1796 Deed, Moses Hull to Stephen Pyle ~ 52 Ancestors #36

FamilySearch Full Search Text is a wonderful new resource, released just over six months ago, and it's quite a genealogical rabbit hole. Some Canadian records have recently been added and among several other deeds naming Stephen Pyle, I found one from 1796 in which my fourth great-grandfather, Moses Hull, sold land to his future son-in-law, my third great-grandfather, Stephen Pyle. 

From Guysborough Land Records. 1810-1818 (though many are from the 1780s and 1790s).

Appreciative of Automobiles ~ 52 Ancestors #29

My husband and I traveled to Nova Scotia for eight days at the end of June. This was a place I had wanted to visit for years. We drove from eastern Massachusetts to Bar Harbor, Maine (over five hours), took the CAT Ferry to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and spent one night there before driving to Halifax (over three hours) and spending four nights. There was a stop in Liverpool for lunch.

Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, was a good "home base." We did a couple of day trips from Halifax where we drove at least an hour each way (one day to Burntcoat Head Park to see the Bay of Fundy at low tide and another day to see Peggy's Cove). In Halifax, we visited the Citadel, a centuries-old hilltop fort, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and Fairview Lawn Cemetery. The Maritime Museum has interesting exhibits about the April 15, 1912, sinking of the Titanic and the December 6, 1917, Halifax Explosion. The Fairview Lawn Cemetery has a somber memorial to victims of the Titanic as well as a memorial to those who died in the Halifax Explosion.

The next drive was from Halifax to Guysborough with a stop in Truro for lunch. 

We had a wonderful two days in Guysborough, where I spent some time in the old Court House Museum, home of the Guysborough Historical Society. I met a fifth cousin (a Hull) and a fourth cousin (a Pyle) who showed us the sights: cemeteries, churches, and the house built by Stephen Pyle probably in the 1790s in which my second great-grandfather, James Pyle, was likely born in 1823.

The Stephen Pyle house in Boylston, Nova Scotia.

Origins: John Morgan ~ 52 Ancestors #2

This week's theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Origins."

Because my ancestors have been in this country (or on the North American continent) for at least a couple hundred years, it's unclear where all of my immigrant ancestors came from. I do know that many came from England, Scotland, Ireland, and a few came from the Netherlands. 

However, my Loyalist ancestors who were in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, in the latter half of the 18th century didn't all arrive in Guysborough from the former British colonies, now the United States of America. Some may not necessarily have been Loyalist, just immigrating to Canada to make better lives for themselves and their families.

John Morgan "is said to have been a Welsh millwright, and one of the first mills in which he was interested is said to have been on the Hadley property, on a brook east of the old Stiles Hart place." [1]

This is a good clue that my 4th great-grandfather, John Morgan very possibly came to Nova Scotia from Wales, which is now a part of the United Kingdom, but is its own country and has a distinct culture.

Nathaniel Copeland: The Misfortune of Dying Young ~ 52 Ancestors #12

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and this week's writing prompt is Misfortune.

Since I wrote about my 4th great-grandmother, Mary (Page) Copeland last week, I thought I'd share the little bit I know about her husband, Nathaniel Copeland.

Although some secondary sources suggest that he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, according to the Vital Records of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, he was born 28 December 1765, in Liverpool, to Abraham and Elizabeth Copeland. His older sister, Mary and next younger brother, Abraham, were also born there.

According to the Copeland genealogy (The Copeland Family by Warren Turner Copeland, 1937), his father, Abraham, was a sea captain, which helps to explain why there are records for him in Nova Scotia and Boston. (In fact, it's unclear as to whether he died in Maine or at sea.)

Nathaniel apparently settled in Boston and by the age of 24 in early 1790, he was working as a shoemaker in his own shop "in Fish Street, nearly opposite Proctor's Corner." I found several newspaper advertisements between 1790 and 1799 at GenealogyBank that indicate that he was a boot and shoe maker and moved his shop several times during the 1790s.

