CEMETERY VISIT

As I visited the cemetery where most of my father's family is buried I had no trouble finding their graves.
It had been years since I had been there,in fact so long I can't remember why I was there before. All I could see in my memory was a big tree where these graves were. But I shouldn't have worried about finding them because as I walked up the steps into the cemetery I walked straight to them !!
As I looked at and read the tombstones I was overcome with emotion and couldn't fully understand why. I never knew any of these aunts and uncles or my grandmother or grandfather but I felt an empty ,achy heart when I thought how they must have lived and wished I would've known them. Many of them died at young ages,in fact my grandmother and grandfather witnessed the death of many of their children,what a horrible experience that would be to go through repeatedly.
Almost in tears I photographed all the stones, thinking about each one as I stood before it.This was one of the twins, my dad lived with him in Oklahoma for years,he was a lawyer.This is the other twin, he was a police chief in Buncombe County.
There is a story behind how the names are written on their stones. Actually their names were Williard Victor Pryor and William Cecil Pryor. Why the Williard was put on Cecil's stone no one living now knows and that is why there is just the W on Victor's stone.How painful it must have been to bury your 1 year old child !!I heard this uncles name often in stories my dad would tell,they were the younger brothers and were the closest for the period of Homer's short life.This is Homer's grave, one of his older sister's husband was a rock mason and layed this bed of rocks for him to lay in .I'm sure Aunt Winnie's husband did not expect to have to lay another rock bed only almost exactly 3 years later for his own beloved wife who died in childbirth with their first child. The little girl survived and lives today in West Virginia.This is the rock bed he made for her,I can only imagine all the tears that fell on these rocks as he lovingly smoothed each one.This is the stone that kept calling me back to it. I can't explain the strange pulling feeling I had when I stood before this grave. But it wasn't a scary feeling, it was a comforting almost peaceful feeling one that I didn't want to leave.
I have to go back to that cemetery and look around for more aunts that were buried with their husbands in other sections. I hope to get up there late this fall when the snakes go into hibernation as this is in a very poisonous snake filled area.
I still get a longing feeling when thinking about my deceased family, maybe because there is so few of us left in my generation.

LIFE OF GRANDPA AND GRANDMA PRYOR

This post will be a continuation of the last to bring more information in the life of my grand parents. Below is a list of all their children, their birth and death dates, marriages and children. Also pasted to these are obituaries of grandmother and my father.
My grandparents made their first home on land in what is now known as Terry's Gap, they owned 100's of acres of land here. My dad and his first wife also made their first home on a part of this land. I remember my dad saying some of this land sold for 50 cents an acre. It is mountain land but I can't imagine a price that low. My cousin in West Virginia is the only one of the family who still owns any of this original homeplace. She still owns 100 acres.
The 2nd home place was located in Fruitland and I remember this old house. I spent many hours in it as my cousin's wife used to look after us for my parents when they needed a babysitter. The old house had a shiny tin roof and I remember the loud sound of rain pounding on that roof. My cousin and his wife lived here until the old house burned down. They built a new brick house in the same spot and it is still there although now we are wondering what will happen to that house as my cousin's daughter passed away last year before she could retire back to the old house from Georgia. This is grandpa Pryor standing on the front porch of the old house in Fruitland.In the above right picture grandpa and grandmother are standing on this same porch with some of their children,my father is the smallest boy in the picture.
The above left picture is my uncle Homer doing what he did best ! (enjoying the ladies)
In the lower left is grandpa and grandma with my Aunt Hattie and more of their girls.
Lower left photo is my uncle Victor with the administrator of his estate in Oklahoma. He must have known he was dying long enough to hire an estate administrator. He had no wife or children of his own.This is a closer picture of these 2, my Uncle Victor on the left (without tie) looks just like my father. He was one of the twins but everyone said he and my father could have been identical twins. If you notice the date on the bottom of the photo is November 1950 which means he Uncle Victor was already dead when this photo was developed.In the bottom photo in this collage is Uncle Victor's house in Claremore, Ok. He was a lawyer and a judge out there while running a ranch directly across the river from the Will Roger's Place.Here is some of the cattle on his ranch. The ranch is now under the waters of Lake Oologah on the Verdigris River.
The reason I know so much about this uncle is because my dad spent quite a few years out in Oklahoma running the ranch while his brother worked.
I remember all the stories he used to tell about driving cattle and riding cutting horses.
I wish I knew information like this on all my aunts and uncles.In one of his last pictures grandpa is with one of my 2 still living first cousins and her first child.
He wrote articles to the local paper quite a lot and here is one he wrote very late in his life.
As he expired he left a legacy which was remembered in this community I still live in for years

