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before his teens to earn the money to come to Canada; his brother, Daniel (born 1809), determined to get to Canada, took his youngest sister Sarah (Sally, born 1812), on horse- back to Plymouth, England where he booked passage for them on the Mm)! M. Shae sailing for Nova Scotia. James married Elizabeth Birch in 1832. They lived in Indian River for a short time before moving to Lot 16 and settling in a log cabin on the Lyle property. In 1836, they built the house which stands in the yard of the present Lyle home- stead. On the 1836 map of PEI, it was referred to as the Lyle Hotel, later called the Lyle Inn. It stood on the route from Charlottetown to Alberton and contained a small store as well as a post office. The requirements for licencing a hotel were listed as providing three good feather beds with bed- ding, a stable for six horses, and facilities to serve meals. The cost for a meal was twenty cents and an overnight stay
was an additional fifteen cents.
James gave his bride a china tea set as a wedding gift and it remains in the family today. A letter, dated Feb.11,1823, handwritten toJames from his brother William, a clergyman in England, arrived on PEI in Sept. of that year after being passed hand-to—hand with no envelope or stamp. It also is in
the family’s possession. James hired a governess, Letitia Muirhead from VVicklaw, Ireland to teach their eleven chil- dren. She taught her classes in the Lyle family home and included community children as well; she is recorded as the first female teacher on PEI. James and Elizabeth attended St. John’s Anglican Church in St. Eleanor’s and are buried there.
James’ son, William, married Susan Hutchinson and operated the family farm until his death on his forty—seventh birthday. They had four children, a daughter Sophie, and three sons, Prushia, George, and Alfred. All attended the Presbyterian Church in Lot 16. Prushia is the direct ances- tor of the current Lyles in Lot 16. He married Rachel MacLean and moved to Boston to work. After the death of their first child in infancy, they returned to Lot 16 where they took over the family farm. They had two more chil- dren: Violet who married Archibald MacGregor (no family) and Wilfred who married Helen Forbes, great-granddaugh-
FAMILIES ASSOCIATED WITH LOT 16 UNITED