Yesterday, I wrote a little about Maj. Samuel H. M. Byers of Oskaloosa, Zurich, Rome and Des Moines, and his role as author of Iowa's official state song, "The Song of Iowa."
Part of that process involved retrieving his obituary, published on the front page of The Des Moines Register of Friday, May 26, 1933. "Marsh" died on May 24, 1933, in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
Now this is a proper obituary for a proper gentleman --- and both are rare these days. In an era of stunning banality, we just don't produce many Iowans like this any more --- nor are many obituaries like this written. So I'm going to post it in full here this morning.
Maj. S.H.M. Byers, Poet, Soldier and Diplomat, Dies at 94
Former Iowa Man Stricken By Pneumonia
Succumbs at Home of Relative in California
LOS ANGELES, CAL. (AP) --- The colorful career of Maj. Samuel H.M. Byers, 94, poet, diplomat, Civil war veteran and author of the stirring war song, "Sherman's March to The Sea," has come to an end.
He died of pneumonia late Wednesday at the home of relatives.
Major Byers, a native of Pulaski, Penn., was the last surviving member of General Sherman's staffs.
Captured in War
After his capture and imprisonment in Columbia, S.C., Byers wrote the words to the marching song that became the battle cry of the Union forces. A copy of this song was smuggled through the Confederate lines and set to music by J.C. Rockwell. A million copies were sold.
Four years after the Civil war, Byers was sent as consul to Switzerland, serving until 1884, when he was made consul-general to Italy.
Boyhood Home in Iowa
He later served in that capacity to Switzerland and then returned to his boyhood home in Oskaloosa, Ia., and at Des Moines, his later home, he penned the "Song of Iowa," later officially adopted by the state.
Major Byers came to California 18 years ago. His last book of poems, "In Arcadia," was published when he was 91.
Others of the soldier-statesman's writing include "With Fire and Sword," a history of the Civil war, "Twenty Years in Europe," and "Pony Express."
Funeral Today
Funeral services will be held today. Two brothers, H.V. Byers, Newton, Ia., and Charles H. Byers, Berkeley, Cal., and three sisters, two of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Richard Hull, Oskaloosa, Ia., survive.
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The death of Maj. S.H.M. Byers came just 36 days after that of his boyhood companion, J.D. Edmundson, in Des Moines.
Both were 94, and a 78-year-old friendship between the two began when both lived at Oskaloosa, Ia., in 1854.
Throughout the 78 years of friendship, they continued in more or less constant correspondence and visited each other from time to time.
Met in Oskaloosa
The two met shortly after "Marsh" Byers came to Oskaloosa with his parents. "Jim" Edmundson was sweeping in front of the store where he worked, and "Marsh" came along to buy a yard of muslin.
"Jim" sold "Marsh" the muslin and the friendship was begun. They attended normal school in Oskaloosa together and it was not until six years later, in 1860, that the paths of the two boys separated.
Never Lost Track
Jim came to Des Moines as a page in the house of representatives and "Marsh" soon left for the war.
But through the ensuing years letters bridge the gap, and it was boasted by Mr. Edmundson shortly before his death "we never lost track of each other."
Major Byers came to Des Moines to live in 1894. In 1900, Mr. Edmundson moved to Des Moines from Council Bluffs, and the two were constant companions for the next 15 years.
Saw Each Other in 1931
Then in 1915, Major Byers moved to the west coast and the correspondence between the two resumed. They saw each other last in May, 1931, when Major Byers came to Des Moines to assist in the dedication of Smouse Opportunity school.
During the last few years, Major Byers each day walked from two to three miles on Los Angeles streets without so much as carrying a cane.
Unusual Vigor
With eye keen, hearing unimpaired, mental faculties alert, he retained his unusual vigor until his death.
The life of Major Byers spanned the growth of the United States through the development of territories into states, the Mexican war, the gold rush to California, the Civil war, the coming of the railroad and the rise of the nation to world leadership following the World war.
Born in Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvanian by birth, an Iowan by migration and a Californian by choice, Mayor Byers symbolized the westward expansion of his country.
He was born in Pulaski, Penn., July 23, 1838, and when he was 16 his parents joined the tide of immigrants who sought fortune in the middlewest, settling at Oskaloosa.
He served as an assisant to his father, a contractor, while at Oskaloosa and laid the bricks of many of the buildings erected there in the late 1850s.
Major Byers had taken up the study of law but when the Civil war broke out, joined the Fifth Iowa infantry, as a private, serving four years in the Union army.
Wounded, Captured
He was wounded at Champion Hills and capured by the Confederates at Chattanooga, Tenn. After being in several southern prisons, including the notorious Libby prison, he escaped from Columbia, S.C., 16 months after his capture and rejoined the Union army.
He was attached to General Sherman's staff in the final days of the drive through the South and was selected by General Sherman to carry the first news of his victory to General Grant and President Lincoln.
"March to the Sea"
It was while he was in the southern prison camps that Major Byers, then an adjutant, began his rise to fame in literature with the song, "The March to the Sea," later adopted as the title of General Sherman's campaign.
At the close of the war he was given the rank of major. He returned to Oskaloosa, resuming his law work, and in 1869 married Margaret Gilmour of Pontiac, Mich., A son and a daughter, both now dead, were born to this union.
Got Swiss Post
A short time previous to his marriage, President Grant had written the name S.H.M. Byers upon a small white visiting card.
This was the authority to commission Major Byers to a consulate at Zurich, Switzerland. It was on Major Byers' thirty-first birthday that, with his bride of a month, he left New York for the post.
