Saturday, May 23, 2015

A Pair of Anti-Slavery cousins, Abner and John Pyle



 Abner and John are sons of the Tory Dr. John Pyle, Jr, grievously wounded at Pyle's Hacking Party. They are cousins of mine through their mother, Sarah Brazier. They are also kin to the Pyles of Chester County, PA.

Abner Pyle

Abner Pyle December 14, 1778 – June 22, 1866. Abner was born in Chatham County, North Carolina and died in Perry County, Illinois. In 1807 he married Sarah Wells (1788-1855) in Christian County, Kentucky. She was born August 30, 1855 in Christian County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Lewis Wells and Elizabeth Bates. She was also the sister of Mary Wells who married John Pyle. Abner and his wife together with their family moved from Kentucky to Illinois in 1818 and settled in what is now Perry County, Illinois not far from the present town of DuQuoin. Abner and his brother John were much opposed to slavery. The story is told that while living in Kentucky, Abner concealed a runaway Negro man slave in his barn loft and after doing the feeding each day Abner carried his feed basket to the house and when he returned to the barn to feed he took food in the basket to the Negro in the hayloft. Sara died January 22, 1855 and Abner survived her more than eleven years. They are both buried in McElvain Cemetery just west of DuQuoin in Perry County, Illinois. 

SONS OF A TORY, GRANDSONS OF TWO TORIES, AND ANTI-SLAVERS: WHAT WOULD POOR BEN AFFLECK DO?

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