Bureaucrats Screw up Pension Application of an 85 Yr Old Revolutionary Vet--Sound Familiar?

Let's moan a moment about what the fool bureaucrats did to Patrick McElyea (Rev. Pension application S2789 as transcribed by the heroic Will Graves). The Regulators vs Tryon was in 1771; it was a wipeout, Governor Tryon triumphant. It was not during the Revolution . . . . but there was a much bigger battle in the Revolution, near the same place, as everyone but a bureaucrat would have known.

Patrick McElyea applied in October 1834 while he was 83 years old.

In 1836 he is still trying to get his pension.

From Jackson County Alabama on 21 May 1836 he writes to the Bureaucrat of all Bureaucrats, J. L. Edwards:

Sir I have lately received a note from you informing me that my claim was set aside under the supposition that the Alamance battle that I was in that I gave an account of in my declaration was fought between General [i.e., Governor] Tryon and the regulators. Sir, by comparing this with my declaration you will see at once that you are mistaken. Sir, when the Tryon battle was fought my father and family of which I was one was about moving from Pennsylvania to Carolina we met several of the regulators getting away as we moved. The battle I believe was fought in June. Sir, the Alamance battle that I was in was fought about 3 miles from the Haw River--it was fought with part of the forces of Cornwallis. Tarleton commanded the party we fought . . . .

McElyea goes on with infinite patience before concluding:

Sir, I dislike putting you to so much trouble but take my papers through another examination and you will without doubt see your mistake.

Remembering Coker Cousins Slaughtered in Utah at the Mountain Meadows Massacre

MARION COUNTY AR
MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
SOME FAMILIES & THEIR BACKGROUND
by Margaret A. Butler (margaretbutler@yahoo.com)





Unfamiliar with The Mountain Meadow Massacre? Go here


Margaret has put together some information on some of the families involved in the Mt Meadow Massacre. If you have any addition information please pass it along to me. Thanks Linda


WOOD FAMILY:


WILLIAM WOOD, born ca. 1831, probably in Marion Co., AR
SOLOMON WOOD, born ca. 1837, probably in Marion Co., AR
William and Solomon were brothers. I'm fairly sure Solomon was a single man but not sure about William. Both were sons of George W. and Nancy Jane (COKER) WOOD of George's Creek, Yellville, Marion Co., AR. (George's Creek was named after George W. Wood.)
George W. Wood was born ca. 1804-05 in SC, and was the son of Marion County Judge William Obadiah "Dancin Bill" Wood and his wife, Hannah (AUSTIN) Wood. The Judge was born ca. 1775 in NC, moved to AR ca. 1818, and settled at Yellville ca. 1828, residing near Crooked Creek.
Nancy Jane (Coker) Wood was born ca. 1809-13 in Knox Co., TN. She was the daughter of Arkansas pioneer, William Dempsey "Buck" COKER. Buck's wife's name was allegedly Nancy (LEE) COKER. Buck moved into the White River area around 1813, then eventually settled near Lead Hill (which was first situated in Marion County and then Boone County).


WILSON FAMILY


RICHARD WILSON, believed to be born ca. 1830-34
Richard was identified as having been from Marion County, AR, and was the only known Wilson individual in the wagon train. He was probably the first husband of my great-great-grandmother, (Martha?) Elisabeth (COKER) WILSON. She was born ca. 1834 and was a resident of Marion County. In a Wilson family Bible, it is written that her husband was going to the gold mines in California but died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Some in the Wilson family thought his name was "John Calvin," but no proof substantiates that theory. Perhaps Richard's father or brother was named "John Calvin." If someone knows, please contact me.
Elisabeth and her husband had only one son, John William WILSON, born July 21, 1856, probably in Marion County, Arkansas. Elisabeth, age 26, and four-year-old John are found living in a Marion County household in 1860. Also residing with them was a young man, in his early 20s, by the name of Jasper HUDSON.
I have yet to prove who Elisabeth's parents were -- many think it was Charles & Elizabeth (Trimble) Coker, but I do not know -- however, for certain reasons, I sincerely believe that Nancy Jane (Coker) WOOD was Elisabeth (Coker) Wilson's aunt. If anyone knows for sure, or can prove otherwise, please contact me.


