Dr. J. M. Byrd was born in Alabama, February 3, 1853, son of Michael and Lydia A. (Phyfer) Byrd. The former is a North Carolinian by birth and of Scotch-Irish descent. He was born in 1827 and was married in 1850, and in 1852 removed to Alabama and began tilling the soil. From 1861 until 1867 he resided in Jasper County, Miss., and the following three years lived in Independence County, Ark., and died in Jackson County, Ark., in 1872. His wife was born in 1832 in the same State as himself, and became the mother of seven children: Dr. J. M., Mary C. (Mrs. James O. Woolley), Nancy C. (Mrs. Samuel Way), Wiley F., Orie C., Robert E., Bettie J. and Mittie E. Dr. J. M. Byrd was educated in Alabama and Mississippi, and resided with his mother until he was twenty-two years of age. He began clerking in a general merchandise store in Newport, Ark., and filled the position until 1878, when he engaged in business for himself by buying out the store of Capt. Joseph L. Todd, of Swifton, Ark., and continued in the business for three years. In 1876 he began the study of medicine, and in 1880 sold his store and went to Granada, Miss., and continued the study of medicine, his preceptor being Dr. J. B. Gage. In 1882 he went to Walnut Bend., Ark., and began practicing, and in October, 1885, entered the Memphis (Tenn.) Hospital Medical College and attended one term. In February, 1866 [maybe this date should be 1886?], he came to Dyersburg, Tenn., where he has since practiced with excellent results. He is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. February 13, 1879, he married Amelia Roberson. Mrs. Byrd was born in Missouri, in 1852, and died in Granada, Miss., in 1882. To them were born two children: Walter R. and Millie T. The first child lived only eight months.