John L. Pyle Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1672-1673 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	An engraving of John L. Pyle faces page 1672.


	JOHN L. PYLE.—Many strong and noble men have lent honor and 
dignity to the state of South Dakota by distinguished public service, 
and among them stands the subject of this sketch, who was the first 
South Dakotan to die while in a state office. He was attorney general of 
the state at the time of his death. 

	John Levis Pyle came of sturdy stock. His mother was born near 
London, England, and came to America with her parents while still a 
child. On his father's side his ancestors were identified with American 
progress from the earliest times, the founder of the family having been 
one of Penn's colonists in the seventeenth century. The Pyles were early 
noted for their fearlessness and sturdy independence. They were steady, 
temperate men, of strong character, indomitable energy and magnificent 
physical development. Early settlers in Pennsylvania, they were also 
pioneers in pushing westward along the frontier. They were famous as 
fighters and many stories are told of their deeds of physical prowess. 
John Pyle presented in his own person the full development of this 
splendid ancestry, being a man of great mental and physical power, noted 
for his honesty, courage and progressive energy. 

	The future attorney general was born at Coal Run, Ohio, May 5, 
1860. His mother, Mary Dean Pyle, was a woman of remarkably sweet and 
gentle disposition. The influence of her self-control and kindly ways 
were very great upon her son. It remained with him through life and made 
him in his private walks one of the most lovable of men. His father, Dr. 
Levis Pyle, was a man of restless and progressive spirit—energetic, 
public-spirited and absolutely fearless. During the strife and turmoil 
of the ante-bellum days in Ohio he took a prominent part in the 
agitation for the abolition of slavery and more than once was in peril 
for his life on account of his activity. Shortly after the war he 
removed to Raritan, Illinois, where he resided until 1882, when he came 
to the territory of Dakota and settled in Miller. Here he continued to 
reside, engaged in the active practice of his profession, until he was 
called away by death, at the ripe old age of seventy-five. 

	The early schooling of the subject of this sketch was obtained in 
the public schools at Raritan and was later supplemented by a course of 
study in the college at Westfield, Illinois. He early went to work for 
himself, earning his own living from the age of thirteen. In 1879 he 
went to Montana and engaged in mining until 1882, when he came with the 
early settlers to Dakota and took up land near Miller. He then began the 
study of law, was admitted to the bar and elected state's attorney for 
Hand county in 1886. In 1889 he removed to Huron, where he was residing 
at the time of his death. The best of his life work was done at Huron. 
He rose rapidly in his profession, commanded the unequivocal confidence 
and love of the entire community, and was finally elected attorney 
general in 1898. He was the first state officer ever selected from 
Beadle county and at the time of his election attracted attention by the 
unusual degree to which he received the support of his home county. In 
politics he was a staunch Republican and an influential party worker. As 
attorney general he gave a most able and satisfactory administration of 
the exacting duties of his office. The fever which brought about his 
death was contracted while in the discharge of his official duties, in 
Helena, Montana, whither he had gone to attend the conference of 
governors and attorneys general relative to the prosecution of the 
famous merger suit against the Northern Securities Company. 

	Mr. Pyle was a man who often attracted attention on account of his 
magnificent physique, and his untimely death was a great surprise to 
all. He was buried with the honors of state. In his special proclamation 
touching the death of the attorney general, Governor Herreid said: "Mr. 
Pyle was an efficient public officer; an able, conscientious lawyer and 
an honorable Christian gentleman, who was respected by all classes and 
loved and admired by all who had the privilege of his personal 
acquaintance. In his untimely death his family, the legal profession, 
the public service and all the people of the state have suffered an 
unmeasurable loss.” 

	Mr. Pyle was a prominent and active member of the Presbyterian 
church and president of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian 
College of South Dakota; fraternally he was identified with the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, with the Modern Woodmen of America and with 
James River Lodge, No. 32, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The bar of 
Beadle county adopted resolutions of respect and esteem at the time of 
his death, from which the following is an extract: "Our deceased brother 
was a man of high character and worth; as a public officer, he served 
the people of his state with fidelity; as a private citizen, he was 
zealous in the discharge of every civic duty; as a husband, he was 
faithful and kind; as a father, he was patient, gentle and indulgent; as 
a lawyer, he was able and conscientious, steadfast in his relation with 
his clients and earnest- and careful in the protection of their 
interests; as a man, he was mild and sincere, true in his friendships, 
dignified in his bearing, and in all his conduct governed by a lofty 
sense of duty." 

	Mr. Pyle was married at Miller, on the 26th of May, 1886, to Mary 
I. Shields, who survives him and still lives at their beautiful home in 
Huron. Of this union four children were born, all of whom survive. 

	In conclusion, the whole matter of Mr. Pyle's standing in the 
community and his relation to his fellow men may well be summed up in 
the declaration of a former state official who had known him closely for 
nearly a score of years. Said this gentleman to the writer, "Physically, 
mentally and morally, John Pyle was one of the most perfect men I ever 
knew."