HISTORY of PRYOR FAMILIES in OVERTON
COUNTY, TN
by Vanessa Wood
Pryors in Overton County During Mid-1800's
The Pryor families who settled in Overton Co.
and the surrounding counties in Middle Tennessee have been difficult to
trace due to the unavailability of records and a plethora of undocumented
information that has been published in print and on the Internet.
Because of the movement of families from one county to another it is
almost impossible to confine the discussion of Overton Co. Pryors to just
that one county. Therefore, the article that follows is
divided by heads of families as they appeared on the 1850 Census.
Each section contains information of where each Pryor family came from (if
known) and where their descendants migrated to after 1850.
Spicy widow of William Pryor. Spicy was the
daughter of Edmund and Elizabeth Taylor of VA. Spicy married William
Pryor in Campbell Co., VA in 1809. Spicy's sister, Massa Taylor,
married a John Pryor and settled in White Co., TN before moving to Overton
and Sumner Co., TN. The relationship between Spicy and her Taylor
siblings has been documented in her father's will and in a 1831 lawsuit
filed in Sumner Co. that names all of the Taylor siblings and the Pryor
spouses. Spicy's children are not as clearly documented as her
siblings. Through sleuthing and conjecture, it is believed
William and Spicy's Children were Jonathan, Overton, Edward, Chesley, Mary
J. Garrett and probably Phereba. Pryor descendants later appeared in
Sumner Co., Pickett Co., and Fentress Co. records.
Nancy Pryor widow of James Pryor.
Nancy was counted on the 1850 census in Overton County with her children
Juda, John, William, Logan, Ellinder, James, Pleasant. The
existence of James Pryor is not conclusive. Overton Co. court
records refer to a James Pryor who died in early 1844; no information is
given as to his heirs. He is probably the James Pryor who was a
head of household on the 1830 and 1840 census of Overton Co. A
further clue lies in the names appearing with James Pryor on the 1840
Census; several of these men are neighbors of Nancy Pryor on the 1850
Census. In later years several of Nancy's children migrated to
Carroll Co., AR and lived in close proximity to a Jesse and Samuel Pryor
who are also speculated to be children of James and Nancy Pryor.
There may be some answers to the ancestry of James Pryor in the
naming of his children. If Jesse Pryor of Carroll Co., AR
was James' first born son, then perhaps he was named for James' father,
leading to speculation that James was a son of the earlier
Jesse Pryor who was in Overton Co. at the
time of the 1830 Census. It is also speculated that
Anna Pryor was James' mother. In 1850 Anna aged 74 was living with Judah
"Judy" Hummell. If Judah was her daughter and James' sister we may
have another tie-in since James and Nancy named a daughter Juda.
Sarah Smith and Anna Robbins.
Researchers have claimed that family lore and records state that Sarah
Smith and Ann Robbins were born Pryors. Both women were counted
with their husbands in the 11th District of Overton Co. Sarah and
her husband John Wesley Smith migrated to Howell Co., MO. On the
1880 Census Sarah state that both of her parents were born in VA.
Anna Robbins, the older of the two women was last counted in Overton Co.
in 1870 at the age of 63. In 1850 kin of William and Spicy Pryor
were living in District 11, so there's a possibility that there is a
connection to that line of Pryors who were also from VA. Since
there are strong naming patterns in the line of Jesse and Anna Pryor,
perhaps Anna is their eldest daughter. Jesse's wife, Anna, claimed
VA as her birth place on the 1850 Census.
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