John W Byrd was one of those people whose entrance into this world was as mysterious as his exit. Save for a few scattered newspaper clippings, I may have thought he passed away as a child. He did not, although he was a young man and his death tragic.
Sarah D Smith, known as Sallie, was born about 1830 to James M. Smith and wife Elizabeth, in Stanly County, North Carolina. She grew up just north of the present town of Albemarle. Jackson Byrd, also spelled Bird, was born about 1832 , the son of Henry Byrd and his wife Mahala. In 1850, he was 18 years old and living with his parents in Freeman Township, Stanly County, NC, near the Morrow Mountain area.
| Name | Jackson H Bird |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Marriage Date | 8 Jan 1854 |
| Marriage Place | Stanly, North Carolina, USA |
| Spouse | Sarah Smith |
| Spouse Gender | Female |
| Event Type | Marriage |
On January 8, 1854, Jackson Bird married Sarah Smith, and a family had begun.
In 1860, the couple are found living right next to her parents, James and Elizabeth Smith. They have two children, Elizabeth J., age 6, and Henry, age 3. Jackson was a Carpenter by trade, probably an autodidact.
Then the World degenerated.
The country split in half and went to war with itself. Jackson Byrd was of the age to serve. Jackson, called Jack in Elizabeth and Henry's future paperwork, is seen at different times, with the middle initial of "H" and at other times as "G" or "D". He enlisted in Compan I of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry. Jack served in the Confederate Army because North Carolina was a Confederate State. He was enlisted on April 26, 1862, in Albemarle, NC, by Henry H. Milton, for three years or the war. He was held as a Prisoner of War, and paroled on Januray 23, 1864.
| Name | Jackson D Bird |
|---|---|
| Enlistment Age | 31 |
| Birth Date | abt 1831 |
| Enlistment Date | 26 Apr 1862 |
| Enlistment Place | Stanly County, North Carolina |
| Enlistment Rank | Private |
| Muster Date | 28 Apr 1862 |
| Muster Place | North Carolina |
| Muster Company | I |
| Muster Regiment | 52nd Infantry |
| Muster Regiment Type | Infantry |
| Muster Information | Enlisted |
| Imprisonment Date | 3 Jul 1863 |
| Imprisonment Place | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
| Imprisonment 2 Date | 12 May 1864 |
| Imprisonment 2 Place | Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia |
| Casualty Date | 3 Jul 1863 |
| Casualty Place | Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
| Type of Casualty | Hospitalized |
| Side of War | Confederacy |
| Survived War? | No |
| Residence Place | Stanly County, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Carpenter |
| Notes | 1863-07-20 Transferred, (David's Island, NY Harbor), And paroled; 1863-09-08 Exchanged, (City Point, VA); 1864-01-15 Returned, Estimated day; 1864-05-17 Confined, (Point Lookout, MD); 1864-08-08 Transferred, (Elmira, NY); 1865-02-20 Paroled, (Elmira, NY); 1865-02-20 Transferred, (James River, VA), For exchange |
| Additional Notes 2 | Casualty 2 Date: 03 Jul 1863; Casualty 2 Place: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Casualty 2 Casualty Type: Wounded; |
| Title | North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster |
The above report gives a panoptic view of his service. Here, they have him as Jackson D. Bird
| me | J G Bird |
|---|---|
| Rank | Private |
| Arrival Date | 17 May 1864 |
| Imprisonment Date | 12 May 1864 |
| Imprisonment Place | Spotsylvania Courthouse |
| Side of War | Confederate |
| Company | I |
| Regiment | 52 North Carolina |
| Transfer date | 8 Aug 1864 |
Above, is a record of his imprisonment at Spotsyvania Courthouse, with his middle initial as 'G'. On a Muster roll dated a year after he enlisted, on Auguest 31st of 1863, it was noted that he was left on the battlefield at Gettysburg, PA on July 3rd of that year. He was wounded in the right shoulder and later ended up at Elimira. He was involved in a prisoner of war exchange. There is no indication he made it home and it is noted in the files that he did not survive the War. His place of burial is unknown. It is thought he died of his wounds, possibly after the exchange.
Sally Smith Byrd would never remarry. In 1869, she applied for and recieved a Homestead Grant.
Sarah Byrd recieved another gift in 1869, in the form of her third child, John W. Byrd, the focus of this post. There are no bastardy bonds that exist for Sarah Byrd. If Jack Byrd died when he was purported to be, then it would be impossible for him to have been the father of JohnW. Byrd. However, the more I examine the actual documentation on Fold3.com, it is very clear he did not die at Gettysburg. He was, however, wounded. He was held as a prisoner of War. The last date of any action bearing his name is that he was Paroled on February 2, 1865, from Elmira, New York. Alive.
