Tag Archives: Nicholas Pryor

Transcript of 1745 Deed: Nicholas Pryor of Henrico County

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This indenture made the twenty first day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty five between Nicholas Pryer of the Parish and county of Henrico of the one part and Henry Woodey of the county of Henrico of the other part. Witnesseth that the said Nicholas Pryor for and in consideration of the sum of forty pounds currant money of Virginia to him in hand paid —- the said Henry Woodey the receipt thereof he doth hereby — himself to be fully satisfied contented and —- contain parcel or tract of land containing one hundred and seventy acres lying and being in the parish and county of Henrico aforesaid and at the head of a branch at Tuckahoe Creek called Drinking hole branch being the place where on the said Nicholas Pryer now lives and is the same parcel or tract of land which the said Nicholas Pryer purchased of John Mayler and bounded according to the dimention bounds courses and distances mentioned in the said John Martin‘s deed. to the said Nicholas Pryer as by the said deed being had more fully may appear with all houses, orchards, gardens, fences woods, waters, and advantages whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining to have and to hold the said son hundred and seventy acres of land and premisses with — and every of the appurtences unto the said Henry Woodey his heirs and assigns against the said Nicholas Pryer his heirs, Est and administrator and against all other persons whatsoever doth by these presents warrant and for ever will defend in witness whereof he hath hereunto set his h and and seal the day month and year first above written.
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of us
Wm Street, Benj Johnson (his mark), Sarah Johnson (her mark)
Nicolas Pryer (his mark)

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Pryor Inheritance Announced for Noble Descendants

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When I came across this a news article of a Pryor inheritance; I thought of all the Pryors who hope to find their ancestry in Wales:

A Fortune for somebody. The Marquis of Cordoroy, a Welch nobleman, whose family in a direct line has become extinct by his decease; has left a large personal property, worth, it is said, seven millions sterling. The family name is Pryor. which has been modernized into Pry. Numerous descendants are in America, and they are called upon by the Crown-officer, who has charge of lapsing estates, through the columns of the London Times. There are branches through the female line, entitled to shares, of the names of Smith, Tompkins, and Shores; and the Crown-officer says if there are any persons in America, by these names, they will notify him of that fact, their address, residence, &c. &c.— Not time should be lost in making applications they ought by all means to telegraph.
Arkansas Intelligencer, May 4, 1848

My suspicious were aroused by the use of “welch” rather than “welsh”. I think this akin to the modern-day email offers from Nigerian princes, although not on such a grand scale. I’ve searched for this article in other newspapers from the time and there are no other reports. There is no such person as the Marquis of Cordoroy, nor is there a Marquis of Corduroy. There’s not even a place named Cordoroy/Coorduroy.

I think this was a spoof played upon one of the Pryors living in Van Buren, Crawford County, AR. Cornelius D Pryor (a son of Nicholas Ballow Pryor of Nashville, TN) had been one of the editors of the Arkansas Intelligencer from 1845 to 1847. Perhaps the story was aimed at him or one of his kin living in the area.

If anyone can find anything different, let me know — willing to reconsider this one!

Category: Arkansas Pryors, Tennessee Pryors | Tags: ,

Samuel Pryor and Hamlin Surname

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va-pryorsSamuel Pryor married Mary Ann Hamlin on 16 Oct 1821 in Amelia County, VA.

In 1841 James Boisseau Hamlin, a minor, sued his father’s estate. This case filed in the Amelia County, VA Chancery Court names James’ father William B. Hamlin, his widow Ann P Hamlin, and James’ siblings William B. Hamlin, Edward Y Hamlin, and Mary Ann Hamlin, wife of Samuel Pryor. The dispute seems to have been over advances in the estate given to James’ siblings before his father’s death. Edward was given slaves and land in Dinwiddie County. Mary Ann Pryor had received 8 slaves. The case also revealed the deceased Hamlin had 65 slaves in Virginia and 10 slaves in Tennessee.

Then in another Chancery Court Case filed in 1848 Samuel and Mary Ann Hamlin’s children are named. Samuel Pryor was the guardian of his infant children Samuel Edward, William, Anna, Virginia Frances, Lucy Osborne, and Agnes Epes Pryor. The suit also mentions a married daughter Mary Elizabeth Pryor, wife of James R. Craig. The suit was filed to gain interest in the estate of Anna Hamlin, widow of W B Hamlin.

