¿Who was Alfred Pirtle? He writes in his book James Chenoweth The Story of One of the Earliest Boys of Louisville and Where Louisville Started that he is either the grandson or step-grandson of James S. Chenoweth.
INTRODUCTORY. JAMES CHENOWETH and the other persons mentioned in this story were actual characters, and the names and dates are historic—-the only fiction is having him tell his story. Some of his grandchildren are still living, from whom facts have been obtained. A son of James Chenoweth was an uncle of the author, and I was reared along with his children, when all of us were ever ready for Indian stories to entertain our youthful minds. James is supposed to be telling his story in 1850, at Cincinnati. The history of the trials and dangers of our ancestors contains a great deal that we should be proud of and which we should record and hand down to succeeding generations. ALFRED PIRTLE.
Biographical reference list:
Pirtle, Alfred History of Pirtle Family, Includes a biographical sketch of Judge Henry Pirtle 1798-1880
Pirtle, Alfred Life of James Edward Jouett, Rear Admiral U.S.N at Filson Historical Society.
Pirtle, Alfred 1900 2005 Battle of Tippecanoe Pikeville KY Twin Commonwealth Paperback
Pirtle, Alfred 1910 Our flag: A paper read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion by Alfred Pirtle
Pirtle, Alfred 1909 1911 The Chenoweth Family Massacre Frankfort
Pirtle, Alfred 1916 Race of the "Robert E. Lee" with the "Natchez" retold by member of crew
Pirtle, Alfred 1921 James Chenoweth the Story of one of the Earliest Boys of Louisville and Where Louisville Started, Louisville: Standard Printing Hardback
Pirtle, Alfred 1921 2005 James Chenoweth the Story of one of the Earliest Boys of Louisville and Where Louisville Started, Pikeville KY: Twin Commonwealth Paperback

1 PIRTLE, Henry, born November 5, 1798 Washington County KY; resided there during 1810 Census; Barbee's Regiment, KY Militia War of 1812; Was in Cincinnati during the Civil War; died March 28, 1880 Louisville, KY.
"A lawyer and jurist of distinction" (Alfred Pirtle, Insurance Agent, Résumé/Profile; Hard copy not on the Filson Club web site, Filson Club Historical Society, About 1913, MSS A box1 p about 636) Chenoweths Note: I failed to write down the exact page of my source.
Lawyer, jurist, author, was born Nov. 5, 1798, in Washington county, Ky. In 1825 he was appointed a judge of the general court to fill a vacancy. He was chancellor of the Louisville chancery court and professor of constitutional law, equity, and commercial law in the university of Louisville in 1846-68. He published Digest of the Decisions of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. (Thomas William Herringshaw, Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century; Viewed through Ancestry.com, Chicago IL, 1902).
+JONES, Sarah married January 30, 1807 Washington County KY   (Jordan Oodd, Kentucky Marriages to 1850; LDS Family History Library Ancestry.com, Last visited November 16, 2002)
  2 PIRTLE, John Dr
  2 PIRTLE, Alfred born March 25, 1837   (Alfred Pirtle, Insurance Agent, Résumé/Profile; Hard copy not on the Filson Club site, Filson Club Historical Society, About 1913, MSS A box1 p about 636) Chenoweths Note: I failed to write down the exact page of my source.   (Ohio Historical Society; Archives/Library Division Hard copy not at their Cite, Velma Ave., Columbus, OH, 1982) Chenoweths Note: Second source.
Died February 02, 1926 Jefferson County   (Kentucky Vital Records Index; Kentucky Death Index, University of KY, Ancestry.com, Last visited November 16, 2002, Vol 9 certificate 4439).    (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State Street, Madison, WI, Last visited November 16, 2002). Chenoweths Note: Second source their library card for "James Chenoweth The Story of One of the Earliest Boys of Louisville".
Paper by Alfred Pirtle, First Lieutenant 10th Regiment, O.V.I. of Louisville, Ky. Read before the Ohio Commander of the Loyal Legion, December 7th, 1910. Ancestry.com shows he enlisted January 28, 1862 in OH.
Secretary of an insurance company in Louisville according to two entries in the Louisville Directory of 1890.

