Tag Archives: nathaniel pryor

No John – Nathaniel Pryor in the July 25th 1825 Louisville News

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nathaniel-pryor

In a recent post I said “…it’s time to dig out the July 1825 edition of the Louisville Morning Post to find out which John Pryor that Elizabeth Pryor Harper found had been killed by Indians.” (April 2, 2013: Identity of John Pryor – Revolutionary War Bounty Land in Kentucky). I’m questioning the veracity of the history of John Pryor of Louisville as stated by Ms. Harper. The quote as it appears online…

JOHN PRYOR Military warrant 4,000 acres warrant 126 service 3 years Captain Continental Line Virginia 2-13-1783. Supposed to have been killed by Indians before 1825 – from July 25 1825 edition of Louisville “Morning Post” he was dead by that time. [read online]

I don’t like leaving any stone unturned. I contacted the Library of Congress and got a copy of the July 25, 1825 edition of the Louisville Morning Post. You’ll be happy to know that the newspaper hasn’t turned to dust more than 180 years later. Indeed there is a reference to the Pryors of Louisville, but nothing of John Pryor nor of an Indian attack. The actual notice is above, my transciption follows…

Jefferson Circuit Set June Term, 1825
Daniel Wilson, complainant, against John B Gilly, executor of James Pryor, dec’d. Nathaniel Pryor and Robert McClelland and others defts.—in chancery.
This day came the complainant by his counsel and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court, that the defendants Nathaniel Pryor and Robert McClelland are non-residents of this commonwealth and they have not having appeared and answered the said complainant’s bills; It is therefore ordered that they appear here on or before the first day of the next October term of this court, and answer the said complainant’s bill, otherwise the same will be taken for confessed as to and against them and the matters and things therein contained, decreed accordingly. And it further ordered, that a copy of this order, be published two months successively, in some public authorized newspaper of this state.
A copy — Test.
Robert Tyler, d. e j. e e.
June 23

OK, so it’s not about John Pryor or a death by the hands of Native American. It refers to a suit I haven’t seen before. After reading the Virginia Chancery Court cases I’m drooling over the thought of Kentucky Chancery records!

This little notice helps to tie together members of Nathaniel Pryor’s family. James Pryor’s will names Nathe Pryor, and his nephew James B. Gilly.  Robert McClelland who married Nancy Pryor in Jefferson Co., KY in 1792 has been suspected to be a brother in law an sister of James and Nathaniel Pryor. This appears to be true.

I think most Nathaniel Pryor researchers know that he had moved Westward after the Lewis and Clark expedition. This notice indicates that not only was Nathaniel living outside of Jefferson County, but so were other family members.

 

Category: Kentucky Pryors | Tags: , , ,

James Pryor in Jefferson County, KY

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Everyone seems to be connected. Even when looking at James Pryor and other pryors from Jefferson County, Kentucky.

A Jefferson Co., KY will extract:

“Will of John M OFFAND Nov 23 1818, probated March 11 1822 gives to wife Henrietta Offand and after her death to his children; executor Henrietta Offand, wife, JAMES PRYOR, Fortunatus COSBY, and William MCKEEVER Jefferson CO.”

Forts. (sic) Cosby is on the 1820 Census in Jefferson County (Louisville). I looked around the Internet for some information on him and found that Fortunatus Cosby married Mary Ann Fontaine in Louisa Co., VA. 1 Nov 1785. From the Register of St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County. Ah ha! looks like he’s connected to St. James Northam Parish like the Pryors descended from Col. William Pryor and Sarah Wood.

The Cosbys look like they were well connected. The History of Kentucky: From Its Earliest Discovery and Settlement…, by Zachariah Frederick Smith. Fortunatus Cosby, probably the son of the Fortunatus named in the above) was the Consul General to Switzerland (Geneva) 1862).

I see researchers have James Pryor, brother of Nathaniel Pryor, died in Louisville around 1822. I haven’t found him on the 1820 Census, so can’t confirm if he’s the James Pryor mentioned in this extract.

It is interesting how these names get so tangled.

Category: Genealogy, Kentucky Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: ,

OK Painting of Nathaniel Pryor

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Sam Huston and Nathaniel Pryor

Have you seen the painting of Nathaniel Pryor and Sam Houston? It’s in OK. It’s on the Oklahoma Arts Council’s website: *. I know it’s not avant-garde — no elephant dung or inappropriate nudity. However, the historical context of the painting disturbs my equilibrium. I just have to ask questions about it. Is this based in fact or pure imagination?