Samuel Pryor and his children on the 1850 Census.

Samuel’s daughters were living near him in Dinwiddie County, VA: Southern Div., Page 478b, house 136 Lucy O. Field 40 VA, Susan E. J. Field 9 VA, Mary A. J. Field 7 VA, Sally J. J. Field 5 VA, Wellington E. Webb 33 Episcopal Clergyman 33 London, Eng., Sarah C. Webb 24 VA, Fanny V. PRIOR 13 VA, Lucy O. PRIOR 11 VA., Agnes E. PRIOR 8 VA.

Southern Div., Page 479a, house 142 Samuel PRIOR 50 farmer VA, Ann E. 53 VA, Anna J. 16 VA, Martha P. Broadnax 24 VA. (Samuel and wife Ann were on the 1860 Census in Campbell Co., VA. See Chancery Court case filed in Amelia County for names of other Pryor children.)

His sons were living apart from their father and sisters: William H Pryor was living in the household of a blacksmith in Hanover County and Samuel E. Pryor was a student residing in the Pike Powers Academy in Augusta County, VA.

The Hamlins were still in Amelia County in 1850 and onward. Anna P Hamblin age 55 and James B Hamblin age 24 were recorded in the same household on the 1850 Census (and together in 1860).

Now that I’ve jumped to the 1850 Census I need to look backward a quarter century and into Tennessee. On 19 April 1824 the following notice was published in the Nashville Whig (Davidson County, TN):

In Equity: Calvin Morgan, Gideon Morgan and Rufus Morgan, Com’s vs. Samuel Elam, and Elizabeth his wife, William B. Hamlin, Thomas Crutcher, and Nicholas B. Pryor, defts. William B. Hamlin not a resident of the state.

There was only one William B Hamlin on the 1820 Census and he wasn’t a resident of Tennessee… it’s the William B. Hamblin in Amelia County, Virginia who was counted with 60 slaves. This sounds like the same William B who was the father in law of Samuel Pryor. The 1820 census was recorded in alpha-order so it’s difficult to piece together who was living near who.

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , ,

DNA and Marriage Connections

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MarriageIt’s amazing how identifying the Pryors gets easier when the connections become clearer. In my last post (William Pryor of Amherst County – Do We Have A Name For His Mother?) I discussed uncovering a possible link between the Pryor and Laffoon families of Goochland County. So many wonderful connections have popped up in my research over the weekend– I hope that sharing will spur your own research.

An interesting connection came out my family member’s DNA results. We’re distant cousins (1st cousin 6x removed) of  Ann Pryor, daughter of John Pryor and Mary New. I theorized in a past post (The Patriarch: Tracing Nicholas Pryor) that John was the son of my ancestor Nicholas Pryor. John the older brother of David and William Pryor was born in about 1689, not too long after Nicholas was recorded as a Headright in Goochland County.

There have been NO DNA matches between the “other” Pryors in Goochland County… that’s the line of Col. Samuel Pryor and Prudence Thornton who go back to Robert Pryor and Virginia Betty Green.  That means that the Pryors in Amherst, Albemarle, Cumberland Counties in VA are probably not related to this other line. It also means that the Pryors in Nashville, Sumner County, and Overton County in TN are not related to the Pryos in Marion Co., TN.

Two Wrights… This weekend I looked at William Pryor of Amherst Co. He gave a statement about his service in the Revolutionary War with his brothers John and Nicholas (I know many people get tired of me mentioning this but it’s a good way to ID which William I’m talking about). William married Elizabeth Wright. Ann Pryor (daughter of John Pryor and Mary New) married John Wright. William and Ann Pryor were first cousins. I wonder if the Wrights were kin to one another?

Captain Ellis and the Pryors… In looking at Wrights I found that William’s wife Elizabeth Wright was the daughter of Isaac Wright and Susannah Ellis. I haven’t placed Isaac yet (really I haven’t worked on it), however I found that Susannah was the daughter of Capt. Charles Ellis and Susannah Harding. If you go back to my last post you’ll see that William’s father (William who was married to Margaret) sold land to a William Harding in 1751. And Captain Ellis is tied to the Pryors through their military service: William, Nicholas and a Richard Pryor all served under Ellis.

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