JAMES A. BYERS FAMILY, I HAVE A BIBLE FOR YOU… Per haps 10 years ago, Anne gave me a Civil War Bible. It was printed by the American Bible Society in 1862 in New York City.
Inside the front cover, printed in pencil, is the name James Byers. Inside the back cover, again printed in pencil, is the name James Byers, plus 13th Michigan, Company I.
Sweat stained, torn, a bit tattered, throughout it are penciled underlines.
I’ve cherished this Bible; perhaps it spurred a new interest in the Civil War, causing me to pick up reading and studies of that great national catastrophe that I had abandoned at the end of my college years.
Now, for the past year or so, it seems James has been pulling at my mind. Last summer, as I walked through the Lincoln Museum in Springfield with its vast photos of Civil War Soldiers in combat, living and dying, resting at a campfire, I started studying the faces… “Is that you, James?” I often wondered, looking into eyes that had dimmed more than a century ago.
Dan Stice, owner of the antique shop where Anne bought the Bible, had little to offer. He might have even been a little reluctant to share the information on where the Bible came from.
On one occasion, at least, he told me that there was a lot of Civil War memorabilia in the area; mainly because so men from here went to war, and fortunately returned.
When times get tough, Dan explained, families would sell off a piece that had been through the war.
I guessed that might have been the case; how could, why would someone sell off a Bible that had been carried through Tennessee, all the way to Chickamauga and then maybe on Sherman’s march to Atlanta, because that is where the 13th Michigan traveled. Perhaps James went along.
Just by chance, James was pulling at my mind just a week ago. I took his Bible off the bookshelf and opened it again.
For some reason, the name looked different; I swear it had been spelled differently that last time I had looked at. I had even approached a local named Baiers, looking for information on James. But his name wasn’t Baiers; it was Byers.
When I went to a Michigan Civil War database, there was his name as a member of the 13th Michigan.
Along with the information was a link to a Civil War database that lists all the soldiers from Michigan.
I sent them an e-mail and got a response. According to their database… James A. Byers had been drafted into the Union Army in South Haven, Michigan. He was discharged less than a year later in Washington, D.C.
He may have been from Waverly (township?). He died in 1898 and is buried in the Hiawatha Cemetery in Manistique, Schoolcraft County, Michigan. As there are 13 other Byers buried in the cemetery, it is also known as the Byers Cemetery. Buried there is an Abraham Byers that may have been his brother or cousin. According to Civil War veteran and census records of the 1880s and 90s, he was not married.
I believe this family heirloom belongs to James’ most direct descendents; folks that will cherish it as a Bible and as a link to a man who went to war, came home, died and was buried; and somehow he lost track of his Bible. I think he wants me to give it back.
In return, I want to know what James did with his life and maybe even get to see a picture of him.
If you are kin of James A. Byers of Company I of the 13th Michigan, I want to hear from you. I have a Bible for you. 269 463-6397
