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Conrad Pile
Conrad Pile, whom I shall refer to as "Coonrod"; a nickname that was bestowed
upon him by his contemporaries, to distinguish him from one of his grandsons who was named
after him, was the ancestor of the Pile families at Pall Mall, Fentress County, Tennessee,
as well as some families who emerged from there. Old "Coonrod" was born March
16, 1766, in Pennsylvania, and died October 14, 1849, at Pall Mall, Tennessee. When he was
about a year old, his father moved his family to North Carolina. Or, perhaps it was
actually to what is now Grainger County, Tennessee ? Which was a part of North Carolina
until June 1, 1796. For, the first deed conveying Fentress County land to Coonrod,
September 22, 1800, referred to him as being from Grainger County. The land, lying on the
waters of Wolf River, was in Smith County, Tennessee, at the time. And it was conveyed to
Coonrod by a Henry Rowan from Hawkins County, Tennessee.
Anyway, Coonrod grew up in the new home to which his father brought him. And, in the
tradition of the famous Daniel Boone, who had preceded him southward from Pennsylvania, he
became one of the famed "Long Hunters" -- those men who were experts at shooting
a rifle. And, around 1798, when he was about 37 years old, he picked up his flintlock
rifle and set out, on foot, to explore the wilderness area to the westward. And to find a
new home for himself and his family. His adventure turned out to be much more favorable to
himself, however, than Boone's did. Because Fortune really smiled on him and poured out
blessings on him with a lavish hand. For one thing, he was on friendly terms with the
Indians, and did not have to fight them as Boone did. And, for another thing, he amassed a
great fortune, in land and in gold, which Boone failed to do.
At the Three Forks of Wolf River, where the village of Pall Mall is now located, Coonrod
found a place that was to his liking. He found a spring of flowing water that was cool and
clear. And, there beside the spring, he camped. He cooked his first meal on a hot stone,
drank his water from a terrapin shell, and made his home, temporarily, in a cave that was
directly above the spring. He carried a big batch of dry leaves into the cave to sleep on,
and kept a fire burning in front of the entrance. He was all alone -- the first white man
in the valley. But, it is said that he was not afraid of man or beast. However, there was
one thing that he did fear -- lightning. Every time that he was away from the cave when an
electrical storm approached, he would run to the cave as fast as he could go. And he would
stay inside it until the storm had passed on. For several years, Coonrod thought that he
had settled in Kentucky.
Other white men traveling that way saw the smoke from his fire, and came and settled in
the valley. The first of these were Pearson Miller, Arthur Frogge, John Riley and Moses
Poor. 80% of the residents of the valley are descendants of these 5 men. For, after a
while, Coonrod brought his family there. And he erected a large, well-built house of hewn
logs, some of which were over 50 feet long. Coonrod built one of the rooms with no windows
and with only one door. That door opened by his bedside. In this room, he kept his
valuables. It served as sort of a bank for him. He had a small keg covered with skins in
which he kept his gold coins. He kept his rifle by his bedside, and also a pitchfork with
the prongs straightened and sharpened. He felt that he was quite capable of taking care of
his life savings with these weapons.
Coonrod's wife, Mary Pile, was born Apr. 18, 1769, and died June 13, 1843. Their children
were: Jacob born 4-16-1786 married Comfort Williams; Daniel born 1787 married Nancy
Atkinson; Delila born about 1790 married William R. Crockett; Elizabeth born about 1793
married Henry Helm; Elijah born 11-11-1795 married Rebecca Earp; John C. born about 1802
married Nancy Rhodes; Jehu born between 1800 and 1810, William, Sr. born 3-12-1810 married
Narcissus Sabiens and Mary Davidson; Catherine born 27-1788 married John Rich; Marthy
married James C. Latham. And they have many descendants. Over the years, Coonrod acquired
many acres of valuable land and timber. In just one 18-month period, he added over 600
acres to his holdings. At one time, he owned the land where Jamestown is now located. He
cleared a road to there from Pall Mall. He owned several slaves, a store and a flourmill.
He raised livestock, cotton, wheat, corn and various other crops of produce. Also, he made
profitable deals with the Indians. For Fentress County was a part of the great hunting
grounds of the Shawnees, Cherokees and Chickasaws; and one of their trails passed near
Coonrod's home. When he died in l849, he was one of the wealthiest and most influential
men in Fentress County.
Some of this information comes from an excellent booklet on the Pile Family, which was
compiled by Aaron E. Pyles, of Campbellsville, Ky., and published there in 1978. He is a
son of James Brownlow Pyles, 1882-1972; a grandson of Sherwood "Sherrod" Pile,
1844-1922; and a great-great-greatgrandson of Coonrod Pile. It is a nice booklet. But I
did notice a few errors in it. No doubt, Coonrod was a brave, industrious and practical
person. But I don't quite agree with Aaron's statement about Coonrod, that "slavery
did not exactly meet with his approval." If it didn't, then why did he own slaves? I
don't think that anyone forced him to do so. It was his own choice. I think that it was
for the same reason that most other persons did it -- because it was profitable to him and
helped to put a lot of money in his pocket. Coonrod's latter years were years of peace,
prosperity and plenty. But the lives of some of his grandsons and their families were
quite different. Their lot was years of sorrow, bitterness and tragedy.
For a lot of the wealth that Coonrod had accumulated and that his son Elijah Pile had
conserved, was lost during the Civil War. Also, two of Elijah's civilian sons were shot
down -- like a couple of unwanted dogs while they were unarmed and peacefully minding
their own business. Elijah's oldest son, Conrad "Rod" Pile, 1814-1863, was taken
from his home by a group of his neighbors and other men in Champ Ferguson's band of rebel
guerrillas, taken along the road about 2 miles, shot 13 times and slashed across the body
with a knife, and left dead in the road. This happened while Rod Pile's 2 oldest sons,
Sherrod and Jim, both Union soldiers, were away from home fighting in the war. Their
mother recognized 6 of the men, and said, "Me and my boys will get every one of them
when they return from the war." Her sons vowed to do just that. And they did
"get" 5 of the 6. The other one escaped, and is thought to have gone to
Oklahoma. Rod Pile's younger brother, Jefferson Pile, 1828-1864, a Confederate
sympathizer, was shot and killed as he rode peacefully along the Pall Mall Brydstown road,
by a group of men in Union uniforms, who rode out of the woods. A desperado neighbor named
Preston Huff is thought to have led this attack.
Coonrod and his wife now lie side by side in the Wolf River Cemetery at Pall Mall, with a
large slab of limestone covering each grave. While in another grave, only a few yards
away, lies the remains of their famous and heroic great-great-grandson -- Sergeant Alvin
Cullom York. The rest of the world may have forgotten his valorous name and deeds, but
Tennessee and Fentress County have not forgotten!
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
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