HISTORY of PRYOR FAMILIES in OVERTON COUNTY, TN

Researchers have speculated that Nancy was the widow of James Pryor.  I am interested in any evidence (Civil War pension applications, etc) in which any of her children state their parents' names.

James Pryor first appears on the 1830 Overton Co., TN Census.  He had 2 boys under 5 years old, one between 5 and 9 years old and James was between 30 and 39 years old. He had two daughters under 5 and 2 ages 5 to 9, and his wife was between 20 and 29 years old.

In 1840 James appears again as a head of household in Overton Co.  He has one son under 5, 3 sons between 5 and 9 years old, and one son between 10 and 14 years old.  He has one daughter under 5 years old, one  between 10 and 14, one between 15 and twenty years and his wife is between 30 and 39 years old. James himself is listed again as being between 30 and 39 years old, so it is believed he was closer to 30 at the time of the 1830 census and close to his 40th birthday at the time of the 1840 Census.

James is mentioned in the Overton Co. Circuit Court Minutes in 1844. He was ordered to work on a road crew with William Collens, Allen Deck, Thomas Carr Jr. A. Cullums, William C. Stewart, Campbell Brooks, Joseph Brown, S. J. Gore. and G. W. Gore.  Allen Deck, Thomas Carr, William Stewart, George W. Gore and an Alvan Cullom and an Alexander McCullom are living in the 6th District of Overton Co. when counted on the 1850 Census; the same district as Nancy who is believed to be James' widow. In that Nancy is surrounded by neighbors of James Pryor, it is a reasonable conclusion to speculate she is his widow.

James Pryor died destitute in early 1844 per the Overton Co. Circuit Court Minutes.  The county reimbursed Spencer McHenry $3.25 for a shroud and $3.00 to Nelson F. Harward [Howard?] for a coffin.  Shortly thereafter James was listed as insolvent, owing a poll tax.

Nancy's children are known from the 1850 Census of Overton Co.: Juda, John, William, Logan, Ellinder, James and Pleasant.  In 1850 Nancy is living near the Deck family who were mentioned above with James in the court records.  If the Decks and the Pryors lived near each other in 1844, there is an arguement for Nancy being the widow of James Pryor. 

Since no documentation of the parentage of James Pryor has been found; his lineage can only be speculated and calculated through other known lineages. James did not live in the same district in Overton County as Spicy Taylor Pryor or any of her known children. Nor was James recruited for work on road crews with any of Spicy's known children (Overton, Edward and Chesley Pryor are found in the Circuit Court Records working on road crews).  It's known that Spicy Taylor married William Pryor on August 18, 1809, making James Pryor too old to be a son from that union. 

I would recommend that someone investigating this line do research in to the line of Jesse Pryor.  Jesse Pryor was in Overton County on the 1830 Census.  Researchers of this line speculate that Anna, living with Juda Hummel on the 1850 Census, is Jesse's widow.  I have bits and pieces of interesting information, but because this in is not my line of Pryors, I can not dedicate research time to making the connections. 

1)  James and Nancy may be the parents of Jesse Pryor who married Hilpha Chapin in Overton Co. and then migrated to Carroll Co., AR.  He lived as a neighbor of other known children of James and Nancy in Carroll Co. (Juda, Ellinder, Henry Logan).

2)  James and Nancy had a daughter named Juda.  Perhaps she is named for Juda who was living with Anna Pryor in 1850-- that's taking quite a leap and guessing that Juda is Anna's daughter and perhaps James and Juda are siblings.

3)  I've found only one marriage for a Jesse Pryor that fits with his age on the 1830 Census: Jesse Pryor and Judith Harris in Prince Edward Co., VA on February 15, 1796.  1796 fits in with Juda Pryor Hummel's birth in 1798 in VA and with James' birth in about 1809.  On the 1880 Census Juda Pryor Hummel's name was recorded as Judith H. Hummel, perhaps the "H" stood for Harris.  Contradictory evidence to this theory is information a researcher has posted in a family tree on Ancestry.com: Jesse was born in 1745 and Judith in 1749.  If these birth years are correct, their marriage in 1796 would have been a late marriage for both or perhaps a second marriage.  It's recommended that research be done clarify this relationship.

