Robert Pyle Sr (1660 - abt. 1730)

Born 29 Dec 1660 in Horton, Bishops Cannings, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Stovey) Pyle — married 16 Nov 1681 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England

Husband of Susannah (Deeble) Pyle — married 30 Jan 1725 in Providence, Chester Co., Pa

Descendants

Died about 17 Jan 1730 at about age 69 in Bethel Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania Colony

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This profile is part of the Pyle Name Study.

Robert Pyle Sr migrated from England to United States.

Robert was a Friend (Quaker)

Robert Pyle Sr is a qualifying ancestor of the National Society, Descendants of Early Quakers.

Research Notes

Robt Pyle and Ann Stovey had 2 sons Robert and Jacob; Robt Jr. dying in 1717; and Jacob dying in 1717; Ann dying in 1724; Robert marrying a 2nd time in 1725 to Susannah (Deeble) Turner, widow; Robert Sr dying in 1730 with a will dated Jan 2 1729. In the will he mentions his wife Susannah, but not the 2 sons Robt and Jacob shown in the pedigree ("Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch. {http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/S119-VMJ : accessed 2013-10-30, entry for Robert /Pyle/.) ...No longer good link; and Woodward Family Website Page: Pyle Family of Chester County, Pennsylvania retrieved 10/30/2018

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.

Biography

Robert Pyle, was christened December, 29, 1660, in Bishop Cannings , Wiltshire England^[1][2][3][4]. He married Ann Stovey or Storey/Stovey of Hilperton, Bishops Canning, England on November 16, 1681^[3]; daughter of William Stovey, who died at Hilperton 11-7-1705^[5][6]. William Smith purchased 1250 acres of land from William Penn in 1682 by lease and release, and then sold 150 acres of land located in Bethel township, Chester Co., (now Delaware Co.) Pennsylvania; to Robert Pyle in approx. 1683^[7]

Robert Pyle was the oldest of his 2 brothers Nicholas and Ralph, all three early settlers of Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Robert is found in the list of Passengers on the ship Bristol Comfort; The master of the ship was John Reeves^[8][9]

It would seem that Robert Pyle left for Pennsylvania around February of 1683 as indicated in a letter from William Coole, of Devizes in Wiltshire, writing to his sister Sarah Bezer, of Chichester Pennsylvania, 12 mth (Feb) 24, 1683, says

"I sent several letters by they (when John Gibbens & Rob Pile & Edward Beazer went) & A box with butens & knives & other things. I hope they are Recd because I saw yesterday 2 letters from Rob Pile"''^[7]He would have traveled with his wife Ann and infant daughter Sarah.

Robert took up his 150 acres of land in Bethel township, where he settled.^[7]

Robert was a Malster in Bishops Cannings,Wiltshire. And in America was an active Quaker & clerk of meeting. He was a leader in the Society of Friends, and his home became one of the meeting places for the early Bethel Township Quakers.^[10]

..."In 1698, Robert Pyle, a prominent member of Concord Monthly Meeting in Chester County, justice of the peace, and long-time assemblyman, submitted a paper describing the process by which he decided not to buy a slave. With the exception of racist overtones that are present in his work but not in the writing of other Quaker abolitionists, Pyle's epistle provides a good idea of the arguments these early polemicists used". "Pyle explained that he considered purchasing a slave when the terms of his English servants expired because he had many young children and hoped that a slave, who could be kept for life, would give him and his children 'more liberty'. He called to mind, however, the Christian dictum, "Do unto all men as ye would have all men do unto you," recognized that the slave trade encouraged Africans "make war one with another, and sell one another for slaves," and feared that blacks "might rise in rebellion and do us much mischief; except we keep a militia; which is against our principles." He also asked himself if he was not doing well enough financially and should not "theyrwith be content." Even after considering these arguments, Pyle might have purchased a slave, had he not had a dream in which he found that he could not climb a ladder to heaven, which stood "exact upright," while trying to carry a black pot, which he interpreted to be a slave. This convinced him "to let black negroes or pots alone." He wrote further that Friends should free their slaves after a term of years, with the guidance of the Quaker quarterly meetings." ^[11]

This was later printed in the Friends Intelligence in 1874 and again in the Journal of Negro History 1937 (Vol 22 pg. 488)^[12]

