CHARLES WILLING BYRD
BY W. H. BURTNER, JR.
The second secretary and acting
governor of the
Northwest Territory, the first United
States judge for
Ohio district, has had almost nothing
printed of his life
and endeavors. Not ten lines can be
found in the his-
tories of Ohio.
His bones now lie forgotten in a little
township
cemetery back of the new school house
at Sinking
Springs, Highland County, Ohio. He was
born at West-
over, Charles County, Virginia, July
26, 1770. He
came to Kentucky in 1794 and achieved a
reputation as
a lawyer. On the resignation of William
Henry Har-
rison, secretary of the Northwest
Territory, Charles
Willing Byrd was appointed secretary on
October 3,
1779, and took his oath of office
before Governor St.
Clair, February 26, 1800. When St.
Clair was removed
from office by President Jefferson,
Byrd became acting
governor from November 22, 1802, until
March 3, 1803,
when Edward Tiffin was duly elected
governor of the
State of Ohio. Byrd was also a member
of the Con-
vention which framed the first
Constitution of Ohio.
At this time he was but 32 years old,
and was appointed
the first United States district judge
for Ohio.
Charles Willing Byrd evidently lived in
Cincinnati
at least three years, and probably
seven, before he
bought from his brother-in-law,
Nathaniel Massie,
Buckeye Station in June, 1807. Buckeye
Station was
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