Tag Archives: Pittsylvania County

Two Nice Tie Togethers from Williamson Co., TN Probate Records

photo (14)I was in the Williamson County, TN probate records again, looking for another family I’m researching and I found a couple records on the Pryors.

I was reading through the accounts filed by Henly/Hendley Stone in Williamson County for the care of Green and Peter Pryor, orphans of John Pryor. The 1812 settlement is a list of expenses that make the Pryor boys sound like a couple of dandies.
linen for pantaloons
Latin book, Cicero
2 striped waistcoats
Cash for a 4th of July frolick (yes, it really said frolick!)
Money to go to Nashville
a payment to a singing master… Mr. or Ms. Brown
wool socks and corderoy
3 hanks silk
tuition paid to Blackbourn
Maj. Maury for Peter and Green’s board
Payment of taxes on their land in Wilson County and taxes on land in VA
The expenses were offset by a credit for the rent of slaves: Sukey and her 4 children, Chloe, Hannah and her 4 children, Jude and 3 children, Joe, Sam and George. Rent of land in VA.
Signed April 1813 by N. Perkins Senr. Dan’l. Perkins, Robert McLemore, and Edward Warren.
Williamson County, TN. Inventories. Inventories, Wills, 1811-1818, Vol. B, page 17


The account of 1815 expenses and income is also interesting:

5 pairs of shoes or half boots
Tax on Wilson County land
Expenses for Green to travel to VA and back
Expenses for Green to attend a ball with Agness in Franklin.
Cash to Green to go to Brother Bartons on July 11th
A hat, a ham
Feed for Green’s horse
Cash “when Green started to the Army”
Cash paid to Thos. Reynolds for Green’s gun
Tuition paid to Mr. Blackburn
Peter Pryor to hire of Sam

Any idea what this expense was? Who was William?  I think a half eagle is a gold coin “Nov. To half eagle sent to Green & William to the Army by Maj’r Reed.”

This record answers one of the Pryor riddles and whittles down the number of John Pryors we’re researching. There’s Pryor land on the 1804, 1805, and 1806 Tax Lists for Wilson County, TN. It’s recorded as owned by the heirs of John Prior/Pryor. Hurray, from these records it appears the heirs are Peter and Green Pryor. One less John and now a bushel of new questions for researchers of this line — How did these boys get land in Wilson Co.? Did John receive the land before his death? Was it a military land grant? Did he buy the land?


I like this next record because it nicely connects Peter and Green Pryor to their siblings, the children of Hendley Stone. Hendley Stone’s 1829 will names his children, but not the Pryor boys, so it’s nice to have this record to support the probability that Hendley Stone married Peter and Green’s mother.

HENDLEY STONE Receipt July Session 1817 March 17th 1817. We have received of Hendley Stone our Guardian all the Negroes belonging to us in his posession agreeable to a division made the 15th of Jan. 17999 between us and our mother and on the 11th day of June 1817 we received our part of negroes in full which is our third part, that is three Negreoes namely Stepney, Mar., and Jacob and $75 in cash in full of all demands against H’dly Stone our Guradian, the balance of our mother’s part of Negroes, namely Pat, Jane, Henry, Fanny, Easter, S’l., Simeon, and Sally and their increase is to be equally divided between our 2 sisters Agnes P. Jenkins, Mary M. Stone, and our 2 brothers Alfra Stone and N’s P. Stone, our sister Agnes Jenkins is to leave Easter and Simeon for her part valued to $625 1/6 part of the above named Negroes as witnesses we have hereto set our hands this 11th day of June 1817. Signed Peter Pryor, Green Pryor. Which rcp’t as above recited was produced in C’t. July Session 1817 and ordered to be rec’d.
Williamson County, TN. Inventories, Wills, 1811-1818, Vol. B, page 359


I’m looking at the chart at the top of the page and how George Reynolds is in the middle… does he connect up the Reynolds with the Pryors on the left side of the chart?

