Colonel William Byrd III (September 6, 1728 – January 1 or January 2, 1777) was an American planter, politician and military officer who was a member of the House of Burgesses.[1]
Colonel William Byrd III | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by John Hesselius | |
| Born | William Byrd III September 6, 1728 |
| Died | January 1 or January 2, 1777 (aged 48) Charles City, Colony of Virginia, British America |
| Resting place | Old Westover Church cemetery |
| Education | Middle Temple |
| Occupation(s) | Plantation-Enslaver, Soldier, Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses |
| Spouse(s) |
Elizabeth Hill Carter
(m. 1748; died 1760)Mary Willing |
| Children | 15, including Charles Willing Byrd |
| Parent(s) | William Byrd II Maria Taylor Byrd |
| Relatives | William Byrd I (grandfather) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  British America |
| Service | Second Virginia Regiment |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles / wars | French and Indian War |
Biography
editHe was son of William Byrd II and Maria Taylor Byrd, and the grandson of William Byrd I. Byrd inherited his family's estate of approximately 179,000 acres of land in Virginia and continued their tradition of serving as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in Richmond. In 1756 he was colonel of the Second Virginia Regiment.[2]
At age 18, Byrd was sent to London to study law.[2] There, he began to build a reputation as a notorious gambler.[3] In 1752, he imported a chestnut horse from England, Tryall. That year, he initiated what was said to have been the first major horse race in the New World, involving fellow Virginia planters John Tayloe II, Francis Thornton, and Samuel Ogle & Benjamin Tasker Jr. of Maryland. Byrd offered 500 Spanish pistoles for any horse in the land to race Tryall, with the winner taking the lot.[4] Tryall lost to Tasker's mare Selima, who would go on to become one of the foundation mares of American thoroughbreds.[2]
By 1755, Byrd was in a dire financial situation.[5] After he squandered the Byrd fortune on building a magnificent mansion at Westover Plantation, gambling, and bad investments, Byrd parceled up much of the land he had inherited from his father and sold it off to raise money to pay his debts. He also sold the enslaved African laborers who had worked on his estate plantation.[citation needed] Despite his debts, Byrd continued horseracing. In 1766, his horse Valiant Tryall, would lose to Tayloe's horse Hero.[6]
Although his sale of property in assets of land, and enslaved, generated a huge sum, it still was not enough to pay off his creditors. Later, Byrd resorted to a lottery, the prizes of which would come from his estate, Belvidere, at the falls of the James River. However the lottery failed to generate sufficient revenue.[7]
Marriage and family
edit
In 1748, Byrd married Elizabeth Hill Carter, daughter of Robert Carter I, who had recently died. An excellent political match, as her father had been the colony's richest man, gaining his wealth as a prominent plantation owner, and enslaver. He served in the House of Burgesses and then the colony's Governor's Council (eventually becoming its president by seniority). Together they had five children, 4 sons and 1 daughter.
- John Carter Byrd Sr.
- Thomas Taylor Byrd
- Elizabeth Hill Byrd Skipwith
- Francis Otway Byrd
In 1756, Byrd left his wife,[2] sent his younger children to England and volunteered for military service.[5]
Elizabeth Carter died on July 25, 1760 when she was 28 years old in a probable suicide.[8]
Byrd remarried, and fathered ten more children with his second wife, Mary Willing, daughter of Charles Willing of Philadelphia.
The 10 children of his second marriage (to Mary Willing) were:
- Maria Horsmanden Byrd
- Evelyn Taylor Byrd
- Charles Willing Byrd (died as child)
- Abby Byrd
- Anne Willing Byrd
- William Boyd Byrd
- Charles Willing Byrd
- Dorothy Byrd (died as child)
- Jane Byrd
- Richard Willing Byrd
Death
editByrd was unable to retire his debts. Despondent and nearly broke, Byrd killed himself on January 1 or 2, 1777. He was buried in the cemetery at the old Westover Church.[5]
References
edit- ^ Evans, Emory G. "William Byrd (1728–1777)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d Magazine, Smithsonian. "Off to the Races". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ "A gambler's tale: The son of Richmond's founder had quite a life - and death". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
- ^ S., W. G. (1895). "Racing in Colonial Virginia". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 2 (3): 293–305. ISSN 0042-6636. JSTOR 4241820.
- ^ a b c "William Byrd III". www.slaveryandremembrance.org. Archived from the original on 2024-08-29.
- ^ "something about byrd's horse?". The Virginia Gazette. 1766-10-24. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ Dabney, Virginius (1990). Richmond: The Story of a City: Revised and Expanded Edition. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. p. 19. ISBN 0813912741. OCLC 20263021. At Google Books.
- ^ "A gambler's tale: The son of Richmond's founder had quite a life - and death". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
External links
edit- William Byrd III at History.org
- William Byrd III at Find a Grave