Person:John Pryor (24)

Disambiguation

Not to be confused with John Pryor (abt. 1748-1791) of Albemarle County, VA and Jefferson County, VA, who married Nancy Floyd.

Not to be confused with John Alexander Pryor (b. 1750 in Amelia County, VA), who married Martha Vaughn.

Several researchers have confused these John Pryors.

Military Service

American Revolutionary War Veteran

Revolutionary War Pension Information

Information from “Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Records”, Vol. 4, compiled by Patrick G. Wardell, Lt. Col. U.S. Army Ret. :

Pryor, John - entered service 1777 in Virginia continental artillery; Bounty Land Warrant #1750 issued 8/10/1789; died 1823 in Richmond, Virginia, leaving no lineal heirs but a number of nieces and nephews, some named Haskins, who resided in Virginia counties of Charles City and James City, & city of Richmond, Virginia; soldier at one time was president of the Virginia Society of the Order of Cincinnati; married (1) daughter of Thomas Whiting, & (2) 2/22/1815 to Elizabeth Quarles Graves at Hay Market in Richmond, Virginia, who was granddaughter of Major James Quarles of King William County, Virginia, who was also a Revolutionary War soldier; soldier's widow married (2) 5/10/1826 to Alva Lake at home of her brother-in-law Mr. Carter, Richmond, Virginia; widow & 2nd husband moved abt. 1846 to Boston, Massachusetts; Alva Lake died 4/12/1856 at home of his brother in Brandon, Vermont; widow granted Pension age 56 in Boston, Massachusetts, 1856; she & Alva Lake had daughter Mary & son Josephus (resided 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts); Susan Whiting Loury, sister of soldier's 1st wife, resided 1856 in Hampton, Virginia. F-W12064, R1982.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/70564617/person/44282611002?ssrc=&ml_rpos=2

2.   Southern Pryor Family Genealogy.

   The Kin of Major John Pryor of Richmond, VA
   
   First Wife: John Pryor married Anne Beverly Whiting, the daughter of Thomas Whiting and Ann Sewall. Anne was a socialite with dwindling fortunes. They married in 1796 when the Major was in his late forties, over-weight and in poor health and Anne was in her teens. The marriage dissolved when Anne ran off with her French tutor, Mr. Fremon. In 1811 Major Pryor asked the Virginia Legislature for a divorce, however there is no evidence that they ever granted a divorce, in fact there is strong paper evidence they said “no.”
   
   Second Wife: The Major was a creature of habit– he married twice and each time married considerably younger women. In 1815 at the age of 65 Major Pryor married Elizabeth Quarles Graves, who was about 15 years old. They remained married until his death in 1823. There is a fat file of depositions which were collected in the 1850’s when Elizabeth applied for a Widow’s Revolutionary War Pension. A deposition from Sarah Hatcher of Richmond states she was the daughter of Methodist minister Edmund Lacy who married John Pryor and Elizabeth Graves. She said she remembered the ceremony because of the “disparity” of their ages. Sarah also remembered that John was related in some manner to Elizabeth. A letter in the file written and signed by Elizabeth herself states she was the grand-daughter of the “reputed” Major James Quarles. A while ago I figured out that Major James Quarles was married first to Major John Pryor’s sister, Mary Pryor, and Elizabeth was a daughter born to Major Quarles and his second wife Dorothy Waller. Therefore, Major Pryor and his wife were related, but not by blood.
   
   http://tennesseepryors.com/virginia-pryors/the-kin-of-major-john-pryor-of-richmond-va/

3.   Graves, William T. Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters.

   Pension application of John Pryor¹ W12064 Elizabeth Q. Lake² f75VA
   Transcribed by Will Graves 12/3/12
   
