By Theresachristine Etim

Wearing a Hawaiian-styled shirt with dreaded hair to match, Hawaiian native Keito St. James might look far from a Hays county resident.

He says Aloha when he greets, and he owns production company called Tropical Production Entertainment, which hosts multi-cultural events at schools and country clubs. 

But there’s more than meets the eye with St. James, who has traced his ancestry to the pioneer of Kyle, as in Claiborne Kyle.

His connection to the Kyle family starts with Claiborne, who was born in 1800 in Tennessee.  

Kyle lived as a local Tennessee politician until financial problems caused his bankruptcy, which caused him to move to Texas. Accompanying him was his family, as well as other individuals, including David Kyle, who is an ancestor of St. James. 

According to an excerpt he found from a book, St. James claims that all Kyles were “free men by 1840, before the Civil War, and came to Texas together to build a new life.” 

“They walked side by side down the streets of San Marcos wearing sidearms and taking no guff from anyone. I think we’re all that way,” the excerpt from the book said.

Following his move to Texas in the mid 1800s, Claiborne found success in the political arena that started his career. 

He served as a senator in Travis County. His wife bore nine children, almost half of whom, fought in the civil war. One of his sons, Fergus Kyle, is the founder of Kyle, for whom the city is named. 

The family homestead, the Claiborne Kyle Log House, still sits on original Kyle property.

A man named Sam Kyle, who is an ancestor of St. James, helped build the log house, along with other family members in 1850. 

This led to a close bond between the Kyle families, according to St. James.  

But it was in 1877 when David Kyle, father of Sam, was given roughly 160-plus acres from Claiborne. 

Following that time, David, along with Sam and his brother Allan, became the caretakers of the homestead. In addition, the group herded cattle on the property on the Blanco River. 

St. James says the family has owned the land inherited from Claiborne Kyle for over 100 years. The land was passed down from David to Sam, who then passed the land down to St. James great-grandmother, Mary Kyle. She then passed down the land to her daughter, Viola Kyle-Lawson. 

“The land that Mary Kyle (my grandmother’s mother) owned, we now own today since 1905,” St. James said. “They were really big about agriculture, owning land. They were farming-type personalities. My grandmother Viola Kyle was really into leasing property and had around 30 rent houses.”

Family members also shared similar traits with the Kyle family. St. James described Viola as 6-feet tall in height and having a sharp jaw line, a similar trait used to describe the Kyle family.

“They’re all really tall, just really tall people,” St. James said. “All of the women in my family are around (5-foot, 11 inches) to 6 feet [in height]. It’s really close, the features. But the pictures say it all.”

In addition, several of St. James ancestors are buried “next door” to Kyle Cemetery and close to the Kyle Family. 

 Viney Kyle, who was the wife of David, was the first person buried in what is known as the Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery. 

St. James continues to trace the family’s heritage, and keeps the story alive by being open about his lineage. 

“The Kyles of color have been part of the Kyle family even in Tennessee, whole generations,” St. James said. “My goal is to have a history that we did exist, that we were there and a part of the cabin. We’re the ones who built the cabin.”