John Doyle (abt. 1803 - aft. 1860)

Born about 1803 in South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Rachel Drake — married 30 Aug 1822 in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, USA

Descendants

Died after 30 Jun 1860 after about age 57 in Rapides, Louisiana, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Louisiana Families Project WikiTree [send private message], Jennifer Wathen [send private message], and Kevin Grayson [send private message]

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Biography

John Doyle is a part of US Black heritage.

John Doyle was a South Carolinian.

John Doyle, sometimes spelled Dial, Dyal, or Doyal, son of Thomas Doyle and Mary Perkins, was a free man of color born in South Carolina c.1803. In the southeastern United States, tri-racial people like him were called Melungeon and were not allowed to vote. Starting in the late 1700s a number of Melungeon families, including his, migrated west to Louisiana, perhaps seeking the greater freedoms afforded people of color in Spanish Louisiana. Louisiana became an American state in 1812, but sovereignty of the ill-defined western border was disputed until 1845, and this so-called "Neutral Ground" remained untamed until well after the Civil War. Tri-racial people in Louisiana came to be called Redbones and were deprived of their rights by the Americans coming in.^[1]

He married Rachel Drake, a free woman of color, in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana in 1822.^[2]

Known children of the marriage:

1. Solomon Doyle^[3] (c.1823)
2. Aaron Doyle (c.1828)
3. William Doyle^[3] (c.1832)
4. John Jackson Doyle^[3] (c.1836)
5. James Doyle (c.1838)
6. Willis Doyle (c.1838)
7. Thomas Doyle (c.1839)
8. Martha Doyle (c.1842)
9. Isaac Doyle (c.1847)

They migrated west to Rapides Parish, in the Louisiana Neutral Ground, where they were counted on the census in 1840 as Jno Dial, age 36-55, next to Wm Perkins, Lemuel Willis, and Isaac Perkins, all classified as "free colored;"^[4] in 1850, when John and Rachel were both age 47 and had eight sons and a daughter living at home, all classified as "white;"^[5] and in 1860, when they had their four youngest children at home, and son William next door, all "white."^[6]

His death occurred some time after the census taken on June 30, 1860; further information is not known.

Research Notes

Another John Doyle, John M. Doyle, died in Texas in 1877 and was later reinterred in Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana. According to a note left on the memorial page by one of this profile's managers, John M. died at age 25 (and therefore was born c.1852). From a comment from her on this profile page: "The Private died, 14 Oct., 1877, at the Ringgold Barracks in Texas of Typhoid fever. (Information comes from the Register of Death of Regular Army on ancestry.com.) I saw someone state that he was 25 when he died, but I haven't been able to find the record he alluded to on Fold.com." ^[7]

From Family Search:

The John Doyle who is buried in Alexander National Cemetery was in the 8th Cavalry according to his headstone. The 8th Cavalry was formed in 1866 when John Dial/Doyle of Rapides Parish was well into his sixties and much too old to be a cavalry man.

The "Record of Death and Interment" for this grave is available on fold3.com and gives the name of the interred as "John Doyle", his unit as the 8th Cavalry and his age at death on 14 Oct 1877 as 25. It also states that he was born in Wexford, Ireland and enlisted at Boston, Massachusetts and that he died of typhoid fever in the military hospital at Ringgold Barracks in Texas. Original interment was at the garrison cemetery. This cemetery was later abandoned with some of the graves being moved to the Alexandria National Cemetery in Pineville, LA. - 11 July 2018 by J R Thompson.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "Mr. Hunter and the Ten-Mile Negroes," The New Orleans Crescent, (New Orleans, Louisiana, Monday, 14 September, 1857) p. 5, columns 4 & 5.
2. ↑ "Louisiana, Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJH-YT22 : 13 March 2018), John Dyal and Rachel Drake, 30 Aug 1822; citing St. Landry, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 870,694.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Democratic Nominee For Treasurer, Free Negro Suffrage," The New Orleans Crescent, (New Orleans, Louisiana, Monday, 14 September, 1857) p. 5, columns 6 & 7.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTM-VGS : 8 December 2020), Jno Dial, Rapides, Louisiana, United States; citing p. 207, NARA microfilm publication, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJD-H9M : 22 December 2020), John Dyal, Rapides, Rapides, Louisiana, United States; citing house no. 626, NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

   John Dyal Male 47 South Carolina

   Rachael Dyal Female 47 Louisiana

   Aaron Dyal Male 22 Louisiana

   William Dyal Male 18 Louisiana

   John Dyal Male 14 Louisiana

   James Dyal Male 12 Louisiana

   Willis Dyal Male 12 Louisiana

   Thomas Dyal Male 11 Louisiana

   Martha Dyal Female 8 Louisiana

   Isaac Dyal Male 3 Louisiana

6. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFP7-SV6 : 12 December 2017), Rachel Dyal in entry for John Dyal, 1860. "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSS-G6L?cc=1473181&wc=73BR-H8V%3A1589427264%2C1589428230%2C1589422206 : 24 March 2017), Louisiana > Rapides > Not Stated > image 31 of 214; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

   John Dyal Male 60 S C

   Rachel Dyal Female 60 La

   James Dyal Male 25 La

   Jackson Dyal Male 26 La

   Thomas Dyal Male 20 La

   Isaac Dyal Male 16 La

   Martha Dyal Female 18 La

7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images : accessed 11 February 2021), memorial page for John M. Doyle (unknown–14 Oct 1877), Find A Grave: Memorial #3209038, citing Alexandria National Cemetery, Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by SFC USA RET Duffie and Kathy (contributor 46950425) .

   Please Note: This is NOT the John Doyle that was married to Rachel Drake. This soldier was regular army and died at the age of 25 at the Ringgold Military Barracks in Texas. The Army later re-interred his body at this National Cemetery. -Left by J. Wathen on 1 Jan 2019

8. ↑ John Dial profile, Family Search website, Collaborate.