*Second wife of Henry Pirtle born November 5, 1798
+?, Jane Ann
Chenoweths Note: Witness to Julia B Rogers will
  2 PIRTLE, Henry born 1865
    +Ivy born 1868.
    3 PIRTLE, Henry born April 12, 1886 KY; died January 1963.
    3 PIRTLE, Horace born 1890 KY.
    3 PIRTLE, Edwin born 1892 KY.
James S Chenoweth had three daughters:
5. Jane L Chenoweth born January 17, 1807 married William Smith of Johnson County IN, not a Pirtle.
5. Mary N. born 1815; died August 02, 1848 buried in Linden Grove cemetery, Covington KY.
5. Frances G. born November 20, 1818, died December 1847.
Most likely candidate for his mother were it not for:
Alfred Pirtle says in his papers that he was traveling in "sojourn at Ohio White Sulphur Springs with mother and sister, July-Aug., 1861" (Filson Club 536. Pirtle, Alfred, 1837-1926. Papers, 1847-1924. A\P672. 6 cu. ft).
Alfred Pirtle says he was visiting in Louisville in 1847 and 1881 (James Chenoweth The Story of One of the Earliest Boys of Louisville and Where Louisville page 13). Alfred would have been ten years old in 1847. Alfred was raised with Uncle Chenoweth.
The eight sons of James S. Chenoweth are:
5. John Smith Chenoweth, first born of the eight boys;
5. Richard W. born November 17, 1804
5. Thomas Hanna born May 10, 1810 is an unlikely candidate. He lived in Harrodsburg KY. Alfred Pirtle is not mentioned in the 1850 census, or the second wife's will.
5. Alexander R. born January 26, 1811 5. William S. born October 3, 1816 is an unlikely candidate. He lived in Harrodsburg KY. Alfred Pirtle is not mentioned in the 1850 census.
5. Gideon D. born February 3, 1821, died April 1, 1847 5. James Marelya born April 23, 1823 riverboat captain with this brother John Smith on the James S Chenoweth riverboat. Alfred Pirtle is not mentioned in the 1860 census.
5. Ross born December 8, 1826, died August 19, 1855
At the end of the copy of Pirtle's book on Jon Egge's site Egge puts the following:
*SITE NOTE 2: Alfred Pirtle is not in the database. Nor do any of the children of James in the database have a marriage directly to a Pirtle. Alfred's mother must have been a sibling of one of these spouses, but which one is not presently known.
But what does Jon Egge mean by "one of these spouses"?
Filson Club entries:
The Filson Guide
GUIDE TO SELECTED MANUSCRIPT AND PHOTOGRAPH
COLLECTIONS OF THE FILSON CLUB HISTORICAL SOCIETY
536. Pirtle, Alfred, 1837-1926. Papers, 1847-1924. A\P672. 6 cu. ft
Soldier, Louisville businessman, Kentucky historian. Papers consisting of correspondence, 1847-1923, including a volume of Civil War letters; a journal, 1859-1862; and Pirtle's writings for magazines and newspapers on local and Kentucky history. Correspondents include Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Thomas J. Chenoweth, John M. Harlan, James E. Jouett, John Bassett Moore, Judge Henry Pirtle, and Maj. Gen. C.P. Summerall. Pirtle's Civil War letter book contains letters Pirtle wrote to his parents, Judge and Mrs. Henry Pirtle, sisters, and brothers, covering his service in the 10th Ohio Vol. Inf. under Maj. Gen. Ormsby Mitchell on the march from Bowling Green, Ky., to Huntsville, Ala.; service under Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau on the return march to Bowling Green in Sept. 1862 and as ordnance officer of the 3rd Div.; Battle of Murfreesboro (Stones River); encampment near Murfreesboro 3 Jan. - 23 June 1863; service as aide-de-camp to Gen. William H. Lytle of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 20th Army Corps, 20 Apr. - 19 Sept. 1863; Battle of Chickamauga; return to 10th Ohio Vol. Inf. Co. F.; service in and near Chattanooga; and description of the storming of Missionary Ridge. Also included are letters of recommendation for Pirtle from Col. Curran Pope, Philip H. Sheridan, A.M. Cook, Lovell H. Rousseau, and George H. Thomas; a letter from Lieut. Col. Joseph M. Burke to Pirtle, 5 Feb. 1862; and letters to Mrs. Henry Pirtle from Col. William H. Lytle, James Barnard, Dr. T.S. Bell, Capt. James W. Abert, and others, dated 1861-1863. Pirtle's journal, 1 Jan.-11 Feb. 1859, 20 April 1861-Sept. 1862, relates his residence at Gallatin, Tenn., in 1859 as an employee of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; return to Louisville where he records the impact of the Civil War on Kentucky and Missouri; flag raisings; peace meetings; recruiting; drilling; blockades; his encampment with the Citizen Guards, 21-27 May, 1861; routine of camp duties; sojourn at Ohio White Sulphur Springs with mother and sister, July-Aug., 1861; volunteer service in the Crittenden Union Zouaves, Sept.-Nov. 1861; loss by his brother, Dr. John Pirtle, of his command as major in the U.S. Army, Kentucky Volunteers; Ohio River flood in 1862; defeat of Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer at Mill Springs, 19 Jan. 1862; commission, Feb. 1862, as 2nd lieut., Co. H., 10th Ohio Vol. Inf.; service in Maj. Gen. Ormsby Mitchell's division on the march from Fort Jefferson on Bacon Creek, Ky., to Bowling Green, Ky., Nashville, Murfreesboro, and Shelbyville, Tenn., and Huntsville, Ala., where he was encamped during the summer; aide-de-camp to Gen. William H. Lytle; change in command of the 3rd Division, 3 July 1862, from Maj. Gen. Mitchell to Brig. Gen. W.S. Smith; and on 13 July 1862, from Smith to Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau; evacuation of Huntsville, 31 Aug. 1862; the return march to Bowling Green, Ky., in Sept. 1862 in pursuit of Braxton Bragg and his Confederate army; and the column being impeded by slaves seeking freedom. A list of Pirtle's articles is filed with the collection. The collection is related to the repository's Pirtle family papers.

