Tag Archives: Major Pryor

Captain Pryor, Lewis and Clark, and the Welsh Indians

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I need to change a guess I made in an earlier post [see Captain Pryor Among the Wabash Indians?] I still believe I was correct in the conclusion that Major Pryor of Richmond is the Major referred to in the document with Edward Carrington. However, I suspect that Captain Pryor is someone else.

I found a wonderful old diary entry for 14 Mar 1793. It’s the diary of Ezra Stiles, the president of Yale University, published in 1901 [see diary entry].  This is the kind of stuff I get really excited about because it captures a snippet of time and some intriguing pieces from history.

From his entry we can tell it had snowed the day before. A nifty day of the week calculator tells me that the 14th was a Thursday. So, around noon on a snowy day when lectures had been cancelled, Dr. Stiles received 8 Native American visitors who were from tribes along the Mississippi River— the distance between New Haven, CT and the Mississippi is not a day ride! The area west of the Mississippi was still Spanish territory (France gained the land in 1800). He took them on a tour of the college library and museum. They didn’t even speak English so there was an interpreter. What a unique visit. This visit sounds so diplomatic and civilized — a far cry from the feathers and war paint version of history.

The Native visitors were escorted to “Bo” (is that perhaps Boston?) by Captain Pryor. Any ideas of who this Captain Pryor might be?

It’s not Nathaniel Pryor. Nathaniel joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 10 years after the diary entry with the rank of sergeant, not a captain.

Could it be Nathaniel’s father? I don’t think so. In 1791 (2 years before the diary entry) Nathaniel was reported in a court document as a orphan of John Pryor, deceased.

Wouldn’t it make sense for Lewis and Clark to take a Pryor with them who knew what to expect? Could this Capt. Pryor be a relative of Nathaniel Pryor?

There is another Captain Pryor to consider. Joseph Pryor of Botetourt County, VA was known as Captain Pryor and commanded troops during the Revolutionary War. Would he be too old to be riding off to the Mississippi River and up to Boston and back to Virginia in the 1790’s? Possibly not. He seemed to have the energy to move his family from VA to KY in about 1800. And of course it could be a northern Pryor from PA or CT.

One very quirky thing I need to point out and it makes me wonder what the conversation entailed on that day in 1793. Stiles wrote, and I’ll clean it up a bit into readable sentences:

These Indian(s) knew nothing of white or Welsh Indians west of the Mississippi (River). The interpreter, a German, told me he had traveled 1200 miles up the Missouri River to where the Spaniards have Gold mines, but never saw white Indians, and knew nothing and believed nothing of the Welsh Indians. I read (to)  them from Williams &co. They believed nothing of it.

If you’ve ever seen the TV show America Unearthed, there was a belief that the Welsh had arrived in America before Columbus. The episode I recall said that when President Jefferson sent off Lewis and Clark in 1803 he wanted to know if they found any evidence of the Welsh or what were known as “White Indians”.  Apparently Gen. George Rogers Clark (uncle of Clark of the Clark in  Lewis and Clark) claimed to have met White Indians in southern Illinois in the late 1770’s (see Footprints of the Welsh Indians)

Welsh Indians sound like one big ol’ tall tale to me, but it is kind of fun to see how this stuff gets all tangled together in history.

Category: In Context of History | Tags: , , ,

Pryors in Pittsylvania County, VA

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Pryors Pittsylvania County
I’ve discussed Thomas Pryor the nephew of Major John Pryor of Richmond. Their relationship prompts the question: Who is the father of Thomas and the brother of Major Pryor? I don’t know. There are Pryors and other families that seem to be connected to the Major and Thomas and for them Pittsylvania County should be at the center of our queries.

BOX 1 – Thomas Pryor 1830
Thomas Pryor was in Pittsylvania County in 1830. I believe he is the most likely candidate to be the Thomas Pryor mentioned as a nephew in Major John Pryor’s will. He is about the same age as the other nieces and nephews mentioned in the Major’s will. He is also connected to the Archers, a tidewater family aligned with the Major’s Pryor line. Thomas was near Elizabeth Pryor Archer on the 1820 Census in Rockingham County, NC and then on the 1830 and 1840 Census in Pittsylvania County before moving to Fayette Co., IL.

