| It is my intention to upload the entire contents of "Descendants of George Byam (?-1680)" by Edward Colby Byam, Ph.D., 1975. "Descendents of George Byam" is an amazingly comprehensive work with all the descendants through the male lines. Dr. Byam was a professor of foreign languages at the University of Delaware (1937-1955) and taught at the Suffield Academy in Connecticut until his second retirement in 1963, after which he devoted the remainder of his life to researching this book. Research stopped about 1973. Dr. Byam died in 1980. What an incalculable gift this man made to his cousins, having had no children of his own. To date, I have completed only the first five generations in their entirety but the report below includes large portions of George's descendants through the 14th generation. Virtually all of the Byams and Byhams in the United States and Canada are descendants of George Byam, who came, perhaps alone and almost certainly without his parents, probably as a teenager from somewhere in southwestern or southeastern England. Since we don't yet know where George came from, ties to the English Byams and Byhams are impossible. There is extensive information about George in the Genealogy Report below. We know virtually nothing about Susannah's origins but we do know that her maiden name was not Shaw. By 1655, George and Susannah Byam had moved from the Salem area to Chelmsford, Massachusetts, near Lowell. Their descendents continued to live in the Chelmsford area for three hundred years. Henry Byam (1788-1862), a 3rd great grandson of George, and his wife Relief Spaulding Byam (1802-1891), purchased a house in Chelmsford built 1663 that is now the home of the Chelmsford Historical Society and is open to the public. http://www.chelmsford.com/chelmhist. Known as the Barrett-Byam Homestead, it is located on Byam Road. Thanks to careful research and artful deduction, Rona Byam has just published a book answering one of the mysteries raised in "Descendants ..." That book contains a supplement on the Asa Byam line and Edward Colby Byam was unable to link them to George. Rona Byam has now made that connection. There are also Byams of African descent, most of whom have connections with the island of Antigua in the British West Indies. There is a book on a branch of the English Byams: "Chronological Memoir of the Reverends Henry, John and Edward Byam; Sons of the Rev. Lawrence Byam" by Edward S. Byam, Esq., 1862. It describes the origins of the family (allegedly from Gwawl, supposed sister of the Roman Empress Helena, Saint and mother of Constantine the Great whom legend claimed was English but who almost certainly was not) and the origins of the name (the prefix Ap or Ab, the Welsh version of Fitz or Mac, added to Evan, which was often spelled "Yevan" became Abyevan, then Abyam, then Byam). Two Byams served as Governors of Antigua beginning in about 1666. Their descendants remained active in Antigun affairs for the next two hundred years. With the abolition of slavery in 1834, it is presumed that many slaves adopted the name of either their former masters or community leaders. Byam is a common name in Antigua. The most famous American Byam is unquestionably Wally Byam (1896-1962), 9th generation, and pioneer manufacturer of the travel trailer. His company, Airstream, remains the Volvo of the travel trailer business. He created the "Wally Byam Caravan Club" which is still going strong today. He led caravans worldwide. See: www.airstream.net/road_apples.html. Two other famous Byams are Ezekiel, pioneer manufacturer of matches in this country, and Don Lorenzo Byam, a doctor and sometime "hanging judge" in Montana in the 1860s. There are extensive descriptions of their lives in the Genealogy Report below. Corrections of all kinds are most appreciated. Also, additions after 1975 and through female lines would be particularly helpful. |
The Byam - Byham Family Home Page
Updated July 19, 2004 |
Edgar Kimberly Byham |
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