Surname Saturday ~ Morgan of Guysborough, Nova Scotia

The earliest Morgan I have in my family tree is John Morgan. Guysborough Sketches has a brief description of him as a "pre-Loyalist" settler whose sawmill was producing lumber by 1784 when the Loyalists arrived, suggesting that he had been in Guyborough prior to 1784.

Guysborough, Nova Scotia

"Morgan... is said to have been a Welsh millwright, and one of the first mills in which he was interested is said to have been on the Hadley property." [Guysborough Sketches, p. 155]

His wife was Diana Hadley, whom he married between 1784-1789. Last fall I borrowed a Family History Library microfilm of Guysborough Baptismal Records, which shows that John and Diana (Dinah) had at least six children: John, Henry, Ruth Hadley, Joseph, Diana, and Sarah Margaret.

I don't have birth information or death information for John Morgan and I wonder if more research in Guysborough County would help.

I descend from their daughter Diana.

Generation 2:
Diana Morgan was born December 17, 1803, in Manchester, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.

She married Thomas Cutler Whitman on March 13, 1827, in Guysborough. They followed their daughter, Esther, to Boston in 1857. I wrote about Diana in a 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks post last year.

She and her family can be found in Jamaica, Queens County, New York in the 1860 U.S. Census.

She died "after a lingering illness" on April 25, 1861, in New York City. She is buried in Elmont Cemetery, Nassau County, New York, and there is a FindAGrave memorial for her.

They had nine children, born between 1828 and 1851: Esther Abigail, George William, Thomas, Judson, Maria E., Ira A., Harriet, Charles, and Gordon. Most of them came to New York, but a few remained in Canada.

I descend from their oldest child, the daughter they followed to Boston: Esther Abigail Whitman.

Diana (Morgan) Whitman - 52 Ancestors #42

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, I am sharing the little bit I know about a third great-grandmother, Diana Morgan.

Finding information about Diana is a challenge. From the Pyle genealogy (Pyle, Smith, and Allied Family Histories, privately published, 1951), I learn that she was born on December 17, 1803, in Manchester, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, to John Morgan and Diana Hadley.

(I recently explored some Guysborough Baptismal Records (on an FHL microfilm) and found that she had several siblings. I still need to go through the saved images and record the data in my database.)

I believe that this is one Guysborough County line (the Morgans and the Hadleys) that were not Loyalists; they were living there before the American Revolution.

Diana Morgan married Thomas Cutler Whitman on March 13, 1827, in Guysborough County, and had nine children:
Esther Abigail Whitman (1828-1921)
George William Whitman (1833-1900)
Maria E. Whitman (1842-1901)
Thomas Whitman (1839-????)
Judson Whitman (1841-1860)
Ira A. Whitman (1844-1889)
Harriet Whitman (1846-1901)
Charles Whitman (1848-1909)
Gordon Whitman (1851-1864)

In 1849, their eldest daughter, Esther, traveled from Guysborough to Boston, and ultimately ended up in New York City, where she married James Pyle, who preceded her in this migration by six weeks. Several years later, most of the Whitman family followed their eldest daughter.

DNA - Narrowing Down the Non-Paternal Event

My Pyle line can be found at Surname Saturday ~ Pyle of Chester, Pennsylvania.

I wrote about the results of Y-DNA testing (of my brother) at Y-DNA Test Results ~ A Non-Paternity Event where I noted that my presumed Pyle line is not genetically possible, based on the results of the Y-DNA test: Nicholas Pyle > Robert Pyle (1660-1729/30) > John Pyle (1687-1752) > Stephen Pyle (1730-bef 1789) > Stephen Pyle (1762-1840) > James Pyle (1823-1900) > James Tolman Pyle (1855-1912) > Charles McAlpin Pyle (1893-1966) > Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr. (1924-1993) > my brother.

