Byrd, William M., 1817-1894.

William M. Byrd of Linden, Ala., was a lawyer, state legislator, and state supreme court judge.

William M. Byrd (1817-1874) was the son of William H. Byrd of Richland, Mississippi. He was born on 6 December 1817 in Perry County, Mississippi. He attended La Grange College and, after his graduation, settled at Holly Springs, Mississippi. He later moved to Linden, Alabama, where he began the practice of law and soon became prominent in the political life of his state. In 1851, he was elected to the state legislature. In 1865, he was elected to a seat on the bench of the state supreme court, which he held until displaced by the reconstruction measures of Congress. At the Methodist Conference of 1870, he advocated the establishment of a Methodist university which later became Vanderbilt University. He died on 24 September 1874.

William Byrd married Maria Hawkins Massie (b. 1818) on 14 June 1838.