Christopher and Nancy Votaw Pyeatt
Christopher Pyeatt was born c1795 in Missouri to John and ? Piatt and died in late 1871 or early 1872 in St. Louis County, Missouri. Christopher was married at least twice and had children with each wife. We do not know the name of his first wife. We know only of her existance through the conclusion that his second wife was not old enough to be the mother of the older children proven in his estate administration. His children with his first wife were:
- James A Pyeatt an engineer b: c1822 MO m: 1848 Grant, WI, Pina W Landrum b: c1821 KY d/o Isham W and Anna Catherine Moores Landrum d: 1903 IO (I have more info, but, no natural children; MO land records for 1857, 1859, 1860, and 1866; St. Louis Co 1850 and 1860; moved Muscatine, Iowa, where they are on the census for 1870, 1880 and 1900
(see 1880 census abstract below and 1900 census page); adopted Oliver S Reynolds
- Larkin W Pyeatt an engineer b: c1825 MO (almost certainly a son of Christopher, deceased before estate administration; he lived with James A in 1850; Larkin may have been named after Larkin Williams, who lived in MO in the early 1800s. Larkin appears on MO land records for 1856
in Jefferson County and 1857 in Maries County, MO. After that, no
record but does not appear to have lived to 1871.)
- John Pyeatt b: c1829 (Almost certainly the same John living with Christopher and family and who died before 1870.) John Pyeatt was listed in Jefferson County on the 1850 census with his father and on the 1860 census with Jonathan and Rachel Drennan. In January of 1862 John married Mary Dace in Jefferson Co, MO. She appears on the 1870 census of Jefferson County with her son Thomas Pyeatt, born 1867, in the household of her mother, Mary Elizabeth Everett Dace Stewart. Presumably John had died by that time.
- Henry A Pyeatt b: c1833 MO d: bef 1875 m: 1864 St Louis Co, MO, Mary Fier Allen (widow of David Hildebrand; m3: 1875 Nathaniel G Caldwell)
- Piney Ellen Pyeatt b: c1866 MO
At the time of Christopher's death, his estate administration claimed that all of the children lived in Eureka, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Christopher married before 1845, Nancy Votaw, who was born c1825 to Henry and Eliza Link Votaw.
They had eight children as follows:
- Teressa Jane Pyeatt
b: c1845 m1: 16 Oct 1863 Jefferson Co, MO, John R Davis m2: 26 Apr 1866 (Bk 2:254) George Washington Pepper (s/o John M and Lucinda Wilson Pepper) b: c1839 (moved to Stoddard Co)
- Annis Clara Pyeatt b: c1848 Jefferson Co, MO d: bef 1872
- Peter Thomas Pyeatt b: 1850 Jefferson Co, MO (?m: 29 Nov 1891 Stoddard Co, MO, Nancy Hafley (I sent for this marriage license and it could not be located. Also, there are some inconsistencies where it appears that Peter Pyeatt never married - Nancy could have been the wife of a different Peter.)
- Frances F (or B) Pyeatt b: 1855 Jefferson Co, MO
- Nancy Ellen Pyeatt b: c1856 m: Isaac Hilderbrand
- Christopher Columbus Pyeatt
b: 29 Dec 1860 Jefferson Co, MO d: 23 Oct 1923 Jefferson City, Cole Co, MO m1: 12 Mar 1882 Stoddard Co, MO, Ellen Tatumm2: 20 Aug 1885 Stoddard Co, MO, Seldria F Montgomery
- Mary Isabella Pyeatt b: 1865 (twin)
- Martha A Pyeatt b: 1865 (twin)
Christopher sold his portion of his fathers estate in St. Louis/Jefferson County in 1845 along with his siblings Benjamin, Frederick, Jacob, Nancy, Catherine, and Jane and then purchased more land.
Christopher appears to be the only Pyeatt on the Jefferson County, Missouri, tax list (or, perhaps, just in his area) as follow:
Pyatt, Christopher - tythes: 1 slaves: (blank) value: (blank) Horses: 2 Value: 5 Cattle: 3 Value: 13 Lanyard: (blank) Value: (blank) Carriage: (blank) Value: (blank) Dist?: (blank) Value: (blank) Amt: 68 State Tax - Cts: 11 Mills: 3 Cash or cash note: (blank)
Christopher is the grandfather of Glennon Pyeatt of Deslodge, Missouri, who provided much of this information.