FamilyTreeDNA graphic
showing how Y-DNA is inherited

A reminder: 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.

First of all, I would like to share how helpful genealogy groups on Facebook can be. In January 2015, I joined the Guysborough County Genealogy group and listed my Guysborough County, Nova Scotia surnames: Pyle, Whitman, Hull, Morgan, Hadley, Atwater, and Ives. (I just searched the group for "Pyle" to take a look back at that post and I noticed that it generated quite a conversation.) I connected with some relatives who are 5th cousins (and 5th cousins once removed), who still live there and descend from Moses Hull. (See Surname Saturday ~ Hull of Connecticut for that line.)

In May, I decided to contact my 5th cousin and ask if she knew if there were any male Pyles still living in the Manchester / Boylston area of Guysborough County. She replied yes and provided me with contact information. I got in touch with the daughter of the Pyle male (who'd be about my dad's age, if dad were still living) and arranged for him to take a Y-DNA test. I will refer to him as Guysborough Pyle.

Test results are in!

Elizabeth / Betsey Hull - 52 Ancestors: #8

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Good Deeds" which can be interpreted in a couple of ways. I thought about an ancestor for whom land records / deeds were important, and then moved down a generation.

Several of my paternal ancestors were Loyalists during the American Revolution and fled to Nova Scotia after the war. Several were granted land via different land grants, and Moses Hull, my 4th great grandfather, was granted land as part of the Hallowell Grant in Guysborough County.

I shared the little bit I know about Moses Hull at Surname Saturday~Hull. He and his wife, Mary Ives, had nine children with the youngest being Elizabeth Hull (also known as Betsey), my third great grandmother. I can find a few records for her, but nothing that tells me about her as a person. I can only infer that she led a challenging early life, with her earliest memories not of Connecticut, where she was born, but of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, where her Loyalist family had fled after the American Revolution.

52 Ancestors: #1 Thomas Cutler Whitman - A Fresh Start

Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small ran a great writing challenge in 2014: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I didn't participate, but I decided I would participate in the 2015 challenge, so I will be sure to write about an ancestor at least once a week!

This year's challenge includes optional weekly themes, which will hopefully help me choose an ancestor to write about each week.

I have written about many of my ancestors already, so I will try to use this challenge to find ancestors about whom I have not already written.

Thomas Cutler Whitman is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born of Loyalist parents (George Whitman and Esther Atwater) in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, on April 2, 1803. He married Diana Morgan in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, on March 13, 1827, and fathered nine children with her. I shared what I know of my Whitman line in a Surname Saturday post.

I don't have any more information about Thomas C. Whitman in Nova Scotia. He did, however, make a fresh start in 1857 when he immigrated from Nova Scotia, arriving in Boston on September 26, 1857, on the Steamer Eastern State, of Yarmouth, N.S. Following is the passenger list showing Thomas and presumably three of his sons: Judson, Ira, and what looks like "Ridout" but could represent Charles or Gordon. His wife and a couple of daughters are listed together on the following page. Eldest daughter, Esther (my second great grandmother), immigrated from Nova Scotia to Boston (to New York) in 1849.

Ancestry.com, Boston, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1954 [database on-line] (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Thos Whitman.

The family ultimately ended up in New York, where he is found in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census as a farmer in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y.

I wrote about finding his death date at this Tombstone Tuesday post, where I included the following New York Herald death notice:

New York Herald, July 23, 1870

Thomas Cutler Whitman died on July 22, 1870, in New York and is buried at Elmont Cemetery, in Elmont, New York. Most of his children ended up in the U.S. and many can be found on FindAGrave.com.

I descend from Thomas Cutler Whitman as follows:

Thomas Cutler Whitman
|

Esther Abigail Whitman
|

James Tolman Pyle
|

Charles McAlpin Pyle
|

Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr.
|

Me

Hallowell Grant ~ Guysborough County, Nova Scotia

In my recent Surname Saturday post about my Hull ancestral line, I mentioned that Moses Hull arrived in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, from Connecticut, with the Hallowell Grant settlers.