STALCUP FAMILY


CHARLES STALCUP and wife, WINNIE (WOOD) STALCUP
Although their names are not specifically listed on the most-referenced list of massacre victims, Wood family genealogy states that Charles Stalcup died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, as did his wife, Winnie (Wood) Stalcup.
I have no information on Charles, but Winnie was born ca. 1830. She was the daughter of George W. & Nancy (COKER) Wood of George's Creek, Marion Co, AR. Winnie was an older sister to William and Solomon Wood, named above, who also died in the massacre. Whether Winnie and Charles Stalcup had children is unknown to me.


HUDSON FAMILY


"HUDSON" is also listed among the names of those traveling in the wagon train.
Possible clue: As stated above, in 1860, Jasper HUDSON was residing with my great-great-grandmother, Elisabeth (Coker) Wilson. I have Jasper's family information somewhere but have misplaced it at the moment. Nevertheless, I believe his father was John HUDSON, and I also remember that there was a Hudson/Wilson marriage somewhere in Jasper's ancestry. Lastly, John Hudson resided on either Crooked Creek or George's Creek in Marion County.
These are only tidbits, of course, and no proof is being offered as to the identity of the "Hudson" family who was murdered during the massacre. But I wonder if there are any descendants of the Marion County Hudson family who can clear this point up for us?


FANCHER


We all know that Captain Charles FANCHER headed up the doomed wagon train, but many may not realize that his daughter, Arminta FANCHER, who died in 1848, had been married to William I. COKER, son of Joseph Coker, Sr., and grandson of Buck & Nancy (Lee) COKER. William I. Coker's first cousins were William and Solomon Wood, and Winnie (Wood) Stalcup. William I. Coker was also a cousin to my great-great-grandmother, Elisabeth (Coker) Wilson.
Additionally, one of Arminta's sons was named James Alexander Coker. I note that another Fancher family, that of "Alexander Fancher," is listed. Will Fancher descendants please confirm the relationship of Alexander Fancher to Arminta?


MITCHELL


The incomplete list of murdered victims, which is most often referenced, was excerpted from a letter written to the Office of Indian Affairs, Utah Superintendency, and dated Crooked Creek, Arkansas, April 27, 1860, and signed by "Wm. C. Mitchell, Special Agt." Mr. Mitchell was probably a special agent to the Office of Indian Affairs. (Source: Juanita Brooks' book, "The Mountain Meadows Massacre", Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, copyright 1950, item 18, pp 39-40.)
Question: Was William C. Mitchell related to the Mitchell family members who were murdered in the Mountain Meadows Massacre?


OTHER MISCELLANEOUS TIDBITS CONCERNING THE MMM:


My favorite book on the Mountain Meadows Massacre is one written by Josiah F. Gibbs, copyrighted 1910 by the Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. The title of the book is "The Mountain Meadows Massacre".
Mr. Gibbs not only interviewed some relatives of the murder victims but also talked at great length with Frank E. King, a survivor. Another interesting aspect about the author, Mr. Gibbs, is that he played marbles with Capt. Charles Fancher's son, Charlie, who survived the attack. And it was Charlie who first told him about the massacre. So Mr. Gibbs made an excellent author on this subject.
Looking through Gibbs' book, I note specific information about some of the wagon train members. Here's a little:


John Calvin Sorel had two older brothers, James and Henry, and three sisters, Mary, Martha and Nancy. (Information from Brooks' book states that only John Calvin Sorel and Lewis and Mary Sorel survived.)


Ambrose Miriam Tagit (Taggit) of Johnston Co., AR had two older brothers and parents who were killed in the massacre. (Brooks' book states "Ambrose Miriam, and William Tagit" survived.)


Prudence Angelina, last name unknown, survived and said that she had two brothers, Jesse and John, who were killed. She also said her father's name was William, and an uncle was also named Jesse. (Brooks' book makes reference to "Angeline, Annie, and Sophronia or Mary Huff; Ephraim W. Huff.")


Mary, last name unknown, and her brother survived. (Could this be Mary & Ephraim Huff, named in Brooks' book?)


Elsie, last name unknown, was a child who stayed behind in Utah and allegedly married there years later.


Francis Harris/Horne, called "Betsy," survived. (Brooks' book refers to "Francis Horn.")


William Eaton, a native of Indiana, had a farm in Illinois. Before joining the wagon train, he sold his Illinois farm, moved his wife and family back to Indiana, then joined Fancher's group. Last time he wrote his wife, he said all was well.


