Washington County ArArchives Biographies.....Byrnes, Albert M. 1849 - 
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Robert Sanchez lmu567@gmail.com May 26, 2009, 4:02 pm

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

ALBERT M. BYRNES.
    Albert M. Byrnes, a contractor of Fayetteville, is numbered among the sons
of the Emerald isle who have sought the opportunities of the new world and have
made good here in the attainment of success through untiring industry and
progressive business methods. Mr. Byrnes was born in Dublin, Ireland, August 2,
1849, and is a son of Michael and Charlotte (Hatton) Byrnes, also natives of
that country, in which they Michael Byrnes early learned the wagon maker's trade
and in 1852 he came to the were reared and married. The grandfather was Peter
Byrnes, a farmer of Ireland, and he and all of his descendants have been
faithful followers of the Catholic church. United States, making his way first
to California, while later he went to New Orleans, where he became a victim of
the yellow fever.

    Albert M. Byrnes is the only survivor of the family which numbered parents
and two children. His educational opportunities were very limited and in early
youth he learned the carpenter's trade after his mother brought him to
Fayetteville in 1866, following the death of her husband. Here she was married
to Joseph Zilleh, and they became the parents of two children: John Zilleh, who
is now street commissioner of Fayetteville; and Mrs. Mary Goss, whose husband is
an electrician of Fayetteville.

    Albert M. Byrnes was married in 1872, when twenty-three years of age, to
Miss Mary E. McCoy, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, a daughter of
Phillip and Mary McCoy, who are mentioned in connection with the sketch of their
son, W. J. McCoy, on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Byrnes became the
parents of seven children, of whom five are living: Mrs. D. M. Benbrook, a widow
residing at Krebs, Oklahoma, where she is teaching music, having a very large
class; Mrs. J. Wythe Walker, living in Fayetteville; Mrs. R. L. Putman of
Chicago, whose husband is general manager of the National Lumber Association;
Mrs. B. H. Barnes, a widow residing with her parents; and A. H., who is cashier
in the office of the Frisco Railroad at Springfield, Missouri, having been
connected with the company for many years.

    In the year in which he was married Mr. Byrnes began contracting and
building in Fayetteville. He has done much work for the railroads and for the
government. He had contracts with the Frisco Railroad which amounted to
thousands of dollars. He is now engaged in the construction of a large dormitory
and other school buildings for the government in Oklahoma, the contract being
for one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. This was awarded him over several
competitors. He has been very successful in his building operations and is today
numbered among the prominent contractors of western Arkansas. In 1873 Mr. Byrnes
purchased two beautiful lots in Fayetteville at a cost of sixty-six dollars and
a half each. He built thereon a home in 1876 and has since occupied it. The lots
are today worth several thousand dollars, showing something of the growth and
development of Fayetteville, resulting in the rapid rise in realty values. Mr.
Byrnes has erected all of the school buildings in Fayetteville and he removed
the Arkansas building to this city from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held
in St. Louis in 1904. He has built hundreds of the homes in the city, was the
builder of the Engineers Hall in connection with the state university and also
the boys' dormitory. In various localities stand substantial structures which
are a monument to the enterprise, skill and ability of Mr. Byrnes and all
recognize the fact that he well deserves the success which has come to him. He
owns a large block of stock in the Northwest Arkansas Lumber Company and is
serving on its board of directors.

    Mr. Byrnes and his family are communicants of the Catholic church and his
political endorsement is given to the republican party, but while he keeps well
informed on the questions and issues of the day, he has never sought or desired
office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his building
operations. He was brought to the United States when fifteen years of age and
has always remained on this side of the Atlantic. The spirit of western
enterprise and progress has actuated him in everything that he has undertaken
and step by step he has advanced until he has climbed to the plane of affluence
and now has the opportunity to select those business contracts which he desires
to execute.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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