Guysborough County, Nova Scotia
Wikipedia Commons

As I have mentioned before, my favorite "go-to" book for Guysborough County is Guysborough Sketches and Essays, by A.C. Jost (originally published in 1950 by Kentville Publishing Company, revised edition published Trafford Publishing Co., in 2009). There is a chapter titled "The Hallowell Grant Settlers" which is my source for most of this information.

The Hallowell Grant was a grant of land to one Benjamin Hallowell, a Customs Commissioner from Boston. On October 22, 1765, he officially acquired 20,000 acres of land, located on the north side of Chedabucto Bay, which in the image above is the area of water with the arrow going through it noting roughly where the community of Boylston is. (Manchester is just next to Boylston.)

In 1765, this was barren land with few inhabitants. In fact, this wasn't even known as Guysborough County yet.

As a Customs Officer in the city of Boston at the start of the Revolution, Hallowell was not a popular man. By April 1776, he fled Boston, ultimately returning to London. In 1785, Hallowell wrote to a colleague that he wanted to return to Nova Scotia to "look after his property," but it is not known if he ever did. Hallowell did recognize the value of the land and looked to somehow develop it, in order to improve his financial situation, which needless to say, had declined during the war. Ownership passed to his two sons, Benjamin Hallowell, Jr., a successful British naval officer, and Ward Nicholas Boylston, who had taken the name of a maternal uncle with the promise that he would inherit lands in Boston. (See Ward Nicholas Boylston's FindAGrave memorial here.)

A town plot, named Boylston, in honor of his son, was developed, providing for sixty town lots, with a town common, and farm lots of varying sizes, averaging about 150 acres. The surveying was completed by the summer off 1786, when the settlers arrived. The brothers mentioned above, recruited settlers from the New England states, especially Connecticut. They were referred to as "The New England Colonists" and were more adaptable to the conditions in the area than some of the previous settlers who had come from the Carolinas and New York. (Stephen Pyle came from New York, and George Whitman came from South Carolina.)

For those of you with colonial Connecticut ancestors, you might be interested in the names of the men who settled on the land known as the Hallowell Grant, in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia:
Mansfield Munson          David Smith
Andrew Leet                   Ira Atwater
Gideon Bryant                Samuel Hull [son of Moses, and brother of Elizabeth]
Willis Stillman                William Atwater
Aaron Andrews              Theophilus Yale
Isaac Andrews               Josiah Hart
David Scranton              William Atwater, Jr.
Matthew Hawley             Moses Hull [father of Samuel above]
Walter Munson               Ebenezer Merriman

Surname Saturday ~ Hull of Connecticut

My immigrant Hull ancestor (my paternal line) is the father of John Hull, of New Haven, Connecticut. Several sources suggest that John Hull's father was Richard Hull, but Robert Charles Anderson's sketch for Richard Hull in The Great Migration Begins states: "Savage and others make him the same as a Richard Hull of New Haven in 1640 and later, but there is no particular reason to believe this. Likewise there is no obvious connection to the "Richard Hull, carpenter" who was in Boston in 1637."

So technically, I'm not sure of the origin of this Hull line, but it is likely somewhere in England. So the first generation of this Hull line that I am sure of is John Hull, who was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in May 1640.

New Haven County, Connecticut
Wikipedia Commons

Generation 2:
John Hull (1640-1711) spent his life in what was known as New Haven Colony until 1666, and then became New Haven County, Connecticut. He was baptized on May 24, 1640, and he married Mary Beach.

John was a doctor and was enticed to move to Wallingford to be that town's first physician.

John and Mary had nine children: John (b. 1662), Samuel (b. 1664), Mary (b. 1666), Joseph (b. 1669), Benjamin (b. 1672), Richard (b. 1674), Ebenezer (b. 1678), Jeremiah (b. 1679) and Andrew (b. 1685). Based on what is recorded in Families of Ancient New Haven [note 2], he lived in different towns in Connecticut during his life: Stratford, Derby, and Wallingford, where he died on December 6, 1711.

