This list includes only known descendants of Matthew Pryor of Marion County, TN who migrated to Oklahoma.

i. Matthew Pryor and Mary Neely of Marion Co., TN.

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ii.  William Pryor and Sarah Williams

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iii. William Harrison Pryor. Grandson of Matthew Pryor. Son of William Pryor and Sarah Williams. Married Mary Elizabeth Shipley. In 1870 William Harrison Pryor was in Douglas Co., MO

iv. Josephine Pryor Delaney: 1900 Cherokee Nation, mother Mary Elizabeth Shipley living in the household. All family members counted as “white”.

iv. Green Pryor: 1900 Cherokee Nation

iv. Marion Pryor: 1900 Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Co., Muskogee Co., Osage Co.

iv. Joseph Pryor: 1900 Choctaw Nation. Joseph and his wife Vina were on the 1870 and 1880 Census in Douglas Co., MO.

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iii. Neely Pryor. A grandson of Matthew Pryor and Mary Neely of Marion Co., TN. Son of William Pryor and Sarah Williams. In 1850 Neely and son Gilbert were in Laclede Co., MO and in 1860 in Texas Co., MO. Neely married Margaret Thomas born 1809 in Tennessee.

iv. Gilbert C. Pryor : 1880 Cooke Co., TX. Gilbert Pryor was identified as “mixed blood” by his probable son William J. Pryor. His wife, Sarah Roberts born 1851 in Tennessee, was identified as a full blood Cherokee.

v. Martha Pryor Keyes : 1900 Cherokee Nation (Married to William Keyes, a Native American)

v. Mary Jane Pryor Duke: 1900 Chickasaw Nation (both Mary Jane and husband James Duke identified as white)

v. William J. Pryor: 1900 Osage Reservation. It is not yet proven that William J. Pryor was the son of Gilbert Pryor. A William J. Pryor born 1870 in MO is in the household of Gilbert Pryor on the 1880 Census. William J. Pryor identified his father as “mixed blood” and mother as Cherokee on the 1930 Census. William sat on the Osage tribal council and acted as an interpreter.  Was his father part Osage?

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ii. Philip Pryor b . 1791 in NC, son of Matthew Pryor.

iii. Lemuel Pryor, born in Tennessee, arrived in Texas around 1849. He married Elizabeth Hardigree in 1854 and settled in Smith County, TX.

iv. Philip Jackson Pryor: 1910 Beckham Co. Philip was on the 1860-1880 Census in Smith County, TX. Philip was counted on the same census page in 1910 as his 3rd cousin, William J. Pryor (son of Gilbert Pryor above).

iv. John B. Pryor: 1910 Beckham Co.

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ii. Green Hill Pryor b. 1789, son of Matthew Pryor.

iii. Benjamin F. Pryor, married Mary J. Smith

iv. Lennie Pryor Dunn: 1910 Greeley Co., living with the family is Mary J. Smith Pryor.

October is Oklahoma Pryor month
here on the TnPryor website!

Some Pryors were neither counted on an Indian Territory Census nor on an Oklahoma state census, yet they and there families once lived in Oklahoma. These Pryors were identified by their children’s place of birth, Indian Territory.

Brown Co., TX
Mack R. Pryor born 1869, son of William Harrison Pryor of Douglas Co., MO
Children born in Indian Territory> Mack R. Jr. 1882, Josephine 1886, Fannie 1892, Peter 1895, Bertha 1896

Graves Co., KY
Thompson Pryor
Children born in Indian Territory>  John J. b. 1890

Parker Co., TX
Henry B. Pryor born 1861, son of William Lafayette Pryor of Stone Co., AR.
Children born in Indian Territory> Edith 1899

Caroll Co., AR
Samuel Pryor born 1865 in MO.
Children born in Indian Territory> Thomas 1895, Joseph 1898

Christian Co., MO
Charles E. Pryor born 1875 in KS, son of John Pryor born in PA. 
Children born in Indian Territory> Ada b. 1896

End of Part IV

Watch for…
Part IV: OK Pryors – Marion County Lines

October is Oklahoma Pryor month
here on the TnPryor website!

I’ve been Googling again.

I found a William J. Pryor who was an Osage Tribe councilman for the 11th and 12th Osage Tribal Council in 1926-1930.

When I started looking for him I found William Julius Pryor  in Ancestry Family Trees and on the 1930 Census living in Seminole County, OK. He’s recorded as an “Indian” born about 1870 in Missouri to a “mixed blood” father and Cherokee mother. In 1910 William J. was in North Fork, Beckham Co., OK. In 1900 he and his wife were living on the Osage Indian Reservation in Indian Territory.