William A. Aden, born Tennessee, was an artist. His brother was Judge James S. Aden of Paris, Henry Co., TN. William had traveled across country, painting landscape pictures, then joined the train at Salt Lake City. After the wagon train arrived at Parowen, Aden was surprised to meet Elder William Laney, whom Aden's family had befriended years earlier while Laney was in Tennessee. In an act of kindness, Elder Laney provided Aden with onions ... and it was Laney who was later beaten, almost to death, for befriending young William Aden. Lastly, it was William A. Aden who became the first murder victim. On the night of the 13th, William and two other youths managed to escape the wagon train and ran for help. When they met up with High Priest William Stewart, the young men asked for aid; instead, William A. Aden was shot in the back and killed.


Mr. & Mrs. Frank E. King were not killed, because they had joined the wagon train in Wyoming but were forced to stay behind in Salt Lake City because Mrs. King became ill. Because of this, they avoided death.


In Juanita Brooks' book, she also names survivors, Charles and Annie Fancher; Betsey and Jane Baker; Rebecca, Louisa and Sarah Dunlap; William (Welch) Baker.


As many of you know, there have been other names associated with the murder victims:
Huff
Morton
Haydon
Stevenson
Hamilton (Gibbs' book states that Hamilton bravely tried to help mediate a surrender.)
Smith
"and a Methodist minister"


Frank King, referred to above, also wrote that there were about forty wagons and carriages in the train; that there were about sixty men, forty women, nearly fifty children, and about twelve horsemen.





Return to Mt Meadow Massacre Page
Return to Marion Co Home Page


Linda Haas Davenport

Poor Rand Paul and the Accusation of Plagiarizing (of all things) Wikipedia

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/rand-paul-plagiarism-wikipedia-gattaca-rachel-maddow_n_4172207.html

Rachel, Rachel, did it ever occur to you to ask Rand Paul if he was the AUTHOR of that particular Wikipedia entry and that he was just repeating himself? It could happen to any brilliant Senator with a fine scientific education.

Ho ho ho! Think about that, Rachel.

In what field did Edith Head want an honorary degree from USC? (See Google Page Today)

Spanish.
The degree did not happen, but Harvey Goldstein and I interviewed her at her Spanish house, the one Carrie Fisher owns now, I think.
She pointed to the little pool and glorified it by saying that Elizabeth Taylor had swum there.

Four Months after the Santa Monica College shootings--a Triumph for Akua Parker as Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT

Last June when this girl was working in the library at Santa Monica College she heard a woman pleading for her life and heard shots. Abandoning laptop and wallet. she fled to safety. Now, only 4 months later, she has just concluded two weekends as Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT at Santa Monica College. Being brave in June and during the long aftermath of the shooting is good but going on to be terrific as Olivia in October is a personal triumph.

In stage makeup, of course.

Akua Parker still in makeup as Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT at Santa Monica College 19 October 2013

The last performance was the Sunday 20 October 2013 matinee. She was wonderful.

Akua Parker still in stage makeup after playing Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT in a matinee and an evening performance at Santa Monica College

10 October 2013

ORGANIZE! Stop plans to Tar-and-Feather all Tea Party House members as they Return Home

Best I can tell it would be illegal to meet with tar-and-feather posses every House Tea Party member as he or she returns home tonight or tomorrow.

Please, stop this Moderate Republican radicalism.

NO TAR AND NO FEATHERS AND NO RIDING ON A RAIL for our elected members of the House of Representatives.

Everyone's granddaughter should be "great" & "beautiful and really well-mannered"! Twelfth Night--better than Henry IV as directed by Richard Eyre

