Tag Archives: Hempstead County

Estates of Richard and Virginia Pryor of Hempstead County, AR

A question came up that caused me to look at the Pryors in Hempstead county, AR once again (see earlier post https://tennesseepryors.com/richard-pryor-and-virginia-boyd-pryor-relationship-to-dallas-pryors/ ) After Richard Pryor died his Arkansas property named Myrtlewood was advertised for sale in a Tennessee newspaper.

LAND AND RESIDENCE IN HEMPSTEAD COUNTY, ARK., FOR SALE
Myrtlewood, the residence of the late Major Richard Pryor of Hempstead county, Arkansas, will be offered for sale, at public auction, on the 10th day of December, 1866… For further information refer to Col. James W. Finley, Spring Hill, Hempstead county, Ark. Terms on day of sale. [1]

Richard died intestate. The Administrator’s Bond lists James W. Finley (principal) and lists Jack S. B—?, Edward L Pryor, and Thomas M. Boyd as securities.[2] Edward L. was as on of Samuel Pryor of Clarksville, TN (Montgomery County). Thomas Boyd was probably a relative of Richard’s wife Virginia Boyd. When Richard’s wife died the estate was handled by Charles R. Pryor of Dallas.

Richard Pryor, James W. Finley, H. C. Boyd, and a J. Pryor were named in a list of men who were consignees of merchandise at the docks in Shreveport, LA.[3]

I ended up doing one of my relationship/event charts to work out how everyone was connected.

  • Virginia Boyd Pryor died in November 1865 after her husband and after her daughter Elizabeth Pryor Stockdale (her only known child). She willed her property (engraved silver) to her executor Dr. Charles R. Pryor and Virginia Finley, formerly a Boyd.
  • Virginia Finley’s husband James W. Finley was the point of contact in the 1866 ad for the sale of Richard Pryor’s estate.
  • When Charles R. Pryor “of the county of Dallas” filed estate papers in 1865 for Virginia Boyd Pryor, he was represented by F. S. Stockdale, the Virginia’s son in law and the widower of Virginia’s daughter Elizabeth Pryor Stockdale.

I located an announcement of a claim against the estate of Richard Pryor by two Pryor relatives from Vicksburg, MS. Was this the Richard Pryor who died in 1864 or Agnes’ brother? –for whom we have no evidence he was Arkansas.

LEGAL
The heirs and distributees of the estate of Richard Pryor, are warned to appear in Hempstead circuit court, and answer the complaint of Agnes P Howard and William Pryor Creecy for partition and distribution of said estate.
Washington Telegraph, February 21, 1872

A marriage announcement explains Agnes’ name change from Birchett on the census to the surname Howard she was using in 1872.

MARRIED
On the 17th instant, in Richmond, Va., at the residence of Dr. T. P. Mayo, by the Rev. Thos. L. Preston, Colonel Nathaniel Howard, of Grenada, Miss., to Mrs. Agnes P. Birchett of Vickburg, Miss. We wish the Colonel and his happy bride many, many years of joy and happiness, and we know that his friends hereabouts–and that means everybody–join us in a double health to him and his.
Grenada Sentinel, published in the Vicksburg Daily Times, September 7, 1870

I think more research needs to be done on the estate of Richard Pryor. Was Richard’s estate in probate from 1864 to 1872? Or was this another Richard Pryor? Perhaps Agnes’ brother Richard who was last recorded on a census in 1870 working as a druggist in Vicksburg.[4]

An interesting connection between several of the people was their occupation: druggist. Charles R. Pryor worked as a druggist in Dallas (see above), so did his brother Samuel B. Pryor, and Richard S. Pryor of Vicksburg worked as one, as did his nephew William Pryor Creecy.

Footnotes

[1] “Land and Residence in Hempstead County, Ark. for Sale,” advertisement, The Daily Memphis Avalanche (Tenn.), 21 November 1866, p. 4, col. 9.

[2] Hempstead Co., Ark., administrator’s bond, M:98, Richard Pryor, 28 August 1865; “Arkansas, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1818-1998,” Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8638/images/007117066_00272).