Perhaps because I’m female, the first thing that disturbs me is the clothing. The Sam Houston Memorial Museum posts on their website that Houston traveled from Tennessee in 1818 to meet with President James Monroe in Washington, DC. Noted politician, and at that time Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun reprimanded Houston for dressing like an indian. In 1829 Houston was governor of Tennessee, but left his position, heading West to live with the Cherokees.  I have to assume that if he was dressing like an indian in 1818, then,  you’d expect that ten years later when he was living amongst the Native Americans that he dressed to fit in. So, is Houston the man on the left in the buck skin outfit?

If so, then Nathaniel Pryor must be the man on the right wearing the red plaid Pendleton-style jacket and the hat that looks to be straight out of an Orvis catalog! Nathaniel Pryor probably had been in contact with Indian tribes from his youth in the pioneer regions of eastern Kentucky. He was a longtime military man. He was used to walking and riding long distances with probably no more than a pack of survival supplies; he lived as a trapper, explorer, and trader. I can’t imagine he would dress like grandpa on a fishing trip to the family lake house!

I have a photo of my great-grandfather who was a cowboy. He drove cattle in Texas in the 1870’s and 1880’s. In the photo he’s a wrinkled mess (clothes right out of  his saddle bag). He also looked like he could use a shower. When you look at most men in old photos, especially during the Civil War, they look a bit unkept. Pryor and Houston look fresh and clean to the point of looking as unreal as a museum diorama.

I’m trying to understand where fantasy and reality of the event come together in this painting. The Arts website has an explanation of the lives of both men and their connection to Oklahoma, but it doesn’t say if they ever met. Sam Houston left office in Tennessee in 1829 and headed West. Nathaniel Pryor died in 1831. The window of opportunity for these men to meet was just a few years. There are accounts online of Nathaniel “Miguel” Pryor who left Louisville to find his father and namesake, but couldn’t find him in St. Louis so he headed into the Southwest. Without roads and modern communication, how would Nathaniel Pryor and Sam Houston find each other? On the river?

Unlike the idyllic flatboat scene depicted in the painting there is an account that Nathaniel Pryor and Sam Houston met over U.S. relations with the Indian tribes.  In Sam Houston with The Cherokees, 1829-1833 by Jack Gregory and Rennard Strickland it states in 1829 and 1830 “when war between the Osages and Delawares became almost inevitable John Eaton, secretary of war, appointed a commission,” with the purpose of working out the differences between the tribes. “Commandant Matthew Arbuckle, A. P. Chouteau, and Sam Houston met with Nathaniel Pryor, Osage subagent, and Clermont, the Osage principal chief, in a conference held at the mouth of the Veridgris River.”

The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston by Marquis James gives us some insight in what Houston thought of Pryor. Houston wrote to President Andrew Jackson about Pryor’s qualifications in Indian affairs, urging that Pryor be appointed to the Indian Service. Nathaniel Pryor was appointed an Indian agent shortly before he died. Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 22 mentions that in his letter Houston referred to Nathaniel Pryor as a veteran of the Battle of New Orleans.

Ok, I’m not completely adverse to the imagination of this painting. It would be amazing to eavesdrop on the conversation between the Pryor who had traveled with Lewis and Clark, and Houston who had already been governor of Tennessee and who later (in 1836) would be the President of the Republic of Texas.

Of course the genealogist in me would love to know if Pryor and Houston were related or if their relations had known each other when they were pioneer families in the west of  Old Virginia and later on the frontier.

* After publishing this post I learned that the painting is  not available today on this link.
(Wayback Machine link)
An image of the painting is located at
http://franceshunter.wordpress.com/page/16/

Category: Oklahoma Pryors, Texas Pryors | Tags: , ,

Forget About the Stereotype: Early Pryors were Educated Pioneers

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I think many of us are familiar with the stereotype of the early pioneers– illiterate backwoodsmen. I’m finding that early Pryors were educated pioneers.

When I looked again at the Pryors in the War of 1812. I was trying to figure out if the Nathan Pryor who served in the Missouri Militia under Col. McNair was Nathaniel Pryor of the Louis and Clark Expedition. Col. Alexander McNair was also the first governor of Missouri. Stephen F. Austin of the Austin Colony in Texas was in McNair’s regiment in the War of 1812. McNair ran against explorer William Clark (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) and defeated him in 1820. Oh yes, lest we forget—Austin was connected to another Pryor: William Pryor of Stewart County, TN was among the pioneers in Austin’s Colony. The connections are so numerous; it’s like a big bowl of spaghetti!