A juror of the Chester Court, Member of the Provincial Assembly of Penn. and a Justice of the Peace. Rick Nicholson of the Bethel Twp. Preservation Society, published the following on the old Chester mailing list: Excerpt from Dr. Goodley's Bethel Twp. Thru Three Centuries:^[13]

Robert Pile or Pyle (c1660-1730) was born in Thornton Parish, Wiltshire, England, emigrated 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

Robert served in the Provincial Assembly in Pennsylvania, in 1695, 1699, 1700, 1701, and 1705.^[3]

Children of Robert Pyle and Ann Stovey:^[3][5]

1. Sarah Pyle; b. 11-27-1682; m. 12-16-1706, John Vernon

2. Robert Pyle; b. 7-17-1684; d. 1717; m. 1709 Elizabeth Swaffer

3. William Pyle; b. 11-26-1685; d. 1734; m. 1707, Olive Bennett

4. John Pyle; b. 6-8-1687; d. 1752; m. (1) 1710, Lydia Thomas; (2) 1716, Susanna Chamberlain, d. of Robt. and Mary Chamberlain of Concord

5. Mary Pyle; b. 11-13-1688; m. 1713, Thomas Moore

6. Jacob Pyle; b. 1-5-1691; d. 1717; m. 1713 Alice Bowater

7. Joseph Pyle; b. 11-5-1692; d. 1754; m. (1) 1717 Sarah Dicks; (2) 1732, Sarah (Pennell) Gibbons

8. Daniel Pyle; b. 5-29-1694; d. 1736; m. (1) 1717 Mary Chamberlain; (2) 1727 Mary Pennell

After the death of his first wife, Ann (Stovey) Pyle in 1724^[5] he married second, to Susanna (Deeble) Turner, widow, daughter of George and Dorothy Deeble^[5] of George Turner on January 30, 1725.^[4]

Marriage Certificate ROBERTY PYLE and SUSANNAH TURNER

Children of Robert Pyle and Susan/SusannahTurner:^[4]

1. Jacob Pyle II (born and died betw. 1725-Jan 2 1729)*

2. Robert Pyle II (born and died betw. 1725-Jan 2 1729)*

• Note:*Neither of these sons are mentioned in Robert Pyle Sr's will dated Jan 2 1729; (likely not born at all-Needs further research)

(George, James, and Dorothy Turner) were Susan/Susannah's children from her first marriage).

Robert Pyle died in 1730.^[3][14] His will dated January 2, 1729, and proved August 29, 1730, in Bethel, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Robert Pyle, titled "Yeoman", resident of Bethel township, left the following legacies:
To his wife Susanna, f100 and 1/2 household goods
To his son William Pyle f50 and to his children f50 to be divided at 21.
To son John Pyle, "all my right title to that 200 acres of land in Marlborough which I lately leased to one Holt on condition that he pay to his son Moses f30 when 21.
To his daughter Sarah Pyle, f20 at 21 or married.
To son Joseph Pyle f30.
To grandson Robert, son of Joseph, my tract of land in Marlborough containing 224 acres.
To son Daniel Pyle, f70 paying to his daughters Susanna and Mary f15 each at 21 or married.
To daughter Mary (Pyle) Moore, f50, she paying to each of her children f5 at 21 or married.
To grandson Aaron Vernon f15.
To granddaughter Rachel Green f15.
To George, James, and Dorothy Turner my now wifes children f4 each.
To grandchildren Saml. Pyle and the 3 daughters of son Robert, 10 shillings each.

Executors: wife Susanna and sons, Wm. and Joseph^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ Pg 104; Registers of Bishop Cannings, Wiltshire; Robert, s. of Nicholas Pille, bap. 29 Dec 1660 retrieved from: https://ia800209.us.archive.org/16/items/registersofbisho00bish/registersofbisho00bish.pdf
2. ↑ Pg 64 Ancestry of Sharpless Moore; retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/ancestryofsharpl00hain/page/64
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Pyle Family History 1594-1954
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Church of later day Saints (LDS) Pedigree file for Robert Pyle, accessed 10-13-2013 from {(http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/S119- VM]
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Pg 66; Ancestry of Sharpless Moore; retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/ancestryofsharpl00hain/page/66
6. ↑ Pg 176; Sharpless Family; retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/genealogyofsharp00cope/page/176
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Pg 177; Sharpless Family; retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/genealogyofsharp00cope/page/177
8. ↑ Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684. Volume 1
9. ↑ People in the first ships to Chester, PA: The ancestors of Charles Clement Heacock : 1851-1914
10. ↑ Dr. Goodley's Bethel Twp. Thru Three Centuries
11. ↑ Freedom by Degrees : Emancipation in Pennsylvania
12. ↑ Dr. Goodley's Bethel Twp. Thru Three Centuries
13. ↑ {www.delcohistory.org]
14. ↑ Rick Nicholson of the Bethel Twp. Preservation Society
15. ↑ Will of Robert Pyle-Chester County, Pa Archives; PA-Roots abstract accessed October 17, 2014