[3]”Consignees of Merchandise per Steamboats,” notice, H.C. Boyd, Richard Pryor, J. Pryor, and J. W. Finley, The South-Western (Shreveport, La.), 28 May 1856, p. 3, col. 2.

[4] “C.R. Pryor,” advertisement, The Dallas Daily Herald (Texas), 20 February 1869, p. 3, col. 7.

Edward L Pryor of Hempstead County AR and TN

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Tennessee Pryors

All roads lead to Tennessee, right? Looking at the relationship of Charles R Pryor to the Hempstead County Pryors, I ended up looking at Edward L. Pryor again. Why? Because Edward L. Pryor of Hempstead County signed the Executor’s Bond when Charles handled Virginia Pryor‘s estate in 1865. Did he sign as a relative or because he was a neighbor?

Edward L. Pryor b. 1805. Ryburn vs. Pryor filed in Arkansas confirms his father was Samuel Pryor of Montgomery Co., TN. Samuel had 2 other known children (see Samuel B Pryor and Bernard H. Pryor of McCracken County, KY). These other children were born in 1825 and 1835, perhaps they were children from a second marriage.

Samuel was born between 1771 and 1780 when counted on the 1830 Census (Montgomery County, TN)– I told you Tennessee would come into play again! That means he was possibly in his 60’s when he died and a guardian bond was filed for the two young Pryors in 1837.

Edward L. Pryor was on the 1836 Tax List in Hardeman Co., TN. In the same year his father, Samuel’s estate was being handled through the Hardeman County Probate court. Samuel must have died without a will because E. L. Pryor (Edward L?) was appointed the administrator.

Samuel Pryor and Edward Pryor

The probate file also names other Pryors who were heirs: Ann F. Pryor, widow, Richard H. Pryor, Miss Frances A. Pryor, Bernard H Pryor, Miss Attaway E Pryor.

Legatees: Ann F Pryor, Richard H Pryor, Frances A Pryor, Bernard H. Pryor, Miss Attaway Pryor

If Samuel was on the 1830 Census then surely he was on the 1820 Census. I’m thinking he may be the Samuel Pryor who was in Christian County, KY in 1820. The number of whites and slaves counted were very similar with both entries — 8 whites and 13 slaves in 1820, 11 whites and 12 slaves in 1830. Clarksville in Montgomery County is a bit over 30 miles from Hopkinsville, Christian County.

Bernard H Pryor was in Trigg county and counted on the 1850 Census. Samuel’s 1836 probate probably also explains the Bernard’s relationship to the Frances A Pryor age 23 who was living in his household on the 1850 Census — his sister. I’ve wondered if Ann F. Pryor, Samuel’s widow, is the woman who’s buried in Trigg County, KY under the name Frances Ann Pryor d. 1847 (see FindAGrave.com).

Entomb’d beneath this
sacred urn
She lies whom many
children mourn.
Not for her lone but there’s
she gone
To praise er Saviour
at His throne
Where songs of joy
and peace and love
Ever delight the blest above.
— inscription on Frances Ann Pryor’s grave marker

Richard Pryor and Virginia Boyd Pryor – Relationship to Dallas Pryors

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This the time of year when I usually take a break from the Pryors. This year I’ve had several projects that took me in another direction, so summer is here and I’m getting back to the Pryors.

Last year I wrote about Richard Pryor and his wife Virginia Boyd Pryor of Hempstead County, AR. I was pondering the relationship of Charles R. Pryor of Dallas, the executor of Virginia’s estate in 1865. So I went back to confirm what is known of Richard Pryor. His grave marker in Hempstead County is extremely helpful.

Richard Pryor
Was born in Annsville, VA (that’s in Dinwiddie County)
on April 18, 1798
Died at Gilmer, TX (that’s in Upshur County)
Oct. 19 , 1864
FATHER

Virginia’s will made provisions that the remains of her husband and daughter be brought to the family burial plot after her death. The photo of Richard’s grave on FindAGrave.com shows he is buried with Virginia and daughter Elizabeth Anne Pryor Blankhead Lytle Stockdale.

