Overview of Transition 1

This transition attempts to prove that John H. Pyle was the son of Nicholas E. Pyle and Mary Ann Westbrook and after being arrested and tried for assault and battery in 1853, he left home in about 1854 and migrated from Shelby Co, AL to Tarrant Co, TX.

Importance of Transition 1

This transition accounts for how John H. Pyle was the son of Nicholas E. Pyle and Mary Ann Westbrook which is identical to the claim made by John J. Poill in a 1924 newspaper article. Also, this transition will attempt to prove that John H. Pyle migrated to Tarrant Co, TX where he lived and worked for several years. Then he traveled out to California on the “Barnes” wagon train.

Summary

Nicholas E. Pyle and Mary Ann Westbrook were married in 1831 and lived in Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. They had a large family of about 10 children. In the 1850s they lived in Shelby Co, AL. Their third child was John H. Pyle. John H. Pyle was a troubled youth and at the age of 17 he was involved in an assault and battery case with his brother Nicholas H. Pyle. In this incident, John H. Pyle stabbed a person (not killing him).

Nicholas E. Pyle had a brother named John Pyle (i.e., the uncle of John H. Pyle) who lived in Kaufman Co, TX beginning in about 1850. After the assault and battery trial in May 23, 1854, John H. Pyle drifted down to Kaufman Co, TX probably to visit his uncle John Pyle and his family as well as to start a new life. Then he drifted over to Tarrant Co, TX about 60 miles away arriving there in about 1855 where he lived and worked for several years.

Proof of Transition 1

1. Shelby Co, AL:

Proposed:

John H. Pyle was the son of Nicholas Pyle and Mary Ann Westbrook’s.

Proof:

John H. Pyle is stated to be the “infant son” of Nicholas E. Pyle (in a pledge of property for bond for appearing to answer charges of assault and battery in Shelby Co, AL in 1854.

Proposed:

John H. Pyle was a violent person and he stabbed a man.

Proof:

This is easily proven by the pledge of property for bond for appearing to answer charges of assault and battery in Shelby Co, AL in 1854.

2. Tarrant Co, TX:

Proposed:

John H. Pyle was living and working in Tarrant Co, TX for several years starting in 1855.

Proof:

In 1855 a “John Pile” was living and working in Tarrant Co (see ref 1, ref 2). There is no direct proof that this person is actually John H. Pyle. However, it seems reasonable that the youthful John H. Pyle migrated down to Texas after the assault and battery case possibly to get away from Shelby Co, AL and to find a new life in Texas. Also he probably set out to visit the family of his uncle John Pyle living in Kaufman Co, TX. Then he drifted over to Tarrant Co, TX (approximately 60 miles—a day or two on horseback) where he got a job surveying land there. Actually it was not uncommon to travel from Alabama to Texas in the 1850s. For example, the father Nicholas E. Pyle also migrated from Shelby Co, AL to Kaufman Co, TX and was living there with his brother (John Pyle) in 1860.