George Reynolds, Jr. Dec’d. Account of Sales October Session 1815–
An Invt’y of the sales of the Estate of George Reynolds, Dec’d, made Aug 5 1815.
Pryor Reynolds bought 30 barrels corn $21.25, 1 whip saw $10,d Thos. Reynolds bought 3 books .50, 1 horse whip 2.25, 1 birdle 5.50, 1 feather bed and furniture 35.50, 1 colt 2.31 1/4, Henry Cook 1 cow and calf $12, 1 steer 5.87 1/2, James Tomlin 1 steer 4.50, one ditto 5., Jas. Waddle bay horse 27.75, 1 cow and calf 12.37 1/2, Am’t for’d $145.81 1/4. James Hughes bought 1 ax .43 3/4. S’l. Core bt. 1 apron .25, Peter Pryor bought 1 heifer 4.6 1/4, Joel Hobbs bt. 1 set plain irons 3., 1 cow $8., total 161.56 1/4.
Pryor Reynolds Admr. Which acc’t of sales was produced in Court October Session 1815 and ordered Red’d
N. P. Hardeman
Williamson County, TN. Inventories, Wills, 1811-1818, Vol. B, page 173

Pryor Connections to Williamson County, TN and Caswell County NC

Where were the Pryors and their allied familes before Williamson Co., TN? Well I’ve found some information from the time of the Revolutionary War.

There’s a deed in Caswell County, NC that seems to not only connect everyone but also it makes sense in the Pryor story.

1777 Deed – Math’w. Flourney and Elizabeth (PRYOR), William Stone and Rhoda (PRYOR), David Womack and Mildred (PRYOR), John Womack and Lucy (PRYOR), Nicholas Perkins and Lea (PRYOR), Joel Pope and Rachel, Henry McNeill and Dolly (PRYOR), Henrietta Pryor, John H. Pryor, all of Caswell, to John Baird of same county, for 267 lbs., 955 acres on Mayo and Donaldson’s Creeks adj. Robert McFarland, now Josiah Allday’s line, and Robert Donaldson’s, entered by Lord Granville on 26 Dec 1762. 17 Oct 1777. Wts: Archd. Murphey, Lawrence Vanhook, George Moore.

John Henry Pryor’s will was signed in 1771 in Orange County, NC. That’s the will that names his children and most of their spouses. His children Rhoda, Lucy, Leah, Elizabeth, Dorothy/Dolly and John Henry.

What were the Perkins, Pryors and these other families doing during the Revolutionary War? The pension application for a Richard Lovern states he was wounded in a battle in 1781 and taken to a hospital at Constant Perkins on the Dan River. The pension application for William Dixon talks about heading to Troublesome Iron Works (this was run by Nicholas and Constantine Perkins) in Guilford (now Rockingham Co.). If you go to http://revwarapps.org and search troublesome iron you’ll find numerous accounts of men who were part of the march to the Battle of Guilford Court House who recall stopping at the iron works. I suspect they were protecting the iron works or restocking.

The Perkins family of Rockingham and Caswell Counties had a plantation in Pittsylvania County, VA. There are several Revolutionary War pension applications that refer to a Col. Peter Perkins of Berry Hill who marched with his troops from Pittsylvania County, VA. The pension application for James Braden states that Berry Hill was used as a hospital for the wounded. There’s a photo of Berry Hill online (view photo)

The Perkins, Pryor, and Stone families started to show up in Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. A NC land grant to Constant Perkins in Hawkins County, TN shows Nicholas Perkins and Leah Pryor’s son John Pryor Perkins was one of the chain carriers.

constant-pryor-hawkinsThe earliest grant was to Constantine Perkins in Greene County, TN in 1788. In the 1790’s Nicholas Perkins received numerous land warrants in Hawkins County, TN. Remember David Ross who supplied the army through the Oxford Iron Works and all the land he received? Perhaps Nicholas was given land for supplying the military through Troublesome Iron Works. More research is needed on that.

