In 1860 John Pyle, a white widower farmer of 65 in Kaufman Co,
TX, held two enslaved women and four boys. The women, ages 38
and 28, were classified by the census enumerator as black. Their
boys, ages 19, 14, 6 and 2 months old, were all classified as
mulatto. I believe all those boys were Pyle's natural sons. John
Pyle had been widowed since 1851. In the 1870 census, after
Pyle's death, a 10-yr-old black boy named Tom Pyle was included
in the household of John's oldest son Samuel Pyle, also in
Kaufman Co, TX. Tom was listed "at home". No mother was listed
with him. I think this is the last son of John Pyle. Samuel Pyle
was his white half-brother and took care of him. Other white
half brothers in Kaufman County were James and Jonathan Pyle. In
1880 in the town of Kaufman, TX, a young black man of 20, named
Jefferson Pyle, was listed as boarding with a black couple and
going to school. I believe he was the same person as Tom Pyle.
Perhaps his full name was Thomas Jefferson Pyle, or perhaps he
named himself Jef