One documents has him being transfered to Elmira on August 8, 1864, along with other men in the "B" name list from the 52nd North Carolina, F. F. Bostick, John L. Brown, (who it was noted died on July 28, 1864), John Brown, (no middle initial), Robert Brooks, Z. D. Blalock (another local), and Robert Blevins.
Could Jackson have actually made it home and then passed away before 1869, when Sarah obtained her Homestead Grant?
Whatever may have befallen Jackson G. Byrd between 1865 and 1870, Sarah Smith Byrd is alone in 1870.
She is living in the same place as she was before, listed just below her mother, Elizabeth Smith, and little sister, Eliza Thomas Smith. James Smith, patriarch, passed away in 1862, and was buried in a family cemetery on the property. They lived near the Palmers. Her daughter, Elizabeth, is not to be found, but she was very much alive. It appears they must have missed her, but at 16, she may have been working for another family, or visiting a friend, and missed when Mr. McCorkle stopped by. Henry is now 13, and the family has been completed with the addition of one year old John.
That's as far as most people got with John W. Byrd. Descendants of his sister, Elizabeth and brother, Henry, seem to have him passing away as an infant and totally oblivious as to where he may have came from. They even have his mother, Sallie, passing away before 1880, but neither of those things happened.
I found Sallie and her children in 1880, in the same location as 10 years prior, the same township. Her baby sister Eliza has grown up and married, and her mother, Elizabeth has moved along with them, to an area near Norwood in the southern part of the county. The census taker had written Sally's name first name first, just the opposite of what he'd done with her neighbors, so it had been transcribed backwards, as Bird Sally, and the children were all given the surname Sally.
Sally was now 52, Elizabeth J. Byrd had found her way home and was now 25. Henry was 22 and young John, only 10 years old. Things were about to change drastically.
Henry was the first to marry. On November 2nd, 1886, in Stanly County, 27 year old Henry F. Byrd married 19 year old Mary A. Harris. His parents were listed as Jack and Sally Bird, both deceased, so Sally had passed away between July of 1880 and Novembert of 1886. The bride was the daughter of Guilford and Catherine Harris, both of her parents still living. The ceremony took place at the home of Guilford Harris in Harris Township and was performed by Rev. B. H. Carter, ol' Baldy Henderson Carter. Witnesses present at the wedding were Prince Carter, Adaline Lowder, and John Bird! John was now about 16 years old and very much alive.
Elizabeth followed suit and married about three years later. On September 18, 1889, by J. M. Redwine, Justice of the Peace, Thomas H. Hall, of Stanly County, age 49 years old, married Lizzie Byrd of Stanly County, age 33. The groom was the son of Eldridge and Sarah Hall, his father still living and his mother deceased. The bride was the daughter of Jackson and Sarah Byrd, both deceased. The wedding took place at the home of Dr. Richard A. Anderson in Albemarle Township. Witnesses were mostly unlegible, the first a J. M. B......, maybe Brown? Next could be R. A. Anderson, but faint and still faint, the last could be W. or H Russell or Brassell.
There were two land records of interest concerning the two eldest of the Byrd children. Of note, I've not found any record of the dispersion of the Homestead of Sallie Smith Byrd after her passing.
The first involved Henry F. Byrd. This was not his only land transaction, only his first, and the remainder, which came after, seemed to involve his children, or regular land swaps with neighbors.
In Book 18, Page 429 Adaline Mabry of Stanly County, sold to Henry F. Byrd of Union County, for $25 a tract in Harris Township that adjoined the lands of Betty (no surname given) and others, by 2 pines and his own corner to a stone in a springhead containing 6 and 1/4 acres. Dated January 20, 1891.
This gives a few clues, that first that sometime after 1880, and probably after his marriage, Henry F. Byrd had temporarity moved to Union County. Also, as this tract met his own corner, he had done so while retaining land in Stanly County, in Harris Township The stone in a spring head is a phrase I had came across while perusing land records concerning his grandfather, James Smith's property. Lastly, the fact that they omitted the surname of Betty in the deed. Could this have just been a simple error? Could Betty have referred to his sister, Elizabeth, despite the fact that she normally went by the name "Lizzie"? This makes me wonder if the small tract that Adeline Mabry sold to him bordered the Sallie Smith Byrd homestead.
