Noah S Tyson was born in Pitt, North Carolina (near Greenville) in 1808; his parents were Shem Tyson & Lucretia Adams. Noah had 2 brothers: Archibald -b1805, and John Adams-b1815, also one sister Elizabeth. Nothing is known about his early years until he married Amanda Brinkley in 1832, possibly in Pitt, North Carolina and left soon after for Lowndes Alabama. Noah Tyson stayed in Alabama for about 12 years, Mary Elizabeth b1836, John b1838, and Martha b1845 were born there and he also had another son Richard (my g-grandfather) b1844 with a slave Louisa Dunn that I think his brother Archibald brought from North Carolina. Noah's two brothers Archibald and John had also moved to Alabama in the 1830's so all three brothers were there. From what I’ve heard he was an overseer for his older brother Archibald while in Alabama. Noah moved to Caddo Parish in Louisiana by 1847 as his daughter Amanda Sarah was born 1847 in Caddo. Noah had 8 known children with his first wife Amanda, 5 children with Louisa Dunn/Gipson, also a slave named Caroline had two daughter’s of his named Jane Tyson/Gipson b1859, and Laura Tyson/Adams b1861, another slave named Chaney Stewart had his daughter Flora Tyson/Hamlin 1864. Another slave named Malinda Tyson/Harrison (b1834 in Alabama) had a son named Charles Tyson b1851 that may also be a son of Noah. This Charles Tyson Sr. is the father of the Charlie Tyson who was lynched in 1913 and has received a Senate Apology Resolution in 2005; many have said this lynching was over land. Noah’s second marriage was to Catherine Payne in 1872 (she is the mother of Ida Bozeman who married Noah Tyson Jr), they had no children. Noah died in 1874 in Caddo Parish. Noah’s plantation covered most of what is now Rodessa, formerly known as Frog Level. Noah Tyson was one of Frog Level’s founders, served as postmaster and a police juror along with running a store with Nathaniel Hoss called Hoss & Tyson, this link with the Hoss family continued as Noah's daughter Mary Emma married Nat's son James Monroe Hoss Sr. the man the town of Hosston was named after. Noah’s great-grandson, Noah Tyson IV lent his name to the Noah Tyson Memorial Park a popular spot for bird watchers. The Frog Level/Rodessa monument is located on Highway 1, north of Highway 168. From what I've heard, Richard & siblings didn't really live as slaves. Sambo told uncle David that they ate out of a big trough that Louisa filled up with cornbread and poured buttermilk over it. They ate with wooden spoons & forks that they made themselves out of hickory or cypress. Noah Tyson had 16 children, 117 known grandchildren, and 338 known g-grandchildren. The Tyson Family Of Caddo Parish, Louisiana book is now available - book info

FROG LEVEL MONUMENT - transcription Frog Level and Rodessa A town meeting was called in the 1800's. Noah Tyson, Sr., Store owner, Police Juror, and Postmaster, to name their town. The frogs were hollering in a nearby pond. A man from Alabama jumped up and said, "Let's name it Frog Level." And so they did. On April 1879, M. C. Spearman was appointed Postmaster.  Frog Level's name was changed to Rodessa in 1898 when K. C. S Railroad was built in the area. The president of the K. C. S. Railroad named the town after his daughter, we are told. In July 1935 the I. L. Young Gas well was brought in by United Gas Company, opening one of Louisiana's major oil fields.  As of January 1, 1973, 101,773,804 barrels of crude oil have been produced on the Louisiana side.

Noah’s family had been in North Carolina since his 3g-grandfather Matthias moved there from Accomack Virginia around 1700 where his father John had settled after coming to the US from Europe in the mid 1600s. Matthias and his family entered North Carolina as early settlers of Bath County, in the area which is now Hyde County, and lived near Slade's Creek, a branch of the Pungo River. For the next 25 years the Tysons lived in the same area and son Edward were to remain and leave descendants there. Then, in the 1730s began a great migration of the family and a rise to prominence. Sons Cornelius, Edmond, and Thomas Tyson, and John Hardee, husband of their sister Susannah, received large land grants in the area which was later (1760) to become Pitt County. Here they prospered and multiplied so that by 1762, the date of the oldest Pitt County tax list, 12 of the 492 households were headed by the grandsons of Matthias Tyson. The old homestead was on the North side of Tyson's creek and Little Contentnea Creek, ten miles west of Greenville. Many Tysons were Confederate War soldiers, they had large plantations that grew tobacco and owned many slaves, and there were some that had sworn allegiances to England.

