William Byers profile from the Joplin History people archive.
William Byers was born November 14, 1818, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. After living in Iowa City and Carthage, Missouri, he moved to the Joplin area in February 1872, just as the mining settlement west of Joplin Creek was taking shape.
With Patrick Murphy, William P. Davis, and Charles E. Elliott, Byers helped lay out the forty-acre tract known as Murphysburg. Murphysburg and Joplin City merged in 1873 to form the City of Joplin. Byers later helped develop the Byers and Murphy Addition and the west-side neighborhood remembered as Byersville.
Byers remained active in Joplin's civic and business life. He co-founded the Joplin Zinc Company, served as vice president of Joplin Woolen Mills, held office as a Jasper County Court judge, and supported the West Joplin School District. He died November 3, 1890, leaving his name in Joplin geography through Byers Avenue and the Byersville neighborhood.