Bedford County PA Archives Biographies.....Fyan, William Lyons   
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Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com May 2003


WILLIAM LYONS FYAN, Chief Burgess of Bedford borough and a 
prominent merchant, was born here, March 18, 1839, son of 
Robert and Alice (Byrne) Fyan.
  Robert Fyan, Sr., grandfather of William Lyons, was a 
native of Dublin, Ireland, and a well-known resident there 
over a hundred years ago.  He was engaged in the manufacture 
of linen, and he owned three vessels, in which he shipped 
his goods; but, owing to the prominent part which he took in 
the Rebellion of 1798, he was obliged to leave the country.  
He accordingly emigrated to America, here becoming a 
merchant in Dublin township, in what was then Bedford 
County, but is now Fulton County, Pennsylvania.  He was one 
of the early settlers of the county.
  Robert Fyan, Jr., was born in Dublin, Ireland, whence he 
came to this country with his parents when about seven years 
old.  He grew to manhood in Dublin township, Pa., where he 
attended the sessions of the public schools, and between 
terms was employed as a clerk in his father's store, living 
at home until he reached his majority.  He then started a 
store on his own account at Dublin Mills.  About three years 
later he removed to Loretta, Cambria County, where he 
entered the hotel business and kept a store for three years. 
 He came from there to Bedford about 1836, and opened a 
store, which he conducted as long as he lived.  His wife, 
Alice, was a daughter of Lawrence Byrne, of New York City, 
whose wife was a resident of Bedford.  Four children blessed 
their union, namely: John L., who was a prominent attorney 
and First Lieutenant of the Twelfth Regiment of Iowa 
Volunteer Infantry; Robert W.; William Lyons; and Mary.  
John L. Fyan died at the age of twenty-seven years.  Mary, 
who is the widow of M. B. Doyle, lives in Toledo, Ohio.
  The Hon. Robert W. Fyan (deceased) was a man of 
considerable prominence in the State of Missouri, where he 
made his home.  He was Captain and Major of the 
Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry and Colonel of the 
Forty-sixth Volunteer Federal Infantry.  He was Circuit 
Attorney of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, 1865-66.  He 
was elected Judge of the district in 1866, and re-elected in 
1868 and 1878-80.  In 1882 he was elected to Congress from 
the Thirteenth District of Missouri.  He was a member of the 
Constitutional Convention that framed the present 
constitution of Missouri.  He was a member of the Forty- 
eighth, the Fifty-second, and the Fifty-third Congress.
  William Lyons Fyan acquired a public-school education, and 
supplemented in by a course of study at Villanova College, 
Delaware County.  He then became a clerk in his father's 
store.  Upon his father's death he succeeded to the 
business, which is now the oldest established in Bedford 
County and continues to hold its place as one of the leading 
stores.  Mr. Fyan is a Democrat in politics, and has filled 
nearly all the town offices.  For twenty years he was a 
member of the Council, and he is now serving his second term 
as Chief Burgess.


Source: Bedford Biographical Review, 1899, Bedford Co., Pa