Prior R Hughes

Prior R Hughes in Williamson Co. A great grandson of Catherine Pryor and Henry Lansford of Pittsylvania County, VA. There are other Pryors and Hughes connections; is Prior R. Hughes connected to any of them?

I believe we have John Hughes Pryor born 1785 on the 1840 Census in Williamson County, TN. John married Sallie Smith in 1802 in Goochland County. John was the son of William Pryor and Elizabeth Hughes and the brother of Judith Neville Pryor who married Fountaine Duke and settled in McNairy County, TN.

I found an affidavit in the loose court documents from Williamson County.

State of Tennessee
Williamson County
Personally appeared before me Lemuel? B McConners? clerk said James Hughes and made oath that Pryor Hughes as the guardian for Polly Hughes, Barrett Hughes, and Sally Hughes had never received anything– that he was appointed for the purpose of petitioning the court for an order of sale of land belonging to said minors and others, but abstaining would be attended with much cost it was never deal.
signed Jas. Hughes
undated

There’s a Williamson County will for Polly Hughes proved 15 November 1825 by James Hughes and Nancy Hughes, his wife. It names her brother James Hughes, Benjamin Hughes, 5 sisters (unnamed), and her brother-in-law John Lane.

I don’t want to go on a wild goose chase, but there is also a Lane connection to the Pryors in Goochland County. David Lane married Elizabeth Pryor there in 1757. Are they related to John Lane in Williamson County?

Does anyone have information that connects Prior Hughes with John Hughes Pryor?

Pryor and Lansford Family Connections Through VA, NC, and Into IL

Catherine-Pryor-Lansford

I think I can explain more about some of the VA Pryors using the Lansfords.  These are some of the same people mentioned in a post back in March (Connecting Major John Pryor of Richmond to More Pryors!). I spent part of Labor Day looking at Thomas Washington Pryor who was in Rockingham County, NC and later lived in Fayette County, IL.

There’s a Find A Grave memorial for Prudence Rivers Pryor, a daughter of Thomas Washington Pryor (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31125815). Her husband is reported to be Isham Lansford. As I trudged my way through online records and some family trees that quoted original sources, I was able to chart out Isham’s line back to his great-grandma, Catherine Pryor  of Pittsylvania County, VA.

Well, well, well. Looks like Isham’s great aunt and uncle were Susanna Lansford and George Reynolds, the parents of the traveling Pryor Reynolds of Rockingham County, NC (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26184214).

The marriage of Isham Lansford and Prudence Rivers Pryor seems to be where the lines from Pittsylvania County, VA/Rockingham County, NC circle around. Were Isham and Prudence cousins?

It seems appropriate that the last couple posts were on Edward Pryor of Wilkes Co., GA because there looks to be a connection between his line and the Lansfords. I’m betting that Edward is the same man who was on the tax lists in Pittsylvania County, VA  in the early 1780’s and also that it’s Edward’s son John Pryor who witnessed a deed for Henry Lansford — a brother of Susannah Lansford and and the older Isham Lansford.

Digging Deep for Campbell County, VA Pryor Roots – The Pattersons!

Campbell County Pryor FamiliesHow could I have missed this? I’m going to blame the handwriting!

I picked up that Harris Pryor born about 1740 was a witness on the will of John Wright, the husband of Ann. Ann was the daughter of John Pryor and Mary New of Henrico County, VA. I missed another witness: Landis Pattison (or Patterson). I think I’ve passed over Landis several times when I’ve looked at census records because it looked like Candis (a common variation of Candice). However, I was excited to spot Landis Pattison on the 1820 Census in Campbell County, VA!

And I love where Landis Pattison/Patterson is on the census. He’s wedged in nicely on the two pages that contain my own line of Taylors (they married into my Pryor line), suspected Taylor kin, grandchildren of John Pryor and Mary New. If Harris Pryor and John Pryor & Mary New aren’t part of the Pryor line I’m tracing — I’m not making any bets, just saying I’ll be stunned.

