Eddie Pryor: A Lesson on the Impact of Family Instability
Eddie Pryor's story offers insight into the challenges faced by vulnerable youth in early 20th century America.
Marked by frequent relocations between family members, various state institutions, and a subsequent life in prison, Eddie’s life mirrors the experiences of children still grappling with instability and trauma 100 years later.
Early Years in Minnesota
Edward E. Pryor was born on June 11, 1895, in Minnesota. In 1900, 4-year-old Eddie and his sister Lula Mae lived with their mother Alice and their grandmother Hattie Gould in Hastings, Dakota County, Minnesota.
1900 Census - 4-year-old Eddie Pryor living in his grandma Hattie Gould’s home along with his mother and his sister - Hastings, Dakota County, MN
A Childhood of Relocations
Eddie’s life took it’s first major turn after his grandma Hattie died in 1902.
By 1905, 9-year-old Eddie was living in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood with his mom Alice, stepfather Charles A. Pryor and his two younger siblings Lula Mae and Roy. Unfortunately no further records have been found after 1905 suggesting another family upheaval.
Three years later, in 1908, Eddie was under the care of his Great-Aunt Chloe in Afton Township, Brookings County, South Dakota. Great-Aunt Chloe Daniels was Eddie’s grandma younger sister. Chloe, her husband George Daniels, and their fourteen children provided a new environment for Eddie. But it seems to have been short-lived.
Life at the Owatonna School for Boys
The following year, the courts found that since Eddie’s mother Alice was deceased, the whereabouts of his biological father were unknown, and Eddie chose not to stay in the homes where his stepfather Charles Pryor placed him, he was to be committed to the State Public School in Owatonna, Steele County, Minnesota.
Case File declaring Edward Pryor be committed to the State Public School in Owatonna, Steele County, Minnesota
However, it seems even this court-ordered placement was short-lived. By May 1910, Eddie was placed in the Colored Orphanage and Old People's Home in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Interestingly, a 1911 report from the Home lists Eddie, his brother Roy, and possibly their maternal grandfather Peter Gould among the cared-for inmates.
The idea that two grandsons and their grandfather may have ended up living together within institutionalized circumstances leaves more questions than answers about the circumstances of their lives. Unfortunately, no further records on Eddie’s younger brother Roy have been found beyond his stay in the orphanage.
Cover of 1911 report on the Colored Orphanage and Old Peoples Home - Saint Paul, MN
Legal Troubles and Incarceration
Eddie’s older teenage years and early adulthood were documented through various newspaper clippings referencing his involvement in numerous burglaries and holdups.
The Minneapolis Journal, December 28, 1915
In 1916, Eddie and two others, plead guilty to first-degree robbery, resulting in a sentence to the St. Cloud Reformatory.
The Twin City Star, January 29, 1916
A Connection to Family
Although Eddie’s primary caregivers, his mother and his grandmother, had both passed, when Eddie applied for the WWII Draft in 1917, he listed his Aunt Augusta in Saint Paul as someone who would always be able to contact him. This suggests that even though Eddie had not lived with family for years, he still had some type of ties back to them.
Eddie’s draft card is also the first time we get a sense of what he may have looked like physically. He was described as a 21-year-old man of short stature with a medium build, brown eyes, and black hair.
Eddie was still an inmate at the Minnesota State Reformatory in Saint Cloud at the time of his draft registration.
Continued Struggles
Shortly after being paroled from from St. Cloud Reformatory in 1919, Eddie and anther young man were arrested for holding up a grocery store. By 1920, he was an inmate at Stillwater State Prison. This pattern of incarceration continued into 1940 when he was recorded as a patient in the Criminal Ward of St. Peter State Hospital. By 1950, Eddie, then 55, remained in St. Peter State Hospital, indicating prolonged struggles with both legal and personal demons.
The Twin City Star, January 25, 1919
Final Years
Eddie passed away at age 76 in Hennepin County, Minnesota in November 1971. His last known relative, his sister Lula Mae, had preceded him in death in 1956.
Eddie Pryor's Legacy
Eddie's life, pieced together through records and documents, reflects the challenges faced by many vulnerable youth in the early 20th century. His story, marked by family instability and institutional care, serves as a reminder of the importance of support systems for at-risk youth.
While much has changed since Eddie's time, his experiences still resonate with challenges faced by young people today.