BOX 2 – Catherine Pryor and Henry Lansford
The Pittsylvania County, VA connection is at the top of my research list. Thomas Pryor and Elizabeth Pryor Archer were in Pittsylvania Co. in the 1820’s. I noticed Isham Lansford is on line 4 and Thomas Pryor is on line 7 of the 1830 Census – – Isham is reported in several online family trees to be the son of Henry Lansford and Catharine Pryor. Henry and Catharine were also the parents of Susannah Lansford who married George Reynolds and moved to Williamson Co., TN. They son Henry went to Henry Co., GA.

BOX 3 – Edward Pryor 1782 & 1784
Edward Pryor was in Henrico County, VA as early as 1735. It’s recorded in the vestry register that he was a processioner of the lands of John Martin and that Nicholas Pryor was present. In 1745 Nicholas Pryor sold land on Drinking Hole Branch of Tuckahoe Creek which were originally part of John Martin’s land. On a 1754 deed to between Richard East and William Buxton their property is described as being located on Drinking Hole Branch adjoining land belonging to Edward Pryor. Edward and Nicholas Pryor appear to be connected. I suspect he’s the same Edward Pryor who was in  Wilkes County, GA in 1785 and that he was related to the John Pryor in Henry County, GA who witnessed a deed with Henry Lansford  (Jr).

BOX 4 – Mrs. Elizabeth (Perkins) Pryor and Hendley Stone
Elizabeth first married John Pryor, son of John Henry Pryor. After her husband’s death she married Hendley Stone and migrated with her sons Peter and Green Pryor to Williamson County, TN. If you look at BOX 2- Catharine Pryor Lansford’s daughter Susannah also went to Williamson County.

When I found George Reynolds 1813 Will from Williamson County, TN (see above) — it mentions his wife Susannah, his son Richard, and land near Wm. Stone and Pryor Reynold’s line. It would be a pretty wild coincidence, so it’s probably no coincidence at all that Catharine Pryor’s daughter was living near William Stone, the husband of Rhoda Pryor, a daughter of John Henry Pryor! Catharine isn’t mentioned in John Henry’s long will filed in Orange Co., NC — it’s long because it named 11 children.  I believe now that perhaps Catharine, although not a daughter of John Henry Pryor, may be related in some other way.

BOX 5 –  Perkins and William Harding
I don’t think I made this clear in the box, so hoping I can describe it better. John Henry Pryor who died in Orange Co., NC in 1771 was the father of Green Pryor who married Susannah Perkins. Susannah was a niece of William Harding of Henrico County who posted surety for the estate of Nicholas Pryor (d. 1746). Green’s son John Pryor married Elizabeth Perkins, perhaps a cousin. When John died Elizabeth married Hendley Stone. Elizabeth and her husband Hendley went to Williamson County, TN and lived near William Stone and Rhoda Pryor and Susannah Lansford Reynolds (daughter of Catharine Pryor Lansford).

BOX 6 – Montford Eilbeck
Montford Eilbeck is mentioned on NC deeds with John Henry Pryor’s family. There was a Montford S.Pryor born 1798 in Pittsylvania County (per his army records). He enlisted in the military in Louisville and was discharged in Iowa. If you go looking for  him there are several variations of his name — Montford, Montfort, Mountford, Mountford. He may have died after 1835 as I haven’t found records of him after the 1836 census in Dubuque, IA. Montford was a single man on the census, so he may have died without issue.

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Thomas Pryor, Nephew of Major John Pryor of Richmond

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Although Major John Pryor of Richmond never had children he’s still one of those Pryors who seems to point to other Pryor relationships, helping to solve some of the VA Pryor riddles.

The Major’s will:

PRYOR, John (of the City of Richmond). Will proved there March 1823. Names wife, Elizabeth Graves; nieces, Dorcas Bryan, Elizabeth Taylor, Rebecca Taylor, Charlotte Morrison (of Williamsburg, Va.), Elizabeth Hazelwood; nephews, Thomas Pryor and Archer, William, Romert, John, and Pryor Hankins. Friend, Lewis Burwell. Not an heir, but mentions first wife was named Ann.

I’ve identified most of the heirs in his will [see my post]. Now I think I can ID his nephew Thomas Pryor.  I suspect it’s the Thomas Pryor on the 1820 Census in Rockingham Co., NC.  When I looked at this Thomas I found an Mrs. Elizabeth Archer who is cited as formerly a Pryor in an online tree (http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pryor-380).  Elizabeth Archer is on the 1820 Census in NC on the line below Thomas Pryor.