   [f p. 7]
   State of Massachusetts, City of Boston, to wit
   On this 28th day of August in the year 1856 personally appeared before the Honorable Peteg Sprague Judge of the District Court of the United States for the District of Massachusetts the City of Boston and state aforesaid, Elizabeth Q. Lake a resident of said City & State, aged fifty-six years who being duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the 2nd section of the act of Congress passed on the 3rd of February 1853 granting pensions to widows of persons who served during the Revolutionary War: That she is the former widow of John Pryor, who was first a Captain, then a Major, and whose service as such was rendered from an early period of the war) she cannot state the exact date) until its final close in the Virginia Continental line. That she cannot state the number of the Regiment to which he belonged nor the exact time which he served, but she presumes the records and other papers pertaining to his service now on file in the State Department at Richmond and Washington will show these facts, and to them she respectfully refers. She further declares that she was married to the said John Pryor, her former husband, in the City of Richmond on the 2nd day of February in the year 1815 one Parson Lacy, a Methodist Minister, and that her said husband died in the said City of Richmond on or about the __ day of __ in the year 1823: and that her maiden name before her said marriage was Elizabeth Quarles Lake [sic, "Elizabeth Quarles Graves", see below]. She further declares that she has no private record of her marriage, to her said husband, nor of his death, nor does she know of any public record either of their marriage or of his death, but presumes there may be some public record to be found in the City of Richmond. She further declares that she subsequently intermarried with one Alva Lake in the city of Richmond aforesaid on the 10th day of May in the year 1825 and that they were married by one Parson Turner a Presbyterian minister. That her last named husband died in the Town of Brandon in the State of Vermont on the 2nd day of April in the year 1856, and that she is now a widow. She further declares that she has never before made an application for a Pension and hereby constitutes and appoints ___ of the ___ of ___ her agent and attorney to prosecute the claim and receive the certificate.
   S/ Elizabeth Q Lake
   
   [f p. 2]
   Died/That this City Major John Pryor, an officer of the Revolution – A gentleman of fine understanding and fine manners – an excellent Companion, and extremely respected, and regretted by his acquaintances.
   The foregoing notice of death of Major John Pryor is a true Copy from the "Richmond Inquirer" bearing date of 25th day of March 1823. Given under him my hand this 11th day of October 1856
   S/ Robert L Niglesworth
   Clerk Inquirer Office
   [f p. 3: Mrs. Susan Lowry of Hampton Virginia, 86 years old, on December 6, 1856 gave testimony that she was intimately acquainted with Major John Pryor of the war of the Revolution; that she is the daughter of Thomas Whiting deceased of Gloucester County Virginia; that she knows of her own knowledge having become acquainted with Major Pryor in 1780 that he served as a Captain or Major in the war till it's conclusion; that he acted as aid to Major General Lord Sterling [William Alexander, Lord Stirling]; that he received a large sum of money for his services in the revolution and was granted a considerable quality of land by the state of the Virginia for his services in the revolution; that Major John Pryor married his first wife a sister of the affiant; that after the death of her sister, Major Pryor intermarried with Elizabeth Q. Graves which marriage took place in Richmond soon after the close of the last war [presumably a reference to the war of 1812, which ended in 1815]; that after the death of Major Pryor, his widow Elizabeth married Alva Lake of Richmond; that Mr. and Mrs. Lake boarded at the house of affiant in the city of Richmond for 10 years until they removed with their children to the city
   of Boston where Lake died according to her understanding; that at his death John Prior did not leave any lineal heirs but he left several nieces and nephews in the Counties of Charles City, James City and the City of Richmond by the name of Hankins] [could be "Hawkins"].³
   
   [Facts in file: John Pryor served as a Lieutenant in the Virginia Continental Artillery from January 13, 1777 to July 27, 1777, and as Captain-Lieutenant of Artillery from July 27, 1777, to December 31, 1782, during which period he served from July 12, 1779, to December 1780, as Aid-de-Camp to Major General Lord Sterling. Warrant number 1760 for 200 acres of bounty land was issued on August 10, 1789 on account of the services of John Pryor as Captain-Lieutenant in Colonel Harrison's [Charles Harrison's] Regiment of Artillery. The widow, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Quarles Graves, was a granddaughter of Major James Quarles of King William County Virginia. The widow of John prior married on May 10, 1825 at the home of her brother-in-law Mr. Carter (Christian name not given) in Richmond Virginia to Alvin Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Lake continued to live in Richmond until about 1846 when they removed to Boston Massachusetts. Alvin Lake died April 2, 1856 at the home of his brother (not named) in Brandon Vermont where he had gone on account of ill health. Mr. and Mrs. Lake had 2 children Josephus and Mary. Josephus was living in Boston Massachusetts in 1857.]
   [Veteran's widow was pensioned at the rate of $556.10 per annum commencing February 3, 1853.]
   _________________________________________________________________
   [From bounty land records in the Library of Virginia]
   I do certify that Captain J. Pryor
   Joined Lord Stirling from my
   company of Art.-- [Indecipherable text]
   in June 1779
   S/ Jas Pendleton Capt [James Pendleton
   25th Jany '83
   