Twelfth Night presented by Santa Monica College

October 11, 2013

The theatrical production of the well-known Shakespeare play Twelfth Night had its first preview performance yesterday at Santa Monica College. The comedy was about a shipwrecked girl disguising herself as a young man and served under Duke Orsino. It was also about the love triangle between Viola, Olivia and Duke Orsino. The play will go on until October 20, 2013.
They won some great laughs from the audience when some of the characters sang modern songs with the original lyrics from the play. Ryan Haberfeld (Malvolio) was a really great actor, he won the most laughs from the audience. He tiptoed and talked like a steward. He was hilarious when he stood a step higher than Maria and yelled at her. Akua Parker (Olivia) and Rossi-Anne Jaffe (Maria) were great, as well. Olivia was beautiful and really well-mannered and Maria was really deceptive and luring.
Jonathan Driegert, the actor who played Sir Toby was not convincing as a drunkard. The only thing that suggested he was drunk was the bottle in his hand. He acted like he was sober all throughout the play until the very last scene, but by then the play was already over. Tiana Randall-Quant, the actress who played Viola was too nervous. She acted like she was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, scared of where she was and everyone around her. She was terrified from the very beginning to the very end, especially when Olivia pulled off her veil and they met for the very first time, she acted like there was a giant wart on Olivia's face and she was terrified to even look at her. She also forgot to fall in love with Duke Orsino, instead she was terrified of him and so she looked like a gold digger in the end.
It is understandable that some of the actors can be very nervous to be on stage for the first time, and they will definitely enjoy their characters more and not afraid to get out of their shells in the upcoming shows.
Tickets for “Twelfth Night” are available by calling (310) 434-4319.

Well, good for Akua!  I played Cassio in 1957 at the Richmond, California, Community Theatre. It's a rich experience, playing Shakespeare. She'll have it now, all her life.

The Moral Wishy-Washiness of Orville Dewey--1857 N Y Tribune

Here I was minding my own business looking in newspapers for articles on Bleeding Kansas when I came upon this article in Greeley's TRIBUNE 4 April 1857. I knew I was in the good company of Frederick Douglass's October 1844 LIBERATOR in calling Dewey out as a Time-Server. I took strong stands against him in my biography of Melville and especially in the 2nd Norton Critical Edition of THE CONFIDENCE-MAN. Here is a section of this terrific analysis from Greeley's paper. Poor Melville knew what he knew but had to live with his father-in-law's intimacy with this contemptible man.

Think about Melville listening to this man preach Shaw's funeral oration.

Hershel Parker and Raymond Head--Costner, Bell, and Dougherty Cousins-- June 2007

Thea Sharrock's HENRY V--better than Eyre.

Good--so much better than either of the 2 directed by Richard Eyre. But why oh why did she have Henry V give the Crispian speech to a handful of nobles when much of it is explicitly intended to inspire men whose condition may be ne'er so vile? You need this to inspire the troops, not a handful of nobles. The Folio says Erpingham enters "with all his hoast" [sic] but the Quarto just says with "Attendance." So you can't really argue from the stage directions, just from previous productions.

I find myself thinking the earlier filmed versions were right in pumping up the patriotism before the troops, not before a dottering handful of nobles.

I still am sickened by the Henry IV Part One that was so slashed that there was no possibility of delighting in Hotspur and lamenting his end. Henry IV Part One as directed by Eyre was better only because it is a lesser play and was not so damaged by the hacking away at the script. What I mean is that in Part Two no one's character is revealed in his speech, so taking out half or two thirds of any passage thins the "verbiage" (as Jeremy Irons ineffably says) but does not really alter your sense of the speaker. BECAUSE it is a lesser play it is not as damaged by the cuts.

Of the four, Richard II was the best, we both thought.

Richard J. Righter on his reserach.

Online, for free.
What a good writer (hard not to pun) this Slimp cousin of mine is! The prose is terrific. This is a master's thesis, but by a mature man, a Major.

For some reason the Adobe pdf is slanted.

An Interesting Man--A Young Slimp Cousin of Mine, Richard J. Righter--the Conclusion of his Master's Thesis

Major Richard J. Righter--Author of Master's Thesis on the 13th Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry

You can read the thesis online.

Richard J. Righter is a GGGG Grandson of Captain Frederick Slimp, and, I am proud to say, a Schlemp/Slimp cousin of mine.

And there's a Slimp historical novelist cousin of the major's and mine up at Berkeley, Gillian Bagwell.

Frederick Slimp himself was a fine storyteller. What stories did his cousin Rachel Slimp Dougherty tell her many children?

Cousin Frederick Slimp on his Historical Research--on the Death of David Howard, Little Doe, Johnson Co., Tennessee

David Howard was the son of Col. Samuel Howard. The murderers were "some rebel soldiers" who were "marauding over the country, more for plunder than Southern chivalry." Slimp explains that "David was at home, suspecting no danger. . . . [He] was suddenly alarmed at the approach of the dreaded enemy and fled in the direction of the woods, across the fields, and the ill-thoughted posse without knowing who or for what reason, fired many deadly shots at him, and he fell mortally wounded, and died in a few minutes."

