COOPERSTOWN

Wirt Byers Home

This beautiful brick home on Factory Street was the residence of Wirt Byers. The following story is from the �History of Cooperstown Area . 1776 � 1996� booklet.

"Wirt Byers lived alone in the brick house beyond the Booth & Hillier woolen mills. His wife, Ellen Booth Byers had died in 1903 and his son, Henry Booth Byers, was a popular and talented baritone singer in Chicago when he died of appendicitis in 1896. His two daughters were married and May Brown lived in NewYork City and Francis Watlington lived in Reidsville, N.C. A granddaughter Julio Brown was on the stage in New York for years in a number of stage productions. Another granddaughter, Francis Watlington was for a number of years a featured soloist with Phil Spitalny�s all girl orchestra. Wirt farmed two farms and usually had four or five teams of work horses and at least one driving horse. Every boy in town who liked horses at some time found his way to Wirt Byers� at the close of the work day. Wirt would boost the boy up onto one of the horses and let the boy ride the horse down to the stream for water. He would also invite the boys to go up overhead of his carriage house and crack and eat walnuts and butternuts which were stored up there."

Transcribed by Penny Haylett Minnick
minnick862@verizon.net

Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of information from both early and late (current contributors) work.