John Levis Pyle was born in Coal Run, Ohio on May 5, 1860, the son of Mary Pyle and Dr. Levis Pyle, a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War. Pyle was raised in Coal Run until shortly after the war, when his family moved to Raritan, Illinois. In 1882, the Levis Pyle family moved again, this time settling in Miller, South Dakota, where he maintained a medical practice until shortly before his death in 1896. John Pyle was educated in Coal Run and Raritan. He attended Westfield College in Westfield, Illinois for a year before traveling to Montana in 1879. He resided in Glendale and Wickes, where he was employed as a laborer, furnaceman and foreman in the smelting works associated with the localsilver mines. When the smelter in Wickes was destroyed by fire, Pyle worked as a carpenter on the crew that rebuilt it, then decided to return to South Dakota to pursue studies in preparation for a career as an attorney.
Legal career
Pyle moved from Montana to a farm near Miller in 1882, and operated his farm and worked as a carpenter while studying law with attorney Manford E. Williams of Miller. He attained admission to the bar in 1885, and practiced law in partnership with Williams. A Republican, from 1886 to 1888, Pyle served as State's Attorney of Hand County. In May 1888, he was elected to a term as a member of Miller's board of aldermen. In 1889, Pyle moved to Huron, South Dakota and became head of the legal department for the Dakota Farm Mortgage Company. He continued to practice law in Huron until becoming state attorney general, and his caseload extended throughout the state and into North Dakota and Montana. In 1895, Pyle was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. After moving to Huron, Pyle was instrumental in the relocation of Pierre University to Huron, where it was renamed as Huron College. He was a major benefactor, served on the board of trustees, and all four of his children attended the school. After he died, his seat on the board was filled by his wife.
In 1898, Pyle was a candidate for Attorney General of South Dakota. At that year's state Republican convention, which took place in August, Pyle defeated George Rice of Flandreau and James W. Fowler of Deadwood for the Republican nomination. In the November general election, Pyle defeated Cornelius S. Palmer, the Fusion candidate of the Democratic Party, People's Party, and Silver Republican Party by a vote of 38,701 to 34,147. He was reelected in 1900, defeating Abner E. Hitcocock, the Fusion nominee of the Democrats and People's Party by a vote of 53,900 to 40,059. Pyle served from January 1899 until his death. He was the first South Dakota statewide official elected from Beadle County, and the first holder of a statewide elective position in South Dakota to die in office.
Death and burial
In January 1902, Pyle became ill shortly after returning from a trip to Montana, and was diagnosed with typhoid fever. His condition continued to worsen, and he died at his home in Huron on February 22, 1902. Pyle was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Huron.