The next deed really has me perplexed and involves Lizzie Byrd. The deed is dated September 16, 1889. Lizzie Byrd married Thomas H. Hall on September 18, 1889, just two days later, at the home of Dr. R. A. Anderson. A little fishy, or at least interesting.
Dr. Richard Abel Anderson (R. Anderson in the deed) and his wife, Mary Louisa Forrest Anderson (Mary L. Anderson in the deed) gave to Lizzie Byrd , "in consideration for the love and affection they have for Lizzie Bird,...for the term of her Natural Life and no longer unless she leave a child or children who obtain the age of 21". The property was located in the Town of Bilesville, now known as New London, and it joined the properties of R.G.D. Pickler, Thomas Ritchie, John R. Ivey and the Stanly Freehold Gold Mine Company. It began at a stone file on Richmond Gates Davidson Pickler's corner, ran to the Stokes Ferry Road, which at that time ran to New London. Route 8 loosely follows it today. That was the 1st tract of 1/2 acres. The second tract also contained 1/2 acre and bordered "Sides", and was "the same lands deeded from John R. Ivey to Matilda Sides and from J. F. Sides to R. A. Anderson" to Lizzie Byrd and then to her children.
Why had the Andersons given Lizzie Byrd a house lot in Bilesville? Was it a wedding gift? What was the relationship between Lizzie and the Andersons? Mary Louisa had been a Forrest before marriage, and there were interactions, even intermarriages between the Forrests and the Smiths. Mary Louisa had been the daughter of Rowland Forrest and Adeline Jane Moss. Dr. Anderson had arrived rather recently, with twenty years, from Davie County. There doesn't appear to have been a familial relationship.
They were not neighbors, but in 1880, the Andersons were shown with a family of young children, and they were living near Adeline Mabry, who sold property to Lizzie's brother, Henry, just a few years later. Could Lizzie have went to work as a housekeeper and Nanny, after the death of her mother, and worked for the Andersons? How had they came to love her so much? This isn't a random question, if anyone knows how Elizabeth James "Lizzie" Byrd was related to, or connected to Dr. R. A. Anderson and wife, Mary Louisa Forrest Anderson, please let me know.
And could the move near the Gold Mining area of New London have had an affect on their much younger brother, John?
Lizzie and her husband, Thomas Hawkins Hall, would remain in Stanly County. Having married a little later in life than most, Lizzie would have only three children, a small family for the era, and lose one son, Cap Hall, at an early age. She raised a son Henry Byrd Hall, and a daughter, Hattie Mae Hall. The 1900 census reported her as the mother of three with two living.
Thomas Hall would live until 1921, died in New London, but buried at Badin Baptist. Lizzie would outlive him by about two decades and passing away on July 19, 1940. She joined her husband in the grounds on Badin Baptist.
 |
| Henry Franklin Byrd. |
Henry Franklin Byrd, Sarah Smith Byrd's second born, and his wife, Mary Harris, would raise six children in Harris Township, five daughters in a row, Dora, Anna, Sally, Fannie, Ila Mae and finally, a son, Alonzo. Henry lived until May 21, 1923, and his wife until 1937. They were buried at the Prospect Church Cemetery, north of Albemarle, near the Palestine Community.
No family trees who carry the descendants of these two, carry their younger brother John past infancy.
The voices of the cosmos were telling me this was not so, then I found the entire family of 'Sally's' and of course, John had witnessed his brother's wedding. While the surname of Byrd is not as common as that of Smith, paired with the first name 'John', which is barely a name at all due to its commoness, finding John was not an easy task. He did not remain in Stanly County. However, he did visit.
Thankfully, newspapers for Stanly County, covering those last mysterious decades of the 19th century, and the ambitious first days of the 20th, have survived these hundred plus years. There were several reports during those days of John W. Byrd having visited his siblings in and around New London, from gold mining areas. He had become a miner. On the 4th of July, he was visiting from Gold Hill in Rowan County, in conjunction with C. H. Ross and John Harris.
C. H. Ross would have been his friend, Craig Hendrix Ross. Close in age to John W. Byrd, C. H. Ross was the son of Williamson Jackson Ross and wife, Nancy Smith Ross. John and Craig would have been second cousins once removed. Nancy Smith Ross was the daughter of Parham Smith, son of Robert Smith. Robert Smith and James Smith, John W. Byrds maternal grandfather, shared a father, William Smith who died in 1845, but perhaps not a mother.
