During the course of
researching many of my grandfather’s Newfoundland and Labrador siblings and
extended families, it occurred to me that I had never really looked at his
siblings and their families closely. Those people would have been my father’s
aunts and uncles and their children were his first cousins. He often mentioned
how the families would visit on Sundays for dinner and then gather round the
piano for sing-alongs. He’d whip out the Boston telephone book and point to all
the Pye cousins who lived in Chelsea and East Boston. This was my first
knowledge that there were others, nearby, with this strange name Pye. It wasn’t
till years later that I discovered there were more families my father was only
vaguely aware of. Those were the families who had remained in Newfoundland. I
wish he was still alive so I could share all this information with him. He
would be delighted to know he had so many first cousins.
Jesse Pye’s siblings:
Henry William Pye b. 1863 Cape Charles, Lab., died young
*Jesse Pye (b. 1865, d. 1940)
b. Cape Charles, Lab. Lived in Chelsea and East Boston, MA; d. 1940 in Boston, MA ; m. Nora Edith
Carmichael 1893 Halifax NS – 15 children
(Parents
of Jesse Franklin Pye, my father)
Israel Pye b. 1867 Cape Charles, Lab., d. Unknown
family story says he married an Inuit woman and moved Quebec.
Eugene Pye b. c. 1870 Cape Charles, Lab.; d, c. 1877 Cape
Charles, Lab.
Laura Pye b. 1871 Cape Charles, Lab., d. 1943 Georgetown,
NL; m. Adam George in 1893, Harbour Grace, NL. Their children were (all surname
George):
1.
Laura Jane George
- b. 1895 Carbonear, NL, d. 1943 Georgetown, NL, m. Charles Bartlett in 1914,
Harbor Grace, NL; 6 children: May, Madeline, Franklin, Ada Ralph and Dorene,
all born in Petries Crossing, NL
2.
Stephen George - b.
1902, d. ? , m. Lillian Travers; 3 children: Helen, Marjorie and Lorraine
3.
Martha George -
b. 1904 Bay of Islands, NL, d.?, m. Harold French; found 2 children: Mabel and Clarence
4.
Dorothy George -
b 1921 – no further info
5.
May George - b. ? d. 1976, m. Fred Clarke: found 2 children: Keith and Doreen
Lily Pye b. c 1871 Cape Charles, Lab. No
further information. Not convinced she is a member of this family, although she
has been listed with it in various sources. I’m more inclined to believe this
is a middle name of Laura, but have found no evidence of this either.
Mary Jane Pye b. 1873, Cape Charles, Lab., d. 1899,
possibly in Freshwater, NL of TB; m. Elihu Callahan in 1895, Carbonear, N; one son:
1.
Henry - b. 1896,
Freshwater, NL, d. ? m. Rose O’Neill in 1919 Chelsea, MA. Rose d.
in 1932. They had a son, John, b.1926. Henry remarried to Elizabeth?
James Pye b. 1875, Cape Charles, Lab., d. c 1950,
perhaps in Brockton, MA; he married Marion Susanna Pike in 1926, Chelsea MA.
Their children were:
1.
Blanche Whiten Pye
- b. 1902 Chelsea MA, d. ?, m. Paul Edgar Pearce in Chelsea MA 1921. Their children:
Walter, Doris, Richard, James
2.
James Eugene Pye –
b. 1903 Chelsea, MA, d. 1973 Brockton, MA, m. Agnes Logan. One child: Carol
3.
Marion Jana Pye –
b. 1906, d. 1908, both Chelsea, MA
4.
Hazel M. Pye – b.
1908, d.1908. both Chelsea, MA
5.
William James Pye
– b. 1909, Chelsea, MA, d. 1963, m. Caroline Chase 1946 – 4 children
6.
Marion Susanna
Pye – b. 1912, Chelsea, MA, d. 1980, m. Lewis
Taber 1931 – 3 daughters
7.
Cephas E. Pye – b,
1914 Chelsea, MA, d. 1977, Brockton MA, m. bef 1940 Catherine Cronin.
Apparently died without issue.
Samuel Pye b. 1876, Cape Charles, Lab., d. 1950 Corner
Brook, NL, m. Annie Edna Pike in 1900 in Chelsea MA. Their children were:
1.
Giles Pye – b. 1900,
d. 1918 NL; COD - Spanish flu
2.
James Malcolm Pye
– b. 1903 Birchy Cove, NL, d. 1964 NL; m. Henrietta Stone c. 1935. They had 3
children.
3.
Chesley Bugden
Pye – b. 1905 Curling, NL, d. 1976 Halifax, NS; m. Sylvia Hunt 1934. They had 3
children.
4.
Samuel Pye – b.
1906 d. 1906, age 1 month
5.
John Charles Pye (twin)
– b. 1907, d.1907, age 1 month
6.
