BIOGRAPHY: William B. KYLE, Mifflin County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by P. S. Barr 

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The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, page 583.

  WILLIAM B. KYLE, Reedsville, Mifflin county, Pa., son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Barr) Kyle, was born on the homestead in Brown township, July 14, 1846.  His 
great-grandfather, John Kyle, was an early settler in Pennsylvania, an immigrant 
from the town of Lorrademore, in the south of Ireland.  On arriving in America, 
he came directly to Pennsylvania, and traveled on horseback with his wife and 
child to the Kishacoquillas valley.  He built a cabin, and located some four 
hundred acres of land, afterward divided between his two sons.  This tract is in 
Brown township.  John Kyle was married to Miss Crawford.  They had three 
children:  Margaret (Mrs. Hamilton Kyle);  Crawford, who settled in Brown 
township;  and Joseph, whose land lay to the east of his brother's.  Crawford 
Kyle married a widow, Mrs. Ann (Taylor) McNitt.  Their children were:  Mary, 
born February 19, 1800;  Jane, born July 25, 1801;  John, born April 19, 1803;  
Joseph, born in January, 1805, died in early life;  Rhoda, born April 22, 1809;  
Margaret, born February 1, 1812;  Samuel, born August 4, 1814;  Joseph, born 
January 12, 1816;  James, born October 24, 1818;  Jean, who died very young, as 
did also Rhoda, Samuel and Jane.  Mrs. Ann (Taylor) Kyle died, and Mr. Kyle 
married Jane (McElhenny) Black.  The only child of this marriage was Matilda, 
who married James Wilson.  Mr. Crawford Kyle, who was born in 1774, died March 
8, 1842, at the age of sixty-eight.  His son, Joseph Kyle, after receiving such 
education as was afforded by the subscription schools of the township, resided 
continuously on the homestead.  After his father's death he became its sole 
possessor by paying for the shares of his co-heirs.  Joseph Kyle, on April 17, 
1843, married Elizabeth, daughter of William and Jane (Davis) Barr.  Their 
children are:  Crawford, born March 13, 1844, died August 12, 1845;  William 
Barr;  Allen Taylor, born August 26, 1848, married Elizabeth Reed Mitchell;  and 
Jennie Elizabeth, wife of Rev. John C. Oliver, of Latrobe, Pa.
  The education of William Barr Kyle was carried on in the common schools of the 
township in which he lived, in the Kishacoquillas Seminary, which he entered 
when he was fifteen, and attended for three terms, and at Tuscarora Academy, 
Academia, Pa., under that excellent teacher, the lamented Dr. J. H. Shumaker.  
This course completed, he remained at home until his marriage, when he began 
farming on his own account on the old Norris farm, which his father had 
purchased.  Six years later he removed to the homestead, which he bought after 
the death of his brother, and still resides on the same fine and productive 
farm.  His success has proved him a skilful and judicious agriculturist.  
Interested in the progress of that noble and important calling, he is an active 
member of the Patrons of Husbandry.  He is a willing co-operator in any scheme 
for social or political improvement;  is an adherent of the Democratic party.
  William Barr Kyle was married December 19, 1876, to Mary Taylor, daughter of 
John and Rhoda (Taylor) Henry.  They have had three children:  one that died 
very young;  Rhoda Taylor, born January 13, 1883;  and Joseph Reed, born April 
2, 1885.  Mr. and Mrs. Kyle are members of the Presbyterian church at 
Reedsville.