HISTORY
OF CASS COUNTY ILLINOIS - 1915
Chicago: Munsell Publishing Company
Page 920
LYLES, ALBERT R., M.D. - Few members of the
medical profession in Cass County have stood higher than
Dr. Albert R. Lyles, of Virginia, now one of the leaders
among the physicians and surgeons of his locality. He was
born in Allen County, Ky., July 19, 1861, a son of Moses
M. and Sarah J. (Walker) Lyles, natives of Allen County,
Ky., where they died. The paternal great-grandfather was
a native of the state of Virginia. Like many of southern
birth, Dr. Lyles is very proud of his family history, and
takes an interest in historical matters to the extent of
belonging to the Illinois State Historical Society.
The Lyles family is probably of Norman extraction, and of
the Landed Gentry of England. The lineage of the family
branch of which Doctor Lyles is a member, traces back to
Edmund Lyles, Esq., of Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire,
England, who was Sewer to Edward VI, Queen Mary, Queen
Elizabeth and King James I of England.
Albert R. Lyles attended the public schools and academy
of his native place, following which he was a school
teacher for three terms. He then engaged in a mercantile
business in Coles County, Ill., for three years, but not
desiring to confine himself to a business life, he sold
his interests and began studying medicine, being
graduated in 1890 from the College of Physicians and
Surgeons at St. Louis, Mo. Following the securing of his
degree, Dr. Lyles began practicing, first in Coles
County, but later at Beardstown, and after six years
there, came to Virginia, where he has become one of the
leading citizens. Keeping fully abreast of the times, Dr.
Lyles belongs to the Cass County Medical Society, the
Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical
Association, and was first president of the first named
body, which he is now serving as treasurer, Dr. T. G.
Charles of Beardstown, being the present secretary.
Dr. Lyles is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the K. of
P., and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is the medical
examiner of the last named order. The Presbyterian church
holds his membership, and benefits by his sage advice and
generous donations. Not only has Dr. Lyles been prominent
in his profession and in fraternal matters, but he served
Virginia for two years as mayor, being elected in 1901.
The marriage of Dr. Lyles occurred in Cass County when he
was united with Stella L. Pendleton, a daughter of Arthur
M. and Hester (Hewitt) Pendleton. Mrs. Lyles is a member
of the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, Springfield (Illinois) Chapter. Her
great-great-grandfather, Colonel James Pendleton, Jr., of
Culpepper County, Va., was for many years a
representative of Culpepper County in the House of
Burgesses and the State Legislature under the
Commonwealth; a colonel in the Continental army, and also
for many years a vestryman and warden of St. Mark's
Parish, Virginia. He was of the eighth generation in line
of direct descent from George Pendleton, Esq., of the
town of Pendleton, Lancashire, England, where the family
was well known in public life during the reign of Henry
VIII. Dr. and Mrs. Lyles have two children: Miriam
Eunice, and Pauline Lavinia, both of whom are attending
the Virginia public schools.
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