PYLES surname is mentioned in 4th paragraph from the end. The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. <<- The Confederate Flag in Brazil In the American Civil War, Unionists and Confederates were locked in a kill-or-be-killed struggle. Of course, history books tell us of the outcome. What most books overlook, however, is the small band of Confederates who escaped from the South rather than surrender. They moved to Brazil and maintained their lifestyles for some time, slowly to be integrated into the Brazilian "melting pot." While most of their descendants now speak Portuguese, these people are still known as the "Confederados." This band of settlers was led by an Alabama Colonel of the Civil War, named William H. Norris. The first new-land Southerners arrived in Rio De Janeiro on May 16, 1865, just one month and one week after the surrender at Appomattox was signed. More than 9,000 others would follow in the next few years. These settlers hailed from all the Southern States, including Texas. Norris and his followers were welcomed by the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro. Since most of the population of Brazil at that time preferred living along the coast line and close to rivers, Dom Pedro wanted farmers who would settle in and build on the rich dirt farther into the interior. He was happy to have the renowned farmers of the southern United States. He met the bunch at the docks and, like a true politician, Dom Pedro shook hands with a senior member of every family. These people had paid one-hundred and thirty dollars each for passage from New Orleans to Rio De Janeiro. Now broke and still hurting from the humiliation and defeat of losing the war, the immigrants welcomed the attentions of Dom Pedro. The Emperor offered the new settlers their choice of land in Espirito Santo for twenty-two cents an acre, but the land was not like the homes they had left in America, and they wanted to look elsewhere. They soon found land further inland that seemed to them very much the same as the land they had left behind in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Towns soon sprang up, one of the first being Santa Barbara D' Oeste. Five years later, three hundred and fifty families resided in the new town. Since the railroad did not reach Santa Barbara D'Oeste, the Americans soon thought of establishing businesses at the end of the rail line, and no sooner thought than done, a market place sprang up there. All the Americans began to trade, buy, sell, and barter there, making that site a meeting place to renew friendships, form new ones, and try out their expertise in their new land. In that area the small business location became known as Vila dos Americanos, or The American Village. Over the years, the name of the city has been modernized to "Americana" and is a city of two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants. The city claims a coat of arms that includes the battle flag of the Confederate Army. The Confederados and their descendants have kept their heritage alive. The Confederate flag still flies in front of many homes. The families have intermarried, and few today have white skin. Almost all the descendants speak Portuguese as their native tongue, and many do not speak English at all. Most of the families became Catholic, and children were named Miguel, Maria, and other Portuguese names. However, many still have American family names, including Carr, Pyles, Cobb, Bryant, Perkins, Hardeman, White, McKnight, Kerr, McMullan, Norris, Anderson, Townsend, and many, many more. The annual Festa Confederado serves as a yearly fundraiser for the maintenance of the Campo Cemetery, which has been the burial place of former Americans since the 1860's. People from all over Brazil and the world come to the festival to enjoy Southern food and music and learn about the Confederate immigration to Brazil. Sponsored by the Fraternity of American Descendants, the Festa Confederado features young men and women folk dancers dressed in Confederate uniforms and 1860's dresses dancing to Civil War era music. Very prominently displayed and paraded on the festival grounds are flags from every Southern state, the Confederate Battle Flag, and the United States flag. To learn more about the Confederados, including some of their names and where in Brazil they settled, visit the Brazilian Sons of Confederate Veterans website at http://www.scv.org/Camp1653/index.htm. >> "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter," Vol. 8, no. 43 (November 3, 2003) Lani (Pyles) MacAniff --

I have been writing for several years to a Pyles descendent in Brazil. I had a standing invitation to visit him, his wife and grandchildren, including triplets. He does speak Portuguese, but said don't worry, we can communicate. However, my health hasn't been good and I am afraid I will have to pass, for now anyway. I haven't connected him to our family tree, but my father had spoke of them more than 50 years ago. GREAT GUY! Bill Pyles PYLES surname is mentioned in 4th paragraph from the end. The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. <<- The Confederate Flag in Brazil In the American Civil War, Unionists and Confederates were locked in a kill-or-be-killed struggle. Of course, history books tell us of the outcome. What most books overlook, however, is the small band of Confederates who escaped from the South rather than surrender. They moved to Brazil and maintained their lifestyles for some time, slowly to be integrated into the Brazilian "melting pot." While most of their descendants now speak Portuguese, these people are still known as the "Confederados." This band of settlers was led by an Alabama Colonel of the Civil War, named William H. Norris. The first new-land Southerners arrived in Rio De Janeiro on May 16, 1865, just one month and one week after the surrender at Appomattox was signed. More than 9,000 others would follow in the next few years. These settlers hailed from all the Southern States, including Texas. Norris and his followers were welcomed by the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro. Since most of the population of Brazil at that time preferred living along the coast line and close to rivers, Dom Pedro wanted farmers who would settle in and build on the rich dirt farther into the interior. He was happy to have the renowned farmers of the southern United States. He met the bunch at the docks and, like a true politician, Dom Pedro shook hands with a senior member of every family. These people had paid one-hundred and thirty dollars each for passage from New Orleans to Rio De Janeiro. Now broke and still hurting from the humiliation and defeat of losing the war, the immigrants welcomed the attentions of Dom Pedro. The Emperor offered the new settlers their choice of land in Espirito Santo for twenty-two cents an acre, but the land was not like the homes they had left in America, and they wanted to look elsewhere. They soon found land further inland that seemed to them very much the same as the land they had left behind in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Towns soon sprang up, one of the first being Santa Barbara D' Oeste. Five years later, three hundred and fifty families resided in the new town. Since the railroad did not reach Santa Barbara D'Oeste, the Americans soon thought of establishing businesses at the end of the rail line, and no sooner thought than done, a market place sprang up there. All the Americans began to trade, buy, sell, and barter there, making that site a meeting place to renew friendships, form new ones, and try out their expertise in their new land. In that area the small business location became known as Vila dos Americanos, or The American Village. Over the years, the name of the city has been modernized to "Americana" and is a city of two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants. The city claims a coat of arms that includes the battle flag of the Confederate Army. The Confederados and their descendants have kept their heritage alive. The Confederate flag still flies in front of many homes. The families have intermarried, and few today have white skin. Almost all the descendants speak Portuguese as their native tongue, and many do not speak English at all. Most of the families became Catholic, and children were named Miguel, Maria, and other Portuguese names. However, many still have American family names, including Carr, Pyles, Cobb, Bryant, Perkins, Hardeman, White, McKnight, Kerr, McMullan, Norris, Anderson, Townsend, and many, many more. The annual Festa Confederado serves as a yearly fundraiser for the maintenance of the Campo Cemetery, which has been the burial place of former Americans since the 1860's. People from all over Brazil and the world come to the festival to enjoy Southern food and music and learn about the Confederate immigration to Brazil. Sponsored by the Fraternity of American Descendants, the Festa Confederado features young men and women folk dancers dressed in Confederate uniforms and 1860's dresses dancing to Civil War era music. Very prominently displayed and paraded on the festival grounds are flags from every Southern state, the Confederate Battle Flag, and the United States flag. To learn more about the Confederados, including some of their names and where in Brazil they settled, visit the Brazilian Sons of Confederate Veterans website at http://www.scv.org/Camp1653/index.htm. >> "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter," Vol. 8, no. 43 (November 3, 2003) Lani (Pyles) MacAniff -- ==== PYLE Mailing List ==== List archives can be found at: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl Copyright 2003-Poster retains copyright