A family off Pilot Mountain Road has restored an old cemetery. When the Byers Family Cemetery was surveyed in 1986 by a team with the Henderson County Historical and Genealogical Society, there were 11 marked and five unmarked graves.
After the restoration, 33 graves were counted in a visit to the cemetery on Byers Cove Road.
Frank David Byers and his family not only cleaned and restored the cemetery; they searched records and identified many of the graves. A marked road leads descendants and visitors to its location.
William Byers, 1816-1884, was a farmer. He married Sarah Russell. The couple received three grants for land on Hooper’s Creek. Later he bought land on Clear Creek. They had seven children.
One of their sons, John Hardy Byers is buried in the cemetery, along with his first wife, Emmaline Garren Byers. He enlisted in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. A, Edney’s Greys. He served through the war and surrendered at Appomattox Court House. Family records indicate he died in 1912.
Another son, James Simeon “Sim” Byers, also served in the Civil War. He enlisted in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. A, Edney’s Greys. He was discharged in 1862 for being under age. He later enlisted in the 65th Regiment N.C. Troops (6th Regiment N.C. Cavalry) in May 1863. He was captured near Williamsburg, Ky., a prisoner at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Ill., and released in May 1865. He died in Henderson County in 1902. It is possible that one of the unmarked field stones is his grave.
A third son, Samuel Gerome Byers married Elizabeth Jackson. He owned more than 200 acres near the Union Hill section of Dana. They had eight children who married into families with the surnames Justus, Lively, Case, Hyder, Jones, Summers and Ward. He is buried at Mount Moriah Baptist Church cemetery.
A fourth son, David Augustus, 1853-1927, and his wife, Isa Melton Byers, are buried in the family cemetery. He owned large tracts of land in Edneyville and was a farmer and money lender. The couple’s children married into families with the surnames Jones, Davis, Fowler, Lyda, Stepp and Farmer.