Only 7 of James and Nancy's children are known from the 1850 Census.  They had at 10 children per the census records.  My theory of Nancy and James' children is as follows:

Missing Daughter (Melvina?)born between 1821-1825: It is possible that James and Nancy had another daughter that has not yet been found in the records. According to the 1840 Census there was another female age 15 to 19.  In 1850 there is a Melvina Wilson age 27 (born 1823) with a one year old daughter living with Nancy Pryor and her family.  Could she be the missing daughter?  In 1860 James and Nancy's son John was living in the W. H. Wilson household, which again connects this family to the Wilsons.

Juda Pryor b. 1826 TN.  Juda married Solomon McGhee and is on the 1860 Census in Overton Co., TN. They must have traveled first to IL as a couple of their children were born there.  Juda is on the 1870 and 1880 Census in Carroll Co., AR.

Jesse Pryor b. 1828 TN.  Jesse is in Newton Co. AR at the time of the 1850 Census.  The county lines changed and he was in Carroll Co., AR for the 1860 Census. By 1870 his sister Juda Pryor McGhee has moved to AR and is living in house #100  in Carroll Co. and Jesse is in house #102.  Jesse died in 1902 and I have found him on the 1900 Census in Liberty Twp., Carroll Co., AR.

Missing Son (Samuel?): b. 1832-1836 TN.  More research is needed to prove that Samuel Pryor is a son of James and Nancy. He is on the 1850 Census of Carroll Co., AR. He was 18 years old and living alone.  Next to him on the census is a James McMillon 17 from TN.  I believe I found Samuel again in 1860 living near Logan Pryor in Perry Co., IL and with his wife and children in 1870 through 1880.  Note March 2008: I revisited the information on this Samuel Pryor and have another theory: In that he was living with a family from Overton Co., TN it lends some support to the theory that he's one of James and Nancy's sons. However he could also be John S. Pryor a son of Lindsey W. Pryor of Franklin Co., MO. John S. married a McMillon.  

John Pryor b. 1832 TN.  John is on the 1860 Census in Overton Co., TN living with W. H. Wilson and family. It is believed that John married Parilee Pritchett, sister of Manerva Pritchett wife of W. H. Wilson.  It is unknown if he married Candis Malone, but her daughter Mary Ellen Pryor claimed John Pryor to be her father.  Mary Ellen and her husband Jefferson Engler followed her aunts and uncles to Carroll Co., AR. John may also be the same man who married Kittie Rector and fathered her daughter Eliza and son Henry Logan Pryor. 

William Pryor b. 1835-1837 married Martha Jane Malone.  He appears on the 1860 Census, but had died before 1866.  His widow remarried by 1866 to Kennedy/Cannady Lee and in 1870 was living with her new husband, her children, his children and their children in the 6th District of Overton Co.

Logan Pryor b. 1837 was living in Perry Co., IL in 1860. It is believed that Logan later moved to Carroll Co./Boone Co., AR area. In 1880 Henry "Logan" Pryor is living in Osage Twp., Carroll Co., AR.  His son Andrew was on the 1900 Carroll Co., AR census.

Ellen/Ellinder Pryor b. 1840.  Ellin was living with her sister Juda Pryor McGhee in 1860.  I believe I have found Ellin on the 1870 Census in Carroll Co. AR.  Her sister Juda McGhee is in House #100 and her brother Jesse Pryor is in House #102.  There is a James Hazel in House #101 with his wife Ellin age 27 born in TN.  I have found this same family on the 1880 Census living near Henry "Logan" Pryor in Osage Twp., however their name is stated as Hazelwood.  Ellen Pryor Hazelwood died in Godley, TX and is buried in the same cemetery as her brother Pleasant Pryor.

James Pryor b. 1842 stayed on Overton Co.  He married Sarah Elizabeth Stewart.  He is found in District 6 on the 1860, 1870, and 1880 Census records. It is believed that he later married Margaret Carr as they appear on the 1900 Census in Overton Co.  Margaret applied for a Confederate widow pension.

Pleasant Pryor b. 1844 married Mary Catherine Stewart.  He also lived in District 6 of Overton Co. and appeared on the 1860, 1870 and 1880 Census records.  In 1880 Pleasant was the manager of the Overton Co. Poor House. Other researchers have reported that Pleasant was married a second time to Deliah Drummonds the mother of this daughter Sadie Pryor.  There appears to have been a third marriage to a Mariah C. as she appears with him on the 1920 census and is buried near him in Texas.  Pleasant died in 1921 in Godley, Johnson Co., TX.