Pylant Geneology

Article from the newspaper "THE SOUTH RAPIDES CHRONICLE" published March 15, 1974 in Alexandria, Louisiana.

<p>Our "Special Guest" for this issue, a man who once lived and worked in the Southwest area of Rapides Parish, passed away on Friday, January 5th, 1962. His funeral was held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 7th, 1962, in the First Baptist Church on South Beaver in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Rev. R. W. Warren, Pastor of the Church, conducted the services after which burial was in the family plot in The Citizens Cemetery. Graveside rites were in charge of fellow members of Elks Lodge No. 499. Pallbearers were J. R. Bob Piper, Colonel O. A. Ramnnes, F. L. Decker, Durward L. McKinney, Lee Hood and Wallace Thompson. In addition, there were over forty Honorary Pallbearers. The list, as follows, reads like some sort or type of gathering of International Celebrities. Wm. Epperson Joe Tissaw, Sr. Brady Hilton Ralph Bilby Robert Clark Joe P. Chavez Howard Huffer Gladwell Richardson Merrill Young Ernest J. Yost Frank M. Gold A. E. Bracken Vicente Martinez Clifford Davis Robert Warford Gordon Evans, Sr. Jimmy Click Fred Nackard Dr. C. W. Sechrist Ole Solberg Alfred H. Wong Raymond Prochnow Joe Aubin Carl L. Dickinson Leonard Talkington Judge H. L. Russell George Fleming Phillip Nackard Dayton Draine R. J. Hall Orville Pendergrass James Randall E. G. (Doc) Williams Tillman Hendricks Johnny Thomas E. O. Babbitt Dr. A. C. Carlson Art Vandevier Everette Harrison Dale Fant Wiley Mulnix Martin Hansen <p>His life was one of excitement, happiness, tragic accidents and great sorrow, but from the very beginning to the end, he was known as a most generous man, and was the first to help a needy person, or a child, and to contribute to any and all charities. Joseph P. Pyland lived with his family in Lassater, Texas, place of his birth, until 1898. It was in this year that his family moved to Woodworth, Louisiana. His father, John R. Pyland, was a saw mill man. Pickings were slim in his part of Texas, and the Saw Mill Industry was really beginning to roll in Louisiana in 1889. (Ella Lou Pyland, a sister to Joe, made the trip to Woodworth, Louisiana, too. She later married Mr. Robert E. Honeycutt.) Joe went to work at age 16 in the lumber industry. His first love was railroading. In later years, he worked at McNary, Louisiana, and finally joined a construction crew as the fireman on a locomotive. Age, or a lack of it, almost ended his railroad career when he applied for a job with The Orange and Northwestern Lines at Orange, Texas. He got the job, but suddenly lost it. Joe was not of age. This minor problem was conquered when the Railroad requested and received a "release" from Joe's father. This particular line later became a part of the Santa Fe railroad system. Joe Pyland may have been "accident prone." He first hurt his right leg while setting a brake in 1903. Since he loved his work, Joe was back on the job long before he should have returned. Again, in 1906, the same leg was accidentally broken. It was a long time before he returned to normal. Although it was not known then, slow recovery from the broken leg may have had its beginning when Joe first injured the same leg, and abused it by returning to work too early. For two long years, Joe Pyland was on crutches as a result of tuberculosis in his right leg and hip bone. It was at this time that he turned to another profession - that of being a "house man" in poker games. This was also the beginning of several "unusual experiences" in the life of Joe Pyland. Once a man sitting next to him in a poker games was shot and killed following a dispute over money. The man who did the shooting was exonerated, as was not necessarily the exception back in those early years of our Country. It may have been because of this tragic mishap - (because Joe Pyland was never a violent man) - that prompted him to give up his card games, once he had fully recovered from his leg injury and TB, and he became a valued employee with The Cady Lumber Company at McNary, La. When The Cady Lumber Company cut out at McNary, Joe P. Pyland, along with many of the employees, moved to Arizona with Mr. Cady. He worked on a railroad - Cady-Smith-Cady, a firm which later purchased the Flagstaff Lumber Company and their holdings at McNary, Arizona. Mrs. Pyland and their two daughters accompanied Joe to Arizona. In the meantime, Joe lost a son by electrocution when John Warren, age 12, was climbing a tree and came in contact with a power line. This happened in 1942. Tragedy struck Joe's family in 1924 when his daughter, Josene, was killed in a vehicle accident. Joe Pyland again broke his right leg, in two places, in about 1925. As a result, his family and Joe moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he again started gambling. Shortly afterwards, Joe and his family returned to Flagstaff upon request of the City Council, or at least some of the Councilmen. He was wanted to run a card game at a Hotel in downtown Flagstaff, Az. One of his most exciting experiences involved a robbery of a card game he was running at the Hotel. There were 13 people in the room - not all playing - when the robber entered and took all the cash in sight. On second thought, the robber positioned the business end of his pistol against Joe's head and forced him to remove and hand over a ring Joe was wearing. Joe Pyland ran a card game at the Pow-Wow for some eight to ten years, with the approval of the City of course, yet he never had but one brush or run-in with the law. This occurred while he was playing "solo" at his own place. He was arrested and taken before the City Judge. Joe had, in his pocket, $149.00 and some change. Yet he was short 38 cents of being able to pay his fine, and wasn't allowed to make a telephone call to arrange for a loan to pay this small balance. When Joe P. Pyland died, his place of business was lined with his many valued collections, including numerous stuffed and mounted animal heads and many dozen letters of recommendations received from his former employers while working at saw mills and on railroads. One of his prize letters was from The Flagstaff Lumber Company. In substance, it was a letter of apology for inadventently over-looking Joe when a pay REDUCTION had been put into effect. It stated, among other things, that they didn't want Joe to feel slighted by being overlooked.