Tag Archives: overton county

Alice M. Pryor from Overton County, TN

We have a researcher who in interested in the family tree of William H. Pryor and Rutha Dial. They have an old tin-type portrait that is believed to be Alice M., daughter o William H. and Rutha.

Alice was identified as a 10-year-old daughter in William H.’s household on the 1880 Census. This record may be the only record of her made during her lifetime. If she was born in 1870, it was likely after the census as she does not appear on the census in that year.

In 1900 a grandson named Eddy C. Pryor was recorded in William H.’s household. Although this boy carried the Pryor name, it’s believed that his mother was Alice because his death record in 1958 identifies his mother as Alice Pryor.

Does anyone have any information on Alice– when she died, where she is buried, who was the father of her son Eddy?

Pryor and Taylor Names in Overton County Records

William B. Churning dec’d, Rachel Chourning adm. Money due to the following:
Roland Flowers due 1 Jan 1837
Overton PRYOR due 26 Apr. 1837
Hezekiah Taylor Jan 1832 (Brother of Spicy and Massie Taylor Pryor)
J.H. Storie, Overton PRYOR and Elijah Garrett $9.45 (William & Spicy Pryor>Overton Pryor)

13 Nov 1846 Estate Sale of Enid Huddleston, Levi and Roland Flowers buyers. (Edward Pryor, probable son of Wm and Spicy Pryor was living near a Roland Flowers in Clinton Co., KY in 1850)

27 Jul 1849 Joseph Bates estate, Hezekiah Taylor purchased 2 lots of shoemaker tools, 1 lot barrels, 1 large kettle, William Richardson also made a purchase (Hezekiah Taylor, brother to Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor. William Richardson may be kin of Hezekiah’s wife Margaret Richardson?)

1850 Estate of William Harp, dec’d. (The top part of this document is now obscured, but there are groups of debtors and creditors listed by the county they lived in). Persons in Overton Co..Jno. R. Buck, S. Tipton, Joseph Duncan. Persons in Fentress County: John Rogers, Jas. K. Brown, William Poor, Hiram Hills, Michael H. Frogg, William R. Cambell, William Travis?, James Finley?, Jacob Rich. Persons in Fentress County: Joshua Owens, David Smith, John Albertson, George W. Ashburn, Evan? D. Frogg, PLEASANT TAYLOR (note due June 1841), William M. Simpson, William Wright, –? Wood.

15 Aug 1850 Andrew Boswell dec’d, note due to Pleasant Taylor, Isaac Stockton and Eddy Paul: $100.91 (Pleasant Taylor, brother of Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor)

30 Jul 1852 William H. Harrison, 1 Dec. 1852… 19 head of geese for Mary, James, Wesley and Jeremiah Taylor.

Benjamin McDonald – supplemental. Joseph Garrett, David Garrett’s son a note dated 1852, Samuel Taylor (residence unknown) 1852, Robert B. Garrett (residence unknown) 1852 and 1853.

3 Jun 1853 Thomas Cope dec’d, J. M. Garrett, B. Flowers, Nancy Garrett, Louisa Garrett, Ki Taylor, J. Taylor, T. A. Garrett, John Taylor, Kiah Taylor (Kiah Taylor is probably Hezekiah Taylor, brother to Spicy and Massa Taylor Pryor. )

30 Jul 1862, James Fancher dec’d, money due to William Parrott, Simeon Taylor and Samuel Taylor

7 May 1879 M. I. Taylor, M. V. Taylor , administrator

13 Aug. 1895 A. J. Taylor filed a claim of $25 against the estate of T. B. Lee, dec’d

20 Nov 1912 J. K. Taylor, J. S. Hargrove, administrator

20 Feb 1913
Mrs. M. C. Taylor

4 Jun 1913 J. W. Burnes filed claim against the estate of T. S. Taylor.

The Huddleston Line May Solve The Mystery of Phereba Pryor

Remember Phereba Pryor who was counted in Spicy Taylor Pryor’s household in 1850? I recently saw a family tree on Ancestry.com that claimed Phereba as a direct ancestor. OK, they have my attention! I was a bit skeptical that Phereba or the children in her household could be found anywhere, but this tree looked like a lead worth investigating.

The tree owner’s descendant was William J Huddleston. William was born in March 7, 1856 per his 1943 death record. He died in Indianapolis. His parents were William Huddleston and Anna Pryor, both born in TN.  His daughter Mrs. (Nora) Forman supplied the information on the death record.

