Hi Penny, Our BYERS appear to have been born in northern England. We have a Mary BYERS BEATTIE born circa 1885, married in Carlisle in 1907 to a shepherd, David BEATTIE (b1872, d 1914). Mary BYERS BEATTIE had three sons (Robert James b 1907; Thomas Leslie b 1909; John David b 1911) and died sometime between 1915 and 1926 in Carlisle we think. She had a brother William S. BYERS who was alive in 1926 and lived at Sparrow Rigg, Woodhouses. That's the extent of what we know so far. Mary BYERS BEATTIE was my husband's grandmother. BYERS is an English and Scottish place name for the man who lived by a cattleshed, from Old English byre = cattleshed, or as a place name for the man who hailed from a so-named location such as Byers Green (County Durham), or Byers (near Edinburgh). BYRES, BIERS are variations. Good luck with your search. Ann *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Ann Neilson Beattie & David Beattie, Cochrane Alberta Canada researching BEATTIE/BYERS borders area of England/Scotland; also Ireland & Canada *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- -----Original Message----- From: PJS [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 9:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [BYERS] John R. Byers - IA/WA 1872-1950s New to this list.... looking for names of parents for John R. Byers bc 1872 Iowa (age 22 - on 1895 Iowa Census - occupation: teacher). He married Ellen Thompson (b 1872 Fulton, Whiteside Co, IL). John and Ellen were married June 16, 1898 at St. John's Catholic Church in Bancroft, Kossuth Co, Iowa (Rev. A.J. Schemiel). They were living in Everett, Snohomish Co, WA by 1914. John was the principal of Washington School. Don't know when John died, but he was still living in 1942 when Ellen died. Children mentioned in her obit were (sons) John R. Byers and Maurice Byers - (daughters) Mrs. Harold Ottestad and Mrs. Paul Ellis. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help, Penny