Leaves Million to Wife (February 1912)

While I was searching for obituaries for my great grandfather, James Tolman Pyle, I came across this interesting article at the Library of Congress' ChroniclingAmerica newspaper website.

"Leaves Million To Wife," New York Tribune (New York NY), 18 February 1912, p. 8, col. 5,
ChroniclingAmerica (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov)

Although this article doesn't mention it, there had been four codicils, or updates, to his March 3, 1888 will, which I found in the New York Probate records at FamilySearch.org.

"The will names William S. Pyle and Joseph R. McAlpin, the testator's brother-in-law, as executors."

His brother, William S. Pyle, had died six years earlier and Joseph R. McAlpin died in April 1888, several weeks after the will was executed. (These facts are what prompted me to explore the New York Probate records at FamilySearch.org.)

You can read more about James Pyle & Sons here.

Y-DNA Test Results ~ A Non-Paternity Event?

My previous posts about DNA testing include:
DNA Test Results from AncestryDNA (April 2012)
AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity Results (October 2013)
List Your Matrilineal Line Update, with information about my mitochondrial DNA (February 2014)
Autosomal Testing with FamilyTreeDNA (April 2014)

FamilyTreeDNA graphic
showing how Y-DNA is inherited

Y-DNA refers to the DNA found on the Y chromosome, which is found only in men (passed from father to son to son, etc.). Testing of Y-DNA can reveal ancient origins (described as a haplogroup) as well as connecting cousins with the same surname in a family where surnames are passed down from father to son.

My dad received his Y-DNA from his father and passed his Y-DNA to his four sons. Since Dad died 21 years ago, I asked one of my brothers (thank you, R) to swab his cheek for a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA, which he did last fall.

FamilyTreeDNA offers the opportunity to join surname projects, and I joined the Pyle surname project on behalf of my brother. I thought it might be interesting and fun to see if I could connect with Pyle cousins.

For an understandable explanation of DNA testing, see Beginner's Guide to Genetic Genealogy at Wheaton Surname Resources website and for more specifics on Y-DNA testing, see Beginner's Guide to Genetic Genealogy, Lesson 3. And for an explanation of haplogroups, see Beginner's Guide to Genetic Genealogy, Lesson 4.

The results came in and the haplogroup for our paternal line is in the R1b1a2 haplogroup, now known as R-M269 (in the new naming protocol). A haplogroup is a major branch on either the maternal or the paternal tree of humankind. Haplogroups are associated with early human migrations. Today, these designations can be associated with a geographic region or regions. (Haplogroup definition is from FamilyTreeDNA.)

R1 is the most common European haplogroup, and is found in men in England, Scotland, Ireland, as well as in many western European countries.

However, imagine my surprise when I took a look at the Pyle Surname Project and saw that the Pyles who descend from immigrant ancestor Robert Pyle (1660-1729/30), son of Nicholas Pyle of Wiltshire, England, are in Haplogroup I1, a haplogroup found mostly in northwestern Europe (which includes England). People with different haplogroups are not related.

Sunday's Obituary ~ James Tolman Pyle (1912)

After sharing my great grand uncle's obituary last week (William Scott Pyle, 1856-1906), I realize that I have never shared the death notice for my great grandfather, James Tolman Pyle. (His father, James Pyle, who died in 1900, had a long obituary in The New York Times.) He died suddenly, on February 8, 1912, the day before his 57th birthday, and just over six years after his brother, William Scott Pyle, died.

On Ancestry.com, in the Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003, I found a brief news story about his death in The New York Times on February 9.

Ancestry.com, Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online.
Record for James Tolman Pyle, The New York Times, p. 9, 9 February 1912

His death notice is listed in four consecutive issues of The New York Times, from February 9-12. The February 11 issue includes a notice to veterans of the Seventh Regiment, N.G.N.Y.  to attend his funeral. It looks like I need to do a bit of exploration into the N.G.N.Y. 7th Regiment, since both James and his brother, William, were members.

