Pyle Family of Chester County, Pennsylvania

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There were three brothers Pyle of Chester County, Pennsylvania, that are of interest to us: Robert Pyle, Ralph Pyle, and Nicholas Pyle. They were all from Wiltshire, England, and died in Chester County in the early 1700's. Each of these families had some connection with our Woodward families and/or connections to other families on these pages. We will generally only follow those branches with direct connections. There is a nice Pyle Web Site that gives the ancestry of these brothers, more brothers, and more on the family of Robert Pyle & Nicolas Pyle. A number of Pyle marriages took place at Concord Monthly Meeting in Chester County. The Pyle Web Site has a Quaker Marriage page, abstracting many of these marriage records. (Note: email has been returned when attempting to contact the Pyle Web Site owner.)

Robert Pyle Family

Robert Pyle was born in Wiltshire, England, and died between 1/1730 and 8/1730 in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Rick Nicholson of the Bethel Twp. Preservation Society & www.delcohistory.org published the following on the Old Chester Mailing list:
Excerpt from Dr. Goodley's Bethel Twp. Thru Three Centuries:
Robert Pile or Pyle (c1660-1730) was born in Thornton Parish, Wiltshire, England, migrated to America and became one of the earliest settlers in Bethel. He was probably the most prominent citizen of Bethel in his day. He was a justice of Chester County as early as 1683; he served several terms in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly; and he was a Commissioner in 1701 for the settlement of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was a leader in the Society of Friends, and his home became one of the meeting places for the early Bethel Township Quakers. He had landholdings in Bethel, Concord and Marlborough Townships and bequeathed lands to his sons John and Joseph. His son Daniel remained in Bethel, and was listed in the 1790 census. Robert's will has been preserved, and is dated "first month, second day, 1729 and eighth month, twenty-ninth day, 1730."
Mr. Nicholson also mentioned that the Robert Pyle homestead in Bethel Township will be the subject of an archaelogical study this coming summer and fall (2001).

Robert Pyle married Ann Stoby, daughter of William and Sarah Stoby on 9/16/1681 at Concord Monthly meeting. Robert and Ann Stoby Pyle had children: Sarah Pyle (11/27/1682); Robert Pyle, Jr. (7/17/1684); William Pyle (11/26/1685); John Pyle (6/8/1687); Jacob Pyle (1/5/1690); Joseph Pyle (11/5/1692); and Daniel Pyle (5/29/1694).

Robert married next Susannah Turner, widow of George Turner, on 10/30/1720 at Chester Monthly Meeting. Sarah Turner Pyle died 1746 in Chester County. Robert and Susannah Turner Pyle had sons Robert II and Jacob II; Robert and Jacob, sons of Ann, having died before the marriage of Robert and Susannah.

Sarah Pyle Vernon: Daughter, Sarah Pyle, married John Vernon, son of Robert and Elinor Vernon, in 8/1702 at Concord Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania. John and Sarah Pyle Vernon had sons Moses Vernon, born 6/26/1703, and Aaron Vernon, born unknown date, Nether Providence, Chester County. Sarah Pyle Veron died 12/16/1706, perhaps in childbirth, so there were no more children of this marriage. Moses Vernon married Abigail Woodward, daughter of Edward and Abigail Edge Woodward, on 10/23/1730, at Providence Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Aaron Vernon married Margaret Woodward, sister of Abigail, on 12/23/1731 at Providence Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania. For more on Vernons see the Quaker Vernon Web Site.

Robert Pyle, Jr.: Son Robert Pyle, Jr., married Elizabeth Swafford, daughter of James and Elizabeth Swafford. They had two known children: Hannah [married Thomas James] and Ann. Robert Pyle, Jr., died sometime before 16 May 1717 when Letters of Administration were granted to William and Elizabeth Pyle [this information is from John Pitts Launey First Families of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Vol 1, and we have some question as to why letters of administration were granted to a cousin rather than a closer relative.] Daughter Ann Pyle married first to James Woodward, son of Richard and Deborah Stanfield Woodward, on 2/21/1737 at Concord Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Ann married second to Richard Buffington, son of Richard Buffington and Phebe Grubb. There is much more on this family on the James Woodward page.

