Tag Archives: Jackson County

Pryor Names from the Tennessee Death and Burial Records

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John Pryor, born Oct 4 1831 in Jackson Co., TN
Died Jan 7, 1920 in the same county.
Lists his mother as Jane Pryor and her birthplace as the same county. Was his mother Nancy Pryor, if so, was her full name Nancy Jane?

Joseph P Pryor, born 2 Mar 1833 in KY (probably Trigg Co.)
Died Mar 15 1917 in Stewart Co., TN
Lists his parents as William Pryor and Olive Elliot.
Joseph was a retired postmaster.

William A Pryor, born 16 Sept 1837 in TN
Died Apr 7 1914 in Hamilton Co., TN.  He was buried in Jasper, TN (Marion Co.)
Lists his parents as John Pryor and Harriet Williams.

Monroe Pryor (black), born 1842 in Marion Co., TN
Died Oct 11 1923 in Jasper, Marion Co., TN.
Lists his parents as Jim Pryor and Sylvia Townsel
Possible that Monroe was born into slavery, occupation retired rail roader.

James Madison Pryor, born Sep 23 1846 in  Sumner Co., TN
Died May 11 1931 in Sumner Co., TN
Lists his mother as Margaret Curry (former wife of William Pryor)

Fanny Pryor Smith, born Aug 4 1844 in Stewart Co., TN
Died Jun 22 1915 in Stewart Co., TN
Lists her parents as Wesley Pryor and Miss Elliot (census records list mother as Fannie).
Both parents born in Trigg Co., KY.

We can add another Pryor to our list of TN Pryors!
Susannah Pryor Fox born 1818 in TN
Her daughter Margaret Fox Bowington, born Jan 15 1847 in Jackson Co., TN
Died Aug 25 1931 in Jackson Co.
Lists her parents as Richard O Fox and Susie Pryor, both born in Jackson County.
I suspect this new Pryor will send researchers scurrying to their databases. I know I did! There’s only a short list of Pryors who were in Jackson County in 1820.

Another Pryor descendant who fills in some added details…
John McDonad Hummel born abt 1840 in Livingston, TN
Died Aug 13 1915 in Clay Co., TN.
Lists his parents as William Huston Hummel and Julie Pryor (census records show her as Juda). His father was born in VA and his mother in East TN. On census records she states her place of birth as VA,  however I found with another ancestor there was a lot of travel between eastern TN and western VA and the place of birth can become confused.

And what would new Pryor information be without a new Pryor mystery?
Death record of John Marsh born Apr 1848 in TN, died Sept 1918 in Lincoln Co., TN.
Lists his parents as Goodman Davis and a Miss Pryor both born in TN.  Was he the son of Goodman Davis and Harriet Lee Smith Pryor and if so, why was his surname Marsh? Who was John? He’s not recorded on the census.

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Who is John Prior in Jackson County, TN in 1820?

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I know it’s hard to believe… we’ve missed a Pryor in the census records. I found this week a John Prior on the 1820 Census in Jackson County, TN. Just for the doubters and folks who want to be sure it’s not a “Price” or a “Poor” I’ve posted his name below. The handwriting sure looks like P-r-i-o-r.

The oldest male in his household was over 45 years old, so we can guess that this John Pryor was born before 1775.

 

  • John Pryor born 1757 who lived in Knox Co. and later with a son in  Jefferson Co.  He is in Sullivan Co., TN on the 1830 Census. The 1820 Census for Knox County is missing. All of this Pryor family is also missing from census records in 1820, so it’s a good guess to believe they were living in Knox County. Based on available information I’d have to rule out this John Pryor.
  • John Pleasant Pryor born 1770 in North Carolina.  I haven’t found him on the 1820 Census in NC nor in TN.  He is in Smith County, TN in 1830.
  • John Pryor who married Ruth Sherrill was born about 1773.  He’s on the 1820 Census in White Co., TN and in 1830 in Sangamon Co., IL. Was the family counted twice in 1820 — once in White County and then also in Jackson County?
  • John H. Pryor, son of Luke D. Pryor of Williamson Co., TN. John was born 1760-1770. The only

Any ideas folks?

Category: Tennessee Pryors | Tags:

Debunking a Daughter of Explorer Nathaniel Pryor

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Recently I found the book “Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 48” by James Shannon Buchannan, et. al., published 1936 in Google Books.  It tries to make a connection between an Osage woman named Mary Jane Pryor and the Lewis and Clark explorer, Nathaniel Pryor.

