James P and Mahalia Neal Pyeatt
James Paulus Pyeatt was born c1833 in Washington County, Arkansas to Peter Paulus and Lavinia Cox Pyeatt. He married first Mahalia Neal on July 27, 1853, in Washington County, Arkansas (book A pg 320).
The known children of James and Mahala:
- John Thomas Pyeatt b: 2 Aug 1856 AR (placed in foster family when his father remarried; lived in Oklahoma until 1904 when he moved to Oregon) m1: Bridget Murphy m2: Rosa Pauline Keil
- George Frazier Pyeatt (grandfather of Sharolynn Pyeatt)
- Alice Pyeatt b: 1892 m: ? Dittmer
- Martha Pyeatt (placed in foster family when her father remarried)
- Mary Pyeatt b: 1859 (possibly died young)
In an article published by the Washington County (Arkansas)
Historical Society, on the Pyeatt's of Old Cane Hill, the author (a Pyeatt, herself), said that James P. Pyeatt (son of Peter P. & Lavinia Cox) and his wife, Mahala Neal had no children. According to Sharolynn Pyeatt, her great-grandfather, John Thomas Pyeatt, was their son and the 1850 census showed that they had 3 children, Martha, John T. and a baby, Mary. Martha & John T. were farmed out with families in Kansas during the Civil War. Their mother had died and James was remarrying. For whatever reason, James never returned to claim his son and daughters. The article's author was born after the Civil War and would never have known these children. So, she couldn't have remembered them and didn't include their information in her 1940s work.
They appeared as follows on the 1860 census of Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas:
- Pyatt, John age 27 / M / GunSmith
- Pyatt, Mahala age 26 / F
- Pyatt, Martha age 6 / F
- Pyatt, John age 3 / M
- Peyatt, Mary age 8/12 / F
(this family enumerated #982/30 in Fayetteville City, Fayetteville P O with John Ruth family below)
- Ruth, John age 32 / M / Shoemaker
- Ruth, Mary age 23 / F
- Ruth, Martha age 2/12 / F
(near neighbors were William Miller and William Reed families)
Alice Pyeatt Dittmer told that her father, John Thomas Pyeatt, was born in Arkansas. His father's name was James and he had a sister, Martha. When he was six-years-old, his father took him and Martha and placed them with other families because he was getting married again. At some point in her childhood, Alice remembers someone from the Pyeatt side of the family had come to town while they lived in Oklahoma. They moved to Oregon in 1904. It is unclear if the youngest child, Mary, was already deceased in 1862 when the fostering took place, was not remembered by John Thomas Pyeatt, or, had been placed previously when her mother died.
I had no luck finding James Pyeatt on the 1870 or 1880 census. I looked for the daughters using first name and age range born in Arkansas for anywhere in the USA without finding a likely match. My search did locate what appears to be John T Pyeatt. He is the only John Pyeatt anywhere in the USA of approximately the correct age. He appears with a family on the 1870 census in Waveland, Monmouth Township, Shawnee County, Kansas:
- ?McBoranic, Clark age ?51 born OH / WM / Farmer / $1200/$1030 / male over 21
- ?McBoranic, Mary age 36 born IL / WF / Keeping House
- ?McBoranic, Elizabeth age 12 born KS / WF / At School / attended school
- ?McBoranic, Lucy age 10 born KS / WF / At School / attended school
- ?McBoranic, Anna age 8 born KS / WF / At School / attended school
- ?McBoranic, John age 6 born KS / WM / At School / attended school
- Piatt, John age 13 born AR / Farm Laborer / attended school
This family was enumerated #64/65 on pg 9. Their neighbors were Harvey Zerkle, Jacob Zerkle, Thomas Nichols, Samuel Cablentz, John Coyne, Calvin Fletcher, and Charles Gerian.
Sources:
- 1860 census of Washington County, AR
- Washington Co, AR, marriage records
- 1880 census of Shawnee Co, KS
- Sharolynn Pyeatt sharolynn_pyeatt@byu.edu
Last Updated Apr 2009
Back to Home
To Peter Paulus Pyeatt Page
Email: mcpgene@excite.com