Noah Tyson Lineage in America

• Noah Samuel Tyson Sr. -1808/1874 / Amanda Brinkley
• Shem Tyson - 1778/1825 / Lucretia Adams -1780/?
• Noah Tyson - 1757/1805 / Elizabeth Moore -1760/1788
• Moses Tyson - 1728/1803 - unknown wife
• Edmond Tyson - 1694/? / Mary ?
• Matthias Tyson - 1660/1710/Mary ?
• John Tyson "Jan Mathiason"- 1635/1683 / Susannika ?/1702

The parents of John Tyson in Europe are unknown as are his wife Susannika, some other family trees have her listed as Susannika Andrews but that is speculation. There is no record of her maiden name, or the wife of Matthias whom most all trees have as Mary Potts, that is not correct from what I’ve researched. There was another Matthias Tyson and Mary Potts that were from Pennsylvania, and this is a different tree, they are documented living there at the same time as the North Carolina Tysons, about a 20 year difference though. The maiden name of both Susannika and Mary are actually unknown.  There was a William Tyse (married Elizabeth May) found on an old ship record from 1635 that is thought by some to be John’s father, but no firm evidence on it yet.  It’s also believed he had 4 other brothers that came to America at that time: William, Samuel, Joel and Uriah. The most common theory on the origins of the Tyson family is this:

John TYSON is found in Northampton County, Virginia, as early as 1664. He is found in the tithables list (head tax lists) as early as 1664 as "Jan MATHIASON", in 1675 as "John MATHIASON", in 1676 as "John MATTISON" and in 1677 as "John TYSON". On March 27, 1679 "John TYSON and Susannika his wife and Matthias TYSON their son" bought 100 acres of land in Northampton County, Virginia from William ANDREWS. John TYSON appears to have died in Northampton County, Virginia during the first half of 1683, his Will being dated March 1, 1681, and probated August 28, 1683. In the Will he refers to his wife "Susanna TICE" and his "three children Matthias TICE and Anne TICE and Katherin TICE". John himself is referred to in his own Will as "John MATTICE" and "John MATTISON" and even signed his name as "Jan MATTISON". One must understand when reading the variations of the name "TYSON" that it underwent anglicization. It is the belief of some that John TYSON's real name was "John Matthias TYSON" because of the resemblance of the use of the name "Matt TYSON" for Matthias TYSON in a few documents and the names "MATTICE" and MATTISON". Source: Research of Bruce Tyson, and others: Because the name was anglicized after arrival back in English controlled Virginia, it is believed that the Tison family migrated from England to Holland for religious purposes, and then migrated to Virginia about the middle of the 1600's. Y-Chromosome DNA testing shows the Tyson's to be from the Haplogroup R1b sub-clade R1b1b2a2e (formerly R1b1c7) which shows possible ancient ancestry of North/West Ireland.

additional Tyson History

Earl & Huey Long: Caledonia Palestine Tyson, daughter of James E Tyson and Caroline Allbright of Georgia married Huey Pierce Long Sr in 1875 and were the parents of 11 children. Two of the sons were Huey Pierce Long Jr and Earl Kemp Long, both noted Louisiana politicians and attorneys.

Huey Pierce Long & Caledonia Palestine Tyson

Tyson Roots in Georgia

The Grove Historical Marker
Located at 600 Tyson Road (1/2 mile north of Flat Rock Rd.) in Villa Rica, Georgia.

• Transcription: In the mid-1600's, John Tyson traveled from the British Isles to Virginia. Over the next 200 years, his descendants migrated to North Carolina and on to Georgia. Alexander, Clement, and John Tyson and their mother Penelope settled this land in 1853. Their children, including Willis, Joseph T, and Solomon were born here and helped establish local churches and schools. Descendants of Willie's five children, Oscar, Lizzie T. Gardiner, Tom, Fannie T. Payne, and Will D., consider this their ancestral home and return to the Grove each year to renew family ties. Tyson Family and Friends 2003
• Caledonia Palestine Tyson’s (the mother of Earl & Huey Long) father James E Tyson was born in Georgia in 1811.

The Tyson family has two main branches in America, this North Carolina Branch that originated in Virginia, and another in Pennsylvania that was started by Reinier Tyson who came from Germany in the late 1600’s, he was a early founder of Germantown PA and is well documented in the local church records.