I received an email from a Pryor researcher who was looking at the Pryor families in Williamson County, TN. It caused me to take another look at these Pryors. Which Colonial (VA, NC, SC) Pryor lines are they connected to? Who are their relatives who were in other TN counties at the same time?
I’m inclined to believe the Pryors in Williamson County are connected to other Pryor lines in Tennessee. The patriarch of the Williamson County line was Luke Pryor. Researchers have often speculated that Luke was born in South Carolina in about 1740. Sarah Pryor born about 1784 in SC has long been claimed as his daughter. Sarah married David Squire, Hugh McCabe, Daniel Carter, and Angus McPhail. Sarah McPhail age 78 is on the 1850 Census in Williamson County. She stated her place of birth was SC, which would put Luke Pryor in South Carolina in about 1772.
I’ve found a connection that may confirm Luke Pryor living in SC. In 1786 a Luke Pryor deeded land to John Waller Pryor in Marlboro County, SC. The land was surveyed by Alex. Craig. Mr. Craig piqued my interest because I found that an Alexander Craig was on the 1812 Tax List in Maury Co., TN (a county bordering Williamson Co.). In later years a younger Alexander Craig was living Williamson Co. In 1830 Hugh McCabe, and probably wife Sara Pryor, were counted in Maury County. This isn’t solid proof, but it’s a strong lead.
If you’re interested in the ancestry of Luke Pryor, I have another juicy lead– I’ve found John Waller Pryor (named in the Marlboro Ccounty deed above). I found an online family tree that included the marriage of a John Pryor to Mary Waller. This John Pryor left a will (I haven’t seen it) in Halifax County, NC. Could John Waller Pryor be the son of this Pryor union?
Through Williamson County Guardian Records it’s been determined that Luke Pryor was the father of John Pryor. John Pryor was born between 1760 and 1770, possibly in South Carolina and these records state he was the father of Henry B. Pryor born 1790. The odd twist is that we find that Henry B. was living in Pike County, AL in 1850, however Rhoda Pryor and Mary Ann Pryor were living in Jackson Co. with a William Pryor b. 1814 in TN.
The Jackson County connection leads one to wonder if William, Rhoda, and Mary Ann Pryor were related to any of the other Pryors in Jackson Co. Jackson Co. residents Allen and Alfred Pryor were both born in SC and are of the right ages to be grandsons of Luke Pryor. Both Rhoda and Mary Ann married Crockers, and in 1850 there was a Sarah Pryor b. 1764 in NC living in the household of John Y. Crocker.
Allen Pryor died in Jackson Co., TN sometime between 1852 and 1860 Census. His wife Cinderella moved the family to Franklin County, IL. Tabitha Pryor of Wilson County, TN (the widow of Thomas Pryor) was also in the same county by the 1870 Census. Cinderella’s son, Alfred, was counted as an “uncle” in Tabitha’s daughter’s household in 1920. While the relationship is a bit murky—he was probably a cousin not an uncle—this later census record connects the Wilson County Pryors to the lines that can be traced back to Luke Pryor in Williamson Co., TN.
Back to the Crockers. By the time of the 1870 Census John Y Crocker and wife Dorcas/Tabitha were living in Iron County, MO. By 1880 Bird and Montz/Mounce Pryor, children of Alfred Pryor of Jackson Co., TN, were also living in Iron Co. Jane A. Pryor Nelson, the mother of Matthew, John, and Solomon Nelson, also left Jackson County to settle in Iron County by 1880. And it should be noted that Bird Pryor married Surena Crocker, a daughter of John Y. Crocker.
I’ve yet to identify a connection for William S. Pryor of Williamson Co., TN. He was appears on the 1820 Census and a few records between 1820 and 1820. He was born in 1775 or earlier. I have an inkling that he’s connected to the other Pryors in Williamson County, but as we all know, an inkling isn’t proof of anything in genealogy.
So if we do a head count on the 1850 Census of this branch of the Pryor family tree… here’s who I believe are connected:
- Henry B. Pryor of Pike Co., AL
- Allen and Alfred Pryor of Jackson Co., TN
- Jane A. Pryor Nelson of Jackson Co., TN
- Dorcas/Tabitha who married John Y. Crocker of Jackson Co., TN
- Rhoda and Mary Ann Pryor who lived with William Pryor and wife Alsey in Jackson Co., TN
- Thomas Pryor in Wilson Co., TN. His widow and children moved to Franklin Co., IL and interacted with the widow and children of Allen Pryor (see above)
Is there anyone else on the 1850 Census that I forgot?