PRYOR FAMILY, PIONEERS HERE...HAD LARGE HOLDINGS AT EAST BANK FROM: VALLEY PROGRESS EDITION OF THE CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL -1939 John Houston Pryor of East Bank who recently celebrated his 80th Birthday is a descendant of a family which came from England to America in 1630. Members of a branch of that family were among the first white settlers in the Kanawha Valley. In fact, one member of the family, William Pryor, a great-great uncle of John H. Pryor, was credited with having been one of the first men who attempted to settle here. He arrived in 1773 a year before the Morris family, the first to remain permanently, attempted to raise a crop but was driven out by the Indians. William Pryor, the present Mr. Pryor's great-great grandfather, acquired Kanawha Valley Land, a part of which is now East Bank in 1791. His survey ran from the big rock in the river narrows above East Bank to the present Catholic Church in Coalburgh. Both he and a brother, John were in the Battle of Point Pleasant. FATHER WITH PIONEER MINE William Paxton Pryor, father of the present John Pryor, was one of 11 children born at the old Pryor home near East Bank. Most of the others migrated westward but he stayed here with his widowed mother, married Elizabeth Shelton in 1848 and they also had 11 children of whom three are still living. William P. Pryor was for more than 30 years superintendent of loading activities and in charge of the barges of the old Kanawha and Ohio Coal company, later to become the present Coalburgh Kanawha Mining Company. He was born in 1822 and died in 1904. John Houston Pryor who got his middle name in honor of an ancestor who won national fame, General Sam Houston, noted soldier and twice president of the short-lived Republic of Texas, was born at East Bank, Feb 10, 1859. He entered the employ of Coalburgh Mining company, then known as the Stuart M. Buck and Company, as an office boy when 15 years of age, staying with it and its successor concerns until his retirement in 1937, making a total of 62 years. Mr. Pryor believes this is a Kanawha County record of continuous service with one organization. He was pay roll clerk and bookkeeper for many years before he retired. HELD PUBLIC OFFICES Mr. Pryor served eight years as postmaster of Coalburgh and several terms on the East Bank town council. He was long active as a sportsman and recalls he used to fish on the Cherry River before the town of Richwood was built, catching as many as 100 trout in a day. He was one of the organizers and first secretary of the West Virginia Fox Hunters association and although he no longer takes part in the sport himself, still keeps fox hounds. He was a member of the old Coalburgh baseball team, playing center field, back in the 80's. It won seveal tournaments and once went on a tour of Ohio and Kentucky. Several of the men who played on it, became prominent in the business life of the Kanawha Valley. Mr Pryor was married to Miss Dora Johnson on June 20, 1888. Four children were born, all living, they are, Mrs. R. B. Holbertson of Columbia, VA, Mrs. E. J. McGlinchey of St. Joseph Mo., Julia Pryor and William Pryor both residing at East Bank. (The article has a picture of John Houston Pryor)