“The Osage Rolls contain clues for tracing the decendants of Pryor and Osinga… alottee No. 251 He-he-kin-to-op-pe, Jan. 1, 1894 Full (Mary Jane Pryor); 450 (Mary Pryor) Jan 1, (dead).”  The book further states that this is probably the Mary Jane Pryor who married Charles Alderman on 17 March 1849 in Franklin Co., MO.

The Internet is such a wonderful place for genealogists and family history researchers.  With digitized records it’s now easy to search and compare informaton in books.  I found Charles Alderman on the 1860 Census in Jackson Co., MO. He appears to be the same man who married Mary Jane Pryor in 1849.  The pieces add up that Mary Jane was the daughter of Lindsey Pryor and Jane Renfro, not Nathaniel Pryor.

  • Lindsey W. Pryor was living in Franklin Co. in 1840. He was married to Jane Renfro.
  • There was a young girl in the household on the 1840 Census.
  • Lindsey’s son John S. Pryor was living in Jackson Co., MO in 1860 in the same town as Charles Alderman.
  • The oldest child in the Alderman household, William, was born in about 1853, after the 1849 marriage.
  • Living with the Aldermans  —  Jane Pryor who is the right name and age to be Lindsey’s widow Jane Renfro.

Mary Jane is not on the 1860 Census. It appears she was deceased. Therefore she wasn’t the daughter of Nathaniel Pryor,  nor was she the Mary Jane on the 1894 Osage Rolls.

Category: Genealogy | Tags: , , , ,

Is David C. Kin to David Pryor Who Married Susan Ballou/Ballow?

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Hot on the trail of David C. Pryor born 1826 in TN. The book Trail Drivers of Texas states that his son David C. was born 1847 on a plantation in Alexandria, located in Rapides Co., LA.

 In 1830 there was a John C. Pryor counted on the census in Rapides Co. In a 1843 lawsuit, John C.Pryor was doing business in that county in 1830 and was involved in a litigated land deal in Alexandria, LA.

 On the 1840 Census there was an Isaac Thomas recorded in Rapides Co. This is of interest because David C. Pryor b. 1826 gave his a son born in 1847 the same name.  One researcher notes General Isaac Thomas was born 4 Nov. 1784 in Sevier Co., TN. He died in Rapides Co., LA in 1859 and had married Ann Pryor, Jane Bullard, and Emerline Flint.  The Wells Family of Louisiana and Allied Families by George Mason Graham Stafford states Ann Pryor was “General” Thomas’ first wife and that she was from Winchester, TN (Franklin Co.). A Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants and History of the Towns … by Abner Morse recounts a story of General Isaac Thomas riding from Natchez to Alexandria with Judge Bullard and seems to suggest that Thomas was also a judge or attorney (“remains at the bar”).

 By 1850 both David C. Pryors were living in Desoto Co., MS. It’s probable that the head of household Archibald McKissack was David Sr’s father in law. In the same county, only one page away from the McKissack household, was John C. Pryor b. 1794 in VA. John C. was also on the 1840 Census in Desoto Co. It’s likely that he was the same John C. who was in Rapides Co., LA in 1830. On the 1850 Census there was a child named John Pryor in David’s  household, possibly an earlier son named for his own father? His second son, Archibald, appears to have been named for his father in law. The second son for his grandfather, David. And his last son born after the census, Isaac Thomas Pryor, may have been named for the affluenent “General” and probable family friend.

 In a biographical sketch of David C. Pryor’s son Isaac “Ike” T., he states that his brother Archibald went to live with relatives in Tennessee after his mother’s death. Ike was sent to live with his aunt in Alabama and then eventually to relatives in Spring Hill, TN (Williamson Co.). The elder Pryor, John C. also had ties in Tennessee. He married Ann C. Bullard in “Winchester”in 1818 and was counted on the 1820 Census in Franklin Co., TN.

 Minute Man, Volumes 20-21 contains a genealogy stating that John C. Pryor who married Ann Bullard was John Cannon Pryor, son of David Pryor of VA, “Private in Third, Fifth, and Seventh Regts., VA Cont’l Line. This was published by the Sons of the American Revolution in 1927.

Oysterville: Roads to Grandpa’s Village by Willard R. Espy, 1977 edition states John Cannon Pryor married Ann Bullard. John was the son of Davis (sic) Pryor and Susan Ballow. John C. had a daughter named Rachel Medora who married Richard Harrison Taylor (aka Dick Taylor), son of  William Henry Harrison Taylor.

IF… that’s a very big “if ” in that more research must be done… if John C. Pryor was the father of David C. Pryor it would make sense that the son, David C. born in 1826, could have been named for a grandfther aslo named David.

Another Pryor also resideded in Rapides Co., LA. William b. 1810 was living in Rapides Co. in 1846 when his son William T. was born there. The 1860 census in Jackson Co., TX states the counties of birth for this Pryor family. William was born in Nashville, TN (Davidson Co.)