In 1910 Philip J. Pryor was counted on the same census page, just a few houses from William J. and family in Beckham County.  Philip was on the 1880 census record in Smith County, Texas. He is a son of Lemuel Pryor and Elizabeth C. Hardigree.  Lemuel is believed to be from the line the Marion County Pryors.

William J. Pryor also lived in Texas– census entry reflects he had 3 children between 1894 and 1897 in Texas.   Researchers’ online family trees indicate William J. Pryor is the same William J. Pryor who was on the 1880 census in Cooke Co., TX… the son of Gilbert Carter Pryor and wife Sarah Roberts.  Gilbert was a son of Neely Pryor in Texas County, MO.  There’s a William J. Pryor in Gilbert Pryor’s household in both Cooke Co., TX and in 1870 in Texas Co., MO. Neely Pryor’s line goes back to the Marion County, TN Pryors.

William J. Pryor not only served on the tribal council, but was also versed enough in the Osage language– enough to be an interpreter: Leases for Oil and Gas Purposes, Osage National Council,  By United States. Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs, published 1919.

“I, William Pryor, do hereby certify that I am the official interpreter of the Osage Indian Agency, and at the time the Osage Tribal Council had the contract under consideration I acted as the official interpreter of the said Osage Tribal Council; that I fully and truthfully interpreted and explained the foregoing contract to the Osage Tribal Council…”

It appears that William J. Pryor was an Osage allotee: Indians of the United States: Investigation of the Field Service  By United States Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs. Except of letter from the Liberty Bank of Pawhuska, May 7, 1920 refers to “William J. Pryor, Osage allotee.”

End of Part III

Watch for…
Part IV: OK Pryors – Missing Sooner Settlers

October is Oklahoma Pryor month
here on the TnPryor website!

Today we have published and online sources that Middlebrooks and Harper didn’t have in 1970 (Chronicles of Oklahoma).  I’ve used the Indian Census Rolls from the late 1890’s, the 1900 US Census of Oklahoma, the Osage Allotment Cards (Index), and later US Census schedules to try to discern which Pryors were from the Osage Tribe.

I first looked at Pryors who claimed Native American Ancestry and separated out the Pryors who were aligned with the Osage tribe.

In 1900 Samuel V. Pryor and wife Olivia were living in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Samuel born 1866 in Mississippi. Samuel was the son of John Henry Pryor of Jefferson Co., AL (per Ancestry.com Family Trees) and Sarah Wade. Samuel is recorded as “white” and his wife Olivia Cowert/Coward was recorded as “Indian”. Olivia’s two brothers were also in the household and recorded as “Indian.” Olivia and her children were recorded on the 1896 Dawes Commission schedule. I have ruled out this family. Samuel V. Pryor was not from Osage land, he was recorded as “white”, and he was never included on rolls of the Osage reservation, or allotments.

William M. Keyes and wife Martha, nee Pryor were recorded living in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. Martha was recorded as “white”, Keyes was recorded as “Indian”.  Tribal affiliation was noted at the bottom of the page. Keyes was born of Cherokee and Creek parents. My own search, and an Ancestry Family Tree, points to Martha as the daughter of Gilbert Carter Pryor of Cooke Co., TX – a descendant of the Marion Co., TN Pryors who have no known connection to the Osages.

There are two Pryor men in the Osage records: John b. 1834 and Thomas b. 1847.

John Pryor b. 1834 and wife Mary, parents of Antwine Pryor – Antwine, his wife, and his children all had Osage Allotments and counted as Indians on Census records. Antwine counted with “full blood Indians” on 1900 Census and that both of his parents Osage Indians born in Kansas.

Thomas Pryor b. 1847 and wife Mary, parents of Louis Pryor b. 1879.  Louis states on census record that both his parents were born in MO. There is only one Pryor by that name and year of birth: Thomas son of Rufus Pryor in Osage Co., MO- born in Tennessee it’s unlikely that neither Rufus Pryor nor his wife Martha Bryant were Osage.  Thomas’ wife Mary is recorded as a “full blood”. His son Louis is counted on the Osage Reservation with an allotment and an annuity. His mother, Mary, was counted as an Osage and lived on the reservation until her death in 1926.  There is record of Mary’s native name, but I am unable to locate her allotment.

My final answer? I don’t believe any of the OK Pryors who claim Native American ancestry were related to Nathanial Pryor.

Photo of Josephine Pryor Hamilton (Osage Artist) :
http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/pdfs/Osage.pdf

2007 Pow Wow, great grandson of Josephine Pryor Hamilton: http://www.okindiansummer.org/pdf/2007%20Powwow%20staff.pdf

End of Part II

 Watch for…

Part III: OK Pryors – William J. Pryor, Osage Interpreter