I like that she married an Archer. Major Pryor was very well connected to prominent tidewater families – he married a Whiting and later a Graves.  His nephews mentioned in his will were from the tidewater Hankins family and were named after prominent families—Pryor and Archer.

Elizabeth Pryor Archer’s son Thomas D. Archer married in 1825 in Pittsylvania Co., VA, so I looked at the Pryors in that county.  In 1834 there was a John Randolph Pryor born in that county. Hmmm… Randolph… another prominent VA family, in fact they married into the Jeffersons (The President’s brother was named Randolph Jefferson). On the 1830 and 1840 Census in Pittsylvania County is Thomas Washington Pryor who was married to Nancy Graves Haynes—There’s the Graves surname again. My bets (and other researchers are drawing this conclusion) that Thomas Washington Pryor is the same Thomas who was in Rockingham County.

Both Thomas Washington Pryor and his son John Randolph Pryor migrated to Fayette County, IL. They are on the 1860 Census. Thomas states his place of birth as NC while his wife and children were born in VA.  There is also a Graves family and lots of Hankins families in Fayette County. The places of birth seem to indicate that the family had connections to both VA and NC.

I think these tidewater surnames that are associated with Major Pryor give us clues to these families even in Tennessee. In Knox County, TN there is a David Hankins, Eli Hankins, and George Graves recorded consecutively on the 1850 Census. Don’t think there’s a connection? Well, Eli Hankins named his son Pryor Hankins.  The Major’s sister, Elizabeth, married an older Pryor Hankins in VA and an online family tree notes that Eli was married to a Nancy Graves. Just so it doesn’t get lost in the text… Knox County. That’s going to become important in later posts!

The elephant is in the room. It’s the big question. If Major John Pryor is the uncle of Thomas Pryor, then who is the Major’s brother and father of Thomas?

Category: About TN Lines, Illinois Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , ,

Connecting Major John Pryor of Richmond to More Pryors!

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I’m not sure what to call this chart… David Pryor? Major John Pryor of Richmond? Christopher Pryor? Not sure because it has all of these men in it. I’ve found that keeping this chart has been quite helpful because sometimes keeping track of everyone feels like a dancing in a bowl of Pryor spaghetti– a tangled, mushy mess!

chart - david pryor

I don’t yet know the father the David and I don’t yet know his brother. I suspect Nicholas Pryor of Henrico County is David’s father. David died 1747 in Henrico County and Nicholas died in 1746. I have a suspicion but not enough proof to speculate that Edward Pryor may be David’s missing brother. Edward was in Henrico County on land described at a similar location as land owned by Nicholas and Edward was in Pittsylvania County.

To tame the “spaghetti”– I’ve drawn in arrows and bubbles where people seem to intersect.

  • Major John Pryor married Ann Beverly Whiting. When Anne’s brother Henry Whiting died his estate was handled by John C. Pryor, who I believe to be the Major’s nephew. We know for sure that the “paperwork” says John C. Pryor was Christopher Pryor‘s son.
  • While Major Pryor lived in Richmond, many of his heirs and their aligned families lived in James City, Gloucester, Elizabeth City, and in Williamsburg. These locations are also true for Christopher Pryor and his descendants.
  • Major Pryor died childless but among  his heirs were Archer Hankins and Thomas Pryor. I believe he is the Thomas Pryor counted next to Elizabeth Pryor Archer on  the Rockingham Co., NC census. Elizabeth’s son, Creed Taylor Archer, state she was a daughter of David Pryor and Mary Cunningham of Buckingham County, VA (the David Pryor marriage to Miss Cunningham is new to me and will be explored in another post).
  • Thomas in Rockingham County named his son John Randolph Pryor— was he named for the President’s brother John Randolph Jefferson who married Mitchie Pryor?

I’m working on another chart of all the Pryors that lived in or passed through Pittsylvania County. Looks like that may answer some of our questions!

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Kin of Major John Pryor of Richmond, VA

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CHURCH HILL RICHMOND VA

I keep trying to piece together the family of Major John Pryor of Richmond. If you’ve heard any loud frustrated sighs, that’s probably me. The Major had no children so what I’m curious about is who were his siblings and who was his father. This week I’m taking another look at his family tree with some of the new information I’ve found.