Are we getting close to figuring out this line?

Category: Tennessee Pryors, Texas Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Leroy B. Pryor – Part II: Can We Connect the Cousins?

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Leroy B. Pryor is one of the Jackson County, TN Pryors who remains a mystery.  Solving Leroy’s ancestry will probably clean up many of the unresolved Pryor lines in this county!

Leroy B. Pryor first appeared in District 9 of the 1850 Census (wayback machine link).

In the same district are John Y. Crocker and the elder Sary Pryor aged 86 born in NC (perhaps his wife’s grandmother?).  John Y. Crocker had a son named Allen P. living in household… Perhaps Allen “Pryor” after the older Allen Pryor who was living in District 1 of Jackson County.  The Crockers had another Pryor connection in Jackson County: Rhoda and Polly Pryor (daughters of Henry B. Pryor of Pike Co., AL) were living with William and Alsey Pryor in District 1. These Pryor sisters married William B. Crocker and Thomas W. Crocker respectively and settled in Williamson County, TN.  It’s not yet known why Henry’s daughters continued to live in Tennessee as teens after Henry moved to Alabama with his sons.

Naming traditions were not always followed, but they can be clues to sort through the relationships. In 1855 Henry’s son Robert/Robertsonnamed a daughter Rhoda Ann presumably after his sister or perhaps both girls were named for an older relative.  Henry B. named sons Luke and Allen. We know Luke was his grandfather.  Could Allen be a brother? Henry B. was born 1790 in South Carolina, he could be a brother of Allen and Alfred in Jackson Co. who were born 1810 and 1808 respectively in South Carolina? Neither Allen nor Alfred named sons Luke, Henry, nor John which may have been a strong naming tradition if they were from Henry B.’s line.

In District 9 living near Leroy B. Pryor is Jane Pryor Allen b. 1827.  She was counted in the household of her mother in law Rebeca Allen and her husband Robert N. Allen.  Jane died in 1919 and her Jackson County death record states her maiden name as “Pryer” and her mother as Linda Pryor.  Jane was the mother of 12 Allen children. The first Allen son was named Jesse and the last named Robert N. Allen Jr. It can not be ruled out that Jane was related to Jesse Pryorwho was recorded on Overton County census records.

Leroy B. Pryor left Tennessee and was in Greene County, MO by 1852. In 1854 he was recorded in Washington County, and by the time of the 1860 Census in Crawford County (Wayback Machine link). In 1870 and 1880 he was counted in Phelps County (Wayback Machine link).  If there is a clue in the westward migration pattern, Leroy’s son John Pryor, John Y. Crocker, and also the children of Alfred Pryor and Serrena Dill Pryor who lived in District 1 of Jackson County, TN moved to Iron County, MO (Wayback Machine link) which borders the counties in which Leroy lived.

Allen and Alfred Pryor on Jackson County census records stated their place of birth as South Carolina. The Sary Pryor living with the Crockers and her probable grand-daughter, Dorcas Dennis (?) Crocker, both stated their place of birth as North Carolina.  Rhoda Pryor Crocker stated her parents were born in South Carolina which is consistent with where her father Henry B. Pryor stated he was born on the 1850 Census.  Leroy B. Pryor stated on the 1880 Census that both of his parents were born in North Carolina.  Other census entries are confusing if not unreliable. For example, the children of Allen Pryor when counted in Franklin County, IL (Wayback Machine link)  in 1880 stated their parents were born in Tennessee.

An interesting link is Mayhew (Mahue, Mayhugh) England. In 1850 and 1860 he was counted living with Nelson families in Jackson County, TN. In 1900 Mayhew England was counted in Iron Co., MO one house away from Margaret Pryor Anderson, a daughter of Alfred Pryor. Mayhew’s Missouri death record states he was the son of Austin England and Margaret Nelson.  Now if we can just tease out the relationships from the connection of the Pryors and the Englands: In 1830 Austin’s father, Jeremiah England, was counted near Jesse Pryor in Overton County, TN.  Jeremiah was on the 1850 Census in District 10 of Jackson County, TN.  In his household was wife Sally and two Romine children.  More Romines, Englands, and Pryors are on the Census records in Greene County, IL (Wayback Machine link).

What if we go backwards in the records to look for a connection? The 1840 Census for Jackson County, TN (Wayback Machine link)may hold clues in how the family names are grouped in the record. Found on pages 282 through 286 that cover District 9 are households of Pryor, Crocker, Allen and Romine. … More in PART III

Category: African-Americans, Blogroll, Genealogy, Missouri Pryors | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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