William Byers

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William Newton Byers
William Newton Byers

William Newton Byers (February 22, 1831 – March 25, 1903), was a founding figure of Omaha, Nebraska, serving as the first deputy surveyor of the Nebraska Territory, on the first Omaha City Council, and as a member of the first Nebraska Territorial Legislature.

He eventually was the founder and editor of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado.

[edit] Biography

Originally from Ohio, Byers moved with his parents to Iowa in 1851, and then to Omaha, Nebraska as the city was being laid out in 1854.[1] There he became the first deputy surveyor in the Nebraska Territory, in which capacity he created the first official plat of Omaha. A partnership with Andrew J. Poppleton led Byers to make the first map of the city of Omaha. Soon afterwards he became a member of the first city council, and a member of the first session of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature, convened January 16, 1855, in Omaha.[2]

In 1859 Byers moved to Denver to take advantage of recent gold strikes in the area. Taking the printing presses of the defunct Bellevue Gazette by ox cart, he and J. H. Kellom were the authors of a Hand book to the gold fields, published that year. Robert W. Furnas, in 1859 associated with the Nebraska Advertiser, later recalled that Byers had bought the equipment of the defunct and had it taken by ox team to Denver, Colorado, where he used it in the publication of the Rocky Mountain News.

Upon moving to Denver he built and lived in several mansions, including the one now known as the Byers-Evans House. The Byers-Evans House is now a museum, and is located next to the Denver Art Museum in downtown Denver. Around 1889 Byers and his wife relocated outside of the city of Denver into the community known as "South Denver," which was organized as a "dry" community. They lived in a mansion on a large tract of land between Washington and Pearl streets; many historical sources list 171 Washington as the address of their home. Byers was an avid horticulturalist and planted a wide variety of tree species on his property; he used the majority of the land plot for personal farming and gardening. Some of the trees he planted may still be on the property today, around the periphery of William N. Byers Junior High School. After the Byers couple vacated their mansion and farm, the house was demolished and the property was used for Byers Junior High School, dedicated to the Denver Public Schools in 1921.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ William Newton Byers. Findagrave.com. Retrieved 4/6/08.
  2. ^ William N. Byers. Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 4/5/08.
  3. ^ Stone, W.F. (1918) History of Colorado. S. J. Clarke Publishers. p 499.

[edit] External links