537. Pirtle, Henry, 1798-1880. Miscellaneous papers, 1843, 1856. C\P. 2 items.
Louisville lawyer, judge. Papers include a biographical sketch of John Rowan written by Pirtle in 1843; and a 22 April 1856 letter to John Barbee noting that he has the cause of the American party as much at heart as any man; believes the election of Fillmore and Donelson would redound to the happiness of the United States; was a member of the old American party twenty years ago; has not been formally initiated by the present order; and will not run as a candidate of any party in opposition to this American cause.

538. Pirtle, John Barbee, 1842-1934.
Miscellaneous papers, 1854-1888. C\P. 30 items.
Louisville insurance man, banker, and Civil War veteran. Papers deal mainly with business and consist of letters (including one from George A. Custer regarding a life insurance policy), licenses, statements of account, and canceled checks.

539. Pirtle-Rogers family. Papers, 1797-1875. A\P672a. .33 cu. ft.
Papers and scrapbook, 1875- 1910. A\P672c. .33 cu. ft.
Mainly papers of Judge Henry Pirtle of Louisville, Ky., and of Dr. Coleman Rogers (1781-1855), physician of Louisville and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pirtle's father-in-law. Papers, 1816-1875, of Henry Pirtle include letters to him from Larz Anderson, George Bancroft, John Barbee, Rufus Choate, James Kent, and others of a personal and business nature; letter from Pirtle, 1856, defining his position in regard to the American party; and a contract, 1845, between Pirtle and James Speed to be partners in a law practice. Other papers include letters, 1801-1836, to Gen. James Taylor of Newport, Ky., from Dr. Coleman Rogers, Dr. John Sellman, Judge John Coburn, James W. Moss, Dolly P. Madison, and Richard M. Johnson; letter, 1829, from Martin Van Buren to William T. Barry about the return of Taylor's fugitive slaves from Canada; a power of attorney, 1797, from Joseph Rogers of Fayette Co., Ky., to John Winn to obtain property due from the estate of his wife's father, Thomas Ford, and her former husband, Joseph R. Farrar; correspondence, 1803-1820, of Dr. Coleman Rogers and his wife, Jane Farrar Rogers while he was studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and twelve cards of admission to medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. Material is related to the Alfred Pirtle collection.

Additional papers include correspondence, 1879-1880, to Judge Henry and his wife Jane Ann Pirtle from family and friends regarding their fiftieth wedding anniversary, family news, and routine matters; and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, programs, and pictures presented for their anniversary by Ashley P. and William L. Chalfant (daughter and son-in-law).

The Filson Publications
Articles in The Filson Club Quarterly
July 1927
OTTO A. ROTHERT, The Harpes, Two Outlaws of Pioneer Times
Louis R. GOTTSCHALK, The Philosophical Reformers of the Eighteenth Century
MARGUERITE THRELKEL, Mann's Lick
ALFRED PIRTLE, Colonel Cuthbert Bullitt's Personal Recollections of General George Rogers Clark

