Tag Archives: Virginia

Wrights and Pryors in Albemarle and Amherst Counties, Virginia

Posted on by

Virginia CreeperOver the snow break I got distracted and ended up in Colonial Virginia again. This time I was looking at who the Pryors in Albemarle County were connected with in hopes of solidifying some of the genealogy I’ve been speculating on this past year.

In 1758 it was recorded that Richard Prior, Nicholas Pryor, and William Pryor served under Capt. Charles Ellis in the militia. These men must have all been close friends and neighbors. I found that Capt. Ellis was the father of Susannah Ellis who married Isaac Wright. The captain’s grand-daughter was Elizabeth Wright who married William Pryor.

I’ve already speculated that the William Pryor who married Elizabeth Wright was the same William Pryor who made a statement in 1832 for a Revolutionary War pension (copy of the statement). The William who gave this statement says he was born around 1752, so it’s likely that the William serving with Capt. Ellis was an elder William Pryor, perhaps the father of Nicholas and William born in 1752. The same statement refers to Nicholas as an “elder” brother, so it appears he was old enough for military service in 1758.

In 1761 the part of Albemarle County where these Pryors lived was sacrificed to form Amherst County.  A later deed in Amherst County (Deed Book D, p. 166 3 Jan 1774) records that William and Margaret Pryor (the parents of Nicholas and William of Albemarle) made a deed that was witnessed by Isaac Wright (their son’s father-in-law):  WM. PRYOR & wife MARGARET, AC, to PHILIP THURMOND, AC, for L114-11, 395 acres on the blue ridge; branch of Irish Creek. Wit: Roderick McCulloch, David Crawford, Isaac Wright, Wm. Crawford.

It’s so fun to see how the puzzle of relationships come together.

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Initial DNA Results on Sumner, Overton, and Virginia Pryors

Posted on by

I used to start blog posts alerting Sumner County Pryors to new finds in my family tree.  After creating my theory of how my Sumner County (and Overton County Pryors) connect with Pryors in Amherst,  Henrico, Goochland, and other Virginia Counties… I need to find something more encompassing. Perhaps alerting folks to an update to Nicholas the Headright family tree?

So anyone related to Nicholas Pryor who entered Virginia in 1688 I have some NEWS.

Recently one of my relatives took a DNA test.  We got some interesting results.

First, we found that our tree connects with a cousin Nancy L. Childress.  Nancy L. was the niece of Abraham Childress.  Therefore she was also a cousin of the Miss Childress who married David Pryor a son of Nicholas Pryor.  This is big news because it helps to support my theory that our Pryor line is descended from Nicholas, David and Miss Childress.

I went back and looked at relationships in the family tree.  Let’s consider this… when John Pryor and his wife Massie and his brother William and  his wife Spicy came to Sumner and Overton Counties in TN, they were living near their relatives who were settled in Nashville.  David Pryor and wife Susannah  Ballow of Nashville were the Uncle and Aunt of John and William Pryor.

I think that’s pretty stunning.  David and Susannah’s daughter Mitchie married President Thomas Jefferson’s brother.  Mitchie’s son John Randolph Jefferson (1816-1845) is buried in Nashville City Cemetery (view his tombstone).

I’m not letting this Jefferson connection go. There’s also a family tree I’ve reviewed that suggests our Pryor line has a DNA connection to Peter Jefferson.  Now I’m wondering where the “other” Jefferson marriage is in our family tree! Perhaps Nicholas’ wife Susannah was a Jefferson or his grandson John (father of the Sumner/Overton  John and William) married a Jeffereson?

Always another Pryor mystery to solve!

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Croxton Pryor of Williamsburg and His Fascinating Shoes

Posted on by

Callimanco Shoes.  Thank you shoe-icons.com

I stumbled upon the estate inventory of Croxton Pryor. His will was filed in York County, VA in 1776, and there’s an estate inventory from Williamsburg.  He had some pretty nice things, an indication that he may have been one of the well-off citizens of the colony: a cloak, silver teaspoons, a silver buckle, a gold ring, furniture that included a tea stand, 2 coffee pots.

What really caught my eye was “4 pair Callimanco Shoes.”  When I started looking online I found that they were pretty much the Manolo Blahnik (hot shoes) of Colonial times.  I found an interesting article that shows ads from Colonial times and a rare listing of a pair of Callimanco shoes on eBay http://thegoldenscissors.blogspot.com/2012/05/rare-pair.html

Croxton had really cool shoes, but who was he related to? Croxton Pryor was one of the children of John Pryor and Mary Cox.  John and Mary are mentioned in William Cox’ will, filed in Essex Co., VA. The will was proved in 1754 and mentions also John and Mary’s children: Mildred, Caty, Croxton, and Frankey.  Frankey Pryor was married in Cumberland Co., VA in 1773 to John Ford Jr. Perhaps Frankey was alive in 1810 as there was a John Ford recorded on the census in Cumberland County.