Then the murderers proceeded to the house of David's mother, as described.

I see that Cousin Fred had the instincts of a historical researcher: "It takes much running about to collect facts connected with the war. I am now up on Doe"--meaning up on what happened in the community of Little Doe, Tennessee.

BOLO John Daugherty

He is remarkable for his extreme silence and downcast appearance, addicted to intoxication, and when drunk is both sullen and stupid--deserted from Rowan County, N. C., 20th Nov. 1814

Not one of ours, but be on the lookout.

Ours handle liquor differently. The Cokers "were very dangerous men when drinking, and the whole county feared them." William Monks, A HISTORY OF SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS.

It's merely a report that in Mississippi the Bells made whiskey and the Stewarts hauled it to Natchez. None of them when drunk were both sullen and stupid.

Cousin Frederick Slimp tells "the stories of these [Civil War] tragedies in his own language"

You can be naive enough to start out on your genealogical hunt assuming there will be no written record of people so humble. You learn that anyone who has been around very long will be on one census or another, even if he or she is missed a few times. What you don't expect is to discover words actually spoken or written by family members, not unless you come from a family like the Massachusetts Adamses, not the North Carolina Adamses. Then you think you are lucky when you find that 8 out of the 42 or so signers of the Tryon Resolves were family members of yours, whether or not any of them influenced the wording of the resolves. Then you start finding speeches printed in newspapers, petitions to presidents, affidavits given before federal commissions, and phrases and sentences quoted in odd documents. Often enough you encounter something like this in the HISTORY OF THE 13TH REGIMENT TENNESSEE VOLUNTEER CAVALRY, most of a chapter (it's hard to tell because the punctuation is inconsistent) in the words of a member of the family. The editor of the book observes: "We are indebted to Captain Frederick Slimp, of Butler Tennessee, a native of Johnson county, and a man who has always been regarded as a man of unimpeachable veracity, for the following statements. We let him tell the stories of these tragedies in his own language." Several stories follow, tragic indeed, words enough to convey a strong sense of the man's character and his voice. And there's his photograph which I posted yesterday. How unlike my GGGG Grandfather Jacob Slimp would he have sounded, I wonder. Not all that different, I would bet.

GGG Grandmother Rachel Slimp Dougherty was Frederick's first cousin.

Not one of our Dougherty or Doherty men--Too Short

   JOHN DAUGHTERY, born in Northampton County, N. C., aged 20 years, five feet

nine and a half inches high, ruddy complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, and by

occupation a silversmith, latterly accustomed to the sea. He is remarkable for

his extreme silence and downcast appearance, addicted to intoxication, and

when drunk is both sullen and stupid - deserted from Rowan County, N. C., 20th

Nov. 1814

Cousin Frederick Slimp from the 13th Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry

ESSENTIAL TO KEEP GYM OPEN FOR CONGRESSMEN--THEIR LIFE IS STRESSFUL.

No no no Truman Capote is not a Rudisill cousin. No no no.

OK, his Aunt Marie married James Rudisill in 1939 but that does not make Truman Capote a cousin.

Missing the Krakenman--Sendak and Parker--the space around the picture

the space around the picture is growing every day

Dr. John Pyle, a Fighting Quaker, Tory and Turncoat, father of my Uncle John Pyle Jr., Tory and Turncoat

Family Tree Maker
1. COL. DR. JOHN² PYLE (DR. SAMUEL¹) was born April 08, 1723 in KENNETT, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, and died January 01, 1804 in CAIN CREEK, CHATHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. He married SARAH BALDWIN June 1744 in PENNSYLVANIA, daughter of JOHN BALDWIN and HANNAH JOHNSON. She died 1788 in CAIN CREEK, CHATHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

