Preface

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Jerry Pyles, and I live in Hendersonville, NC, but I am originally from Temple Hills, MD.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t think to launch into a project such as this. It’s one thing to be proud of one’s family, which I am, but quite another to write about its history. There are certainly many greater or more famous or noteworthy families out there.  Nonetheless, there are some circumstances which are special and somewhat unique which has prompted me to pursue this.

Some years ago, my younger brother (by four minutes!) Richard, the unofficial Temple Hills archivist, began accumulating information about our family tree. He turned up evidence of a continuous line of Pyles families living in Prince George’s County Maryland consisting of some ten generations, starting with Sir Francis Piles, who arrived in colonial Maryland around 1660! Now, not many families in the New World can make a claim like that!

This depended on at least one son staying on family (or otherwise purchased) land to raise successive families. Back in the day, families tended to be large, and indeed one or more sons continued on living and raising families in the county.  Daughters could also have been part of continuous families in the county, however tracking this would be difficult, for two reasons. One is the name change, upon marriage. The other is that fathers tended to leave their land to their sons. Daughters would marry, then follow their husbands onto land left by their fathers. Sorting all this out would require a far more dedicated genealogist than me!

None of this was evident to me growing up in Temple Hills. We did have grandparents living next door (“Ganga and Dendaddy”) and I became vaguely aware at some point that a great-grandparent had lived nearby (Dendaddy’s father), but the rest was obscure. Thinking about this now, this family scenario is apt to be exceedingly rare in this country, going forward. Families are no longer tied to the land (with the possible exception of family farms out west) and kids go off to school, and follow careers wherever they may take them. Just like I did, for instance.

So, while I have the chance, and enough material to work with, I’ve decided to compile this narrative. Maybe some of the generations going forward will find some of this interesting, or maybe even inspiring.

I’ve relied on a couple of major sources, over and above family heirlooms, to help with this. One is a fascinating website: hillfamilymd.org (with the bulky title of “Cleek, Dunmore, Gum, Hill, Stephenson, Suit Family”). These families have compiled a massive treasure trove of meticulously researched information pertaining to their own families in Maryland, and fortunately for me, a Pyles was in their background (namely John Vinton, my great great grandfather). Thus, generations prior to him are included in their database (all the way back to Sir Francis). You should check out this website!

Another helpful source is the work of Daniel Gibbons Rice, Jr. He was a nephew of Dendaddy’s. He took an interest in the family history, and recorded his work on Ancestry.com, which I have accessed.  A distinct advantage of this website is the ability to click on links to records in the public domain, like the U.S. Census, marriage licenses, military records, wills, and so on.

I’ll also mention an enormous tome — over 1,200 pages — which my brother came across years ago, entitled “The Pile-Pyle Family in America 1642-1980,” written (and published) by Howard and Jane Pyle in 1981, which is massive and somewhat difficult to navigate.

Other websites and sources have been helpful as well, and I will try to acknowledge these as they come up. More recent information is generally more informal, like photographs and letters, and are more personal and therefore often more meaningful.

Let me mention a major caveat from the outset. This is the type of project that will never be completed or wrapped up. It’s quite the opposite. Every new bit of information, every seemingly trivial finding, and every next lead, will all prompt more questions and other possibilities that may be significant or merit investigation. Omitting significant history is the risk here, but at some point, the available story has to be written down.  For sure, any reader who wishes to delve further into the family history is encouraged to forge ahead! (Also, since my own family is the target audience here, other branches of the family tree have been admittedly less thoroughly covered. This could be looked at as opportunity for more research!)

Finally, one member of the Pyles family has been singularly special, an uncle we never had the chance to know growing up. This was my Dad’s younger brother, George Vinton Pyles. Accordingly, I’ve decided to dedicate this project to his memory.