He was appointed to fill the Senate term left by the death of George S. Houston and served from January 7 to November 23, 1880, when a replacement was elected.

Luke Pryor lived at the Sugar Creek Plantation, in Athens, Alabama, for 40 years before his death.

[4] Pryor House Archived 2006-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, built in 1836, stands as a historic building in Limestone County, Alabama.

On the 1840 Census, six free blacks under the age of 10 were recorded in his father's household, as well as one enslaved male child under ten and an older female between 55 and 100.

The American Civil War did not begin until April 12, 1861, and slavery was not completely abolished until 1865 after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.