In 1768 Philip Pryor died intestate in Granville County, NC. Haden Pryor was appointed administrator of his estate. Below is Haden’s signature on the Administration Bond. Sherwood Harris and James Langston were surety.
A convoluted little genealogy note… there are online family trees that show Sherwood Harris as a brother of the Judith Harris who married Jesse Pryor, possibly the son Harris Pryor of Prince Edward County, VA. Prince Edward was formed from Amelia county. There was a Philip Pryor in Amelia County in 1741. I had previously identified the Philip in Amelia County as the son of John Pryor and Mary Dennis which I now believe to be incorrect as Philip and John would have been contemporaries.
At May Court in 1768 Haden submitted an account of Philip Pryor‘s modest estate. It consisted on one slave named Robin, 1 horse, a 60 gallon still (was he a distiller?), hand tools like hoes, and iron wedge and an axe, saddle bags, money scale, and some corn that was for the use of the family.
Philip Pryor was the sheriff of Granville County, so the estate included an accounting of levies (taxes) he had collected. In 1770 Haden presented to the court a list of levies that included the years 1764 and 1762:
Richard Henderson, Thomas Person, Jno Williams, Jno Glover, Len’d Sims, Col. Benton, Col. Harris, Chisley Daniel, Benjamin Whitehouse, George Alston, Joseph Montfort. Isaac Edwards court clerk signed the list.
Nov 1772, estate of Robert Pryor, deceased. Sale of the estate, Jacob Winfrey purchased. (1-10). Included the sale of slaves. Purchased by Joshua Coffee, Mrs. Olive Pryor, Joel Pope. People who purchased from estate of Robert Pryor: Richard Duty, Daniel Mallone, Thomas Willingham, Thomas Person, Joel Pope, Francis Howard, Joseph Roberts, Robert Cannon, Millington Early, Jacob Winfrie, Patience Pryor, Pleasant Hart, John Adams, Elijah Pope, John Gordon, James Bridges, John Wilkerson, Payment on debts was received of John Henry Pryor. Also contains guardianship documents for Robert’s orphans: Elizabeth Pryor, Olive Pryor, Pleasant Pleasant, and Absolom Pryor– guardians John Henry Pryor of “Casewell County”, and Willis Roberts.
I found that Robert Pryor and several of the men who purchased from his estate served in Capt. James Yancey’s Company of Foot Belonging to the Regiment Commanded by Colo. Rich’d Henderson, 1771 (before the Revolutionary War): Macajah Bullock (married to Frances Pryor daughter of Philip Pryor), Thomas Willingham, Pleasant Hart, Richard Duty — also Thomas Mutter who is didn’t purchase, but was appointed administrator of Robert Pryor’s estate in Granville County in 1772.
