Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr.

Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. (August 13, 1860 – October 23, 1925) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and newspaperman. He was the father of politician Harry Byrd and aviator Richard Byrd Jr.

Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr.
United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
In office 1914–1920
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	Barnes Gillespie
Succeeded by	Joseph J. Chitwood
40th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office January 8, 1908 – January 14, 1914
Preceded by	William D. Cardwell
Succeeded by	Edwin P. Cox
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Frederick and Winchester
In office January 10, 1906 – January 14, 1914
Preceded by	Edwin C. Jordan II
Succeeded by	John M. Steck
Personal details
Born	Richard Evelyn Byrd (1860-08-13)August 13, 1860 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 23, 1925(1925-10-23) (aged 65) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Hebron Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Eleanor Bolling Flood ​ ​ (m. 1886)​
Children	3, including Harry and Richard Jr.
Education	University of Virginia (BA) University of Maryland (LLB)
Profession	Lawyer politician newspaper publisher farmer
Signature

Early and family life

He was the first son born to Jennie (Rivers) and her husband William Byrd, who had become an adjutant general of the state of Texas, and born in Austin, Travis County, Texas, months after the American Civil War had begun. After the war, his parents returned to Virginia, and lived with his grandparents. His grandfather and namesake, also Richard E. Byrd (1801-1872), was a politician and by then former slaveholder (the elder Richard E. Byrd owned 26 enslaved people in Frederick County in 1860, and possibly more in neighboring Clarke County). The elder Byrd had been one of the representatives of Frederick, Hampshire, and Morgan counties in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1851 and had also served in the Virginia General Assembly. His great grandfather was Thomas Taylor Byrd, who used enslaved labor to work plantations, mostly in what became Clarke County after it was split from Frederick County. His great-great grandfather William Byrd had served in the British army during the American Revolutionary War, then moved to northwestern Virginia. This Richard E. Byrd graduated from the University of Virginia and later received a law degree from the University of Maryland.

This Richard E. Byrd married Eleanor Bolling Flood, also descended from the First Families of Virginia, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on September 15, 1886. They would have sons Harry Flood Byrd (1887–1966); Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888–1957) and Thomas Bolling Byrd (1890–1968).

Career

Byrd moved to Winchester, Virginia from West Virginia in 1887 and became a wealthy apple grower in the Shenandoah Valley and published the Winchester Star newspaper. He represented Winchester in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1908 until 1914. He was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia from 1914 until 1920.

Legacy

One of his sons, Richard, became famous as a naval aviator who led an expedition to the South Pole; another, Harry, would serve as Governor of Virginia and in the United States Senate.

References

• Jamerson, Bruce F., Clerk of the House of Delegates, supervising (2007). Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776-2007. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia House of Delegates.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. at The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007
• Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. at Find a Grave
• Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. at The Political Graveyard