Sunday, February 1, 2026

James S Piper, 1870 - 1874

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026 

By 1870, James S. Piper was in Marion County, Texas, with his new family:










Not surprisingly, James Piper's occupation is that of a contractor. He had $600 in real estate, and I have seen a deed record for James S. Piper in Marion County. His new wife, Mary A. Piper, is 45 years old and born in Tennessee, and their implied daughter, Laura, is 3 years old, also born in Tennessee. I estimate that James S. Piper and Mary Ann were married in about 1866. Where is currently unknown. Did James and Mary Ann meet in Georgia or Tennessee? Mary Ann would have been 41 at the time of their marriage. At that age, it is very likely that she had been married previously. 

I have not identified George Dyke. Was he an unrelated boarder or a family member? It's possible that he was a son of Mary Ann's. 

My cousin's family was told that James S. Piper and Mary Ann were Laura's grandparents. The only other candidate that I have for her father is James S. Piper Jr. 

In 1870, James S. Piper, Jr. was still in Carroll County, Maryland:










He was boarding with Theodore F. Engler, who was the first cousin of Ezra Engler, who provided testimony as to Mary (O'Hara) Piper's noncupative will in 1867. In 1870, James S. Piper was a 21-year-old farm laborer. In 1867, when Laura L. Piper was born, he would have been 18. He would have spent the previous year fending for himself after the death of his mother. On closer examination, he seems like an unlikely candidate to be Laura's father. I wonder if the Lennon family story was that James S. Piper and Mary Ann were old enough to be Laura's grandparents? 

In 1870, Horatio N. Piper was in Baltimore working as a bookkeeper. William H. Piper was serving with the 23rd Infantry in either Portland or Vancouver. 

In 1871, James S. Piper, Sr., was living in a house on the Gillespie survey in Marion County, Texas. That year he was also sued by the state of Texas for obtaining money under false pretenses. 

He appeared on the Marion County, Texas tax rolls from 1871 through 1874. Then he disappeared from their tax rolls. 

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James S. Piper, 1865 - 1869

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026


After the Civil War, James S. Piper disappeared from Washington DC and Baltimore. However, a J. S. Piper emerged in Atlanta, Georgia in 1865. Like James S. Piper, this J.S. Piper was engaged in the construction business. Orders could be left at the store of J.T. Meador, Esq. 







In 1866, James S. Piper of Atlanta travelled to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and stayed at Crutchfield House.














By 1868, James S. Piper, a mason, was a partner with John Law, a plasterer. They seem to be in business with James R. Slayton. This advertisement appeared several times in the Chattanooga Daily American Union. My conclusion is that the J. S. Piper who was a contractor in Atlanta, Georgie was James S. Piper and that he relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee. 





















Two days after this advertisement ran the partnership between J. R. Slayton, Jas S. Piper, and John law was dissolved.














A year later, Jas. S. Piper was supervising the construction of a three-story brick building for General Brown. A few years later, a flood destroyed much of downtown Chattanooga. I have not determined if this building survived. 



















Is this the same James S. Piper I've been researching? My gut says, "yes." This man appears in Atlanta at the same time James S. Piper disappeared from his Baltimore/Washington DC stomping grounds. Then he relocated to Chattanooga just in time for the Tennessee birth of his daughter, Laura Lee Piper, in 1867. 

This James S. Piper also seems to magically disappear from Chattanooga before the 1870 census was taken. 

This move would have placed James S. Piper in Atlanta, Georgia, when former wife, Mary, died in Carroll County, Maryland. William H. Piper joined the army during this time period. Horatio N. Piper seems to have been in Baltimore. It's possible that James S. Piper, Jr. made his way to Atlanta or Chattanooga to join his father. 


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