803. Ferguson-White Family. Collection, ca. 1850s-1950s. 991PC16. 196 items.
Edwin Hite Ferguson (1852-1924) was a Louisville industrialist who built the mansion which now houses The Filson Club Historical Society. The collection includes a series of photographs of interiors in the Ferguson mansion taken about 1912 when the Fergusons were living in the house. Also in the collection are studio and amateur photographs of members of the Ferguson, White, and Pirtle families. The Whites and Pirtles were related by marriage, and the White and Ferguson families were close friends. Identified persons include Edwin Hite Ferguson, Sophie Fullerton Marfield Ferguson, Margaret Fullerton Ferguson Major, Earl E. Major, Belle H. Skannel Perkins, Henrietta White Pirtle, James S. Pirtle, Belle Hamilton White, William B. Pirtle, John A. White, and Theo Stephan White. A related collection is the White-Skannel Collection (987PC18).
849. White-Skannel Family. Collection, ca. 1870s-1945. 987PC18. 48 items.
Photographs of members of the White and Skannel families and an album of cabinet card photographs, many unidentified; two photographs of the interior of Christ Church Cathedral and the men and boys choir; and a photograph of the Ferguson-Starks wedding party. Identified persons include Henrietta White Pirtle (Mrs. William B. Pirtle), Theo Skannel White (Mrs. John S. White), Sonia Fullerton Ferguson (Mrs. Edwin H. Ferguson), John S. White, Theo S. White, Elias Hamilton Skannel, and Abel Skannel.
Pirtle, Alfred, 357, 536, 539
Pirtle, Henrietta White (Mrs. William B.
Pirtle), 803, 849
Pirtle, Henry, 536, 537, 539
Pirtle, James S., 589, 803
Pirtle, Jane Ann, 539
Pirtle, Dr. John, 536
Pirtle, John Barbee, 538
Pirtle, William B., 803
Pirtle family, 803; Pirtle-Rogers family,

July 1937
HELEN L. SPRINGER, James Speed, The Attorney General, 1864-1866
R.C. BALLARD THRUSTON AND THOMAS C. FISHER, The Filson Club in the June, 1937, Lincoln Pilgrimage
OTTO A. ROTHERT, A Glimpse of Alfred Pirtle
MRS. CURTIS M. McGEE, Record of Marriage Returns, Cumberland County, 17991817

133. Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818.
Miscellaneous papers, 1780-1802. C\C. 18 items.
Revolutionary War soldier and pioneer. Clark's correspondence, original and photocopied, discusses Indian activities; business and financial affairs; raising troops in Virginia; and the location of Fort Jefferson. Other papers include land warrants and grants; and a 1794 commission made by Clark as "Maj.-Gen. in the armies of France and Commander of the French Revolutionary Legion of the Mississippi."
Also included in the manuscript collection is Clark's famous "Mason Letter." This seventy-five page report to George Mason, dated 19 November 1779 at Louisville, is the definitive account of his successful Illinois campaign. It was dictated to his secretary Angus Cameron, and is signed by Clark. Published in Henry Pirtle's Col. George Rogers Clark's Sketch of his Campaign in the Illinois in 1778-9 (1869) and George Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1781 (Coll. Illinois State Historical Library, vol. VIII).
----------------------End of Filson Club reference catalogue--------------
Need Kentucky Papers section 3CC By Lyman Draper referenced by Harris page 204. There is a book out there according to Stephen E.L. Phillips who wrote on RootsWeb.com that he had "From Whence We Came" by George W Pirtle Sr.
Wrong Alfred is Alfred Newton Pirtle Sr. born 1839/40 TN. Son of James Pirtle born 1791 in Greenville County SC and Charity ROBERTS born 1794/5 NC/Georgia; married September 13, 1813 Christian County KY. Married Elizabeth LANE born 1840; married about 1861. Father of Alfred Newton Pirtle Jr. born 1862, Charles Jordan Pirtle born 1866, Alice Pirtle born 1868 and Robert Pirtle born about 1869. Census 1860 Living in Polk County AR. BOOKS:" Descendants of Michael B. Purtle" by Buckley, James Leo, Jr:
The two sons of Martin Pirtle were: James Pirtle (he married Charity Roberts), and Martin W. Pirtle (he married Martha Jane Duboise and later was a Justice of the Peace in Hardeman Co.). Tradition has it that they floated down the Tennessee (or Cumberland), Ohio and Mississippi rivers and up the Hatchie River in flat boats.
There is no Judge Henry Pirtle in this line.
My relative was clearly a First Lieutenant in the Union Army. Not likely what follows about a Confederate.:
Andersonville Prisoners of War
Surname Given Name Rank Company Regiment State Arm of Service Death Date Cause of Death Remarks Reference Location of Capture Date of Capture Page Notes More Information Code Grave
PIRKLE J M CPL G 3 TN EXCHANGED APRIL 1, 1865 0 57988 0
PIRKLE J M CPL G 3 TN 0 57989 0