William Pyle: Son, William Pyle, married Olive Bennett, daughter of John and Ann Brinton Bennet, in 1707. They had daughter Ann Pyle, born about 1710, who married John Woodward, son of Richard and Mary Nayle Woodward, on 3/28/1729 in Concord Monthly Meeting, Chester County. William and Olive had a daughter Mary who married about 1733 to Robert Lewis, son of Ellis Lewis, and grandson of Nathaniel and Mary Mendenhall Newlin.

John Pyle: Son John Pyle married (1) Lydia Thomas and (2) Susanna Chamberlain, daughter of Robert and Mary Chamberlain. Susanna was sister of Robert Chamberlain, Jr., who married Sarah Woodward, daughter of Richard and Jane Woodward.

Jacob Pyle: Son Jacob Pyle married Alice Bowater, daughter of John and Frances Corbett Bowater, on 4/8/1713 at Concord Meeting. They had one son Samuel mentioned in Frances Bowater's will. Jacob died about 1717, and letters of administration were issued to wife Alice. Alice Bowater Pyle married second, on 4/13/1719, at Concord Meeting House, to Moses Mendenhall, son of Benjamin and Ann Pennell Mendenhall, of Chester County. Moses Mendenhall's aunt, Mary Mendenhall, brother of Benjamin, married Nathaniel Newlin.

Joseph Pyle: Son Joseph Pyle married (1) Sarah Dix, daughter of Peter and Esther Dix, on 4/6/1715. There were Dicks connections to the Woodward family later in Indiana but we do not yet know how they relate back to Pennsylvania. Joseph Pyle married (2) Sarah Pennell on 11/10/1732. Joseph and Sarah Dix Pyle had children Hannah (married John Palmer) and Isaac Pyle who married Jane Newlin, daughter of Nathaniel and Esther Metcalf Newlin on 5/26/1757, at Concord Monthly Meeting.

Daniel Pyle: Son Daniel Pyle married Mary Chamberlain, daughter of Robert and Mary Chamberlain on 3/14/1717, at Concord Monthly Meeting. They had children Susanna Pyle married John Griest, and Mary Pyle, married Joseph Sharples. Mary Chamberlain Pyle died 11/10/1726 and Daniel P{yle married second to Mary Pennell.

Nicholas Pyle Family

Nicholas Pyle married Abigail Bushell, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Webb Bushell on 10/1688 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. On 13 December 1697 John Mendenhall of Concord released to Nicholas Newland and Nicholas Pyle both of Concord and George Pierce of Thornbury and Peter Dix of Birmingham, a tract of land bounded by the land of John Mendenhall and Birmingham Road for a meeting house for the people called Quakers. (We believe this would have been for Birmingham Monthly Meeting?) On 30 May 1711 there is a deed mentioning that Nicholas Pyle had erected a water mill on a tract bounded by Concord Street, land of Joseph Edwards, Mill Creek and land of Nicholas Pyle, containing 7 acres. The deed was to Benjamin Mendenhall mentioned in the paragraph above as father-in-law of Alice Bowater Pyle.

Nicholas and Abigail Bushell Pyle had a daughter Edith Pyle, who married Nicholas Newlin, son of Nathaniel and Mary Mendenhall Newlin, 8/1715 at Concord Meeting House. They also had a son, Nicholas Pyle, Jr., who married Sarah Worrilaw 10/7/1721 at Concord Meeting House. Nicholas and Sarah Worrilaw Pyle had a daughter Mary Pyle who married John Newlin, Jr., son of John and Mary Woodward Newlin, on 9/13/1745 at Concord Meeting House. John and Mary Pyle Newlin went to North Carolina.

Ralph Pyle Family

Ralph and Mary Pyle had a son William Pyle who married Elizabeth Chads, daughter of Francis and Grace Stanfield Chads. Grace Stanfield Chads was sister of Deborah Stanfield who married Richard Woodward. William and Elizabeth Chads Pyle had a daugher Mary Pyle born about 1740. On 11/21/1765 at Bradford Monthly Meeting, she married William Woodward, son of James and Ann Pyle Woodward. The dates of birth of the children of William and Mary Pyle Woodward are recorded at Bradford Monthly Meeting but the names are missing (see James Woodward page for more on this). In 1793 Mary Pyle Woodward married (2) Joel Baily, son of Joel and Betty Baily.