Fred Swindell Byars

Fred Swindell Byars

Male 1920 - 1950  (29 years)

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  • Name Fred Swindell Byars 
    Birth 7 Dec 1920  Moores College, DeKalb County, Tennssee Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3
    Gender Male 
    Occupation CCC Worker before WW II  [4
    Occupation Detroit City Bus Driver  [5
    Military 19 Feb 1942  [4, 6
    Residence 4 Mar 1944  Bremerton, Washington State Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 17 Jun 1944  Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 23 Jun 1944  Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 2 Aug 1944  Seattle, Washington Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 24 Aug 1944  Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 12 Sep 1944  Peleliu, Micronesia Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 27 Sep 1944  Hollandia, New Guinea Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 5 Oct 1944  Manus Island, Papua, New Guinea Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 20 Oct 1944  Leyte Island, Philippines Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 26 Dec 1944  Palau Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 6 Jan 1945  San Fernando, Philippines Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 22 Jan 1945  Lingayen, Philippines Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 27 Jan 1945  Ulithi, Caroline Island Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 13 Feb 1945  Saipan, Mariana Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 16 Feb 1945  Iwo Jima, Pacific Ocean Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 5 Apr 1945  Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 26 Sep 1945  Camp Elliot, San Diego, California Find all individuals with events at this location  [8
    _EYEC BLUE 
    _HAIR BROWN 
    _HEIG 5' 9-1/2" 
    _WEIG 150 LBS 
    Death 19 Feb 1950  Sherwood, Franklin County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 9
    Burial Mount View Cemetery, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I706  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 26 Dec 2019 

    Father Perry Green "Green" Byars,   b. 27 Jun 1894, Keltonburg, DeKalb County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 Dec 1968, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years) 
    Mother Vernia Elvira "Ma" Swindell,   b. 1 Jun 1894, Green Briar Bend, White County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Apr 1985, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 90 years) 
    Marriage 4 Jan 1915  DeKalb County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [10, 11
    • Pop courted Ma only two months before they were married by W. H. Cantrell, JP

      When Pop proposed, Ma replied, "Are you sure?" - after all, it was only two months earlier that they met and Ma didn't think she was pretty enough for the most handsome man she'd ever met...
    Residence (Family) Bildad, DeKalb County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence (Family) 1920  Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [12
    Residence (Family) 1930  Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [13
    Residence (Family) 1935  Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [14
    Residence (Family) 1940  McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [14
    Photos
    Green Byars
    Green Byars
    Photo taken circa 1945 in Detroit, where he worked at "Budd Wheel" during WW II
    Pop with Uncle Fred
    Pop with Uncle Fred
    Taken in Detroit just after WWII ended as Uncle Fred is still in uniform...
    Ma Byars with her first three children.
    Ma Byars with her first three children.

    Circa 1921 at their home in Green Hill, DeKalb Co.,TN

    Left-to-Right:
    Lucile Byars Hennessee (1918-2008)
    Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950)
    John Claybourne Byars (1916-1987)
    Perry Green 'Pop' Byars (1894-1968)
    Perry Green "Pop" Byars (1894-1968)

    Sunday morning, October 20, 2013:

    Spoke to Aunt Pearl this morning about Pop & Uncle Pete in regards to their "troubles with the law"...

    Pop thought that if he could run one load of whiskey to Nashville, that would solve all of his financial problems as...

    This was in the early 1930's and he was living with his young family in Green Hill (DeKalb County) where he was cropping shares and hauled logs part-time. Can you imagine working the fields all day and then hauling logs to McMinnville, 10 miles away, all on foot and by mule? No wonder he thought this was an easier way to make a few dollars.

    Pop got caught. Aunt Pearl tells us that it took everything he had to avoid jail and he never did that again!

    Ma told me that Pop worked as a mechanic (probably during the 1930's). At some point, Pop began selling farm implements for the Sullivan Company of McMinnville and apparently did this through the early 1950's as I remember travelling with out in the country to call on his propests and customers...

    In 1941 Pop went to Detroit. He worked for Budd Wheel through the summer of 1945. On his return he bought the log house on North Warren and the family moved there from their residence on Towles Avenue.

    Then Pop buys a taxi which he ran until late 1949 - early 1950. It is at this juncture that Uncle Pete began a felon. Uncle Pete borrows the taxi from Pop and drives to Manchester and picks-up a lady(ies) for an evening of dancing and driking. Pete is "higher than a Georgia pine", crashes the car and kills a passenger. He is convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison in 1949 when he returns home about three years later...Pop got out of the taxi business.

    It is at this point that he works full-time for Sullivan. It was 1950 and I remember Pop bought a brand-new 1950 Plymouth, "Sea Mist Green" 4-door sedan as this was the car we travelled in when he called on his clients.

    He retired in the mid-1950's and spent his life fishing, whittling and guarding his realm from an old wood chair propped-up against the garage in the backyard...

