October is Oklahoma Pryor month
here on the TnPryor website!
Today we have published and online sources that Middlebrooks and Harper didn’t have in 1970 (Chronicles of Oklahoma). I’ve used the Indian Census Rolls from the late 1890’s, the 1900 US Census of Oklahoma, the Osage Allotment Cards (Index), and later US Census schedules to try to discern which Pryors were from the Osage Tribe.
I first looked at Pryors who claimed Native American Ancestry and separated out the Pryors who were aligned with the Osage tribe.
In 1900 Samuel V. Pryor and wife Olivia were living in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Samuel born 1866 in Mississippi. Samuel was the son of John Henry Pryor of Jefferson Co., AL (per Ancestry.com Family Trees) and Sarah Wade. Samuel is recorded as “white” and his wife Olivia Cowert/Coward was recorded as “Indian”. Olivia’s two brothers were also in the household and recorded as “Indian.” Olivia and her children were recorded on the 1896 Dawes Commission schedule. I have ruled out this family. Samuel V. Pryor was not from Osage land, he was recorded as “white”, and he was never included on rolls of the Osage reservation, or allotments.
William M. Keyes and wife Martha, nee Pryor were recorded living in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. Martha was recorded as “white”, Keyes was recorded as “Indian”. Tribal affiliation was noted at the bottom of the page. Keyes was born of Cherokee and Creek parents. My own search, and an Ancestry Family Tree, points to Martha as the daughter of Gilbert Carter Pryor of Cooke Co., TX – a descendant of the Marion Co., TN Pryors who have no known connection to the Osages.
There are two Pryor men in the Osage records: John b. 1834 and Thomas b. 1847.
John Pryor b. 1834 and wife Mary, parents of Antwine Pryor – Antwine, his wife, and his children all had Osage Allotments and counted as Indians on Census records. Antwine counted with “full blood Indians” on 1900 Census and that both of his parents Osage Indians born in Kansas.
Thomas Pryor b. 1847 and wife Mary, parents of Louis Pryor b. 1879. Louis states on census record that both his parents were born in MO. There is only one Pryor by that name and year of birth: Thomas son of Rufus Pryor in Osage Co., MO- born in Tennessee it’s unlikely that neither Rufus Pryor nor his wife Martha Bryant were Osage. Thomas’ wife Mary is recorded as a “full blood”. His son Louis is counted on the Osage Reservation with an allotment and an annuity. His mother, Mary, was counted as an Osage and lived on the reservation until her death in 1926. There is record of Mary’s native name, but I am unable to locate her allotment.
My final answer? I don’t believe any of the OK Pryors who claim Native American ancestry were related to Nathanial Pryor.
Photo of Josephine Pryor Hamilton (Osage Artist) :
(Wayback Machine link)
2007 Pow Wow, great grandson of Josephine Pryor Hamilton: http://www.okindiansummer.org/pdf/2007%20Powwow%20staff.pdf
End of Part II
