My Genealogy Hound

JOHN M. BYERS, civil engineer, P. O. Pittsburgh, was born in Selin’s Grove, Snyder county, Pa. His father, Joseph Byers, was born at Lewes, Del., in 1808, and was the son of John and Harriet (Webb) Byers, of Lewes, Del., and grandson of Dr. John and ____ (Edwards) Byers, of Pennsylvania. John A. Byers, brother of Joseph Byers, was born at Lewes, Del., Sept. 15, 1806. John A. Byers and Joseph Byers were civil engineers, and were engaged as early as 1826 in the most important inland navigation works in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The last work of importance performed by John A. Byers was the surveys of the James River and Kanawha canal. The books which contained his surveys of this improvement were so remarkably accurate that copies of them were purchased after his death by the U. S. government, for the further prosecution of the work. Joseph Byers, for a number of years, was in charge of important engineering work on the Pennsylvania railroad; died Dec. 16, 1854. Sons of Joseph Byers were as follows:

John M. Byers, since 1848, has been connected with railroad building in Pennsylvania. In April, 1871, he was appointed chief engineer of the Pittsburgh, Virginia & Charleston railway, and was engineer and superintendent of it until completed, in 1881. Since then he has been in charge of locating and constructing work for the Pennsylvania railroad up to this time. Charles E. Byers was the valued chief engineer of the Reading railroad until his death. Joseph Byers, Jr., was an engineer of much experience; died in the United States of Colombia, S. A. Ellwood Byers is in the service of the Reading railroad; Robert Byers died in the three-months service of the Union army; Walter P. Byers is in the service of the Reading railroad; Henry W. Byers is engineer of maintenance-of-way, Pennsylvania company, at Lawrence Junction.

Our subject married Carrie Mann Lewis, who has borne him three children, viz.: Morton Lewis Byers, Mary E. and Maxwell. Of these the eldest is a graduate of Lehigh University, class of 1888, and is now an assistant engineer in the service of the Pennsylvania company. The mother of John M. Byers, Jane (Peplow) Byers, died Oct. 13, 1888, in her seventy-sixth year.