Editing Roger A. Pryor (section)

{{short description|American politician}}
{{for|the American film actor|Roger Pryor (actor)}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Roger Atkinson Pryor
| image               = RogerAPryor.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| order               = 
| office3             = Member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from Virginia's [[Virginia's 4th congressional district|4th]] District
| term_start3         = December 7, 1859
| term_end3           = March 3, 1861
| lieutenant          = 
| predecessor3        = [[William O. Goode]]
| successor3          = [[George W. Booker]]
| order2              = 
| office1             = Member of the [[Congress of the Confederate States|Confederate States House of Representatives]] from [[Virginia]]
| term_start1         = February 18, 1862
| term_end1           = April 5, 1862
| governor1           = 
| predecessor1        = ''Position established''
| successor1          = [[Charles Fenton Collier|Charles F. Collier]]
| office2             = Delegate from Virginia to the [[Provisional Confederate Congress]]
| term_start2         = July 20, 1861
| term_end2           = February 17, 1862
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| successor2          = ''Position abolished''
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1828|7|19}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1919|3|14|1828|7|19}}
| birth_place         = [[Petersburg, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_place         = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| residence           = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
| profession          = [[journalist]], [[lawyer]], [[judge]]
| alma_mater          = [[Hampden–Sydney College]] <br/> [[University of Virginia]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| religion            = 
| allegiance          = {{flagcountry|Confederate States of America|1863|size=23px}}
| branch              = {{army|Confederate States of America|name=Confederate States Army|size=23px}}
| rank                = [[File:Confederate States of America General.svg|25px]] [[Brigadier General (CSA)|Brigadier general]]
| commands            = [[3rd Virginia Infantry Regiment]]<br />Florida Brigade
| unit                = {{nowrap|[[3rd Virginia Cavalry Regiment]]}}
| battles             = [[American Civil War]]
*[[Peninsula Campaign]]
*[[Second Battle of Bull Run]]
*[[Battle of Antietam]]
| serviceyears        = 1862&ndash;1864
}}
'''Roger Atkinson Pryor''' (July 19, 1828 &ndash; March 14, 1919) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slavery and later secession from the United States and belligerence toward abolitionist colleagues, during the [[American Civil War]] Pryor served as a general in the Confederate Army as well as in the Confederate Congress. Following the conflict, Pryor moved to [[New York City]], and in 1868 his family joined him. He resumed his legal practice and is now considered among influential southerners in the North sometimes called "Confederate carpetbaggers."<ref name=obit/><ref>David W. Blight, ''Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2001, p. 90</ref>

Pryor's law partner became Boston-based [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin F. Butler]], hated in the South for his service as a Union general during the conflict. Their partnership was financially successful, and Pryor also became active in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in the North. In 1877 he was chosen to give a [[Memorial Day|Decoration Day]] address, in which, according to one interpretation, he vilified [[Reconstruction era (United States)|Reconstruction]] and promoted the [[Lost Cause]], while reconciling the noble soldiers as victims of politicians.<ref name="Blight 2001 pp. 90-91">Blight (2001), ''Race and Reunion'', pp. 90-91</ref><ref name="Sutherland249">In a less strident interpretation, in ''[[The Confederate Carpetbaggers]]'', Daniel E. Sutherland states: "Pryor responded with the best-reasoned, least passionate public statement on reconciliation given by a southerner in the North." Sutherland, Daniel E. ''The Confederate Carpetbaggers''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-1393-6}}. p. 249.</ref> In 1890 he joined the [[Sons of the American Revolution]], one of the new heritage societies that was created following celebration of the [[United States Centennial]].

Appointed as judge of the [[New York Court of Common Pleas]] from 1890 to 1894, and justice of the [[New York Supreme Court]] from 1894 to his retirement in 1899.<ref name="F"/>  On April 10, 1912, he was appointed official referee by the appellate division of the state Supreme Court, where he served until his death. Particularly after raising their children described below, his wife [[Sara Agnes Rice Pryor|Sara Agnes Rice]] published several histories, memoirs and novels, as well as helped found heritage societies and organize fundraising for historic preservation. Her memoirs have been important sources for historians doing research on southern society during and after the Civil War.