William Bluford Praytor
(1861 - 1942)
Timeline sources: US census; newspaper items as noted, short biography
1861 Jun 02
Smith County, TX, William Bluford Prayton is born to Andrew Jackson Praytor and Frances Julia Ann Simmons
1864 Jun
Smith, TX, state records, W B Praytor’s father Andrew Jackson Praytor dies
1866 Oct 31
Smith, TX, state records, W B Praytor’s mother marries Nicholas Franklin Chambers
1867 Aug 25
Tyler TX, state records, Mary Adaline Chambers, W B Praytor’s half-sister is born
1870 Nov 07
Hunt County, TX, US census, Wm B Praytor is living with his mother Francis JULIA Ann and her second husband Nicholas (Newton?) Chambers and one half-sister, Mary Adeline (Mada?) (This is a loose connection. The names are only an approximate match, the ages are close to the 1880 ages minus 10 years and the location is logical. And further, W B Praytor has not been found anywhere else in 1870.)(See comparison below)
1880 Jun 07
Johnson, TX, US census Wm B Praytor at age 19, is still living with his mother “Julia A” and stepfather Nicholas Chambers and half sister Mary Chambers
1891 Nov 10
Stephenville (TX) Empire, news item Praytor will open a new studio in Stephrnville, TX
1892 circa
Round Rock, TX, short description accompanying photograph at Round rock Historical website
1892 Jul 15
Dublin (TX) Progress, news item Theo Roessle is arrested for swindling W B PRator
1896 Oct 07
Ladonia, TX, Shiner (TX) Gazette news item, household goods and art gallery lost in fire
1898 May 31
Williamson, TX, state records, Wm B Praytor marries Maude Sillure
1900 Feb 25
Titus, TX, son Sillure A Praytor is born
1900 Jun 18
Titus County, TX, US census as photographer, no address given
1901 May 04
Mt Pleasant, Titus County, TX, state records, son Sillure A Praytor dies at age one
1905 Oct 11
Texas, state records, daughter Edith Praytor is born
1907 Mar 05
Texas, state records, mother Frances Julia Ann Simmons dies
1910 Apr 21
Mt Pleasant, Titus County, TX, US census as photographer
1920 Jan 13
Mt Pleasant, Titus County, TX, US census as photographer
1925 Aug 28
Naples (TX) Monitor, small ad for new studio in Naples
1925 Dec 11
Naples (TX) Monitor, news item about closing Praytor studio in Naples, TX, on 26 Dec 1925
1927 Aug 16
Naples (TX) Monitor, news item mentions working with Marshall Redfearn (sic)
1930
Mt Pleasant, Titus County, TX, US census as photographer
1935
Mt Pleasant, Titus County, TX, 1940 US census residence same
A comedy of errors? Yes. But below is probably William B Praytor in the 1870 and 1880 US census. This is a good guess as William Bluford Praytor has been found no where else in 1870.
1940 Apr 01
Mt pleasant, Titus County, TX, US census, as photographer at “West First Street”
1942 Dec 20
Mt Pleasant, Titus, TX, state records Wm B Praytor dies of heart failure at age 81
Praytor moved around a lot but seems never to have left Texas. Still, no documentation has been found showing when he was actually in Round Rock, TX. Available records show him in Mount Pleasant, TX, most of his life from 1900 on. Mount Pleasant, TX, is not close to Round Rock, TX.
So far, no documentation has been found connecting Praytor to Bror Gustaf Grondal but they were possibly working together between about 1887 and 1891 before Grondal moved his family from Red Rock, TX, to Lindsborg, KS. Most likely, they worked together around the first part of 1890.
See this page for the timeline of
Bror Gustaf Grondal
(1855 - 1948)
Photograph purported to be
William Bluford Praytor
Dublin (TX) Progress - 15 Jul 1892
Naples (TX) Monitor - 23 Oct 1925
Naples (TX) Monitor - 16 Aug 1927
Mt Pleasant (YX) Times - 06 May 1933
Photographer W B Praytor, Stephenville, TX
example from Portals to Texas History
provided by Private Collection of T. B. Willis
Photographer W B Praytor, Stephenville, TX
example from Portals to Texas History
provided by Private Collection of T. B. Willis
Photographer W B Praytor, Stephenville, TX
example from Portals to Texas History
provided by Private Collection of T. B. Willis
Photographer W B Praytor, Stephenville, TX
example from Portals to Texas History
provided by Private Collection of T. B. Willis
Photographer W B Praytor, Granbury and Stephenville, TX
example from Portals to Texas History
provided by Private Collection of T. B. Willis
studio in Stephenville, TX
(it appears that something like "Plano" has been crossed out)
example from Portals to Texas History
studio in Stephenville, TX (from the same negative as the card on the left)
(it appears that "Round Rock" has been crossed out and Stephenville added)
example from Portals to Texas History
studio in Round Rock, TX, (date unknown)
example from an auction site
Not the one you were looking for? Here's the photographer's INDEX by name. Listed here are all the Cabinet Card photographers of the 19th century found in LOST GALLERY. This is a work in progress. For a look at the original postings go to LOST GALLERY.
I am working on a McDade genealogy and found a portrait of one woman and three men standing behind her. In the bottom right corner is the Photographer - Praytor, Mt. Pleasant, Tex. Is there a list of customers for this photographer? Some of our relatives moved from Mt. Meigs, AL in the 1800's to several places in Texas - Dumas and Hempstead. One of the relatives, Keet McDade, lived in Hempstead and died in 1933.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your question. When a photographer died or retired, his notes, negatives and equipment sometimes passed on to another photographer or to descendants. If any records still exist for any of these photographers, they are in the hands of descendants or the local historical society. Most records and negatives, I have discovered, no longer exist. They were breakable or quite flammable. Records and notes from some of the more famous photographers such as Mathew Brady or Napoleon Sarony, are in museums. Most are just gone.
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