Can we confirm that the Anna Pryor on the death record is actually the Phereba Pryor from TN census records? Perhaps.

William J Huddleston married Lucy Peak in Meade County, KY in 1877. I found Lucy’s obit. She died in 1937. The obituary was published in the Indianapolis Star on 29 November 1937. It states Lucy was from Meade County, KY. Her daughter Nora Forman was also mentioned in the article. Mead county birth records state Lucy O Peak was born 20 December 1857 to John C Peak and Elizabeth Allen.


There were 7 surviving children from William and Lucy’s marriage. That’s the potential for a lot of descendants from this line.

The owner of the Ancestry family tree places William Huddleston also in Meade County. If his wife Lucy was from there then it makes sense that William could be found in the same county. They have the 1870 census as source record for William and this is where it gets INTERESTING.

In Garnettsville, Dist 5, page 357a there’s also a James Huddleston age 20 who was born in TN. He is living in the household of Mary E Riney, working as a farm hand. The only other Huddlestons in the county were also in Garnettsville, Dist. 5, page 361a: Phebe Huddleston 40 and William 16– both born in Tennessee.

The last time we found Phereba Pryor on a census was in 1860, living in Sumner County TN just a few lines from Massie Taylor Pryor.  Amazingly the names and ages of sons James and William match up! I know that Phebe/Phereba’s age doesn’t mesh, however her age was 21 on the 1850 Census, so it didn’t match up well with the 1860 census. If she was about 20 in 1850, 30 in 1860, then she would be about 40 in 1870.

1860 Census of Sumner Co., TN – 11th Dist.
House 104 Fereby PRIAR 24, James PRIAR 10, William PRIAR 7, John KEYSER 37 PA, John RYAN 37 GA, Silas ??? 50 PA

There must be a story as to why Phereba and her children were counted as Pryors on the 1860 Census. Why were they Huddlestons in 1870 but not in 1860? Was Phereba never married to Mr Huddleston? Was she a widow or divorced in 1860? Did a neighbor supply the census information in 1860 and they knew her as a Pryor relation? Were they living in Meade county after the Civil War because of the Civil War?

The good news is that if this is Phereba, then she was still alive in 1880. There’s an “Anna Hudelson” b. 1833 in TN counted in Garnettsville in 1880. She stated both of her parents were born in VA which matches how other known children of William Pryor and Spicy Taylor responded on the census. She listed her marital status as “widowed” in 1880.

Why was I looking at this Ancestry tree? Their autosomal kit matches to mine. We also share these matches who are connected through the Pryors, Taylors, and Garretts:

Overton Pryor, son of William Pryor and Spicy Taylor (daughter of Edmund Taylor and Elizabeth Garrett)

Louisa Pryor McCullough, daughter of John Pryor and Massey Taylor (daughter of Edmund Taylor and Elizabeth Garrett)

Ann Eliza Garrett Overstreet, daughter of Stark Garrett

Shadrack Garrett and wife Lector Ann Taylor, daughter of Hezekiah Taylor (son of Edmund Taylor and Elizabeth Garrett)

Robert S Taylor, son of Hezekiah Taylor (son of Edmund Taylor and Elizabeth Garrett)

Ancestry predicts my relationship to the test subject as 5th cousins, sharing Edmund Taylor and/or Elizabeth Garrett as our common ancestor(s), or that we share a common Pryor ancestor, or both.

Just when you think a Pryor has fallen out of the family tree… there’s new info that lights a path of research.

Happy New Year to all the our Pryor kin!

Chesley W Taylor: Changed His Name to Richard Taylor?

1870 Census, Cheatham County. Chesley W Taylor. His sister Mary Ann Taylor Allen is also on this page.

It’s so frustrating to run into the name switcheroos among the Pryors (see Shadrack to Chesley post) Wouldn’t you know, I also run in to mysterious name changes among the Taylor cousins who settled in TN.

I’ve been trying to flesh-out the family tree on Chesley Taylor about 1785 in VA. Edmund Taylor, the father, died in VA in 1827. William Pryor and Spicy Taylor were in Overton County, TN by the 1820 Census, and soon after Edmund’s death Chesley and his other Taylor siblings followed, including Massey Taylor and her husband John Pryor. He married Mary Ann Hardeman in Sumner County in 1829 and settled in Davidson County.

