Pryors of Sumner County, Tennessee
Several Pryor families have lived in and moved through Sumner Co. during the
history of Tennessee. It is important to remember that not all of the Pryors are related and those that are related, not all of the relationships have
been proven to date. To keep the keep form becoming confused by all of the
Pryors (related and not related) I have broken down the information the century
during which a family was counted in Sumner Co.
18th Century Pryors Sumner Co. was
formed from parts of Davidson Co. in 1786. There are no early census
records of any Pryors in Davidson Co. and the earliest records of Pryor families
in Sumner County are the marriages of Mary Pryor to John Hanna(h) on 20 Jan 1791
and later Jenny Pryor to George Fairly on 14 Feb 1794. William Pryor was
the bondsman for the latter marriage. It is believed that it was this
William who was the subject of an 1794
deed filed in Sumner County. There is a William Pryor in White
Co., TN who according to census records would have been 33 and 24 years old in
1794. It is possible although not proven, that he was of the right age to
be Mary and Jenny's brother. It is not known whether these Pryors stayed in
Middle Tennessee or migrated elsewhere.
19th Century Pryors The first Pryors
appear in Sumner Co. on the 1820 Census. But alas, this is not a Pryor at
all! The census is indexed as "Elijah Pryor" who actually was
Elijah Puryear. Elijah was counted also on the 1822 Sumner County Tax List. The
Puryear family is fairly well-document and have no connection to any of the
Pryor families who subsequently settled in Sumner Co. The earliest 19th
century Pryor marriage recorded in Sumner Co. is Nancy Pryor to John Swann on
28 Nov 1825. Unfortunately there is also no
clear connection of this Nancy Pryors to any of the earlier Pryors or subsequent
Pryors.
A search of LDS records revealed another Pryor line that recorded births,
although not counted on census, in Sumner County. David Pryor and wife
Susan Ballow settled in Buckingham Co., VA. Two of their sons,
Nicholas B. Pryor b.
1789 and Zachariah B. Pryor b. 1782 migrated to Davidson Co., TN. These men are
on the 1820 Census in Davidson Co. The LDS IGI films provided information
Nicholas B. Pryor's first child, Nicholas Augustus Pryor was born in 1814 in
Sumner Co. No further documentation has been found. No
connection has been made between these Pryors and the earlier Pryors in Sumner
Co.: Although David and Susan Ballow Pryor were the parents of a son named
William b. 1775, he died in Hanover Co., VA in 1840.
The next influx of Pryors appears on the 1830 Census of Sumner Co. Both
a Jonathan and a Green Pryor are recorded. Green Pryor b. 1796 was the son of
John Pleasant Pryor and Olivia Polk. Green was born in Pittsylvania Co.,
VA, made several migrations between Alabama and TN, settling in Marshall Co., MS
where he was counted on the 1850 Census. In trying to determine the exact time
frame in which Green Pryor settled in Sumner Co. and elsewhere I have relied on
the birth dates and reported birth places of his children. Two children were
born between 1821-1823 in AL, one was born in 1824 in Robertson Co., TN,
two more in unknown locations in TN between 1838-1844, and another child in MS
in 1847. Green Pryor did not stay in Sumner Co. to be counted on the 1840
Census.
The Jonathan Pryor who appears on the 1830 Census is the same Pryor who
married Massa or Massie Taylor in 2. Dec. 1812 in Campbell Co., VA. It is
important to note that all of the Pryor marriages recorded in Sumner Co. after
1825 are unions of John and Massa's kin. This Pryor family is connected to
Pryors in Overton Co., TN. Massa's sister Spicy Taylor married William
Pryor 18 Aug. 1809, also in Campbell Co., VA. Information about this line
of Pryors has been developed from the
Goodspeed Biography
of John and Massa's son Allen L. Pryor. This account states that
John Pryor settled in White Co., TN before the birth of Allen L. Pryor in 1816,
and has led this researcher to believe that the same Jonathan Pryor who was
recorded in Sumner County in 1830 was the Jonathan Pryor recorded in White
County in 1820.
Records indicate that Spicy and her husband William did not migrate to Tennessee
until after 1827. Allen L. Pryor's account also states that his father
lived in Sumner Co. and later in Overton Co. (Spicy and William Pryor were in
Overton Co. by 1820). The connection between these Pryors in Overton and
Sumner Counties is also confirmed in the will of Massa and Spicy's sister,
Jane Taylor; the Nashville
prison records if Spicy's son
Jonathan Pryor and a
Sumner Co.
Lawsuit filed in 1831.
Because of the connection between Massa Taylor Pryor and her sister Spicy
Taylor Pryor, at times some of Spicy's children from Overton Co., TN appear in
the Sumner Co. records. The relationship between Spicy and her son
Jonathan was determined through Nashville prison records (see above).
Jonathan has at least two marriages and a divorce recorded in Sumner Co.
He first married Ellen Lee on 27 Jun 1847 in Sumner Co. They are counted
on the 1850 Sumner Co. census. Jonathan married a second time in
Smith Co. on 13 Feb 1859. This marriage to Eliza Beasley ended in divorce
in Sumner Co. on 24 Oct 1865. Eliza is counted on the 1860 census in
Sumner Co. and Jonathan is counted in the State Penitentiary in Davidson Co.
Another Pryor believed to be a daughter or daughter-in-law of Spicy Taylor
Pryor was counted in Sumner Co. in 1860. A Phereba Pryor was counted in Spicy's Overton Co. household on the 1850 Census. In 1860 Fereby Priar is
counted living near Massa Taylor Pryor in Sumner Co., TN. It is speculated
that Phereba may be the Eliza Pryor living in Nashville on the 1870 Census.
During the 1800's a couple of unidentified Pryors appear in Sumner Co.
records. Who is the Joseph D. Pryor who lived with John and Massa's
family? In 1860 he was five years old, living with Massa Pryor. In
1870 he was 15 and living with Allen L. Pryor. By 1880 he was recorded as
twenty-five year old J. D. Pryor working as a servant for the Allbright family.
Joseph may be a son of Massa's son Jonathan and a wife named Elizabeth. Both
Jonathan and Elizabeth were living with Massa in 1860 and disappear from the
census record by 1870. It would make sense that Massa's kin would take
care of this young man if he were an orphan. Joseph D. Pryor has not been
found in records after 1880.
In 1890 Mickey Pryor, widow of Jacob Pryor was counted on the Veteran's
Census. Neither Mickey nor Jacob appear to be related to any of the
earlier Pryors of Sumner Co. or John and Massa's family.
20th Century Pryors I have used the 1930 Census as the cutoff point in 20th Century -- Who knows,
maybe later census records will more Pryor families who have migrated to Sumner
Co. Most Pryors in Sumner Co. are related to John and Massa Pryor with the
exception of Charles Pryor b. 1864. Charles Pryor was possibly born
in TN or IL. His brother, Denton, claimed TN as his birthplace and on
other census records stated he was born in IL. Charles Pryor first appears
on the 1880 Census in Jackson Co., TN and in the same location at the time of
the 1900 Census. By 1930 he was counted in Allen Co., KY. However,
in 1951 he died in and is buried in Sumner Co., TN.
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