    Photo taken circa 1960...
    Pop & Ma Byars
    Pop & Ma Byars
    Photo provided by their grand-daughter, Christine Bess Cornett. Appears to be have taken in the late 1940's...
    Pop & Uncle Fred
    Pop & Uncle Fred

    Taken sometime during World War II while Uncle Fred was in the navy...
    Ma Byars' Granddaughters
    Ma Byars' Granddaughters

    Janet Wright Robbins
    Kathy Bess Tugman
    Karen Sue Mitchell

    Photo taken Summer of 2006 on Aunt Pearl's porch in Rock Island, Tennessee
    Deux Grandes Dames
    Deux Grandes Dames

    Two great ladies...

    Aunt Bessie & Aunt Pearl

    Photo taken the Summer of 2013
    Grandmother & Grandson
    Grandmother & Grandson

    Ma Byars (1894-1985)
    Fred Hennessee (1950-1985)

    Photo taken in 1977
    Sisters...
    Sisters...

    Aunt Pearl and Aunt Bessie at the table in Rock Island, Tennessee

    Photo provided by their niece, Karen Mitchell...
    Pop & Sons-in-Law
    Pop & Sons-in-Law

    This photo was probably taken in Detroit after Aunt Margie's wedding to Jack DeCuennick, June 3, 1949. Shown from the left is:

    Murlis Wright (1925-2004)
    Pop Byars (1894-1968)
    Bert Hennessee (1918-1986)
    Jack DeCuennick (1928-2010)

    Photo contributed by cousin Christine Cornett, July 1, 2014.



    Ma & Pop Byars' Family
    Ma & Pop Byars' Family

    This photo was taken in June, 1949, on Continental Avenue, Detroit, when Aunt Margie married Uncle Jack.

    Top Row, Left-to-Right:

    My Mom (1918-2008)
    Aunt Bessie (1925-2013)
    Aunt Margie (1930-1997)
    Uncle Fred (1920-1950)
    Aunt Marie (1922-2012)
    Aunt Pearl (1928
    Pop Byars (1894-1968)

    Middle Row:

    My Dad (1918-1986)
    Uncle Murlis (1925-2004)
    Uncle Jack (1928-2010)
    Uncle Bob (1917-1990)

    Bottom Row:

    Me (1942-
    Ma Byars (1894-1985)
    Cousin Linda Gayle (1945-

    Photo provided by cousin Christine, July 1, 2014...

    Pop & Ma Byars' Family
    Pop & Ma Byars' Family

    Back Row: Aunt Pearl, Aunt Margie, Mother, Uncle Bob, Cousin Linda Gail, Dad, Cousin Kathy, Aunt Bessie, me, Uncle Jack, brother Fred & Uncle Murlis

    Middle Row: cousin Robert on Pop's lap, Ma Byars & cousin Janet

    Bottom Row: cousin Kenny, cousin Debbie, cousin Christine, cousin Dawn & cousin Karen.

    Photo was taken in front of Pop's house on Warren Street, McMinnville, Tennessee circa Summer of 1962...

    Ma & Karen
    Ma & Karen

    Ma and Karen on their birthday, June 1, 1981.

    Ma was 87 and Karen was 27.

    Photo provided by her loving granddaughter, Karen...
    The Three Younger Byars Daughters...
    The Three Younger Byars Daughters...

    From the left:

    Margie Sue (1930-1997)
    Eva Pearl (1928-
    Bessie Lee (1925-2013)

    Photo provided by Christine Bess Cornett, November 8th, 2016
    The Four Byars Girls
    The Four Byars Girls

    Photos supplied by Robert & Angelia Bratcher Bess, late December, 2016
    Daughters & Grandchildren
    Daughters & Grandchildren
    Top Row: Margie Sue, Bessie Lee, Eva Pearl & Robert Lucile

    Bottom: Janet, Gayle holding Karen, Fred, Ma holding Kenny and Kathy

    Photo supplied by Robert & Angelia Bratcher Bess, late December, 2016
    Uncle Fred, Ma & Uncle Pete
    Uncle Fred, Ma & Uncle Pete
    This photo was probably taken in the late forties at the homeplace on Warren Street.

    Photo supplied by Robert & Angelia Bratcher Bess, late December, 2016
    Family...
    Family...
    Pop, Dad, Uncle Bob, Linda Gayle & me.

    Photo supplied by Robert & Angelia Bratcher Bess, late December, 2016
    Brothers-in-Law
    Brothers-in-Law

    Uncle Pete & Dad standing in front of Dad's 1947, maroon, Pontiac...

    Photo supplied by Robert & Angelia Bratcher Bess, late December, 2016
    'The P. G. (Perry Green) Potter Home'
    "The P. G. (Perry Green) Potter Home"
    Built in 1875-1876 in Dibrell, Warren County, Tennessee by Kitt Swingle for Perry Green Potter.

    First, he built a large two story house, then a store, barn and a blacksmith shop.