Chesley left a very small trail. There was a post the Tennessean giving notice that here was a letter held for him in Nashville in 1835. At some point a baby or young boy came to live with Spicy Taylor and William Pryor; they named him Chesley. From 1835 to his death in 1839, Chesley Taylor and his wife Mary Ann had 4 children: Susan, Mary Ann, John Edward, and Chesley Washington– Chesley Washington b. 1837 again brings up the issues of name changes.

Chesley Washington Taylor was recorded on all census records as C. W. His name Chesley Taylor appears on a land grant in Cheatham County. However, C. W. appears on the 1880 Census in Chatham County and there are several children recorded in his household who were recorded as sons and daughters. When those children died, their death records and social security records state their father was Richard Taylor.

His son James General Taylor:

His son George Washington Taylor:

His daughter Ella Catharine (Taylor) Wilkerson:

His daughter Rosa (Taylor) Demonbrun

So Richard it is. Did he have multiple names? Did he drop one name for another? Absolutely confounding but also a great reminder that evolving research means being open to new data and asking new questions.

My new question: When we can’t find Taylors and Pryors are we looking for the wrong first name?

 

Chesley Pryor or Shadrick Pryor: One Person or Two, Please?

A blog is an evolving thing, much like a family tree. So I felt the need to circle back and look at the son of Edward Pryor of Overton County again. The last time I mentioned Chesley Allen Pryor or Shadrick Pryor in a post was 2013. That was quite a long time ago.

Edward was born in 1822 in TN to William Pryor and Spicy Taylor. It’s speculated that he was named for Spicy’s father Edmund Taylor.  Edward’s line is ripe with questions — were all of his children fathered by him? After all, some were born while he was hospitalized out of state during the Civil War and he and his wife divorced several years after his return.

Both AncestryDNA and male Y-DNA testing has led to the probable conclusion that Edward’s younger brother Chesley was “adopted” and not a Pryor or Taylor at all.

So, I didn’t easily jump to the conclusion that Chesley Allen Pryor and Shadrick C Pryor were the same person. It’s a pain to conclude that someone with different names is the same guy.

1850 Census: Edward and his wife were in Clinton County, KY. They had a one year old named Shedrick.

Then there’s no mention of Shadrick on the 1860 census nor 1870 census. In 1860 Edward and his wife Eliza were living in two different households. Eliza and two young daughters were living with the Gunters. Edward was living on his own. In 1870 they were under one roof again, however there was no son in the household.

The 1890 census for Pickett County, TN seems to explain where Shadrick Pryor was during part of this time. He was serving in the military: Private, Co. D, 1st TN Inf. If he was born in 1849 per the 1850 Census he would have been a young teen at the time of the Civil War. He married Miss Sarah Walker in Overton County in 1872.

The 1850 Census, a 1872 marriage record, and the 1890 Veterans Census are the only three records of Shadrick.

Chesley Allen Pryor, sometimes recorded as just Allen, appears on the 1880 through 1920 censuses. I obtained the Scott County, TN death records for both Chesley and his wife.

Scott Co., TN. Village of Robbins
Registration Dist. No. 47702. File No. 8
C. A. Pryor
Male, white, marital status blank, born Sept. 16 1850.
Age 73 yrs., 6 mos., 15 days.
Occupation: farmer.
Birthplace Tennessee
Father Edd Pryor, born in Tennessee
Mother Don’t Know
Informant: J. R. Pryor of Robbins, TN
Date of death: March 14, 1924
Cause of death “Don’t Know”
Place of Burial: Cross Roads. Date of Burial March 16, 1924.
Undertaker: J. R. Pryor, Robins TN.

Scott Co., TN. Village of Robbins
Registration Dist. No. 47702. File No. 25
Katherine Pryor
Female, white, married, born 1850
Age 70
Occupation: housewife
Birthplace Overton Co., Tennessee
Father Robert Walker, born in Virginia
Mother Story, born in Tennessee
Informant: C.A. Pryor of Robbins, TN
Date of death: January 8, 1924
Cause of death Pulmonary Tuburclosis
Place of Burial: Black Creek. Date of Burial January 8, 1920
Undertaker: none stated.

Chesley’s death record ID’s his father as Edd (or Ed) Pryor.  His wife was a Walker which matches up with Overton County marriage. Perhaps the clue is in the 1890 Census where he was recorded as “Shade C”– Chesley was a middle name?