Birth and Parentage

He was born in 1820 in Alabama to parents Luke Pryor and Ann Batte Lane. His father's first marriage was to Martha Scott, a sister of General Winfield Scott. His brother was the noted racehorse trainer John Benjamin Pryor of Natchez, Mississippi.^[2]

Life in Alabama

Pryor married Isabella Virginia Harris.^[3] They were the parents of 8 children, all born in Alabama. Luke Pryor lived at the Sugar Creek Plantation, in Athens, Alabama, for 40 years before his death.^[4] Pryor House Archived 2006-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, built in 1836, stands as a historic building in Limestone County, Alabama. Pryor studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841.^[5] On the 1850 United States Census his occupation was recorded as "lawyer."

Luke Pryor was an enslaver. On the 1840 Census, six free blacks under the age of 10 were recorded in his father's household, as well as one enslaved male child under ten and an older female between 55 and 100. By 1850, Luke Pryor was recorded as enslaving 39 people between the ages of four months and 70 years; however, in 1860, only two enslaved people were recorded in his household. The American Civil War did not begin until April 12, 1861, and slavery was not completely abolished until 1865 after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.^[5]