Craig grew up in the same area as John W. Byrd and was close in age, less than a year apart. He moved to Tennessee, where he marreid, died in Texas, but returned to Tennessee for burial. Before that, he had tweedled in Gold mining, like John.
John Harris was about a decade older than his other two friends, and also from Harris Township. He is found in 1900 as a Liveryman, living with his sister Fanny near Smiths, Picklers and Millers.. He was the son of Milton Harris and Mary Ann Klutzz and would marry Jenny Miller.
The Stanly News and Press would continue to report of Craig and John's trips to gold mining areas as they adventured as young men, and visits home to relatives in New London. I was especially intrigued by the above article that suggested deer sightings were rare. I'm glad they have made a come back. A hundred and twenty years ago, they were almost wiped out.
The Gold Knob Mine in Rowan County, was located northeast of Rockwell and southeast of Granite Quarry, between the towns, Highwary 52 (or the Salisbury Highway) and the river. It was just off Stokes Ferry Road.
There are multiple mentions of John W. Byrd and his associates making visits to or visits from New London to various Gold Mines and Gold Mining areas.
Then came Haile, and I found John William Byrd. Between 1902 and 1903, John W. Byrd had gotten a job at the Haile Mine, located in Kershaw, South Carolina.
 |
| Haile Mine, Kershaw, South Carolina |
Three years prior, in the 1900 census, he was found boarding in the town of Jefferson, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, while working as a miner. He was single at this time, and traveling a lot, between Rowan and Stanly Counties in North Carolina and Chesterfield and Lancaster in South Carolina.
| Name | John W Bird |
|---|---|
| Age | 34 |
| Birth Date | 1866 |
| Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Home in 1900 | Jefferson, Chesterfield, South Carolina |
| House Number | 6 |
| Sheet Number | 17 |
| Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation | 293 |
| Family Number | 299 |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Male |
| Relation to Head of House | Boarder |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Father's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Mother's Birthplace | North Carolina, USA |
| Occupation | Miner (Gold) |
| Can Read | Y |
| Can Write | Y |
| Can Speak English | Y |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Boyd Harman | 39 |
| Anna Harman | 36 |
| John W Bird | 34 |
| Franklin Harman | 17 |
| Harl Harman | 14 |
He came home at least a few times of year to visit with Lizzie and Henry and his New London area friends.
In 1904, he was in New London, visiting again. Then he met Queen.
Queen Victoria Phillips was born June 13, 1888, in Kershaw, Lancaster County, South Carolina, daughter of Bill Phillips and Francis Baker Phillips. John obviously probably met her while working at the Haile Minining Company.
A marriage license can't be found, but married indeed they were. I discovered the probable cause for that was a courthouse fire. Apparently, surviving marriage licenses in Lancaster County don't begin until 1911! And I thought we had it bad because of all the Montgomery County 🔥!
John W. Byrd and Queen Victoria Phillips Bird had three children in fairly quick succession:
-John Lee Byrd was born on April 9, 1905.
-William Henry Byrd was born on February 13, 1908.
-Francis Ethel Byrd was born on April 24, 1910.
Above is the family in the 1910 census. John W. Byrd was an Engineer, in the Gold Mining Industry. He and his young wife had been married for 5 years, giving a year of 1905 as the year they married. They had two little boys, John, 3 and William Henry 1. Their place of residence was given as Flat Creek, Lancaster, S. C. Queenie was the mother of two, with two living. Both she and John could read and write. She was also heavily pregnant. The date was April 15, 1910. Their daughter would be born just days later, on April 24, 1910.
Then tragedy struck.
Right around the time of his daughters birth, John was involved in a terrible accident at the mine. He was crushed, and was gotten out of the mine and taken to Charlotte, NC for medical treatment. He had both legs and feet crushed and broken, an arm broken and unnamed internal injuries. He lived about two weeks. The age was incorrect in the newspaper report, but still, he was a young man. I don't know if he even got to hold his baby girl.
During his short life, John W. Byrd had gotten around. It seems that his interest in Gold Mining began in New London, NC, where he may have lived with his sister after his mother's death. He and his friends then ventured into neighboring Rowan County where they worked in Gold Hill and Gold Knob, which are several miles apart. He's then found in areas south, Monroe in Union County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Chesterfield County, SC and then in Kershaw, Lancaster County, SC, where for a few happy years, he had made a home.
He would visit freinds and family often. There are multiple mentions of his visits.
Johns estate was probated in June of 1911. His wife, Queen, was the Administrator, and she sued.