FindAGrave.com has a memorial for him with a photo of his gravestone. The stone reads:

Doctor

John Hull

The first Physician Who

Settled in Wallingford

DIED

Dec. 6, 1711

AE. 80 Years.

To induce Dr. Hull to

come here the inhabitants

at a Town meeting voted

him a tract of land over

one mile square.

I descend from his second to youngest son, Jeremiah.

Civil War Pension Application ~ William Wallace Bruce

I was recently exploring Civil War Pension applications at Fold3.com and found 29 pages for the husband of a second great grand aunt of mine. Although he is not a direct ancestor, this pension file had information that answered some long-time questions that I have had about him.

Some background: my third great-grandfather, Thomas Cutler Whitman, was born in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, to parents who were Loyalists who fled to Nova Scotia after the Revolution. It looks like he was father of nine children, some of whom came to New York, some who came to New York and returned to Nova Scotia, and possibly some who remained in Nova Scotia. It is a challenge to keep track of this family.

His oldest daughter was Esther Abigail Whitman, who married James Pyle.

The second (I believe) daughter is found in records as Maria Whitman, Maria E. Whitman, Maria Bruce, and Ella M. Bruce, though in only one census record do I find her with her likely husband, William Bruce (born about 1831), and that is in the 1860 U.S. Census, which you can see here.

In the 1900 U.S. Census (the image is here), which was taken in June 1900, I find Ella M. Bruce, of the right age, in the same household as Esther Pyle, sister, (and Harriet Bliss, sister). All three of these women were born Whitman. Esther Pyle's husband had just died five months previously.

"Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Civil War and Later Navy Veterans (Navy Survivors' Certificates), 1861-1910.", digital image, The National Archives (http://www.fold3.com/title_120/navy_survivors_certificates/), Fiche Number: 20510; Certificate Number: 21256. Record for William W. Bruce, page 07: Pension application questions.

William W. Bruce started his pension application in November 1891 and received pension payments from 1892 until his death in 1895.

The following is a partial transcription of one very useful page of the application:

Handwritten entries are in blue; my comments are [bracketed].

                           Invalid [Person who is sick or disabled]

                      Department of the Interior

                           Bureau of Pensions

Wm. W. Bruce

U.S. Navy, Washington, D.C., Jan. 3, 1892

Sir:

Please return this circular at your earliest convenience, with answers to the following questions:

1. Are you a married man, and if so, what is your wife's full name, and what was her maiden name? Ans. No, Am a Widower. Wife died in March 1886. [Since I know Ella / Maria was still living in 1900, I originally wondered if I had the right man.]

2. When and where were you married? Ans. Jersey City, N.J. on Agust 16th 1880.

3. What record of marriage exists? Ans. Recorded in Jersey City N.J.

4. If you had been previously married state the name of your former wife and the date of her death or divorce. Ans. Married on December 25th, 1855 in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, to Maria E. Whitman at the age of 17 years. Divorced in New York City in 1876. [YES - this is the kind of information I was looking for!]

5. If you have any children living state their names and ages. Ans. Three living. James P. Bruce in Prescott, Arizona; Age 31 years, Wm. W. Bruce aged 25 years. Ansia E. Bruce Aged 28 years (New York State)  [Again, YES - I only knew of James.]

This information is desired for use in the pension claim above referred to.

Very respectfully, Green B. Rauin, Commissioner.

Wm. W. Bruce

475 Canal St.

N.Y. City

This pension file also gave me William's date of death: June 24, 1895, since the government had to know when to stop paying his pension. With that date, I was able to find his name in a Connecticut death index.