1820 Census Extracts, Campbell County, VA

page 138, John Garrett, 010101
page 138, line 28 Landis Pattison 0000001
(Landis Pattison witnessed will of John Wright, son in law of John Pryor and Mary New, in Prince Edward County, VA in 1775, with Harris Pryor also a witness. Landis Pattison’s mother was Elizabeth New.)
page 138, line 32 Archibald Bolling Sr.
(Archibald Bolling married 4 times – Sarah Cary, Jane Randolph, Sarah (Woodson) Clarke, and Mary Taylor (Page) Bird)
page 138, line 33 David Pattison
page 138, line 34 Littleberry Pattison
(brother of Landis Pattison)
page 138, line 39 Jacob Woodson
page 138, line 40 David Alvis
page 139, line 42 Charles Wright, 120001201
(witnessed Edmund Taylor’s Will)
page 139, line 43 Anderson Woodson Sr.
(Oldest male over 45 y.o, 11 whites, 28 slaves. Son of Robert L Woodson and Rebecca Pryor, a grandson of John Pryor and Mary New.)
page 140, line 2 Isaac Crews
(Isaac married Mary/Polly Oglesby the widow of Hezekiah Taylor who was killed in the War of 1812 in Canada. It’s believed that Mary was the sister-in-law of Edward Taylor on the same page of the 1820 Census)
page 140, line 32 Edward Taylor
(Oldest male over 45 y.o, 7 whites, 4 slaves. Edward/Edmund Taylor father of Spicy Taylor who married William Pryor & Massa Taylor who married John Pryor. Edmund Taylor was married to Elizabeth Garrett)
page 140, line 33 Hezekiah Taylor
(oldest male over 16 to 25 yo, 5 whites, no slaves. Son of Edward/Edmund & Elizabeth Garrett Taylor)
 

The Pattersons or Pattisons were all over the same counties where I’m searching out John Pryor, David Pryor, Harris Pryor (Campbell, Amherst, Bedford, Pittsylvania). I see Landis’ brother Littleberry Patterson was recorded on the tax list for Pittsylvania County. Littleberry is on the tax list with… David Ross (the iron foundry guy– he pops up so many times I’m making him his own TAG link!).  There’s an extensive foot note that discusses Ross’ holdings in Pittsylvania County in The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia  By Maud Carter Clement.

Pattersons have several connections to David Pryor and Susannah Ballow in Buckingham County — After David died his heirs sold part of the estate in 1813 to David Patteson.  David’s son Zane Pryor is supposed to have married a Miss Patterson.

So, you know that habit people had of naming their children after kin. I had to turn over that rock… I looked to see if there were any men named Patterson. Sometimes you turn over a rock and you find something. .

I found another interesting name: Patterson Childress (Patterson Childers). I know there are Pryors who are hunting Childress because of the David Pryor from Henrico County who married a daughter of Abraham Childress. Patterson Childress served with the VA line out of Buckingham County during the Revolutionary War per his wife’s application for a widow’s pension in 1831 (see the transcript). This Childress served under Capt. Leonard Balew, spelled a hundred different ways but the same surname as Susannah Ballow also of Buckingham County, VA who married David Pryor (grandson of Abraham Childress).

And where was widow Childress in 1844? She says she was living in Jefferson County, TN. I found her daughter Nancy (Childress) Hamilton in a well documented family tree on Ancestry (see the tree), which shows she was in Sevier County, TN in 1850 and 1860. Patterson Childress is on the 1784-1787 Census for Surry Co., NC with some names that deserved a review… they sound like they’re from VA. I even spotted an Edward Taylor and Richard Taylor which will need to be searched. Patterson’s military file on Ancestry.com contains a letter that says he had a son named Abraham Childress.

I smell a connection! My research list is getting rather long and I have a stash of 40 posts I’ve written that I can’t get published because I keep digging out this newer stuff.

Patience…