Tennessee Pryors

American Pryors in England: Hannah W. Prior

Ancestry.com has added the 1861 UK Census and the census records are being added in groups of counties to 1837Online.com. Three Pryors born in the U. S. were found on the 1861 Census. First a Pryor by marriage, HANNAH W. PRIOR aged 65, born in Philadelphia, living in Islington, Middlesex (a London suburb) with her son Henry aged 41, born Strand, Middlesex.

American Pryor Children in England

Two Pryor sisters were found in boarding school in Berkshire: 79  Northbrook St., Newbury, Berkshire, Jane Burrough, head mistress and three governesses… FRANCES ANN PRYOR, 10, scholar, born in United States and HENRIETTA PRYOR, 6, scholar, born in United States. More research needs to be done, however I suspect that the Pryor girls are daughters of John Benjamin Pryor and his wife Frances Pryor. John Benjamin Pryor of Adams Co., MS and his family were living in Cambridgeshire, England on the 1871 Census. In 1871 his daughter Henrietta aged 15 was counted in the household and a son named Luke born in about 1861 in Berkshire, England.

Elijah Pryor of Vernon County, MO

Follow up to Elijah W. Pryor information in TN Pryor Newsletter 3: Elijah (called Lige) came with a Tennessee Pryor family from White Co., TN and resided in Bates Co.(which later became Vernon Co, Mo.) He went to California, my family tells me that he found gold, and brought it back in an old hankie (which my great-aunt still has). He got sick and nearly died while returning to Missouri, but finally made it home. In 1871, at age 48 he married in Vernon Co. to Elizabeth Adeline Morgan who married previously to another Pryor from White Co. — William Pryor who was probably Elijah’s uncle, and then to Edward Morgan. My grandfather always said that Lige was the illegitimate son of Nancy Pryor, William’s sister, who eventually married Thomas Welch (also of Bates County.) We’ve never been able to prove that though. When William Pryor died, he left a will naming his children and Lige wasn’t listed. Lige and Elizabeth’s union was a “contract marriage” according to my family. Elizabeth had a large number of children from her previous 2 marriages, and needed to be cared for. Lige supposedly married her telling her  that when he died she could have his farm. No one knows for sure when he died but Elizabeth (Jent-Pryor-Morgan) Pryor died April 27, 1901 in Vernon County, she was buried at the Rhea Family Cemetery but also has a marker at the Pryor Creek Cemetery. — told by Stephanie (Pryor) Spruill

Murder of a Tennessee Pryor Jackson County

MURDER IN JACKSON CO., TN? Nelson Womack submitted the transcript of Chancery Court papers dated 1869 in which John Pryor was accused of the murder of William Nelson (brother of Robert Nelson who was married to Nancy Jane Pryor). Who is this felonious John Pryor? Is he the John Pryor from Jackson Co. who was in the Nashville State Penitentiary for murder at the time of the 1850 Census? Is he the John Pryor who was the father of Clarenda Bell Pryor born in 1857? To read the transcript and review the Penitentiary records go to MORE RECORDS! and click on CRIMINAL CASES.

Pryor and Brewington Children

SOLVED AT LAST… The parents of WILLIAM COM PRYOR and JOHN ANDERSON PRYOR of Overton Co., TN have been identified from their Social Security Applications. Both men stated their mother was Nancy Jane Pryor and they were both born in Oakley, TN. William states his father was Buck Brewington and John’s application states his father was Buchanan Pryor. Buck and Buchanan appear to be the same person; J.B. Brewington who married Nancy Jane Pryor the daughter of Williaim H. Pryor and Rutha Dial of Overton and Clay Counties. Nancy Pryor Brewington was living in the household of William H. Pryor on the 1880 Census. Her two children, Lurana and John A. Brewington, were also in the household. In 1900 Nancy was counted as Nancy J. Pryor in Clay Co., a widow with sons named William and Gilbert. In 1910 Nancy was living with her son Gilbert and was recorded as divorced. It’s know that Nancy J. Pryor and J.B. Brewington wed on 6/10/1876 and a likely scenario is that Nancy J. Pryor and J.B. Brewington divorced, causing her and the children to use her Pryor maiden name.