Notes for COL. DR. JOHN PYLE:
      COL. PYLE'S MOST NOTABLE MILITARY ENGAGEMENT OCCURRED ON THE NIGHT OF FEB. 21, 1781, WHEN IN COMMAND OF ABOUT 265 CAVALRYMEN HE ENGAGED A SUPERIOR FORCE UNDER THE COMMAND OF LT. COL. HENRY "LIGHTHORSE HARRY" LEE AT THE BATTLE OF HAW RIVER. COL. PYLE WAS DECEIVED INTO BELIEVING THAT HE HAD MET UP WITH FRIENDLY TROOPS INSTEAD OF ENEMY FORCES AND IN THE RESULTING GUNFIRE 90 OF HIS MEN WERE KILLED. IN THE HAND TO HAND SWORD PLAY IN THE MOON LIT BATTLE THE COLONEL LOST FIRST THREE FINGERS ON HIS LEFT HAND AND THEN AN EYE TO A SABER SLASH ACROSS HIS FACE. HE WAS KNOCKED FROM HIS HORSE WHEN SHOT AT POINTBLANK RANGE AND LEFT FOR DEAD IN THE ICEY RIVER'S WATERS. HE REVIVED AND CRAWLED TO A SMALL POND AND CONCEALED HIMSELF IN THE WATER AND REEDS WITH NOTHING PROTRUDING BUT HIS NOSE UNTIL THE FOLLOWING NIGHT WHEN HE MADE HIS WAY HOME.

      THE BRITISH HISTORIAN STEDMAN HAS WRITTEN MUCH OF THIS ENGAGEMENT, "A FOUL MASSACRE". THE STORY OF THIS BATTLE WAS ALSO RELATED BY GENERAL CORNWALLIS IN A LETTER DATED MARCH 17, 1781, AND BY SIR BANASTRE TARLETON IN HIS HISTORY PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND IN 1787. THE BEST DESCRIPTION IS TO BE FOUND IN THE PICTORIAL FIELD BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION BY BENSON J. LOSSING.

     IN THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA IS A COPY OF A LETTER FROM CAPT. WILLIAM O'NEAL WHICH RELATES THAT DR. JOHN PYLE, HIS SON, AND JOHN LINDLEY, PYLE'S SON IN LAW SURRENDERED TO HIM IN THE LATTER DAYS OF SEPTEMBER, 1781. THEY WERE ARRESTED, AS ALL LOYALISTS WERE ,TO AWAIT TRIAL FOR TREASON. BOTH PYLES AS DOCTORS WERE ASSIGNED MEDICAL DUTIES WITH THE COLONEL BEING PUT IN CHARGE OF THE WOUNDED, BOTH COLONIAL AND BRITISH. THEY WERE BOTH GIVEN UNCONDITIONAL PARDONS FOR THEIR FAITHFUL WORK IN THE LATTER DAYS OF THE CONFLICT, AND THERE IS NO RECORD OF THEIR PROPERTY HAVING BEEN CONFISCATED. . . .
More About COL. DR. JOHN PYLE:
Education: MEDICAL EDUCATION IN LONDON, ENGLAND
MILITARY SERV: 1775, APPOINTED BY THE KING, COLONEL IN THE BRITISH ARMY, A TORY-LOYALIST
Occupation: COUNTRY DOCTOR-FARMER-BUSINESSMAN
POLITICAL SER: MEMBER OF "THE REGULATORS", A VIGILANTI COURT & JUSTICE SYSTEM
RELIGIOUS: QUAKER


This week's shock in my playing with ORNERY PEOPLE is that the younger turncoat Pyle was the husband of Sarah Brashear, the sister of my GGGG Grandmother Elizabeth Brashear Henderson, the wife of the Patriot Ezekiel Henderson. Uncle John moved to Kentucky to hide his shame. One of the applicants for the 1832 pensions says he saw him a few years earlier, in the 1820s, in Illinois. He probably meant Kentucky, NW Kentucky. The applicant mentions that John had only one eye. Some accounts say that his father lost most of his left hand and lost one eye at "Lee's hacking frolic"; if that is true, about the eye, maybe father and son lost an eye each. The 1832 applicant seems to have been truthful.


The whole story is fascinating because of the discrepancies in accounts. Maybe Robert E. Lee's father, Light Horse Harry, was clever enough to turn accidental encounter and mis-identification into slaughter of Tories, maybe he was dimwitted and blundered into an advantage even he could not fail to seize. Did he really hack off most of the hand of Dr Pyle which he had been holding? 

These are Kennett Square Pyles--Kennett Square, which we often drove to from Landenberg, PA. That means Howard and Ernie are probably cousins of Uncle John.