This is how the Christopher Pyeatt family appeared on the 1850 Jefferson County, Missouri, federal census:
- Peyatt, Christopher age 55 born MO / wm / farmer / $250
- Peyatt, Nancy age 26 born Mo / wf
- Peyatt, John age 21 born MO / wm / farmer
- Peyatt, Theresa Jane age 6 born MO / wf
- Peyatt, Aines C age 5 born MO / wf
- Peyatt, Peter Thomas age 10/12 born MO / wm
Christopher's son, James and wife Pina Pyeatt were in St. Louis County with sibling Larkin Pyeatt. John was with Christopher as shown above. Where was Henry?
Christopher and family appeared as follows on the 1860 census of Jefferson County (Merrimac Township) Missouri:
- Pyeatt, Christopher age 63 born MO / m / Farmer/ $1000/$420
- Pyeatt, Nancy age 35 born MO / f
- Pyeatt, Teressa J age 15 born MO / f / Domestic Work
- Pyeatt, Annis C age 12 born MO / f
- Pyeatt, Peter T age 18 born MO / m
- Pyeatt, Frances B age 5 born MO / f
- Pyeatt, Nancy E age 4 born MO / f
On the 1870 census of Jefferson County, Missouri, they appear as follows:
- Pyeatt, Christopher age 70 born MO / Farmer / $2000/$200
- Pyatt, Nancy age 47 born MO / Keeps house
- Pyatt, Clara age 22 born MO / At home
- Pyatt, Peter age 21 born MO / Works on farm
- Pyatt, Francis age 16 / At home
- Pyatt, Nancy age 12 born MO / At home
- Pyatt, Christopher age 9 born MO / At home
- Pyatt, Mary age 5 born MO / At home
- Pyatt, Martha age 5 born MO / At home (This family enumerated on pg 294)
As can be seen from this comparison, Christopher birth year gets progresively later as the census' go by. I would think that the earliest census is the more reliable and that, as he aged, he felt a need to appear younger. These discrepancies could be caused by the date of the census visit or by someone guessing Christophers age when he wasn't available to give it himself.
In 1871 Christopher sold his Jefferson County, Missouri, farm and moved to near Eureka in Meramac Township, St. Louis County, Missouri. Christopher died about January 2, 1872 (his coffin was freighted-in on January 4, 1872) and Nancy died a few days later sometime between a doctor's visit in the middle of the night on the 5th and the 7th when her coffin was freighted-in. I can only imagine how this impacted the young children of Christopher and Nancy. Among the quardians for some of the minor children appeared the name Robert King.
I performed several searches of the 1880 census at familysearch.org. I searched the US for Henry Pyeatt born in Missouri in 1833 (+-5 years) - no matches. I searched the US for Peter Pyeatt born in Missouri in 1850 (+-5 years) - no matches. I searched the US for Thomas Pyeatt born in Missouri in 1867 (+-5 years) - 3 matches; two known; one 'Pate' unlikely.
I did find James A Pyeatt in 1880 in Muscatine, Muscatine Co, Iowa as follows:
- Pyeatt, James A age 57 born MO / WM / Married / Engineer In Sawmill / father/mother born MO
- Pyeatt, Pina W (Wife) age 56 born KY / WF / Married / Keeping House / father born VA/mother born KY
- Reynolds, Oliver L (Son) age 18 born IA / WM / Single / Sewing Machine Agt / father/mother birthplace not recorded
Was Oliver legally adopted? On the 1900 census of Muscatine, Iowa, 'O F Pyeatt' age 38 and wife, Belle, live in the same household with James and Pina.
Other records pertaining to Christopher and Nancy, which I have not yet abstracted, include the following information from the indirect index to Jefferson County, Missouri, Circuit Court records:
- Defendants: C Pyatt and C P Green Plaintiff: W C Voteau Book 3 pg 498 file #1364
- Defendants: Nancy and Christopher Pyatt, et al Plaintiff: Wm U (or H) Medley Book 4 pg 557, 589 file #2212
- Defendants: Nancy and Christopher Pyatt, et al Plaintiff: Wm Medley Book 5 pg 59, 77, 92, 132, 158 file #2212
Updated Oct 2006
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Email: mcpgene@excite.com