Ancestry.com, Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online.
Record for James Tolman Pyle, The New York Times, 11 February 1912

At Old Fulton NY Post Cards website, I found a slightly longer obituary from the New York Sun, which has a few errors: his home was 673 Fifth Avenue, and he was 56 (almost 57) years old.

9 February 1912, page 7, col. 5. James Tolman Pyle Obituary.,
New York Sun, New York, New York, online images (http://fultonhistory.com).

Also at Old Fulton NY Post Cards website, I found another obituary from the New York Herald with a more dramatic description of his death.

9 February 1912, page 7, col. 4. James Tolman Pyle Obituary.,
New York Herald, New York, New York, online images (http://fultonhistory.com).

And now I know why I haven't been able to find a death certificate for him in New York; he died in Edgewater, which is just over the Hudson River in New Jersey. And New Jersey is not an easy state from which to obtain vital records.

Sunday's Obituary ~ William Scott Pyle (1906)

I looked in several places for an obituary for my great grand uncle William Scott Pyle, who died of cirrhosis of the liver on January 1, 1906.

On Ancestry.com, in the Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003, I found the death notice in The New York Times in both the January 2 and January 3 issues.

Ancestry.com, Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online.
Record for William Scott Pyle, The New York Times, 3 January 1906

On Chronicling America (Historic American Newspapers) (a free website), I found a death notice in the the January 2, 1906, New York Tribune. (Note the error in his age: he wasn't fifty years old; he was in his fiftieth year of age.)

"William Scott Pyle," New York Tribune (New York, NY), 2 January 1906, digital images, ChroniclingAmerica.loc.gov

At Old Fulton NY Postcards website (another free website), I found an obituary from the New York Herald, which gives a bit more information about his family.

"William Scott Pyle Dead." New York Herald (New York, NY), 2 January 1906, digital images, Old Fulton NY Postcards (http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html)

On GenealogyBank.com, I found a death notice in the January 23, 1906, Anaconda Standard of Anaconda, Montana. Amazing that it took three weeks for this news to get from New York City to Montana. Not important enough to send this news by wire, I guess.

"William Scott Pyle Dead News Received of the Demise of One of the World's Well Known Manufacturers,"
Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, MT), 23 January 1906, digital images, GenealogyBank

This last obituary indicates that my great grandfather, James T. Pyle, is now the sole manager of the James Pyle & Sons business.

Great Grand Uncle William Scott Pyle (1856-1906)

It's interesting how finding one source document leads to a new (to me) branch of the family.

My great grand uncle, William Scott Pyle, was the younger brother of my great-grandfather, James Tolman Pyle. These two were the sons in James Pyle & Sons, the successful New York soap manufacturer of the late 19th century.

William Scott Pyle was born in April 1856 in New York City. He died on January 1, 1906, in New York City, at not quite 50 years old. I had always wanted to know what caused his death at a relatively young age (and as a fan of FindAGrave, I was wondering where he was buried in order to set up a memorial for him) so I obtained his death certificate.

New York, New York, Manhattan Deaths, FHL Microfilm 1323106, Certificate No. 181.
William Scott Pyle, January 1, 1906.; Family History Library microfilm.

He died at home, #3 East 53rd Street, New York City, of Cirrhosis of the Liver with contributory cause of Ascites. (By the way, definitions of old medical terms can be found here.) Ascites is defined as: "Collection of fluid in the abdomin, due liver disease or cancer."

William Scott Pyle was buried on January 3, 1906, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York. I contacted the cemetery to see who else was buried in this plot. The mausoleum includes his wife, Mary Vanderhoef Pyle (1860-1946), James V. Pyle (likely a son who died young), William Scott Pyle, Jr. (1888-1938), and Marie Elizabeth Waller Pyle (wife of William, Jr.).

The mausoleum in which the family is buried is very nice, with a beautiful stained glass window (see the Find A Grave memorial for William here) but because there are no marker stones, I can't get dates from that source. I therefore have spent a bit of time exploring other records to learn more about this family.