My Genealogy Hound

JEREMIAH C. BYRNS, of the firm of Byrns & Crowley, clothiers, and the popular and efficient Postmaster of Ware, was born in Westboro, Mass., on December 7, 1852, son of Jeremiah and Catharine (Murray) Byrns.

His father, Jeremiah Byrns, was born in Ireland in 1823. In 1845 he was joined in marriage with Miss Catharine Murray, and soon after they set out for America. Arriving here after a voyage of eight weeks, they settled in Boston, where Mr. Jeremiah Byrns engaged in business as a baker. About 1856 he came to Ware and established himself in the same business, which he successfully conducted up to the time of his death. He died April 2, 1890. His wife died seven years previously, in 1883. Six children were born of their union, of whom three sons and two daughters are now living. These are: William F. Byrns, M.D., residing in Washington, D.C., a graduate of Holy Cross College and of the Georgetown Medical College; James A. Byrns, a successful baker in Ware, the successor of his father in that business; Jeremiah C. Byrns; Mary, the widow of Phillip L. Keefe, residing in Ware; Elizabeth A. Byrns; and John Joseph, the latest-born, who died when two years old.

Jeremiah C. Byrns received a good practical education in the public schools of Ware. At the age of sixteen years he engaged in the bakery with his father, remaining until he attained his majority. He then secured a position as salesman in the clothing store of F. N. Hosmer, by whom he was employed for six years. From there he went to Philadelphia, where he held a similar position, and thence to Washington, and later to Chicago in March, 1881. In Chicago he was employed for eighteen months in the Putnam Clothing House, and during the following two and a half years he worked for Wilson Brothers. On account of failing health he returned to the East on January 10, 1885, and in March, 1886, he was appointed Postmaster of Ware. He entered upon his duties in June of that year, and held the position for four years. On December 1, 1890, in company with A. G. Crowley, he embarked in his present business of a dealer in ready-made clothing and gentlemen’s furnishing goods, under the firm name of Byrns & Crowley; and they are now doing a thriving business.

Mr. Byrns is a Democrat in his political views. In June, 1893, he received his second appointment as Postmaster, and has acted in that capacity since July 1 of that year. He and his family are members of the All Saints’ Catholic Church of Ware.