Remembering the False Accusations Against the Duke Lacrosse Players and the Law's Delay

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Brodhead's Moral Meltdown, September 15, 2007

By 

Hershel Parker (Morro Bay, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case (Hardcover)

UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND THE SHAMEFUL INJUSTICES OF THE DUKE LACROSSE RAPE CASE. UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT is more terrifying than any thriller you will read this year. Stuart Taylor, Jr., and KC Johnson trace what happened when three young men were falsely accused of rape. Rather than being defended by Duke University, they were defamed, threatened with castration, thrown to the rogue prosecutor. Many Duke professors as the "Group of 88" egged on the mob who had begun to harass the lacrosse players. There were almost no heroes at Duke, although a very few professors ultimately spoke out against the rush to judgment which proved to be a rush to the wrong judgment. The women's lacrosse coach Kerstin Kimel is depicted here as the kind of person you wish you had been when you look back at a crisis you lived through. Her decency and bravery shine in this dark book. KC Johnson is another kind of hero: the American professor who sensed that something wrong was going on at Duke and set out to document the events in a blog that ultimately helped turn the tide against the Duke mob. One of the most terrifying sections of this book shows that rather than being punished after the truth was undeniable these professors in the Group of 88 were rewarded with greater control of Duke committees. One of the most exciting sections shows how bloggers became heroes when the national media, including Nancy Grace and the New York Times, had joined the mob. This section gives hope that other national lies will be exposed promptly and exposed repeatedly until the country pays attention. The times have changed for the better in this regard even if the Times has not.
Knowing that Brodhead, the master of sly innuendo, as a literary critic habitually ignored the facts and rushed to judgment, whatever the cost to his victim's reputation (see Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 62 [June 2007] pp. 29-47), I recognized the weakling Taylor and Johnson portray in "Richard Brodhead's Test of Courage": "Confronted with a crisis of epic proportions, with Duke's hard-won reputation at risk, he faced his ultimate test of courage. And in an extraordinary moral meltdown, he threw in his lot with the mob." The only criticism I have of this book is that the publishers should have put "Rape" in quotation marks, since no rape occurred.

No more Non-Apology Apologies: Here's a Model Letter for Richard Brodhead and other Practitioners of the Non-Apology Apology.

JOHN PYLE TO EDMUND FANNING March 17, 1766

Colo. Edmon Fanning. Whereas I have been active in publishing and spreading

a certain piece of wrighting of a scandelous & Defameing nature agains' thee,

for the Doing of which I am rely sorry and beg thy pardon; and sence thee

commenc a sute against me for it, I have been three times at or near they

house in order to make up with thee: but was prevented by thy being from home

and had not bodily disorders prevented, I should have waited on thee at this

time in order to have give thee the best satisfaction I could, but was taken

very ill yester Day with a vomiting and purging and beging thy forgivness

intending if God doth Inable me to behave better for the futer - giving under

my hand this seventeenth of march 1766.

Present John Carter

This is the Dr. Pyle who later suffered at the hands of Light Horse Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee.

P. S. This was posted before I found out that Dr. Pyle's son, Dr. John Jr., is my Uncle John, husband of my GGGG Aunt Sarah Brashear. Well, that's the trouble with looking on the Internet. I was just looking at Pyle because the old man had been a Regulator, like my GGGGG Grandfather Argulus Hercules Henderson. Then to see that Argulus's Patriot son Ezekiel was the brother in law of young Dr. Pyle!!! No wonder young Dr. Pyle went to Kentucky and Ezekiel went with the Brashear men to Greenville, South Carolina.

As my triple cousin Lois Gore says, in the South if you are not kin you are connected.

The SLO newspaper: Birthers Forever, Developers Unlimited, Gerrymanderers Triumphant, Democracy Trampled on

Today's San Luis Obispo county newspaper leads with two stories, the Tea Party shutdown of the National Government and one county supervisor's apparent determination to let the vintners drain the aquifer until it is quite, quite dry. Just say NO until chaos comes.

At least the county is in harmony with the country.

Cousin Philip Hill in Ohio, after the Revolution:: "The Sweet Singer in Israel"

They settled in the present Miami Township, Clermont County. After their arrival, the Reverend Francis McCormick organized the first Methodist class in the Northwest Territory at Milford. Philip and Joseph Hill with their wives were among the first members and Philip became the first class leader. He also was the church's song leader for a number of years and was known as "The Sweet Singer in Israel."

The Baltimore Warfield cousins all inherited this musical gene.