Evening star., 1933-11-12
From an etching by Paul Berdanier.

croachmentS of his estates upon their
hunting preserves.
| Westover, the historic home his father
had begun, was completed by William
II. Here he lived as lord of the manor
Slaves served glittering dinners in the
vast hall. Around him gathered friends
and Sycophants to hear his brilliant
wit and laugh and talk and lay the
plans for building new world But
wealth and power did not slacken the
taut, restless cord that environment
strummed through the Byrd dynasty.
| William was off on sterner missions
than acquiring wealth and playing at
Colonial society. He explored the will
derness and swamps. He mapped the
territories of Virginia and North Caro-
lima. He penned the famous Westover
papers, classic documents of, Colonial
times. He founded the city of Rich
mond. He was president of the Vir-
glnla Council. thrice public agent for
the Court of Great Britain and for
years receiver general Of His Majesty's
revenues
After the death of his wife. daughter
of an aide-de-camp of the Duke of NAL
borough, he spent much time In Lon
don, crossing and recrossing the ocean
Here he took his daughter Evelyn, the
"fairest flower of Colonial Virginia, ~
and in the Court of London she became
belle.
Ring Symbolizes Tragedy.
Romance and frustrated love came
to the Byrd family. A thin, worn white
| gold ring set with diamonds still travels
down the generations, recalling the
tragedy of Evelyn Byrd At the Court
/ OF George II she met and loved the
Earl of Peterborough. He gave her the
ring, plighting their troth. The Earl
was proud of his fiancee from the Col
onies. OF her a biographer writes:
Her hand was kissed by Lords OK
! ford and Chesterfield :. Sneering Har-
/ vey approved of her She supped
with Alexander Pope at his Twickenham
villa while yet the town was singing
with the success of his Odyssey; she
was noticed by Beau Mesh, the autocrat
of Bath; saw Cibber and Mrs. Oldfield
play; read Gulliver's Travels as they
Reverence the Dean of st. Patrick's,
then resident of Dublin: and from the
presence Of an unroyal royalty through
a society reeking with wine and musk
and snuff and scandal, passed back to
| her plantation home in the new country
as unblemished as she came"
When William learned of her love
| for the nobleman, he was enraged.
Evelyn broke her engagement. returned
no more to England and died at the age
OF 80, heartbroken.
Name Remains Alive.
During the centuries since. four
Byrds in the male line have taken the
name Of Evelyn, and each Byrd so
called gives Evelyn's ring to his
Such stormy energy as is pent up in
the lineage can be released only with
exciting force. whether for good or evil.
And William Byrd, Sd, gave vent to 1t in
different fashion. Genial and eXtrava-
CANT, generous and ever ready to make
a grand gesture, he brought financial
ruin upon the house of Byrd. He lived
laviShly, founded churches and schools,
made endowments and thought little OF
business. To meet his debts he planned
lottery, sold 10000 tickets. 1t brought
him $250,000. but the prizes were the
lands his father and grandfather had
acquired The estates were gutted.
The Revolution came. William, Sd,
was loyal to the King. and died as he
had hved-with drama. On the first
day of the new year. 1777, angered and
saddened by the belief that the Colo
nies had betrayed their birthright, he
took his own life, leaving hi wife and
the great home at WeStover. She held
the house through the Revolution; at
various times it was the headquarters of
CORVALLIS and Arnold
The dynasty was rocked by this series
of events. 1t took few generations to
reform itself. But throughout this
time the restless spirit of adventure
never lapsed. The two sons of the
fourth William Byrd joined the armies
of England and died in France. There
was Francis Otway Byrd, who fought
pirates on the high seas and secured
colonelcy in the War of 1912. John. his
brother, was killed in the same war.
War Costly to Family.
Richard Evelyn Byrd. great-grand-
father of Admiral Byrd, roved westward
to Texas, but galloped back to fight for
the Confederacy. There was the de-
bacle of the Civil War The family
emerged once more to reconstruct their
lives and their native State.
The Byrd boys father, Richard Eve
lyn Byrd. ST., man who alternated
quiet, philosophic moods with bursts of
fiery temper, had begun the work. He
was patriotic and fearless, strong of
body and contemptuouS of sham. Bel
ligerent feudists barricaded IN their
mountain StrongnolQ deIylng the law
could not alarm him. Once. after
moonshiners in remote village had
shot up the court room. judge and clerk
and defied further prosecution, Richard
Evelyn Byrd. United States district at
torney got into his buggy, drove into
their midst. got court convened and
convicted so of them before they knew
What had happened. Another time he
threw an inkwell at an opposing attor- |
ney who was fabricating testimony with
fixed witnesses.
When the World War broke out, the |
father of the Byrds ferreted into every |
corner OF Virginia and saw to 1t that
every distant ramiflcation Of his family
was enlisted. He added to his legal
lCantinued on sixth Page