John W. Kyle of Texas County, Missouri

John W. Kyle. Among the prominent men of Texas County, Mo., who embarked on the sea of life with little or no capital, but who are now considered among the wealthy citizens of the county, may be mentioned Mr. Kyle, who was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., July 24, 1837, his parents being Samuel and Diana (Kelley) Kyle, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and there lived and died, the father’s death occurring at the age of fifty-two years, during the cholera epidemic, and the mother’s in 1872, when seventy-three years of age. They were members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and the father was a Whig in politics, and a shoemaker by trade, and followed this occupation until a few years before his death, when he turned his attention to farming. John W. Kyle is the third of their six children, and after his father’s death made his home with his mother until nearly eighteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and served three years for $100. At the end of this time he entered the employ of the man for whom he had been working, receiving for his services $3 per day. He then worked for some time in Pittsburg, Penn., but in July, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, of the Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, serving with credit nineteen months, participating in all the battles in which the Army of the Potomac took part. At the second battle of Bull Run he received a very severe wound in the head from a bursting shell, which confined him to the hospital for over two months, after which he was honorably discharged. Shortly after he went to Rockford, Ill., and then came to Rolla, Mo., and worked in the Government shops for nearly three years. In 1866 he came to Texas County, Mo., and in 1877 put up a shop in Houston, where he worked at his trade for fourteen years, since which time he has been engaged in farming and stock trading, his efforts in this line meeting with good success. July 3, 1864, his union with Miss D. L. Barber was consummated. She was born in North Carolina, a daughter of T. Y. Barber, and she and Mr. Kyle became the parents of ten children: Lilie May, Mary J., James W., Charles A., John H., Elizabeth M., Caroline L., Ethel C., Cecily and Florence K. Mrs. Kyle is a member of the Christian Church, and Mr. Kyle is a Mason, and a Republican in politics.

[Since the above was written Mr. Kyle has been the victim of a sad and fatal accident, one which has thrown gloom upon the community, and occasioned a loss sincerely felt. On February 14 Mr. Kyle left his home, some two miles south of Houston, to attend to some business in town. While returning he fell from his horse, striking upon his head, and causing almost instant death. The wound which he received during the war had caused at times dizziness or unconsciousness, and it is supposed the fall occurred during one of these spells. He was buried by the Houston Masonic Lodge, of which he had been an honored member.]