I also found out about his service in the U.S. Navy between August 1864-July 1865, as a Landsman, the lowest rank in the U.S. Navy at this time. It appears that he injured his back during his naval service and in several places he indicates that he is unable to work due to: "Heart disease, bronchitis, injury to back, defective eyesight, general debility."

Not only can I add some names and dates to my tree, but I get a sense of William's life, AND that of his first wife, my second great grand aunt. I have never been able to find her family in the U.S. Census in 1870 or 1880 and I wonder if she returned to Nova Scotia for a couple of decades before returning to New York to be with her widowed sisters.

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.

Nova Scotia Research

Thank you to my brother who gave me a gift membership to the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia (GANS). I hope to glean some information about my Loyalist ancestors (as well as some maternal Maine ancestors who traveled back and forth to N.S.) as a member of this genealogy society.

The Members Only site includes transcriptions of Canadian Censuses for Nova Scotia, among other items. (Note that I need to view the microfilm to be sure that the transcription is accurate.) Only part of the Nova Scotia 1817 census survives, but it includes Guysborough County. Robert Kim Stevens, the editor, notes that the 1817 census is "the first census taken after 1770, and the first Nova Scotia census to record the population impact of Loyalist migration to Nova Scotia after the Revolutionary War."

The original census schedule is found in the microfilm series NSARM 13580.

In the transcription for 1817, I find in Manchester Twp., Guysborough County:

PILE, Stephen
1 Male 60+  [Stephen, my 3rd great-grandfather, was about 55 years old.]
0 Males 16+
4 Males 16-  [John, William, Moses, Stephen, Samuel? - James was not born until 1823.]
1 Female 16+  [Elizabeth (Hull) Pyle, my 3rd great-grandmother was about 36-37 years old.]
1 Female 16-  [A daughter, possibly Mary Amelia, born in 1812.]
7 total in household

In 1817, there are five WHITMAN families in Guysborough County, three in Guysborough Twp., two in Manchester Twp., including:

WHITMAN, George
1 Males 60+  [George, my 4th great-grandfather, was about 57-60 years old.]
0 Males 16+
4 Males 16-  [presumably including Thomas C. Whitman, his youngest son, and my 3rd great-grandfather.]
1 Females 16+
7 Female 16-  [Including Esther, Sabina, Annabelle, Julia.]
13 total in household

I also found families under the surnames of Hull (possible brother-in-law of Stephen Pyle and a Loyalist from Connecticut), and Hadley and Morgan (known as pre-Loyalists) in Manchester Twp.

~~~~~~~

Guysborough County is missing from the 1827 Canada Census.

~~~~~~~

The 1838 Nova Scotia Census has an entry for Stephen PYLE, farmer, living in Manchester Twp., with two males over 14 years of age, and two females over 14 years of age. I am guessing that the two males over 14 are father (and head of household), Stephen Pyle, who was about 76 years old, and James Pyle, who was about 16 years old. The two females would be wife, Elizabeth (Hull) Pyle, and possibly a daughter.