Queen statted that her husband, John W. Byrd had died intestate on May ll, 1910, and "that said deceased was killed by the Haile Gold Mining Company....by negligence and willfullness." She had inacted a cause of action "in favor of the petitioner and the children of John W. Byrd."
Queen Victoria Phillips Byrd was able to acquire enough funds to pay the young families debts, afford her husband a fitting burial and maintain the well-being of herself and their three young children for awhile.
| Name | John W. Byrd |
|---|---|
| Death Date | 11 May 1910 |
| Cemetery | Buffalo Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Burial or Cremation Place | Mount Pisgah, Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States of America |
| Has Bio? | Y |
Johns body was returned t o Kershaw from Charlotte, and was buried in the Buffalo Baptist Church Cemetery.
There remained one nagging question in my mind, was John William Byrd actually a Byrd?
A picture of John exists within the Haile Mining Company records of some of their early Engineers and Executives. There's no doubt that John was an ambitious young man, who, having survived and been given the chance, would have risen high within the ranks of the company.
One thing that stands out to me, is the lack of resemblence to his older brother, Henry F. Byrd, whom he named his second son for, probably, although the name had trailed down the generations from their Grandfather, Henry Byrd, father of Jackson. Henry, in old age, still had most of his blonde hair, and even in the sepia photo, it's clear his eyes were light, either blue or pale green, which is what is reported on aWWI draft registration, although he didn't have to serve. John, on the other hand, at a much younger age, had a significant receding hairline, and dark hair, clinging to his scalp in a tightly coiled curls. Was he a full or half Brother?
Then, while looking back, and better, through the military records of Jackson Byrd, I had an answer, or at least one part of it. After Jackson Byrd was paroled from Elmira, he was noted as "Dead on the Boat", before his arrival to whereever he was being shipped. Jackson Byrd had not made it home alive. It was impossible for him to have been the father of John William Byrd. Sallie Smith Byrd had brought to life a baby with a Ghost Dad, in the hours of the last of her child-bearing years. I hope descendants of his three children will take DNA tests to explore their heritage, and I hope that they find my posts to at least link them back to their Smith and Stanly County roots.
Haile Mining Company still exists and still exhibits their historic beginnings. Their safety regulations are now modern and far safer than those John worked with 114 years ago.
Queen Byrd was a young, resourceful and resilient woman. She went on to live a long and fruiltful life. She remarried, to a local man, Elijah Jackson Robinson.
| Name | Queen Robinson |
|---|---|
| Age | 30 |
| Birth Year | abt 1890 |
| Birthplace | South Carolina |
| Home in 1920 | Flat Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina |
| Street | Road From Kershaw To Robinson Settlement |
| Residence Date | 1920 |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Female |
| Relation to Head of House | Wife |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse's Name | Elijah Robinson |
| Father's Birthplace | South Carolina |
| Mother's Birthplace | South Carolina |
| Able to Speak English | Yes |
| Able to read | Yes |
| Able to Write | Yes |
| Neighbors | View others on page |
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| Elijah Robinson | 29 |
| Queen Robinson | 30 |
| William H Byrde | 11 |
| Ola Robinson | 7 |
| E J Robinson | 1 |
In 1920, Queen is 30, her new Husband is 29, and they've had two children of their own, Mary Ola Robinson and Elijah J Robinson , Jr. Her son, William Henry Byrd, was living with them. I wondered what happened to the other two Byrd children.
Looking at the actual record, I saw they were with her parents, William and Frances Phillips, and right next door, along with their cousin, Mary Baker. Whether they lived there all the time, or were just visiting, I can't tell.
Queen Victoria Phillips Byrd Robinson remained in Flat Rock, Lancaster County, South Carolina for the remainder of her life. She passed away on February 3, 1895, at the age of 96.
John Lee Byrd remained in Lancaster County. He married and had four children, two sons and two daughters, passing away in 1991.
William Henry Byrd passed away in Kershaw, Lancaster County, SC in December of 2002. He, too, had married, and with wife, Eva, raised a family of 10, six daughters and four sons. Both brothers had worked in the textile industry.
Frances Ethel Byrd died in Camden, Kershaw County, SC in 1998. She married Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Small and raised a family of 7 sons. They farmed and Frank drove a truck. She seems to have been raised by her grandparents, as she was still with them in 1930, working as a farm laborer.
John W Byrd did die a young man, due to his taste for gold. But he did not die as a child, he had a full, though short life, and fathered three children who grew up mostly without him. He left his genes in three children, 21 grandchildren, and his legacy continues. I found him.
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