Anthony Byrd

As printed in 1881

ANTHONY BYRD, farmer; P. O. Springfield. Among the pioneers of Clark Co., Ohio, some there are who are recognized as true representatives of that class of men to whom the county owes its present wealth and prosperity, and whose characters, in over half a century of business activity, have never been stained by one act of wrong or injustice in their transactions with their fellow-man; and in this class stands * Squire” Byrd. He was born in Bedford Co.,Va., April 13, 1805, and is the son of Luke and Elizabeth (Huffman) Byrd, who came to Clark Co., Ohio, in December, 1816, locating near Springfield, his father dying Aug. 31, 1823; and his mother in September, 1835. At the age of 24, Anthony was married to Jane Snodgrass, daughter of John and Jane (Steel) Snodgrass, to whom were born three children—two boys and one girl—all of whom are living. In the spring of 1829, Mr. Byrd purchased a portion of the farm he now lives upon, and from time to time has added to it, until he is now the owner of 240 acres of finely improved land. On the 8th of December, 1836, his wife died, and in 1839 he was married to Maria Wallace, daughter of Jonathan and Isabella Wallace, of which union four children were born, two yet living. Mrs. Byrd died Juve 25, 1851, and, in October, 1854, he was married to Mary Cowan, daughter of Jane and David Cowan, who died in April, 1868, leaving him again without a helpmate to cheer and comfort him in his declining years. On the 27th of October, 1863, his son Wallace died from disease contracted in the army, whither he had gone to help preserve the Union. In 1834, Mr. Byrd was elected Justice of the Peace, and was re-elected seventeen years consecutively. Politically, an ardent Republican; he has always kept well informed upon the issues of the political parties, and, when Ft. Sumter was fired upon, he remarked, “ That is the beginning of the end of slavery,” demonstrating that he was a man of far-seeing mind and keen political sagacity. Since 1837, he has been a consistent member of the United Presbyterian Church, and has ever been kind and charitable to the poor or afflicted, and no one was more prompt in times of sickness in giving aid to those in distress. Upon one occasion, a neighbor of his being sick with typhoid fever, every one refused to go near the house through fear of catching the dread disease, but Mr. Byrd went and sat up with the patient several nights in succession, saying, “A neighbor of mine shall never suffer alone so long as I am able to go to his aid "— words that stamp him as a true followed of Christ, who never fled from the poor or distressed. Mr. Byrd is a plain, practical man, who believes in fulfilling his promises to the letter, and his life has been strongly marked by undeviating, unswerving integrity in all its relations, being one of those rare men whose aim is to be right and do right at all times.

As printed in The History of Clark County Ohio, (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.