Of most value in the collection, the financial documents and monthly reports provide invaluable insight as to the success of the company as well as the profitability of fishing on Lake Erie in the early half of the 20th century. These documents reveal the company's sales, customers, number of fish caught, and overall expenses of the company. Also important are the legal documents of the collection that provide information concerning the legal restrictions and regulations governing the fishing industry at this time. The collection also includes a smattering of correspondence, subject files, and unidentified photos. The records were donated and transferred to the Center for Archival Collections in 1982 through the cooperation of Dorothy Krantz of Bucyrus and with the assistance of Paul Yon.
Duplication is permitted for the purpose of preservation and scholarly research.
Harry was a self-employed commercial fisherman operating out of Oak Harbor, Ohio. He is listed as a fisherman as early as 1917 and operating the fishing company through the 1930s and the early 1940s. Later he was a machinist with the Erie Proving Grounds in Port Clinton, Ohio, retiring in 1950. Byers was a long time member of several masonic organizations and the American Legion. The heart of the collection lies in the financial documents of the Harry Byers Fisheries Company of Port Clinton, Ohio.