Col. William Pryor of Goochland Co. was married to Sarah Wood whose mother was Martha Cox.  I’m thinking there may be a connection between these Pryor/Cox families.

Category: Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , ,

Another Virginia Pryor Tree Comes Together

Posted on by

Thank you, Roger! We now know how Brazure W. Pryor and Christopher J D Pryor  together were related.

Generation 1
Chistopher Pryor b. 1745, married to Catherine Clayton. He died 1803 in Gloucester Co.
children:
John Clayton Pryor b. 1779
Julianna Pryor b. 1772, married William Robbins
Samuel Pryor b. 1767-1772
Elizabeth Whiting Pryor

Generation 2
— John Clayton Pryor b. 1779
married 1: Betsy Armistead Tyler (sister of President John Tyler)
children :
John A Pryor b. and d. 1800
Mary Ann Catharine Pryor b. and d. 1802
Ann Contesse Pryor b. 1803
Elizabeth Armistead Pryor b. 1808, married John Tyler Semple
Martha Christiana Pryor b. 1817, married George W Semple
William Clayton Pryor b. 1820, d. 1833
John C Pryor b. 1823, d. 1824
married 2: Maria Smith Crawford in 1827
children: Skaife Whiting Pryor b. 1830

–Samuel Pryor b. 1767-1772
married 1:  Miss Williams, daughter of Brazure Williams and Frances Hopkins
children:
Brazure Williams Pryor b. 1778-1794, d. 1827
married 2: Mary Finch
Children:
Christopher J D Pryor b. 1800
Samuel Wyatt Pryor b.  1795

Generation 3
— Brazure W Pryor b . 1778
married: Elizabeth Antoinette DeNeuville in Williamsburg, 1807
Children:
Mary A. Pryor b. 1811, married 1 Robert Bird Boyd, 2 Walker Hawes

— Christopher J D Pryor b. 1800
married 1: Maria Armistead
Children: Harriet Ann Pryor b. 1830
married 2: America B Wilkerson in York Co., VA, 1845
Children:
Christopher J D Pryor b. 1850
Mary E. Pryor b. 1853
Sarah P Pryor b. 1855
William A Pryor b. 1857
George Pryor b. 1859
E S Pryor b. 1862

— Samuel Wyatt Pryor b.  1795
married: Sarah Dudley Graves in Charles County, VA in 1824
Children:
Samuel W. Pryor b. 1830, died early in Civil War 1861
Mary E Pryor b. 1828, living with Graves relatives in 1850 & 1860.

Category: Alabama Pryors, Virginia Pryors | Tags: , , , , ,

Connecticut Yankees on the Southern Frontier

Posted on by

Kanawha FallsWhen sorting out the Pryors in Kanawha County, I’ve wondered who were Abner and Allen Pryor. I’ve wondered if Allen (sometimes spelled “Allyn”) was kin to my ancestor Allen L. Pryor who settled in Sumner County, TN.

Nope, no connection.

I’ve wondered if Abner Pryor was the same man who was in North Carolina. An Abner Pryor died in Caswell County, NC in 1778 (during the Revolution), so he would not be the Abner Pryor on the 1792 Tax List of Kanawha County. A younger Abner Pryor was in Stokes County, NC at the time of the 1820 and 1830 Census. In 1820 he was 26 to 45 years old, which means he would have been 17 in 1792. I think that precludes the NC Abners from being the Abner who was in Kanawha.

I found the answer to Allen and Abner’s identity in The History of Ancient Winsor, Connecticut published in 1859 (http://books.google.com/books?id=Qg0WAAAAYAAJ). Abner and Allyn Pryor were from Connecticut and served in the Revolutionary War as young men in a Connecticut company http://www.genealogy.com/24_land.html . Connecticut and other developed northern states offered bounty land grants in the frontier, so it is likely that they came to Kanawha to pursue a land grant. Further support of the land grant is a letter written in 1820 by Allyn Pryor of Mason County which queries lands in Kanawha County received for his services in the Revolutionary War.

The 1850 Census would have answered the exact age and origin of these men. When it’s not available, so good to find another source!

Category: West Virginia | Tags: , , ,
← Newer Entries Older Entries →