Richard Pyke Pye
(twin) – b. 1907, d.1907 age 1 day
7.
Clifford Eugene
Pye – b. 1909, d. 1910, age 10 months
8.
Sadie Elizabeth
Pye – b. 1911, d. 1930; COD - TB
9.
Irene Harlow Pye –
b. 1913, d. 1980; m. Christopher Fisher, 1932. They had 4 children.
10. Sophie Mae Pye – b. 1915 NL, d. 2010 m. Wallace Andrew
Locke, 1933. They had 9 children, 3 died young. She was known by her middle
name – Mae Locke.
11. Frederick Arthur Pye – b. 1918, d. 1918, age 8 ½ mos.,
in Georgetown NL
12. Ronald Roy Pye (Twin) – b. 1920, d. 1920, age 5 mos.,
in Georgetown, NL
13. Samuel James Pye (twin) – b. 1920, d. 1920, age 6 mos.
Georgetown, NL
14. William Curtis Pye – b. 1922 Georgetown NL, d. 2014
Halifax NS; m. Violet Victoria Anne Vaughan 1946; living children
15. Ebenezer Pye – b. c. 1901, d. 1902
Sam
was a carpenter when he wasn’t fishing. He often spent the off season in the
Boston area because he could find work there. Out of their family of 15 children,
only 6 lived to adulthood.
Ebenezer Pye b.1878 Cape Charles, Lab., d. 1955.
He married Annie Millie 1910 Chelsea, MA. Their children were:
1.
Wilson Henry Pye
– b. 1911 Chelsea MA, d. 1982 Malden MA; m Mildred Tusine, bef 1940. Mildred was a private
nurse. They had 3 children.
2.
Cecil Pye – 1914
Bay of Islands NL, d. 1980 Malden MA; m. Mildred White – 1 child found
3.
Myrtle Loretta
Pye – b., 1917 Bay of Islands NL, d. 2015; m. Gerald O’Reagan 1937 – 2 children
4.
Doris Pye – b.
1918 Bay of Islands NL, d. 2001; m. Arthur Boudreau 1939 – 3 children
5.
George Alfred Pye
– b. 1924 MA, d. 2017; m. Verna Virginia Parsons 1951 – 5 children
6.
Helen Pye - b.
1927. d. 1927
Esther Ann Pye b. 1880, Cape Charles, Lab., it is
believed she died young.
Eugene Pye II b. 1884, Cape Charles, Lab.,d. 1903
Carbonear, NL, froze to death on an ice floe
Effie Mabel Pye b. 1885, Cape Charles, Lab., d. 1942
Curling NL She married Hayward Power 1905 in Bay of Islands, NL. Their children
were:
1.
Edward Power – b.
1905 Bay of Islands, NL d. 1990; m. Rebecca Roberts
2.
Mary Alice Power –
b. 1908 NL d. 2006 Wenham MA; m. John Hawker c. 1932 – 2 children
3.
Harvey Power – b.
1911 NL d. 1976; apparently remained
single; known as Harry
4.
William Power –
b. 1914 NL d. 1994; m. Connie McCarthy
- 2 children
5.
Emma Mae Power –
b. 1917 d. 1993; m. Peter Burton – 8 children
6.
Hayward Power –
b. 1917 d. 1918 Petries Crossing, NL
7.
Robert Power – b.
1919 d. 1936
8.
Hayward Power –
b. 1921 d. 1921; age 2 days
9.
Stephen Power – b.
1922 Georgetown NL d. 2010 Pasadena, NL;
m. Joan Rigby – 5 children
10. Ada Power – b. 1925
d. ?? m. Earl Pradat; no further info
11. Muriel Power – b. 1928 d?? m. Paul Lacey; no further info
All together. My father,
Jesse Franklin Pye, had 45 paternal first cousins. Of that number,
approximately 14 died before their 20th birthday. There are still
some unknowns. Still some areas where records are sketchy. The families of
James and Ebenezer Pye did remain permanently in Massachusetts, many in or near
Chelsea. The child of Mary Jane Pye settled north of Boston and did not seem to
be known to the families in Chelsea. The children of Sam Pye remained in
Newfoundland or went to Nova Scotia to live. Some of Effie Pye’s grandchildren
did move to the states. I had the pleasure of meeting and having a long chat
with Maud Power Hawker and have phone chatted with one of her daughters. Whenever
it seemed possible that people might still be alive, I didn’t include their
given names. There are many Pye cousins of 2nd and 3rd
generations still in New England, but there are also many dispersed to the four
winds in all directions of the compass.
ngb.chebucto.org
Census
records; B, M, D records, Church records, cemetery records, obits, fishery records,
land holdings
Newfound/Labrador
Canada
Records –
census, B, M, D, Find a Grave, military, street addresses, occupations
Letters from relatives going back 50 years