First Wife: John Pryor married Anne Beverly Whiting, the daughter of Thomas Whiting and Ann Sewall. Anne was a socialite with dwindling fortunes. They married in 1796 when the Major was in his late forties, over-weight and in poor health and Anne was in her teens.  The marriage dissolved when Anne ran off with her French tutor, Mr. Fremon. In 1811 Major Pryor asked the Virginia Legislature for a divorce, however there is no evidence that they ever granted a divorce, in fact there is strong paper evidence they said “no.”

Second Wife: The Major was a creature of  habit– he married twice and each time married considerably younger women. In 1815 at the age of 65 Major Pryor married Elizabeth Quarles Graves, who was about 15 years old. They remained married until his death in 1823. There is a fat file of depositions which were collected in the 1850’s when Elizabeth applied for a Widow’s Revolutionary War Pension. A deposition from Sarah Hatcher of Richmond states she was the daughter of Methodist minister Edmund Lacy who married John Pryor and Elizabeth Graves. She said she remembered the ceremony because of the “disparity” of their ages. Sarah also remembered that John was related in some manner to Elizabeth. A letter in the file written and signed by Elizabeth herself states she was the grand-daughter of the “reputed” Major James Quarles. A while ago I figured out that Major James Quarles was married first to Major John Pryor’s sister, Mary Pryor, and Elizabeth was a daughter born to Major Quarles and his second wife Dorothy Waller. Therefore, Major Pryor and his wife were related, but not by blood.

There is some other connection between the Virginia Pryor families and the Wallers. I’m not exactly sure how it came about. Here are some more posts where the name Waller was discussed. So this is another connection that remains on the back-burner for now.
https://tennesseepryors.com/virginia-pryors/nancy-pryor-marriage-in-york-county-va-1796/

https://tennesseepryors.com/tennessee-pryors/williamson-county-pryors-connected-to-other-tn-pryor-lines/

Sister, Mary Pryor Quarles: The Major’s marriage to his brother-in-law’s daughter (It starts to sound like a soap opera!) is supported by the Revolutionary War Pension application made by Patsy Minor Quarles the wife of Robert Quarles and also the mother of Pryor Quarles. Patsy states that Robert’s mother was Mary. http://revwarapps.org/w9868.pdf. There is  still a question whether Mary was a sister or an aunt– Major Pryor named his nieces and nephews in  his will, however Robert Quarles was still alive at the time was not named in the will.

Sister, Elizabeth Pryor Hankins, born about 1755. Elizabeth probably pre-deceased the Major as she was not named in his will although her children were named:

  • Archer Hankins b. 1771 – 1780. He was the presiding justice in James City. He’s on the 1830 Census in James City.
  • Pryor Hankins b. 1782. In 1810 Pryor was counted in York County and in 1830 and 1850 he was counted in James City, VA.
  • Dorcas Hankins b. 1785-1790. Dorcas married John Bryan and is named as Dorcas Bryan in Major Pryor’s will. Researchers state her husband died in 1806 which I believe pushes her year of birth back to around 1785 – 1790. Dorcas is a head of household on the 1810 and 1820 Census in York Co., VA (probably Williamsburg area). There are several Hankins households near Dorcas on census records and Pryor Hankins administered the estate of her step-son Frederick Bryan.

A Hankins Mystery:

There are Hankins families on the 1850 Census in Knox County, TN. Eli Hankins was married to Nancy Graves and had a son they named Pryor Hankins. I suspect there is a connection to the Hankins, Graves, and Pryor families from Richmond, VA. Are other Pryors in Knox County related to the Richmond Pryors? Well, I may have the answer to this in my next post!

Nieces, Elizabeth Taylor and Rebecca Taylor – These nieces were probably daughters of the Major’s sister, Sally Pryor Taylor, who was deceased by 1800 per the Major’s will. I do not not know which Taylor married Sally Pryor.

Niece, Mrs. Charlotte Morrison (of Williamsburg, VA) was counted on the 1850 Census in York County. Charlotte was the widow of George F. Morrison.

Nephew, Thomas Pryor. I believe he is the Thomas Pryor on the 1820 Census in Rockingham County, NC. He was counted one line above Elizabeth Pryor Archer. They both have connections to Pryors in Pittsylvania County, VA. There’s a whole lot more on Thomas in one of my next posts!

 

 

 

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , ,
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