William Hamilton Pyle was born in Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio, July 9, 1833, the son of Dr. Eli Martin Pyle and Sarah McMurray Shields.  He was formally educated at Richmond, graduating there in 1850.  In 1851 he graduated from Washington College, in Pennsylvania, and studied medicine at Miami Medical College in Cincinatti.  Immediately after receiving his medical degree he removed to Texas, settling at the town of Henderson, in Rusk County.  It was there he began his first medical practice, yet stayed in that place a little more than a year.

     In 1858 he removed to Kaufman County and quickly became known as a competent physician.  After settling in Kaufman he met the young woman who was to become his wife - Mary Louisa Nash.  They married on January 26, 1860.  She was the daughter of William M. Nash and Louisa Temple.

     Upon the onset of the Civil War, Pyle volunteered for service in the Confederate States Army in 1861, serving as Surgeon of Buford's Cavalry regiment of the 48^th Missouri Volunteers.  Ironically, his father, at the age of 60, joined and served as a surgeon in the Union Army during the conflict; his brother, Thomas, served in 8^th Ohio Volunter Infantry and his eldest brother served as surgeon in Ge. Carter's Cavalry regiment.

     After the Civil War he became politically ambitious and was elected in 1869 to serve as a state Senator, representing the counties of Ellis, Kaufman and Navarro.  He was among the twelfth and thirteenth legislatures, after which service he retired from political life, returning to medicine, which he practiced until his death on February 9, 1891.

     Pyle also was in the pharmaceutical business with his sons in Kaufman, and served as a Director of the First National Bank of Kaufman for many years.  His death was mourned by more than a thousand persons, including Texas dignitaries, who attended his funeral.  He was buried in the Kaufman City Cemetery next to his wife and children.

1. Laura PYLE b: 31 OCT 1860 d: 8 DEC 1878
2. Sarah "Sallie" PYLE b: 23 OCT 1863 d: 4 JUL 1883
   Married E. J. HADDOCK
3. Temple Shields PYLE b: 27 FEB 1866 d: 26 Jan 1915
   Married Lee ECHOLS
4. Charles Bradley PYLE b: 17 FEB 1868 d; 1932
   Married Clara GARDNER
5. Frances "Fannie" PYLE b: 13 APR 1870 d: 1946
   Married W. A. BOGGS
6. Annie Pauline "Dick" PYLE b: 1 NOV 1872 d: 6 Jul 1937
   Married Dr. Henry William HOFFER (dentist)
        b: 24 JUL 1874 d: 15 Aug 1874

• Kaufman County's Medical History