John Richard Pye now has a headstone in the Main Street Cemetery. He was one of the first to be buried here in 1856 even though he died in 1852. John was originally buried in a lot next to the Henry Carpenter house on Maple Avenue but when the Main Street Cemetery opened his grave was moved. Any marker on the grave was long gone but recently the Village and the Downers Grove Historical Society have placed a marker on his grave.
John Richard Pye was born in Yorkshire England on November 11, 1848 the son of Watts A. Pye (1818-1900) and Mary Ann Goodman Pye (1817-1894). In 1849 the Pye’s brought their family that included 4 children to America and settled in Downers Grove. Watts was one of 3 Pye brothers to settle here. Brothers Austin and Samuel were already here. John Richard Pye named after his paternal grandfather was only 4 years old when he died the cause unknown. It may have been one of the many illnesses that claimed the lives of small children. An article in the Reporter Newspaper in 1937 told of a story a resident heard about the Pye boy’s death and how a coffin was made by local carpenter Alexander Foster(also buried in Main Street). The burial spot was picked on Maple Avenue. There John would remain until 1856 when he became one of the first buried in the new cemetery. John’s family moved to Cannon City, Minnesota in 1856 but left John buried here.
John is the only child of Watts and Mary Ann Pye buried in the Main Street Cemetery but sister Phyllis Ann Pye Tenney (1842-1925) is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Downers Grove. John’s other siblings included Watts A. Jr. (1843-1863) who died from disease after fighting in the Civil War, Charles W. (1846-1923) a lawyer in Minnesota, Caleb G. (1851-1933) a Minnesota farmer, Mary Ann Oliver (1854-1947) who die in California and was the wife of Civil War soldier Edward Oliver, and last Richard J.(1858-1913) a druggist from California.
The parents of John Richard Pye are both buried in Minnesota. When John’s father died in 1900 he was remembered as a man of sterling integrity and officer in the Cannon City Minnesota government.
