Howard Webster Byers
Howard Webster Byers | |
|---|---|
| 14th Attorney General of Iowa | |
| In office January 1907 – January 1911 | |
| Governor | Beryl F. Carroll |
| Preceded by | Charles W. Mullan |
| Succeeded by | George Cosson |
| 25th Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives | |
| In office January 13, 1896 – May 11, 1897 | |
| Member of the Iowa House of Representatives | |
| In office January 8, 1894 – January 9, 1898 | |
| In office January 8, 1900 – January 12, 1902 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 25, 1856 |
| Died | March 24, 1928 (aged 71) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Mary J. Winegar (m. 1882) |
| Children | 6 |
Howard Webster Byers (December 25, 1856 – March 24, 1928) was the Iowa Attorney General from 1907 to 1911.[1]
Early life
Byers was born in a log cabin in Woodstock, Wisconsin on Christmas Day, 1856.[1][2] His parents were Dr. Andrew Clinton Byers[3] and Mary Caldwell (née Holwell) Byers,[3] who hailed from Pennsylvania.[4] His family moved to Hancock County, Iowa in 1873, when Byers was 17.[1] They then moved to Shelby and Earling, Iowa.[1]
From 1871 to 1876, he was a farm laborer.[1] From 1876 to 1881, he was a teacher.[1] He then became a store clerk from 1881 to 1891.[1] During this time he studied law with the practice of Macy and Gammon.[4] He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1888.[1] He then was a law clerk for 2 years, from 1891 to 1893.[1][4]
Politics
He was a Republican.[1] He was made a permanent chairman of the Iowa Republican Convention in 1908.[1]
He first ran for the Iowa House in 1890 and lost.[2]
In 1893, Byers he won election to the Iowa House, serving from 1894 to 1898.[1] He served as the Speaker of the Iowa House from 1896 to 1898.[1][2]
In 1896 and 1898 he ran for the US House in Iowa's 9th congressional district, losing each time.[1]
He returned to the Iowa House in 1900 until 1902.[1]
He won the 1906 election to be Iowa Attorney General and was re-elected in 1908.[1]
He ran again for the US House for Iowa's 9th district in 1910.[5] On June 7, 1910, he ran in the Republican primary against former Iowa Judge and then-incumbent congressman Walter I. Smith.[5] Byers' lost the race with 8,138 votes against Smith's 9,743 votes.[5] Smith eventually won in the general election.
In 1911, he became the corporation counsel for the city of Des Moines.[3] He remained there until 1921.
Personal life
He married Mary J. Winegar in May 1882.[4] They had 6 children.
On November 26, 1894, the Byers home was burglarized. The thieves entered through a window and got away with a pair of pants and $17 cash.[6]
Byers died on March 28, 1928 at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.[7] Mary died on September 6, 1946, aged 81.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Howard Webster Byers" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "The New Speaker". Mount Ayr Record-News. January 16, 1896. p. 2. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Notable Deaths". Annals of Iowa. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Howard Webster Byers State Representative". Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Ninth District" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ "Burgalars Enter Byers' Home". The Daily Nonpareil. November 27, 1894. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ "Lawyer Was State Figure For 40 Years". Des Moines Tribune. March 24, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ "Death Claims Mary J. Byers". The Des Moines Register. September 8, 1946. p. 24. Retrieved November 25, 2025.