The Pryors of the Pedlar District of Amherst County

In searching for my own Pryor lineage from Campbell County, VA I felt that a closer look at the Pryors of Amherst County was needed.   Early Amherst Pryors are William, John, and Nicholas Pryor.  William made a declaration for his Revolutionary War pension, mentioning his brothers John and Nicholas. In the application he states: "born on Pedlar's River in Albemarle" and drafted in 1779 in Amherst County.  (Link to application) The mention of the Pedlar River finally made sense in that many of the Amherst Pryors are found in the Pedlar District or Township on the census records of that county.   These brothers are Amherst County Pryors:  John and Nicholas are on the 1783 Tax List for Amherst County.  

As far as this William Pryor, his application was made in 1832 from Amherst Co., VA.  Several family trees on Ancestry.com state he is the William Pryor who married Elizabeth Wright in Amherst Co. in 1788. One tree states he is the father of Jonathan Pryor, but no dates or other info are given.  I can't find any other info on any children of this William Pryor.  On the 1850 Census there is a Lucy Pryor aged 53 living in Kanawha Co. with her son William Pryor 28. They both state their place of birth as VA.  I have nothing to show that they are kin to any of the Amherst Co. Pryors.

I had even worse luck trying to find anything on William's brother, John Pryor. Maybe he was the John who married Elizabeth Tucker in 1798. A family tree on Ancestry states that a daughter, Elizabeth Pryor, resulted from this marriage.  There were no dates given or any other info.

I think you have the info on Nicholas Pryor and his children.

While looking at the census records I found that there were several Pryors in Amherst County.  I looked on the LDS website and on Ancestry.com and found nothing on Hartwell Pryor, although he was on the 1830-1860 census records and had children. There's also a William who looks to be 93 years old on the 1860 census.

I looked at the Albemarle County Census records to see if any Pryors could be traced to the trio of William, John and Nicholas.  In 1860 there is a Mahala Pryor who is a mulatto washerwoman with no family listed. There is a M. G. Pryor 10 living in Fredricksville with S. P. Hargrave 58 and his wife M. B. 51 (sheet 390).  The Hargrave family and Pryors also appear on sheet 182A, Ancestry image 49 of the 1850 Census:  House 377 S. P. Hargrave 54 farmer VA, Mary B. 46, Roger A. Pryor 22 lawyer, Sarah 20, Maria 4/12.   This is the family of Roger Atkinson Pryor b. 1828 md. Sarah Rice. He was a noted Civil War secessionist.  In 1859 Roger was elected as a representative to Congress from VA.  It appears his daughter stayed behind in VA and was counted on the 1860 Census.   She is recorded as Mary Gordon Pryor on Ancestry.com

Another Pryor, of unknown origin was counted on the 1850 Census  in Albemarle County. Sheet 300A, house 2048 Charles Pryor 26 VA merchant living in rooming house.

My thoughts on the Pryors in Albemarle Co.: John, William, and Nicholas may have been from Pedlars Bend when it was still part of Albemarle Co, but with the change of county borders, their family was recorded primarily in Amherst County records. None of the Albemarle Co. Pryors who appear on later census records are related to any of the Amherst  County Pryors.