DOUBLE FIRST COUSIN SCENARIO

On October 4,1858 a daughter was born to the Rev. William Job Wilkie and his wife Margaret Reid Wilkie. They named her Martha Louise and she became my grandmother.Don't know what year this picture was taken but this is my great grandmother and grandfather.
They had 2 girls my grandmother Martha Louise and her sister Mary Jane (who was affectionately called "aunt Sam").
As documented in this page of history these 2 sisters married 2 brothers. I have imagined several scenarios as to how this might have come about and the best I one is I think back in those days travel was limited and opportunities to meet a wife or husband where probably limited. Since the time between when my grandparents married to the time their brother and sister married was over 2 years I believe this was opportunity knocking!
It is another interesting fact that they both were the parents of twins. But the births of twins in either family before this is not known at this time.

13 children were gifted to my grandparents,although many were taken away at early ages.
My cousin remembers at some point asking my grandmother why she wasn't crying with everyone else and her reply was " I've cried my share and I'm just all dried out". I can't imagine what it would have been like back in those days, to helplessly have to watch your children die of untreatable diseases.
At 81 years old at the time of her death she outlived 8 of her 13 children. And grandfather living to the ripe old age of 97 outlived 10 of his 13 children.Here is grandfather Richard Martin and grandmother Martha Louise Pryor and after all of the pain her life must have brought her she has the first smile on her face of anyone in these old photos !!!
At this time I only know of the twin girls that Uncle William Franklin and Aunt Mary Jane had. I am fairly certain they had more children because I remember my dad speaking of several double first cousins.
As my grandparents settled in one part of Henderson county and my uncle and aunt settled in another part of the same county.
So over the years 2 segments of Pryor's were formed,known as the Fruitland Pryors and the Bat Cave Pryors.
More on the life of my grandparents next time.

FOND FAREWELL

I have these pictures of Great Grandmother Susan, all were taken later in her life.Her 2 sons loved and respected her very much even as a 92 year old man,my grandfather had fond memories of his mother and his early life. I love the last 2 lines of this article, how true then , now and forever !!In the summer of 1994 my cousin Winnie from West Virginia , my oldest brother and I visited the old cemetery where she is buried. This is the hand ingraved or chiseled tombstone that marks her grave.Her last husband Bunion Huntley must have loved her very much to inscribe the long message on her stone. It is hard to read here but there is a copy above in the picture collage.A fitting resting place for a lady who left a legacy in her wake.Susan Pryor Connor Freeman Huntley March 1,1836--July 17 1922.

INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE OF GREAT GRANDMOTHER SUSAN

Nothing is known as yet of Susan's life until she became pregnant out of wedlock at the age of 18 . A son was born March 9, 1854 and she named him Richard Martin and gave him her maiden name of Pryor although she evidently knew exactly who his father was. Records show his last name was Horne. A little over a year later she became pregnant out of wedlock again by another man. My great uncle William Daniel Franklin Pryor was born March 15,1856 , as he also was given her maiden name when once again she knew his father was a Lattimore.Here again the story is told by my father's double first cousins.
Even after she was married 3 times later these were evidently her only children.
I am so glad these sisters,who were daughters of William wrote this history down or else it would be lost forever. That inspires me even more to keep this tradition going throughout the future generations.

INTRODUCTION AND BEGINNING OF GREAT GRANDMOTHER SUSAN

This will be a second blog devoted entirely to my history. Sometimes hilarious,sometimes tragic but nevertheless a part of the "making of me". I'm sure there will be a lot of edits and additions as I go along and more information is found.I want my work to be preserved for future generations without the fear of lost papers and pictures and this is as good a way as I can think of to do just that. I am just getting things organized so this will be a work in progress. Hop on and join me in this journey down memory lane!
BEGINNING ON MY PATERNAL SIDE HERE WE GO!


Long,long ago in Cleveland County in the town of Shelby lived a couple, William Jay and Nelly Pryor. They had 7 children that I know of Susan, John, Pinkney, Charolette,
William O.,Catherine, and Thomas Pryor. Susan was my great grandmother, she was born on March 1,1836. I have no birth or death records at this time on her brothers and sisters. She had a very hard life when she was young,being brought up by a single mother.I can hardly imagine how hard that must have been back then,it would be a very difficult thing even today with 7 children to raise.
As the story goes William Jay (Susan's father) owned land with a fine spring on it. Well here is the story of what happened told by my father's double first cousin and published in a local newspaper by my grandfather,her son.Click on it and enjoy the humor and tragedy all in one story.