ROBERT CARR BYERS, M. D., was born in Cumberland county, Penn., April 20, 1820, a son of Isaac and Mary (Carr) Byers. Abraham Byers, his grandfather, was also a native of Cumberland county, born near Carlisle, where he was reared and educated. He became an extensive teamster or wagoner, his route being for the most part between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and points farther west, he having as many as five teams on the road. This vocation he followed for several years and then went West, after which nothing was heard of him. He had married, in Chester county, Penn., Margaret Brenneman, who bore him two children: Isaac and Samuel. Isaac Byers, father of Robert C., was educated in the subscription schools of his native county (Chester, Penn.), and when yet a youth proceeded to Philadelphia, where he learned the trade of shoemaker. Soon after completing his apprenticeship he moved to Cumberland county, same State, and there followed his trade some years, at the end of which time he came to Washington county, and took up his residence near Canonsburg. Here he carried on another trade, that of carpenter and builder, up to 1849, in which year he moved to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he died in 1865. In 1811 he married Mary Carr, a resident of Cumberland county, and the following named eight children were born to them: Hiram, Elizabeth, Sarah (Mrs. James Munn), Mary (Mrs. David Woodring), Robert C., Isaac, Fannie and Hannah (Mrs. Masters). Mr. Byers was a Democrat in his political sympathies, and in religion he was a member of the M. E. Church, although the faith of his forefathers was Presbyterian. Robert C. Byers was a boy when his parents came to Washington county (in 1823), and it may be said of him that he is self-educated, as his school experiences were very limited. At the age of ten years he commenced to work on a farm, and when he was about twelve years old entered the employ of his brother, Hiram, in Monongahela (then called Williamsport), to learn the tailor trade, becoming a journeyman at the end of two years. His first venture in business for himself was, in 1839, made in Bentleyville, Washington Co., Penn., where he carried on tailoring six years. In 1845 he moved to Perryopolis, Fayette county, where he remained three years. While there he studied medicine under Dr. Estep, thence, in 1848, went to Fayette City, same county (then called Cookstown), and embarked in the drug business, in which he has since continued with eminent success, moving to Belle Vernon, Fayette county, in 1860, thence, in 1873, to Monongahela, this county, where he now resides. On September 17, 1839, Dr. Byers married Emily F., daughter of Micajah Churchman, a native of Delaware, who was twice married, first time to Eliza Sinclair, of New York, who bore him the following named children: Sinclair, William, Emily F. and Caroline. Mr. Churchman's second wife was Mrs. Sarah May, widow of Rev. May, an Episcopal minister, and by her marriage with Mr. Churchman she had three children: Francis M., Edward and Henrietta. Mr. Churchman was a Whig and a strong Abolitionist; in religious faith he was a member of the Society of Friends. He was an enterprising and well-to-do farmer and stock raiser. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Byers were: Albert S.; Mary .J., married to Isaac Bailey, now deceased (they had no children; she resides in Monongahela); Emma F., married to John Fumier (they reside near Allenport, Washington county, and they have seven children, viz.: Oliver, Bertha, Robert, Clyde, Thurman, Lilly and Garnet); Robert Eugene Byers, a leading druggist of Monongahela, was married to Miss Josephine Camp; William C. is a graduate physician of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and is a member of the medical firm of Copeland, Hall and Byers, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (he married Miss Mary Clark, daughter of Capt. Wm. Clark, and resides in Pittsburgh. They had two children: Mazey, and Birdie, who died at the age of ten months); Edward I. Byers (deceased), who was a druggist, and was married to Miss Sarah Nevada Clark, and had two children: Emma and Robert W.; Theodore M. Byers, a dry-goods merchant of Monongahela, married to Miss Agnes J. Cline, of Nebraska; and Carrie I., who died at the age of three years. The paternal ancestor of Dr. Robert C. Byers was German, while his maternal ancestor was Welsh. His grandmother, Mary Bruce, was born in Scotland, whence she came with her brothers, Robert and William Bruce, to Cumberland county, Penn. The brothers were soldiers in the war of 1812, and volunteered under Gen. Scott; both were captured and taken to England, and William died in a prison; Robert returned to Cumberland county, where he died soon after from the effects of his confinement in prison. Both these brothers died without issue. Dr. Byers is a member of the M. F. Church; in politics he was a Whig and Republican, but is now a Greenbacker. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. His wife, Emily F., had a birthright by her parents among the Society of Friends; there being no Society of Friends where she has resided since her marriage, she has united with the M. E. Church. Dr. Byers ranks among the leading men of the town, and he and his wife enjoy the confidence and respect of all who know them.

Text taken from page 1123 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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