of Charles City and Hampton City, VA

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Shirley Plantation - Charles City, VA
I’ve written about Brazure Williams Pryor a few times ( February 28, 2011 | March 23, 2011 | April 11, 2011 ). I keep coming back to him because I think he’s a link that can tie together lines of Virginia Pryors.  This weekend was time to look at him again.

I found that an online researcher had posted that Brazure’s  namesake was a Mary Brazure who had married Captain Thomas Cocke of Henrico County. If you’ve been reading my posts on Nicholas Pryor you probably know I (see May 3, 2012 post)– Nicholas Pryor was brought to Henrico County aboard ship by Captain Thomas Cocke in 1688! I didn’t quite spring out of my chair, because the reseacher blew the theory by basing it on bad “genealogy” by assuming there was a connection to Mary Brazure because Brazure Pryor was named “Brazure.”

There could be a connection… we just don’t know yet. For now we know that Brazure was named for his grandfather Brazure Williams and that is proven by his inclusion in his grandfather’s 1790 will.

Brazure Williams’ will is an intriguing thing. I haven’t seen the will or even a transcript. Researchers have posted online that it mentions his son in law Samuel Pryor. Is this the father of Brazure? I found the will indexed in Genealogical Abstracts from 18th-Century Virginia Newspapers, by Robert Kirk Headley:

WILLIAMS — Brazure Williams’ will; names grandson Brazure Williams Pryor , son -in-law Samuel Pryor, granddau. Elizabeth Smallwood, wife Frances Williams. Dated July 20, 1790; proved October 17, 1793.  (view source)

Who was the Samuel Pryor who was connected to Brazure Williams? Brazure died around 1790 or so.  I haven’t found a Samuel Pryor on the 1790 Census in Virginia. That would be too easy! I found a Samuel Pryor and John Williams had witnessed the will of Henry Duke in Charles City in 1795.  Was this this the right Samuel — I’m optomistic because of the Williams connection. Also wondering, was this Samuel Thornton Pryor whose sister Judith Neville Pryor married Fontaine Duke? I’m stuck on that questions because in all the family trees and records Samuel Thornton appears to be of the same generation as Brazure W. Pryor (born in the mid 1770’s), and Samuel Thornton Pryor is not known to have a brother named Brazure.

It looks like there’s were two Samuel Pryors in Charles City.

  • Samuel W Pryor who was perhaps the father of Brazure W Pryor and definitely the son in law of Brazure Williams. He was probably born about 1775 to 1795. He is possibly the Samuel Pryor on the 1830 Census in Charles City, the man who ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1821, but was rejected because he didn’t have enough land,  and last seen in the records in 1835 when he was elected barkeeper by the court. I think he may be the same Samuel Pryor who married Sarah Dudley Graves on 12 Feb 1824 in Charles City.
  • Samuel W. Pryor born 1830 is probably the son of Samuel and Sarah. He was living with George Marabel on the 1860 Census (the older Samuel had witnessed a will for Elizabeth Gill in 1828 where one of the heris was a Judith P. Marable.

I located a marriage for  Brazure W Pryor to Elizabeth Antoinette DeNeuville (William and Mary Quarterly). Yes, her family was French and it may explain why Brazure was part of the delegation that hosted General Lafayette upon his visit to Virginia. Christopher J. D. Pryor of Hampton City sued the estate of Brazure W Pryor in 1827 after his death. The suit claims that Brazure had been Christopher’s guardian and that the estate’s administrator John A. DeNeuville had withheld Christopher’s property and slaves that Brazure had in his posession. (summary on the Digital Library of American Slavery). It also looks like Elizabeth DeNeuville Pryor was alive as late as 1851 when ex-president John Tyler wrote a letter asking that she be given a land grant for her husband’s service in the War of 1812. I haven’t found her on the 1850 Census.

I don’t know the parents of either Brazure or Christopher J D Pryor, but it gives some hope in solving this mystery of a couple of Pryor lines.  I found a reminicence online in 2011 (A New Look at Old Virginia Pryors) that stated Skaife Whiting Pryor was a son of Christopher J D Pryor. This is incorrect because a 1846 lawsuit identified Skaife as the son of John Clayton Pryor and a grandson of Christopher Pryor of Gloucester County, VA.  But isn’t it interesting that a first hand recollection places Skaife in Christopher J D Pryor’s family line? Does this mean that Brazure and his ward Christopher J D are related to John Clayton Pryor and Christopher Pryor of Gloucester? I think we’re on the right track!

Does anyone know where Elizabeth DeNeuville (or DeNeufville) Pryor was in 1850? Can you connect the line of Christopher Pryor with Brazure Williams Pryor? Who are the Samuel Pryors in Charles City and how are they related to Brazure?

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Questioning the Identity of William Pryor of Albemarle and Amherst Counties

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Don’t you just hate it that there are so many Pryors with the same name? This week I have a William Pryor who is causing me to question some of my calculations.

Last week I was leaning toward William born 1730 to be the son of Nicholas and Susanna Pryor of Goochland Co., VA. William was of the right age to be their son and he is named on records as a resident Albemarle County in the early 1750’s. I’m still sure that he was the father of William, Nicholas, and John who served in the militia and pioneered into Kanawha County, and also the father of Susannah Pryor who married Shadrack Harriman while also settling in Kanawha.

Looking through my notes I see that one researcher had ID’d William years ago as the son of Philip Pryor and Ann Haden. I had to raise an eyebrow and wonder. Perhaps William had named is daughter Susannah, not after his mother, but his sister (Philip and Ann are known to have a daughter named involved William Pryor and William Laffoon. A William Wade gave evidence on the suit—the Wade surname was of interest because Haden Pryor, another son of Philip and Ann Pryor) married Elizabeth Wade in Granvellie Co., NC in 1769.

I still have to side with William being the son of Nicholas and Susannah. Here’s why:

  • Philip Pryor and Ann Haden were married in 1742 in Amelia County. That means the 1746/47 Goochland County court case would have involved a child named William Pryor . That doesn’t make sense as the language of the case doesn’t reflect the involvement of a child. Also, if a child of Philip and Ann was involved, then why weren’t any of their other children named in the suit?
  • A 1751 deed filed in Henrico County mentions William Pryor of Albemarle County. We know at that time he had children because his son William (Jr.) stated in his Revolutionary War pension statement that he was born in Albemarle County at about that time. The deed also states the land in Henrico county was from William Laffoon’s patent and it was located on the Chickahominy river. Nicholas Pryor had been “transported” as an immigrant, or for a headright, to land on the Chickahominy in Henrico Co. in 1688 and that the family remained close by for many years.

And these additional points (added after publishing this post)

  • “James Cocke comes into Court and makes oath that WILLIAM LAFOON deceased died without any will so far as he knows or believes and on his motion, certificate is granted him for obtaining Letters of Administration in due form. George Carrington, Gent. enters himself Security for the same.” Nicholas Pryor was brought to Henrico County by Thomas Cock– is that the same as Cocke? George Carrington was also entangled in land deeds with Nicholas’ grandsons in Cumberland Co., VA.

I have to say that placing William in Philip and Ann Pryor’s family tree is an error. Anyone want to take a DNA test to solve this one?

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , ,
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