NOTE: Figures, maps, and documents for the following bio can be viewed at:
https://www.tngenweb.org/stewart/family/William%20Carroll%20Byrd%20family_ms-figs_091818.pdf

Margaret Elizabeth Jackson (b. Sept. 22, 1827 in Sumner Co. TN) married William Carroll Byrd in Calloway Co. KY on Mar. 7, 1844 across the Tennessee River from his home on Byrd Creek, Stewart Co. TN. Margaret was the oldest daughter of Alexander Dameron Jackson (b. May 7, 1797 Nottaway Co. VA ‐ d. Apr. 15, 1886 New Concord, Calloway Co. KY) and Margaret Elizabeth Stalcup (b. Nov. 9, 1797 Smith Co. TN ‐ d. Sept. 8, 1886 New Concord, Calloway Co. KY); see: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24285932/alexanderdameron-jackson https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24285945/margaretjackson

Carroll and Margaret's first two children, Alfred Marion Byrd (b. ~1847) and William Conley Byrd (b. ~1849) were born in Stewart Co. TN, probably along Byrd Creek in District 8. On April 3, 1849 William Carroll Byrd sold 50 acres of his land in District 8 of Stewart Co. TN to Frances W. Marberry and moved his family to the area of Brunot, in then Wayne (later Iron) Co. MO where the rest of his children were born: George Washington Byrd (b. Apr. 19, 1851 Wayne Co. MO), John Alexander Byrd (b.~1853 Wayne Co. MO), Martha Ann Byrd (b. ~1855 Wayne Co. MO), Andrew Jackson Byrd (b. Mar. 29, 1857 Pilot Knob, Iron Co. MO), Louisa Catherine Byrd (b. ~1859 Iron Co. MO), Carroll Jefferson Byrd (b. ~1861 Iron Co. MO), and Margaret Elizabeth Byrd (b. ~1862 Iron Co. MO).

A General Land Office document dated Oct. 2, 1854 indicates that William Carroll Byrd had also received a Military Land Warrant (No. 35142 for 40 acres) near Brunot and assigned to him by his father-in-law, Alexander Dameron Jackson – a War of 1812 veteran (Private, Captain Holder's Company, North Carolina Militia). This assigned land to William Carroll Byrd was located near Brunot, Missouri ("South half of Lot number two, of the North West quarter, of Section six, in Township twenty nine of Range five, East, in the District of Land subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri…" )

William Alexander Jackson, the younger brother of Margaret Elizabeth Jackson and the brother-in-law of William Carroll Byrd, received a GLO Land Patent on July 1, 1857 near Patterson, Wayne Co. MO for 200 acres. He then obtained another GLO Land Patent for an additional 120 acres on Oct. 30, 1857. A March 18, 1858 Iron County land deed (Iron County Record Book A, page 551) also documents the transfer of 40 acres in Iron County from James and Mary Chilton to William Carroll Byrd family_ms-figs_091818 Page 2 of 30 James and Mary Chilton "…of the County of Wayne…" to William Carroll Byrd; this in consideration of $500 . An April 1, 1858 GLO Land Patent to William Carroll Byrd for 86.76 acres and another one on Sept. 1, 1859 for 120 acres.

During this turbulent time in United States history (not unlike what we currently experience in modern-day America), a series of mysterious land transactions occur between William Carroll Byrd and his neighbors in Iron County. The first dated December 7, 1860 between William Carroll Byrd and his wife Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd to David W. Shaver . The next occurs March 23, 1863 where David W. Shaver and his wife Elisabeth Shaver sell this same land back to William Carroll Byrd for the "…Sum of One Dollar received to our full satisfaction…." . Then, on the same day William Carroll Byrd and his wife Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd sold this land (230 acres) to Charles M. Roberts for $278 . The above land transactions by William Carroll Byrd and his wife Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd between 1860-1863 in Iron County have been interpreted by some as reflecting the possible service of William Carroll Byrd in the Confederate Army, or at the very least his sympathy for the Southern cause. There was a William C. Byrd in Co. F, 8th Arkansas Infantry who enlisted in Pocahontas, Arkansas and WIA at Peach Tree Creek outside Atlanta GA in 1864; unfortunately there is no home address or age information for this soldier.

