This is the tombstone of Addison Ross Byers, a gentleman who led me down a couple of interesting paths this week --- even though he passed to his eternal reward in 1908. The stone is located in the Strong (also known as Belinda) Cemetery, one of Lucas County's more obscure graveyards --- within sight of Highway 14 northeast of Chariton and southwest of Columbia but a challenge to find unless you know how to get there. This map should help:
Born May 26, 1830, near Bloomington, Indiana, Mr. Byers and his wife, Charlotte, nee Vannoy (married April 12, 1853), arrived in Pleasant Township, Lucas County, via covered wagon with their older children in tow on Oct. 5, 1860, according to family lore. During 1866, with 14 other charter members, he and Charlotte were responsible for raising Belinda Christian Church from the dead. That's one reason why I'm interested in him.
Members of my family, including Mary Saunders Clair (a great-great-great-great-grandmother), were charter members of Belinda in its first incarnation, organized as the Disciples of Christ on English Creek with a covenant signed by 13 women and men on June 23, 1849, at the cabin of Brother Hiram and Sister Martha Moon. Although this congregation faltered about 1860 for unknown reasons, members of my family stuck with both the original and its reincarnation until the end during the mid-20th century.
Addison and Charlotte bought land near Belinda soon after their arrival from Indiana and after his return from service during the Civil War, they were among the 16 who signed on Dec. 31, 1866, a new covenant for the resurrected congregation, "the Church of Christ or Christian Disciples in Pleasant Township, Lucas County, Southwest of Columbia, but Near." Their home became the place where services were held until a few years later when a church building was constructed.
I've written quite a bit about Belinda history. You can find Part 1: "A little Belinda Christian Church history" here; and "Belinda Christian Church: Part Two" here.
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Anyhow, Addison was a prominent and respected resident of the Belinda community, Civil War veteran and noted auctioneer when he died on April 29, 1908, but almost half of his obituary (published in The Chariton Patriot of May 7, 1908) deals with his relationship to Belinda Church and the larger Christian/Disciples of Christ movement, as follows:
"Mr. Byers was a strong adherent to the faith known as the Christian church or Disciples of Christ. In early life he united with this church near Bloomington, Indiana. His pastor, James Blankenship, and his parents were worshipers with the old Cane Ridge, Kentucky, congregation during the ministry of Barton W. Stone. Mr. Byers enjoyed telling of those olden times, of the struggle of the faithful few in his boyhood home and also of the pioneer days in Iowa. With his family he moved to Iowa in the fall of 1860, at a time when civil strife threatened our nation.
"In 1866, a church organization was effected, consisting of 15 (actually 16) charter members. Mr. Byers being the last survivor of this noble band. The Byers home served as a house of prayer until 1873, when they built a house of worship."
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| Addison and Charlotte Byers (center) with some of their children (from left), Nicholas, David, Anna, Harvey and Nathan. |
This is the only instance I know of in Lucas County of a family that was able to trace its spiritual origins in genealogical fashion to one of the great American religious movements of the Second Great Awakening --- commencing with the massive Cane Ridge Revival of August 1801 involving as many as 20,000 souls near the Presbyterian meeting house at Cane Ridge, Kentucky.
Although a Presbyterian evangelist at the time, Barton W. Stone soon allied himself with another charismatic Presbyterian preacher, Alexander Campbell, and what generally is known as the Stone-Campbell Movement emerged. Its various threads today include the Christian (Disciples of Christ) denomination as well as all of those independent Churches of Christ, some informally affiliated with each other and some not, scattered around the countryside.
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Addison also led me to the George R. Taylor Post, Grand Army of the Republic, headquartered in Columbia. I had no idea previously that there was a G.A.R. Post in Columbia or that its membership included quite a few Lucas Countyans, including Mr. Byers.
Department of Iowa Grand Army of the Republic records are held by the Iowa State Historical Department, but have been microfilmed and made accessible via the LDS FamilySearch site. You can access them by following this link, but will have to create a free account in order to use them. You also may browse records by G.A.R. post, providing you know what post your person of interest belonged to.
I soon discovered via FamilySearch a small treasure trove of genealogical material related to Addison and his family attached to his George R. Taylor Post record. Such riches are the exception rather than the rule --- most G.A.R. records consist of file cards containing details of members' service and other scraps of information. But it's another genealogical resource that Iowans should be familiar with. The source of the additional information was a Byers granddaughter, Oradell Borger. Here's what I found:
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