Thomas C. Whitman and Diana Morgan had married in 1827, and I find Thomas WHITMAN, farmer, living in Manchester Twp. in the 1838 Canada Census with what must be an error, as no male over the age of 14 is indicated. Esther, about ten years old at the time of this census, is likely one of the three females between ages 6-14.

~~~~~~~

And in an email conversation with the website technical administrator, I learned that there are Guysborough County school records that show Elizabeth Pyle (age 10) and James Pyle (age 7) in the Manchester School District in 1831. Those records are not yet posted to the member site.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Thomas Whitman

I had known the death date of Diana (Morgan) Whitman (April 25, 1861) for a while, but couldn't find any more information about her husband, my 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Cutler Whitman (born April 2, 1803, in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia). Had he returned to Nova Scotia? Was he still living in Jamaica, Queens, New York, where his family was living in the 1860 U.S. Census, as I noted in Surname Saturday ~ Whitman? I haven't had luck finding him in the 1870 U.S. Census.

Earlier this year, I was exploring Find A Grave and found that someone had set up memorials for several Whitmans in Elmont Cemetery in Elmont, Nassau County, New York. I requested a photograph of the stones (as well as requesting management of the memorials) and got a photograph of the tombstone showing a death date of July 22, 1870.

Find A Grave Memorial# 54811937
Photo credit Find A Grave user arondo.

I then found his death notice on GenealogyBank.com:

New York Herald, July 23, 1870

WHITMAN.- On Friday, July 22, THOMAS C. WHITMAN, aged 68 years.
The funeral services will take place from Berean Baptist Church, corner Bedford & Downing streets, on Sunday morning, at nine o'clock.
Nova Scotia papers will please copy.

I love to see that last phrase because it tells me that the family wanted the news to be shared in Nova Scotia newspapers because Thomas C. Whitman would have been remembered by friends and family there.

Surname Saturday ~ Whitman of Unknown and Nova Scotia

The earliest Whitman I have in my family tree is Christopher Whitman and I have a death date for him of 1778. I have a name of Barbara for his wife, but nothing more. This information is from a secondary source and is therefore very questionable.

I descend from their son George.

Generation 2:
George Whitman was born in the late 1750's or early 1760's. The Pyle book [1] and Loyalist Lineages of Canada [3] indicate a birth place of Pennsylvania, but I have not found primary source information confirming the date or location. He was a Loyalist during the Revolution and ended up in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. He married Esther Atwater on March 13, 1788, in Guysborough. She was born in 1771 in New Haven County, Connecticut, to Loyalist parents who also fled to Nova Scotia after the Revolution.

Guysborough, Nova Scotia

As I have noted before, the book Guysborough Sketches and Essays, by A.C. Jost (originally published in 1950, revised edition published in 2009) is an invaluable resource for those researching families in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. This book includes lists of Loyalists who arrived from different parts of the newly-formed United States to settle in Guysborough and what lots of land they received. I found my Pyle Loyalist ancestor (Stephen) was listed under "The Associated Departments of the Army and Navy," among the last to leave New York.

I find George Whitman's name in the list entitled "The Duke of Cumberland's Regiment (Montague Corps.)," which appears to be a list of men who arrived at Guysborough with Lord Charles Greville Montague, the last English Governor of South Carolina, and two ship loads of men arrived from Jamaica. I need to do quite a bit more research on this.

George Whitman died on July 16, 1849, well after his wife, who died on February 11, 1814. They are buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, according to Christ Church Burials: Guysborough, 1787-1880, an online index of burial records by Patricia Lumsden.

They had twelve children, born between 1789 and 1813. I am descended from their seventh child, Thomas Cutler Whitman.

Military Monday ~ Loyalist Stephen Pyle and Son

When I shared my Pyle ancestry, I noted that there were a couple of Pyle ancestors who were Loyalists in the Revolutionary War.

It looks like my 4th great-grandfather, Stephen Pyle (born about 1730 and died before 1789) didn't get along with his family and disagreed with them about a variety of things. As noted previously, he was disowned by his Quaker family's Monthly Meeting for marrying outside the Society of Friends in 1752, and was not included in his mother's will in 1778. Stephen's mother, Susanna (Chamberlin) Pyle, wrote her will in April 1778 and died before May 1, 1779. An extract of her will is found at Ancestry.com, Chester County, Pennsylvania Wills, 1713-1825:

Pyle, Susanna. Thornbury. April 6, 1778. May 1, 1779. To 3 sons Jacob, William and Israel Pyle 5 shillings each. To daughter Susanna, wife of Thomas Fryer, cow and calf and all other goods and chattels. Executors: Friends John Pierce and William Thatcher.

I found a transcription of Susannah's will at FamilySearch.org at Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, where I first had to browse through the Chester County index, finding reference to Susannah Pyle in Will Book 6, page 417. I then looked at the Wills 1774-1783 vol 6-7, F-G. With a few clicks, I found page 417 and Susannah's will. I include just a piece of it below:

... I Give to my three sons Jacob William and Isreal Pyle the Sum of Five Shillings Each...

She specifies her three sons are Jacob, William, and Isreal. No mention of Stephen. By the time Susannah wrote her will, the Revolutionary War had started and Chester County, Pennsylvania was in the center of the action.

Stephen lived in the vicinity of Brandywine Creek during the Revolution and it is believe he and his son, Stephen (1762-1840) were witness to the battle fought near their home at Brandywine in September 1777. Father Stephen followed the British forces as a civilian member of the commissary departments. Son Stephen joined his father in aiding the Loyalist cause, eventually becoming a carpenter in the Wagon Masters Department of the British forces.

This division of loyalties divided the family, and possibly confirmed his mother's decision to exclude Stephen and his children from her will.

It is not clear as to whether the father, Stephen, survived the war to migrate to Nova Scotia, as the son Stephen did in about 1783.

Some of this above information comes from the privately published Pyle, Smith and Allied Family Histories (1951).

From Guysborough Sketches and Essays, by A.C. Jost, (revised edition published 2009) comes the following description of the Associated Departments of the Army and Navy:

Many of the persons making up this group were among the last to leave New York. There were many in it who had not been members of line Regiments ... The name implied, too, that naval personnel were included, as well as members of the land forces and the staffs, so that it was a heterogeneous grouping of persons who had little but their need in common. (page 327)

And on this list is Pyle, Steven, being allocated land in the Northeast Division of the Town of Guysborough.

Surname Saturday ~ Pyle of Chester, Pennsylvania

Due to popular request from family members, I am going to start a series of blog posts about immigrant ancestors and how I descend from them. Surname Saturday is a blogging prompt from Geneabloggers, the genealogy community's resource for blogging.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

My immigrant Pyle ancestor is Robert Pyle, son of Nicholas Pyle and Edith Musprat. He was baptized at Bishops Cannings, Wiltshire, England, on December 29, 1660. Robert married Ann Stovey on November 16, 1681, in Bishops Cannings.

Immigration records indicate that Robert was a malster (he brewed beer) from Horton, Bishops Cannings, England when he, his wife Ann, and infant daughter Sarah, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1683.

Robert Pyle purchased 150 acres of land in Bethel Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 1, 1683. Chester County was one of the three original counties initially created by William Penn in August 1682, with many Quakers following William Penn in settling there. Chester County was also much larger then, going west to about the Susquehanna River. Robert Pyle became a leader among the local Quakers and often held meetings in his home. He also became a justice of the county court by 1685. However he is referred to as "yeoman" in his will.

Matrilineal Monday ~ Esther Abigail Whitman

Esther Abigail Whitman was the wife of James Pyle, the founder of James Pyle & Sons. I have previously shared James Pyle's obituary, which mentions that he is survived by a widow, but doesn't name her.

Much of my information about my Pyle ancestors comes from a privately published book, Pyle, Smith and Allied Family Histories, privately published in 1951. Unfortunately, the primary source information is lacking, so I have to use this as a resource to point myself in the direction of primary sources.

Great great grandmother Esther was the oldest of nine children, born on February 2, 1828, in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia to Thomas Cutler Whitman and Diana Morgan. I believe that the following passenger list record for Esther Whitman from Nova Scotia to Boston could be my great great grandmother.

Boston Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1943. From Pictou, Nova Scotia to Boston, Massachusetts, on the Schooner Chedebuck, arriving Boston June 28, 1849. Record for Esther Whitman.

Esther Whitman is 21, making her birthdate in 1828. Her occupation is Dressmaker. She is a native of N[ova] Scotia, and intends to become an inhabitant of the U[nited] States. None of the others listed on this passenger list are Whitmans, so I can only surmise that this is her.  (Much of the rest of her family immigrated to New York in 1857.)