Margaret's brother, William Alexander Jackson also served in the Confederate forces. He served as a Private in Captain Holmes' Company B, Clardy's Battalion Missouri Cavalry and was surrendered by CSA Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson to Union Major General G.M. Dodge on May 11, 1865 at Wittsburg, Arkansas, being paroled there on May 25, 1865. He then swore another oath of allegiance to the United States in Memphis, TN on May 30, 1865. Very little information is known about his service in Clardy's Missouri Cavalry, but it is thought that the unit operated as a partisan (guerrilla) unit and participated in CSA General Sterling Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. William Alexander Jackson returned to live near his parents in Calloway County, KY after the war – suggesting his possible activity as a Missouri partisan/guerrilla and post-war ostracism by pro-Union neighbors in the Patterson, Wayne Co. MO area where he lived . William Alexander Jackson died in 1911; see: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24802993/william_a.-jackson .

Lastly, Margaret's husband William Carroll Byrd appears on a List of Lands and Lots in Iron County, MO for which taxes are due and unpaid for the years 1861 through 1865. This may reflect not only his absence during those years but possibly his pro-Southern activities. A family story recorded by his grandson, Rev. James Elburn Byrd Sr., (b. Feb. 7, 1886 Ravenden Springs, Randolph Co. AR ‐ d. Jan. 8, 1966 Phoenix, Maricopa Co. AZ) may be related to this non-payment of Iron County taxes: "....grandfather had a pen full of fat hogs with which to make the final payment on his farm. But one day a squad of northern soldiers were out foraging for food and discovered the fat hogs. They tore down a corner of the pen and drove the fat hogs away. One of the hogs broke a leg while crossing a river bridge one mile from the farm and the Yankee soldiers were nice enough to return the crippled hog which they promptly butchered and consigned the smoke house."

This Byrd family story above does have some historical documentation supporting it; on Aug. 15, 1861 then Brigadier General U.S. Grant and based out of Ironton, Missouri sent two Federal infantry regiments on an expedition to Brunot, against suspected Confederate sympathizers in the area and arrested several neighbors of William Carroll Byrd and Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd at that time . Although drawn for Southwest Missouri, the rendition by Robert O. Sweeny would seem applicable to the interactions between Union soldiers and pro-southern civilians in Iron County.

There is no currently known documentation for Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd and her husband William Carroll Byrd after March 23, 1863. Margaret apparently died sometime between then and when William married his second wife, Chloe Davis Looney in Walnut Hill (near Ravenden Springs), Randolph Co. AR; this occurred on Christmas Eve, 1868. Prior to that event, on Oct. 19, 1867, William Carroll Byrd purchased 160 acres at Ring, NW Randolph Co. AR from John and Hannah Canada of Lawrence Co. AR.

This land at Ring is immediately Southwest of the Bellah Cemetery Road and the Ring Road intersection there in Randolph County, Arkansas. Bellah Cemetery is the nearest cemetery to the 160 acres owned by William Carroll Byrd, hence the placement for the Find A Grave memorials for Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd and her husband there.

Probate court documents indicate that William Carroll Byrd died in Randolph Co. AR, sometime during 1875; like his first wife, Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd, the exact time, place, and burial site are also unknown at this time. He is not buried with his second wife, Chloe David Looney in the Yadkin Cemetery, Randolph County, Arkansas; speculations are that he is perhaps buried with his first wife, Margaret Elizabeth Jackson Byrd somewhere in Southeast Missouri or Northeast Arkansas – sadly, no documentation has yet been discovered. It is hoped that this Byrd family history document may help historical and genealogical researchers in locating this information.