Upon their arrival in London, England, he presented himself to the American minister. The secretary of the legation procured tickets for him to the house of parliament and here, on his first afternoon in London, Major Byers listened to Gladstone, John Bright and the future Lord Disraeli.
Notable Guests
Major Byers' official position secured an entree into Swiss society and it brought many distinguished visiting potentates to his office as well as his house.
Notable guests at the home were Mark Twain, General and Mrs. Sherman, Joaquin Miller and Bret Harte. Mr. Edmundson also spent many vacations with the consul.
Major and Mrs. Byers were tutored in French, Italian and German. It was a boast of the major he could talk fluently in any language.
Consul General
His success at Zurich caused his promotion to consul general in Italy, and later he was returned to Switzerland in the same capacity.
While in foreign service, the pen of Major Byers was not idle. His prose works included "Switzerland and the Swiss," published in 1875, and "Iowa in War Times." He also published a book of poetry, "The Happy Isles," in 1884.
In 1893, Major Byers was recalled from the consular service by President Cleveland and he returned to Oskaloosa to settle down to a pursuit of his literary tastes.
Moved to Des Moines
The next year he moved to Des Moines. Numerous articles and poems from his pen were published in periodicals, and in 1911 he published a war story, "With Fire and Sword." A year later he completed an account of his adventures in diplomacy with "Twenty Years in Europe."
During the time spent in Des Moines, Major Byers was busy collecting his poems and had them all published in a single volume. His next major work, in 1914, was "A Layman's Life of Jesus."
"In Arcadia"
After he transferred his residence to Los Angeles, he started a collection of his later poems. These were published in one volume, "In Arcadia," when he neared 90.
Hailed as his greatest poetic work was "The Bells of Capistrano," prompted after a visit to a California mission. It was first published many years ago, but was included in the work, "In Arcadia."
"Song of Iowa"
While living in Des Moines, Major Byers composed the "Song of Iowa," and, since living on the west coast, wrote "Los Angeles the Beautiful."
Major Byers did not confine his adventures in the field of fine arts to writing alone. He was also a collector of paintings, one group of which he presented to Penn college at Oskaloosa.
His paintings, handsome carved chests and massive bookcases and wardrobes, collected during his years spent in Europe, were well known in Des Moines.
Paintings Presented
One group of his paintings he presented to Penn college and others were given to the Des Moines Women's clubs and now hang in Hoyt Sherman place.
Among the heirlooms was the large clock-desk with a secret drawer that used to hold a short piece of string from the harp of Empress Josephine and a piece of tallow dip that burned low at the bier of Frederick the Great.
Swiss Bookcases
The tall double bookcases, deeply carved by generations of Swiss workmen, were found by Major Byers high up in the Swiss mountains, used to store seed corn in a small cabin. They were given him on condition he would build a granary to take their place.
High and low wedding chests were added from time to time by the collector. Paintings and antique furnishings were proferred as gifts and offered for sale as soon as Major Byers' tastes became known to Europeans.
Ancient Bronze
The Switzerland home became a studio, and visitors recalled the museum salon replete with copper and ancient bronze, frescoes and tiles, paintings and old marble, pieces from Roman altars, rare carvings from the Black Forest of Germany and old manuscripts.
A full set of Italian blue china was turned out by the Italian royal potter for Major Byers when he was consul in Rome, and gold spoons were used by guests at tea.
Visited Two Popes
Two Popes gave audiences to Major and Mrs. Byers while they were in the Italian capital, and bestowed blessed gifts upon them.
Empress Eugenia received them, as did Victor Emmanuel. The Princess Saum Saum visited the couple in Des Moines.
Three Iowa schools, Penn and Grinnell colleges and the State University of Iowa, awarded Major Byers honorary degrees.
A notable feature of the writing of Major Byers is the wide range of subjects. Some dealt with his adventures in war, others with early history of the places he knew and others with his observations.
Varied Poetry
In his poetry he varied from the war lines of "The March to the Sea" to the peaceful pictures of old Spanish missions in "the Bells of Capistrano."
The sixteen months he spent in southern prison camps scarcely indicated that Major Byers would live to within the age of 95, which he would have attained July 23.
He was mustered out of the service broken in health and with little money. But his appointment as consul at Zurich gave him his opportunity and he became one of Iowa's best known of its adopted sons.
Daughter, Son Died
It was while he was at Zurich that his only daughter, Helen, died at the age of 8. The son, Laurence, was graduated from the college of law at the State University of Iowa and later beame a member of the law college faculty at Iowa City, Ia. He died while on a vacation in London.
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Did Maj. Byers ever visit Chariton, you may --- or may not --- ask? He did, actually, but only once that I've been able to find. He delivered a lecture on his experiences as a prisoner of war during August of 1900 at First Methodist Church.
The obituary is written in the context of his friendship with another less accomplished but more affluent and also widely known and admired Iowan --- James D. Edmundson, of Council Bluffs and Des Moines. Edmundson, also 94, had died in Des Moines a few weeks prior to Byers' passing and the parallels were much noted.
The Byers family is buried in Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa --- Samuel H.M. (1838-1933), Maggie (1842-1922), Lawrence (1872-1909) and Helen (1874-1882). As noted in the obituary, Helen died at age 8 while the family was stationed in Zurich. Lawrence, an attorney then serving on the faculty of the University of Iowa College of Law, died at age 37 while vacationing in London --- asphyxiated in a dentist's chair, of all things, due to an adverse reaction to the ether being used to dull the pain of a wisdom tooth's extraction.
If you're in Des Moines and chance to visit Hoyt Sherman Place, the paintings that Maj. Byers donated to the Des Moines Women's Club still may be found in the Byers Gallery there. These include portraits of the major, Maggie and their son, Lawrence.
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