Roger Atkinson Pryor, 1828-1919

Roger Atkinson Pryor was born near Petersburg, Virginia in 1828. He graduated as Valedictorian from Hampden-Sydney College in 1845 and from the law school of the University of Virginia in 1848. The following year, he was admitted to the bar but because of ill health never practiced. Pryor turned to journalism where he served on the editorial staff of the Washington Union in 1852 and the Richmond Enquirer in 1854. In 1854 he was appointed special U.S. Minister to Greece.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Virginia's 4th District, as a Democrat, when he filled the vacancy left by William O. Goode, who died in office. He served from December 1859 until March 1861 when he resigned from the House of Representatives and was elected to the provisional Confederate Congress.

He entered the Confederate States Army as Colonel of the 3rd Virginia Infantry, and was promoted to brigadier general on April 16, 1862. His brigade, consisting of regiments from Virginia, Alabama, and Florida, took part in the battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and Second Manassas, where it became detached and temporarily operated under Stonewall Jackson. At Antietam in 1862, he assumed command of Anderson's Division when Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson was severely wounded. Pryor resigned his commission in 1863 after a disagreement with Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his brigade was dismantled. He joined General Lee's cavalry as a private and scout in August of that year. In November 1864 he was taken prisoner of war and confined in Fort Lafayette on suspicion of being a spy. He was released on parole by order of President Abraham Lincoln and returned to Virginia.

In 1865, Pryor moved with his family to New York City, where he established a profitable law firm with a partner. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876. He served as judge of the New York Court of Common Pleas from 1890–1894, and Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1894–1899. He was appointed official referee by the appellate division of the state Supreme Court on April 10, 1912, and served until his death in New York City on March 14, 1919.