Reading about Lewis and Clark, Nathaniel Pryor, Austin, and others… I’m beginning to realize that the view of the pioneers we’re taught in school is really wrong. These men who were leaders were educated pioneers and extremely connected in society and by marriage. They weren’t the ‘coon skin cap wearin’ hicks that the movies and some teachers portrayed. It was true then and still true— gotta have an education to get ahead.

If the 1812 record for Nathan Pryor is the same as Nathaniel, he was an adjutant, an assistant to high ranking officers. This position probably entailed reading and writing messages. When I’ve looked at St. Louis court documents that name Nathaniel Pryor, he signed his own name to these documents.

Betty (TXOld300) who has been researching William Pryor reports that he signed his will in Texas indicating that he too was literate.

Recognizing an ancestor’s level of education helps to understand who they were and how they interacted in their world. Education also is a clue to where to look for further documentation to flesh-out the story of our family tree.

Category: Genealogy, Missouri Pryors, Texas Pryors | Tags: , , , ,

Another Query About Nathaniel Miguel Pryor

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Can you believe it… another question about the legacy of Nathaniel Pryor! I got to while away a lazy weekend pondering a question about the parentage of Nathaniel “Miguel” Pryor born 1805 and lived in Los Angeles, CA. I was asked if this Nathaniel Pryor was born in Louisiana instead of KY and that his father was Daniel Pryor, perhaps a brother of the Nathaniel Pryor of Lewis and Clark fame.

Nathaniel Miguel Pryor’s death was listed by Mrs. Joseph M. Northrop and published by The Historical Society of Southern California in 1961. These death records are those enumerated on the 1850 Death Schedule as part of the 1850 Census. It states Miguel was age 45, a silversmith, born in Louisiana, and had suffered epileptic fits for a year prior to his death. The thing that caught my attention was the parenthesis in the listing; they separate comments from the actual death information enumerated on the schedule: “(According to the marriage record he was called Nathaniel Prior, married last to Maria Paula Romero, born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Daniel Pryor and Mary Davis. Buried May 11, 1850, at the age of 50 years)”. These comments were added by Mrs. Northrop. 

The comments on the extraction of the Death Schedule are partially correct. They refer to the Catholic church record of Nathaniel’s marriage. I was able to see digital records of the old Los Angeles church and San Gabriel Mission which are available through the Huntington Library website. I’m pretty sure these are what Thomas Fiske accessed too when he wrote his article about Nathaniel Miguel Pryor (Last Man Standing). You too can login to view the old California records at http://missions.huntington.org — it’s free.

I also searched for Nathaniel’s death or burial record, but I didn’t see any for the church in Los Angeles nor the mission in San Gabriel for that year– maybe I’m missing something in my search or the records for that year did not survive in the those churches. Mrs. Northrop references Nathaniel Miguel Pryor marriage record, however (and this is kind of obvious) the burial date is not on the marriage record, so I have to question her source for the burial date.

I’ve added excerpts of these records to the TN Pryors website. https://tennesseepryors.com/pryor-website/state-records/california-counties-e-l/#Los_Angeles

While obits are great resources they are usually written by someone other than the deceased and can be a couple generations further out from the source. The obit for Ellen Pryor Rojas 1919-2006 states she was the great-great granddaughter of “Nathaniel Pryor, (nephew of Nathaniel Pryor, one of four sergeants for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804.” I know I’m a skeptic and am a stickler for proof, but that’s the best way of advancing the search for our Pryor connections. There’s no indication in the obituary where the information comes from that Nathaniel was a “nephew” of the famed Pryor. I believe the researcher who contacted me was speculating that Nathaniel Miguel was the son of a Daniel Pryor because Nathaniel Miguel Pryor’s marriage record has been read “Dataniel Praya” for his father’s name.

My interpretation of the records?

I suspect the 1836 baptism is correct. I believe Nathaniel Miguel Pryor was born in Louisville, not Louisiana as stated on the Death Schedule.  The Spanish-speaking priest had to really sweat over how to spell the name of the town on the marriage record! I think Thomas Fiske also points out that issue in his article on Nathaniel Pryor. The Louisiana Territory existed from 1805-1812; perhaps Nathaniel Miguel Pryor lived in the Louisiana Territory during his youth which was remembered when someone told the census enumerator he was born in Louisana.

I also think that Nathaniel was born in 1805 or very close to that year. It’s the year of birth he gave on his baptism in 1836. When he died in 1850 someone must have been pretty sure of his age because they gave an age to the enumerator that jives with the birth year derrived from the 1836 record. I wish more of my kin had ages that were that close from record to record!

I’m still siding with Thomas Fiske and believe still that Nathaniel was the son of the Lewis and Clark Explorer.

Category: California Pryors, Kentucky Pryors | Tags: , , ,
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