PITMON SAMUEL LINDLEY b. 8 Mar 1808 generously provided by my cousin Jim Lindley.

PROOF OF THOMAS LINDLEY B. 1779 WAS THE SON OF JOHN LINDLEY B 13 OCT 1747 AND SARAH PYLE B 10 NOV 1750

From the census records of 1850, Thomas Lindley was born in North Carolina and the date of his birth would have been 1779 or 1780 as he is listed as 70 years old in 1850.[1] From this information we can determine the place of birth and the year of birth.  The question then becomes: Who were his parents? I will show John Lindley b. 1747 and Sarah Pyle b. 1750 were his parents.

 There exist at least four different family histories listing the children of John Lindley and Sarah Pyle.

1. Jacob Marion Lindley His Ancestors and Descendants, by Milam Myrl Ewing, Published by D.J. Mauldin, Tulsa. OK. 1978.
2. Montgomery County Texas Historical Society, et al 
3. The Quaker Connection, J.R. Richmond’s compilation of Quaker families.
4. The Pyle Family in America 1642-1980, By Homer Thorton Pyle and Jan Weaver Pyle. 1981.

Taking these above references one at a time:

1. Milam Ewing’s history lists the children of John Lindley and Sarah Pyle in the old Quaker dating methods. He, by letters[2] and his own history, quotes the “ledger book” where the names of the children were written as being the possession of a Faye Van Hooser (Hoover) Hughes of Loami, Illinois.  Ms Hughes and Mr. Ewing are both deceased. Several researchers note that the last two children are not in the ledger. Not quoting them here, but as can be seen in the list of other older children including Thomas, the list is in the old Quaker method. A discussion of the Quaker method of dating prior to 1752 is necessary. Sarah Lindley would have been the author of the ledger listing her children as mothers generally keep these records. She was a Quaker and she, though disowned for marrying out of unity that is with out the consent of the congregation, would have used the old Quaker dating methods out of respect for her religious upbringing. This is also something mothers tend to do. The Quakers had a distain for the use of July and August, as those months are associated with Julius and Augustus Caesar. The Quakers also believed the monthly names of other months were sacrilegious also. We thus end up with a ten-month calendar and the months and days of the week will always be written numerically. The ledger entries for the older children, including Thomas, and the lack of entries for the last two in the old Quaker method are totally consistent with Sarah Pyle and her religion and other researchers. Had Mr. Ewing made up the dates he would have listed all the children either in the modern method or the old Quaker method not both.
    
2. The Montgomery County Texas Historical Society lists the children of John and Sarah Lindley for an attempted proof that Samuel Washington Lindley, one of the last two above children and brother of Thomas, was the child of John and Sarah. The reason this is important is because the Texas Historical Society is interested in Samuel because his son Jonathan b.1814 d.1836 died at the Alamo in 1836.[3] They list Jonathan as being born in Illinois and his father Samuel being born in South Carolina. This is correct as John Lindley’s will is probated in South Carolina in 1790.[4] This information also verifies and confirms Mr. Ewing’s assertions.
    
3. The Quaker Collection is the work of J.R Richmond who is a Quaker historian attempting to record all the Quaker families. He has all the John/Thomas/Pitmon family lines correct and referenced where possible.
    
4. The Pyle Family in America listed the children of John Lindley and Sarah Pyle Lindley correctly as the other histories above. Also noted is the lack of proof for the last two children Samuel and Jonathan. Once again Mr. Ewing’s history is correct.

 Moving on to the Kentucky marriage records, page 125 of the marriage record lists all of the Lindley marriages between 1805 and 1809.[5]The marriage partners and the marriage witnesses correspond to the above researchers conclusions as to brides and the common witnesses are consistent with siblings.

Where is Sarah Pyle buried? Not in Grant’s tomb. Sarah is not buried in Kentucky either. New research is now under way by Catherine Monticue that shows Sarah moving to Illinois with John Lindley her son.  A legal request in the Deed books of Christian County, KY show Sarah Pyle Lindley stating she is moving and requests all moneys owed her from her father’s estate to be remitted to her.[6] She is probably buried in Illinois. As noted above the family ledger was in the possession of Ms Hughes of Loami, Illinois. This makes sense, as Sarah, of all things, would take her ledger to Illinois with her, as that is what moms do.  The Christian County tax records also show Sarah and her son Thomas and his brothers in Kentucky in 1800.7 Also noted; the Pyle family is listed in the record and the families are both on Little River.

A note on resources is necessary. Some of the references are from “On Line” sources. The “University of Texas Handbook” is now on the web. The book itself is available for $395 and includes 3000 pages. It can be accessed “On Line” at the web site listed on the bottom of the reference. I have included three more references to help verify the work of Mr. Ewing in his accurate and comprehensive history of the Jacob Marion Lindley family and the parentage of Jonathan Lindley of the Alamo.8

In conclusion too many references and too many interlocking facts are in play to disprove Thomas Lindley b.1779 is not the son of John Lindley and Sarah Pyle.

James M Lindley
Bellevue, Washington
Nov 2003
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ames M Lindley
Lindley/Pyle SAR application