• The Registers of Bishops Cannings, Wiltshire; transcribed by Joseph Henry Parry, B.A.; Barrister at Law; published 1906; by Gazette Printing Works

• Haines, Blanche Moore, (1937) Ancestry of Sharpless Moore and Rachel (Roberts) Moore, with their direct ancestors to and including thirty-six first or immigrant ancestors with some old world pedigrees and origins and direct descendants

• Indiana Grant Bethel Monthly Meeting Oversized Marriage Certificates; Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Oversized Marriage Certificates, for Robert Pyle and Susannah Turner; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line], image 1 of 1. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

• Cope, Gilbert; etal (1887) Genealogy of the Sharpless family, descended from John and Jane Sharples, settlers near Chester, Pennsylvania, 1682, together with some account of the English ancestry of the family, including the researches by Henry Fishwick, P.H.S., and the late Joseph Lemuel Chester;and a full report of the bi-centennial reunion of 1882

• Basic information obtained from "The Pyle-Pile Family in America 1642-1980", page 6, compiled by Howard T. and Jane Pyle of Kokomo, Indiana, USA in 1981. Entered by Rob Pyle

• Livingston, Lela., Tait, Florence., Pyle, Homer., Goodwin, R. Dean (n.d.) Pyle Family History 1594-1954'=

• Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684. Volume 1 of Penn's Colony: Genealogical and Historical Materials Relating to the Settlement of Pennsylvania (Passengers & Ships Prior to 1684, Penn's Colony)

• Heacock, Roger Lee. The ancestors of Charles Clement Heacock : 1851-1914 Publication: The Baldwin Park (Calif.) Bulletin 1950, pg 51.Text: People in the first ships to Chester, PA: John Sharples, John Heycock, Robert Pyle, Samuel Levis, John Bowater, Benjamin Mendenhall, Christopher Pennock, Robert Stovey, Elizabeth Hickman, Robert Chamberlain, Ralph Lewis, and Robert Pennell all arriving before or within four years of Penn.

• Freedom by Degrees : Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Its Aftermath, by Gary B Nash & Jean R Soderlund

• Journal of Negro History 1937 (Vol 22 pg. 488).

• Dr. Goodley's Bethel Twp. Thru Three Centuries {http://www.twp.bethel.pa.us/history.htm]

• Rick Nicholson of the Bethel Twp. Preservation Society & {http://www.delcohistory.org]

• "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch. {http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/S119-VMJ : accessed 2013-10-30, entry for Robert /Pyle/.

• Lineages, Inc., comp.. Chester County, Pennsylvania Wills, 1713-1825 (database on-line). Provo, UT,USA: The Generations Network, inc., 2000. Original data: Chester County Wills. Located at the Chester County Archives and Records Service.

• "Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99B-J996-T?cc=1999196&wc=9PMZ-BZS%3A268496301%2C280751201 : 3 July 2014), Chester > Wills 1713-1720 and 1736-1755 vol 1-3, A-C > Book A, page 322, image 124 of 603; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.

Additional Sources:

• "Pyle Family of Chester County, Pennsylvania"/Woodward family website/accessed 10/18/2013 at {http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mygermanfamilies/Woodward.html] Page: Pyle Family of Chester County, Pennsylvania

• {http://www.twsgraphics.com/genealogy/PyleRbt.htm] (Robert Pyle the Immigrant)

• WikiTree profile Pyle-427 created through the import of nicholson.ged on Nov 16, 2012 by Jimmy Nicholson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Jimmy and others.

• Pyle-945 was created by Rachel Neal through the import of The Neal_Bunton Family_8-14.ged on Aug 4, 2014. '