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Posted by Margaret Nolen Nichol <TNRUTHER-L@rootsweb.com>
on Sat, 12
Feb 2000
Surname: Lytle,
Little, Taylor, Pitt, Foster, Caswell, McCollouch, Nichol
The Lytle Family of Rutherford County, Tennessee
The progenitor of this family in Rutherford
county is Captain William Lytle, who came
to Tennessee to settle land grants received
for his services in the Revolutionary War.
His grants, along with his inherited land
grants from his brother, Colonel Archibald
Lytle, are said to have provided him with
over 26,000 acres. These covered several
counties in Middle Tennessee, as well as some
in the Western lands of Tennessee not
yet settled.
Captain William Lytle’s family can be traced
to the first immigrant ancestor, Archibald
Little (Lytle), who settled in the area of
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is buried
at Compass, Lancaster County. The Will of
Archibald Little, of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania written 25 Jan 1748/49 lists
the following children: Robert, Andrew,
James, Archibald, Margaret, and Isobel.
On 9 Jun 1752, Robert Little sold his 1/3 share
of his inherited estate to James Little
and, traveling the Great Emigrant Road from
Lancaster to North Carolina, settled in
Orange County, North Carolina. Robert Lytle
enlisted in the North Carolina Militia as
a Captain in 1755. His Will listed the following
children: Archibald, William, Andrew,
Anne, Eleanor, Rachel, Robert, Margaret, Mary
and Phoebe.
Colonel Archibald Lytle, oldest son of Captain
Robert Lytle, served in the
Revolutionary War and was captured at Stony
Point, held captive, and released. He
and his brother, Captain William Lytle, and
the father-in-law of William, Lieutenant
John Taylor were charter members of the Society
of the Cincinnati. Archibald Lytle
died, having never married, and willed all
of his estate to his brother, William, to be
disposed as as he saw fit.
Captain William Lytle married Nancy Ann Taylor,
daughter of John and Sarah Day
Taylor. Only one other member of Taylor family
is known. Nancy Ann Lytle’s sister,
Margaret. migrated to Murfreesboro with the
family and was still living in 1850 in the
household of William Franklin Pitt Lytle.
Five of the seven children of William and Nancy
Lytle were born in North Carolina
before the move to Tennessee. The remaining
two, William Franklin Pitt and Julia
Margaret were born in Rutherford County.
Captain Lytle is said to have settled his land
and was the only family in the vicinty at the
time. When there was an Indian attach, he
moved back to Davidson County for two
years before attempting to settle again. The
second attempt was successful. Rutherford
county was formed from Davidson county in
1803, and when enough settlers had come
into the area, a decision was made to lay
off a town. After a lengthy debate as to the
location, William Lytle offered to donate
60 acres for the site. It was named for Hardy
Murfree, the officer who had led the charge
of the Patriots when they had stormed and
seized Stony Point on the Hudson, July 1770.
William Lytle built his home on his land in
1810 and it was to be remembered for its
functional beauty with fluted columns. It
stood for 117 years before being torn down
for the Carnation Milk Plant. Many of its
architectural features were said to have been
preserved in later built homes in the area.
In a letter dated, 7 Jun 1896, William Lytle’s
grandson, Marion DeSheill Lytle,
describes his
grandfather as a mechanical genius with a
bluff and cordial disposition. He was
described as a large man weighing over two
hundred pounds and a man of strong will
and purpose, his honesty and sense of righteousness
secure from suspicion, lots of
good humor and horse sense thrown in.
The Lytle family lived and prospered well in
Rutherford County. The sons of Capatin
William and
Nancy Lytle raised large families. Their daughters
were educated at the Female
Academy in Nashville, and married well. Jennet
Mebane Lytle married Ephraim
Hubbard Foster of Bardstown, Kentucky, who
later became a Senator from
Tennessee. Sarah Lytle married Richard Caswell,
son of General Richard Caswell, and
former governor of North Carolina. Her second
marriage was to Benjamin
McCollouch, early settler of Rutherford County.
The youngest daughter, Julia
Margaret, married William Nichol, of Nashville,
merchant, planter, steamboat owner,
and Mayor of Nashville. He was known as the
first Tennessee Millionaire. Their
gracious antebellum home still stands on Donelson
Pike and Briley Parkway.
A notable descendant of Captain William Lytle
is Andrew Lytle, Southern Writer,
(1898-1995) best known for his contribution
to the manifesto published by twelve
Southerners, called, “I’ll Take My Stand:
The South and the Agrarian Tradition.” His
many novels, especially, “The Velvet Horn”
has earned him additional respect in the
literary world. Another descendant is a gggrandson,
Quentin McGarel Hogg, Lord
Hailsham, Baron of Marylebone, England.. Lord
Hailsham’s mother, Elizabeth Brown,
married first, Archibald Marjoribanks, and
after his death, married Douglass Hogg,
who was to become lord chancellor of England.
When their son, Quentin, became lord
chancellor, it was marked in English history
as the only time a father and son had each
held the post. Lord Hailsham still lives,
at the age of 91, in England and is a member of
the House of Lords.
The origin of the Lytle family has its beginning
in the Debateable Lands between
Scotland and
England, which has been in dispute since the
invasion of England by William the
Conqueror in 1066.
Clan Little was one of the fighting clans
of the West March, living close up to the
border on the Scottish side. Constantly raiding
and reiving (rob or plunder), the
borderers on both sides held in comtempt all
who went on foot. By the close of the
16th century they had earned a reputation
as the finest light cavalry in Europe. The
preferred dress of the Borderers was “Trews”
(close fitting tartan trousers) instead of
the kilt.
Early correspondence between members of the
Lytle family and different people of that
Lytle-Little name in Scotland and Ireland,
failed to resolve the question of the lineage
further back than Archibald Little of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania..
(The bulk of the above material was gleamed
from early correspondence between
various members of the Lytle family. Some
of this material was used by Andrew Lytle
in his book, “A Wake For The Living.” His
book tells many tales about his Lytle and
Nelson families. Much of it was included in
my personal family book, “Lytles of
Murfreesboro, From Reiver to Founder.”. )
Submitted by:
Margaret Nolen Nichol
Jacksonville, Florida
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