   [Note: the image of the following document is compromised by having both its left and right margins cut off, but because it appears to have been an affidavit given by the veteran, I thought it worth including. If anyone has a transcript of the entire document, please let us post it here. The text or letters in brackets are my attempt to guess what the missing parts might be.]
   [I] think I am correct in stating the 9th Va [Virginia]
   [R]egiment was raised and organized early [in]
   [the] year 1776 –no [?] in the month of March of [that]
   [y]ear. I was in company with Colo. Tho Th [?]
   [w]ho commanded it with several of his off[icers]
   [w]ho had recruited their Companies in the [Counties]
   [of] Goochland, Albemarle &c and were the[n on]
   [the]ir way to the Eastern shore where the [?]
   [re]st of the Regiment was raised
   Richmond S/ J. Pryo[r]
   Decr. 23rd 1822
   I do certify that John prior was commissioned a Captain Lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Artillery on Continental establishment the 13th of January 1777 & remained in the service until the end of the War.
   Given under my hand this 29th day of June 1807
   S/ Samuel Coleman
   Late 1st Lieutenant in 1st Virginia Artillery
   John Pryor has drawn 4000 acres as a Captain Lieutenant of the Artillery
   S/ Wm Price Regr. July 3 1807
   __________
   ¹ BLWt1750-200 Captain Lieutenant Issued Aug. 10, 1789 to Richard Platt, assignee No Papers
   ² Former widow

4.   Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

   John C. Frémont's mother, Anne Beverley Whiting, was the youngest daughter of socially prominent Virginia planter Col. Thomas Whiting. The colonel died when Anne was less than a year old. Her mother married Samuel Cary, who soon exhausted most of the Whiting estate. At age 17, Anne married Major John Pryor, a wealthy Richmond resident in his early 60s. In 1810, Pryor hired Charles Fremon (Louis Rene Frémon b. 1768 in Quebec), a French-Canadian immigrant who had escaped from a British prison, to tutor his wife. In July 1811, Pryor learned that his wife, Anne Whiting Pryor, and Fremon were having an affair. Confronted by Pryor, the couple left Richmond together on July 10, 1811, creating a scandal that shook city society.[5] Pryor published a divorce petition in the Virginia Patriot, in which he charged that his wife had "for some time past indulged in criminal intercourse."
   
   Mrs. Pryor and Fremon moved first to Norfolk, Virginia, to live as man and wife (though unmarried); they later settled in Savannah, Georgia. Mrs. Pryor financed the trip and purchase of a house in Savannah by selling recently inherited slaves valued at $1,900. When the Virginia House of Delegates refused Mr. Pryor's divorce petition, it was impossible for the couple to marry. In Savannah, Mrs. Pryor took in boarders while Fremon taught French and dancing. On January 21, 1813, their first child, John Charles Fremon, was born.[6] The son was born out of wedlock, a serious social handicap. A household slave called Black Hannah helped raise young John.[7]
   
   In 1818, Frémont's father Fremon died, leaving Mrs. Pryor to take care of John and several young children alone on a limited inherited income.[8] Mrs. Pryor and her family moved to Charleston, South Carolina. The young Frémont was known to be "precious, handsome, and daring," and he had an apt ability at gaining protectors.[8] A lawyer, John W. Mitchell, provided for Frémont's education, and in May 1829 Frémont entered Charleston College. Frémont continued at Charleston College, while teaching at intervals in the countryside. He was expelled from the college for irregular attendance in 1831. Although Frémont did not graduate, he had been grounded in mathematics and natural sciences.[8
   
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Fr%C3%A9mont