Byrd, Charles Willing, 1770-1828

The Byrd mss., 1794-1881, are papers of Charles Willing Byrd, 1770-1828, a member of the prominent Virginia family of that name. He was born in Virginia, received his academic and legal education in Philadelphia, and, in 1794, went to Kentucky to look after Robert Morris' land interests there. He was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams in 1799, and served as Acting Governor from 1802 to 1803 following the removal from office of General Arthur St. Clair. He was delegate to the convention which framed the first constitution for Ohio. Soon thereafter President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Judge of the United States District Court for Ohio, which office he held until his death in 1828.