Richard is the same Richard Pryor who was one of the executors of Texan revolutionary Benjamin R Milam’s estate. Milam’s will turned up on Antiques Roadshow in 2014! (see: https://tennesseepryors.com/in-context-of-history/did-you-catch-the-pryor-name-on-antiques-roadshow-tonight/) Durrell Boyd witnessed the Milam will—online trees show him as the brother of Virginia Boyd Pryor. Milam’s mother was a Boyd. Richard likely owned land in Texas as Virginia’s will referred to land in Jackson Co., TX and Richard was the executor of his son-in-law James T. Lytle’s estate per the will signed in Calhoun, TX in 1854. Richard’s grave marker states he died in TX.

Richard Pryor is the same man who was the executor of James Durrell’s estate (see https://tennesseepryors.com/virginia-pryors/richard-pryor-executor-of-the-estate-of-james-durell/)—Durrell was the grandfather of Virginia Boyd Pryor. I also found Richard Pryor in an 1836 VA Chancery Court Case – Richard Pryor and Virginia His Wife, Durrell Boyd, Conrad S Boyd Wm H. Boyd, and Henry C Boyd vs. Patrick H Foster and Others. The case states Richard PRYOR was again noted as the executor of the estate of James Durrell. “That Virginia the wife of the said Richard Pryor, C. S. Boyd, , Wm H. Boyd, and Nancy C. Boyd, are the only remaining heirs and devises of James Durrell.”

Does this bring us closer to knowing Richard’s relationship to Charles R. Pryor?

Well, we know from the grave markers that Elizabeth Ann was Richard and Virginia’s FIRST child born in October 1822. It’s interesting that James Durrell wrote his will in the same month and year. Charles R. Pryor was born ten years later than Elizabeth, so it’s possible that he was a sibling.

However, I found perhaps an account of Charles R Pryor that is 30 year past being contemporary (Charles was active in Dallas in 1860-1865). The book titled Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas: Containing a History of this Important Section of the Great State of Texas, from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time … and Biographical Mention of Many of Its Pioneers, and Also of Prominent Citizens of To-day was published in 1892 and on Google Books. It’s the only source I can find that states a relationship between Charles R Pryor and Samuel B Pryor, the first mayor of Dallas. It states that Samuel arrived in Dallas around 1846 and his brother, Charles, joined him there 4 years later. It confirms that Samuel died there (he’s buried in the Pioneer Cemetery) but offers no further information about Charles. The book also states they were both doctors and “scions of an old Virginia family.”

samuel b pryor doctor ad
Dallas Herald, 9 February 1856

Samuel B Pryor and Charles R. Pryor advertised their medical practice in the Dallas Herald (see above image), which helps to confirm that they had a relationship that went beyond being two Pryor men found in the same town on a census record.

If we believe the Hempstead County grave markers that Elizabeth Ann was born “First” in 1822 and we also believe that Samuel and Charles were brothers, then Samuel’s year of birth makes him too old to be a son of Richard and Virginia Pryor. On the 1850 and 1860 Census Samuel Pryor’s age was recorded as 30 and 40 which places his year of birth as 1820. This conflicts with the grave marker that states Elizabeth Ann was the first born in 1822. Elizabeth was counted as Elizabeth Blankhead on the 1850 census, age 27. She was living with her parents in 1860, age 36.

The Hempstead County grave markers also throw shade on another piece of Pryor history. Richard Pryor is mentioned in the extracts from The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography in 1899 (see Google Books). The book says Richard “moved to Arkansas, where he died.” The markers say he died in Texas rather than Arkansas.

Samuel B. Pryor’s obit was published in the Dallas Herald on October 20, 1866. It reported he was born in Lawrenceville, Brunswick County, VA on August 19, 1820. That certainly coincides with his ages on the TX census. Since Charles worked for the Dallas Herald — did he provide details or write the actual obituary? I’ve suspected that Samuel and Charles were sons of Philip Pryor in Brunswick County. Could be. If Samuel and Charles were Philip’s sons they would be Richard’s second cousins.