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William and Cynthia A Fox Pyatt

William Pyatt was born in 1794 in Burke County, North Carolina, to Joseph and Sarah Jane Still Pyatt. On October 16, 1822, in Burke County, North Carolina, he married Cynthia A Fox. Cynthia was born c1801-1805 in Burke County, North Carolina, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Loving Fox and therefore was a sister to Mary 'Polly' Mira Fox who married Benjamin Pyatt - William's brother. Their marriage bond was for 'William Pyatt' and 'Sinthy Fox' and was signed by 'James Duncan' and 'William F McKee'. William died December 21, 1862, in Cherokee County, North Carolina.

William and Cynthia had the following known children:

On the 1830 census of Burke County, North Carolina:

The Joseph Pyatt Sr next door was William's father. This would account for twin boys born c1828; 9-year-old John; 36-year-old William; 4-year-old Sarah; and 20 to 24-year-old Cynthia. They appear on page 161 (Ancestry.com image 107/180). Other neighbors included William Morrow, Stephen Revel, Micajah Revel, Polly Hardin, Elizabeth Jimison, Polly Duncan, (the two Pyatt families), Thomas McTaggert, Wiliam Mitchell, John Criswell, and Alexander Finley.

After his father died in 1838, William and his family moved to Knox County, Tennessee, along with Cynthia's father, John Fox and family. William's brother, Benjamin Pyatt, had moved to Knox County in 1829 and had settled in for his lifetime. All are listed on the 1840 census of Knox County, Tennessee. I find the following entries:

I note that one of William's sons was named William Calton Pyatt - was it after this next-door neighbor and possible relative? William Piatt's entry would account for 10-year-old William; 12-year-old Joseph; 19-year-old John; 46-year-old William; 2-year-old Hazy; 5-year-old Eliza and 7-year-old Nancy; 14-year-old Sarah; and 30 to 34-year-old Cynthia. William's brother was the Benjamin a few pages before William in Knox County, Tennessee, and remained there with his family after William and family moved on.

By the 1850 census I guess William longed for the North Carolina mountains because he moved his family to Cherokee County, North Carolina, near Murphy/Peachtree. They appeared as follows on the 1850 Cherokee County, NC, census:

This family was enumerated #142 indexed pg 011. Their neighbors were #137 Noah and Elender Pope; #138 Pike and Avaline Flemming; #139 Elisha and Elizabeth Anderson; #140 Ephraim and Ann Ammons; #141 James and Martha Enalls; #143 Rhody Ferguson; and #144 their son-in-law and daughter, George and Sarah Ferguson. Their son, John S Pyatt, is no longer with them, however, I cannot locate him on the 1850 census.

About 1857/58 William's three sons: John S. Pyatt, Joseph Pyatt and William Calton Pyatt and their families started west. Some say they started for Kansas. Anyway, they stopped in Wright County, Missouri, and many descendants are still there today. William Calton Pyatt was the gr-gr-grandfather of Dean Bybee.

A William Pyeatt and wife Matilda Loving (d/o William and Elizabeth Fair Loving) went with these three Pyatt brothers though it is not known how he is related. Information listed in DAR records that William was the son of Benjamin Pyatt and grandson of Joseph Pyatt was based on *faulty research* and can be disproved by the bible and will of Benjamin Pyatt. William and Matilda Loving Pyatt were on the 1860 census in Webster Co, MO, and then removed from there to Arkansas. William is most likely a cousin of these three brothers, at least one connection is that Cynthia Fox Pyatt's mother was Elizabeth Loving, the daughter of Gabriel Loving.

On the 1860 census of Murphy Township, Cherokee County, North Carolina, they appeared as follows:

This family was enumerated #130/130 pg 352 (Ancestry.com image 20/51). At #136/136 was their daughter, Mira Ferguson, and family. Their daughter, Hazy M McQuire, was in Fort Humbree, Cherokee County, North Carolina. As was previous stated, the three sons of William and Cynthia had moved to Wright County, Missouri, and appeared there on the 1860 census. Nancy and Eliza might have died or married.

William Pyatt died during the Civil War in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Their homeplace is now part of the Smokey Mountain National Park.

Cynthia was still in Murphy Township, Cherokee County, North Carolina, on the 1870 census and was living with her daughter, Sarah Mira Pyatt Ferguson, as follows:

This family was enumerated #17/17 pg 296A; (Ancestry.com image 19/39) sometimes indexed as 'Payatt'. Cynthia's daughter, Hazy M Pyatt Ferguson, was on pg 301A in Murphy Township, Cherokee County, North Carolina.

Cynthia eventually came to Missouri to be near her sons and is found on the 1880 census living with her son, Joseph Pyatt, in Boone Township, Wright County, Missouri:

This family was enumerated #317/317 Dist 142 Boon Township page 544 15 Jun 1880(Ancestry.com image 35/46).

Cynthia did not like Missouri, however, and went to live with her daughter, Hazy Matilda Pyatt McGuire. The last that is know of her was when she applied for an 1812 Widow's Pension on her husband, William Pyatt, on July 14, 1888. At that time she was was living near Tellico Junction (now Englewood) in McMinn County, Tennessee. Most of that area is now inundated by the lake as they were trying to save the snail darter.

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