    Aunt Pearl provided this image and tells us that Ma & Pop lived in this house between 1935 to 1937. They then moved to the "Hennessee House" on Main Street (no longer there).

    Note: Kitt Zwingle was a 2nd cousin to Ma. Pop was a grandnephew of P.G. Potter and both of whom were named after their antecedent, "Perry Green Magness".
    Aunt Margie & Ma
    Aunt Margie & Ma
    Marjorie Lois Griffith Byars (1914-2006) was wife of Pop's first cousin, Perry Green Byars. As a matter of fact, Perry & Margie were so well loved by Ma & Pop, they named their youngest daughter, "Margie Sue Byars".

    Photo taken in August, 1973 at Perry & Margie's place in Warren County, Tennesseee and contributed by Joe Byars, February 5, 2017
    The Sisters in Palm Beach
    The Sisters in Palm Beach
    Bessie, Marie, Lucile, Pearl & David
    Bessie, Marie, Lucile, Pearl & David
    Ma & Pop's House
    Ma & Pop's House
    located on 112 North Warren Street, McMinnville, Tennessee

    (Pop bought this house in 1945)
    Cousins Kenny, David, Robert & Fred
    Cousins Kenny, David, Robert & Fred
    Family ID F274  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Alice Marie "Marie" Prince,   b. 20 May 1922, Sherwood, Franklin County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Nov 2012, Boulevard Terrace Nursing Facility, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 90 years) 
    Marriage Monteagle, Marion County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [15
    Residence (Family) Detroit, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Family ID F275  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 7 Dec 1920 - Moores College, DeKalb County, Tennssee Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 4 Mar 1944 - Bremerton, Washington State Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 17 Jun 1944 - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 23 Jun 1944 - Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 2 Aug 1944 - Seattle, Washington Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 24 Aug 1944 - Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 12 Sep 1944 - Peleliu, Micronesia Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 27 Sep 1944 - Hollandia, New Guinea Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 5 Oct 1944 - Manus Island, Papua, New Guinea Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 20 Oct 1944 - Leyte Island, Philippines Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 26 Dec 1944 - Palau Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 6 Jan 1945 - San Fernando, Philippines Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 22 Jan 1945 - Lingayen, Philippines Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 27 Jan 1945 - Ulithi, Caroline Island Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 13 Feb 1945 - Saipan, Mariana Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 16 Feb 1945 - Iwo Jima, Pacific Ocean Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 5 Apr 1945 - Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 19 Feb 1950 - Sherwood, Franklin County, Tennessee Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Mount View Cemetery, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - - Monteagle, Marion County, Tennessee Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence (Family) - - Detroit, Michigan Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Uncle Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950) with his wife, Marie Prince
    Uncle Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950) with his wife, Marie Prince
    circa 1948 at Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950)
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950)
    circa 1942
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1930)
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1930)
    Picture taken in 1942 before he was deployed to the Philippines during WW II. He died a trajic death at the age of 30...
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950) & Robert Murlis Wright (1925-2004)
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950) & Robert Murlis Wright (1925-2004)
    Photo taken late 40's at Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan
    US LEUTZE DD 481 Destroyer
    US LEUTZE DD 481 Destroyer
    Uncle Fred was in the Navy, Gunner's Mate 3rd Class, during WW II and assigned to the destroyer-class, US Leutze DD 481 which was commissioned March 4, 1944 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bermington, Washington which ultimately fought in the great Battle of Leyte.
    US Leutze DD 481
    US Leutze DD 481
    Fletcher-Class Destroyer. Launched in March of 1944
    Uncle Fred, Aunt Marie & Me
    Uncle Fred, Aunt Marie & Me

    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950)
    Marie Prince Byars Millsaps (1922-2012)
    David Alden Hennessee (1942-

    This photo was taken on Continental Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, in 1946. They lived down the street from our family and I remember many happy days with them.

    Photo provided July 1, 2014, by cousin Christine Bess Cornett.
    Dad, Pop, I and Uncle Fred
    Dad, Pop, I and Uncle Fred
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950), Death Certificate
    Fred Swindell Byars (1920-1950), Death Certificate

    Documents
    Uncle Fred's Pictures
    Uncle Fred's Pictures
    Uncle Fred - ID Cards
    Uncle Fred - ID Cards
    Fred Swindell Byars' World War II Navy Diary
    Fred Swindell Byars' World War II Navy Diary

  • Notes 
    • Uncle Fred was in the Navy, Gunner's Mate 3rd Class, during WW II and assigned to the destroyer-class, US Leutze DD 481 which was commissioned March 4, 1944 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington.

      Vessel's History from Wikipedia.org

      Leutze completed the necessary performance trials and continued the training of her crew on escort missions to Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok during June and July 1944. On 2 August she departed Seattle for the war zone a sleek new destroyer and returned 1 year and 1 day later a battered veteran about to be scrapped. In this short interval she had played a part in five invasions and a major naval battle before a kamikaze ended her fighting days.

      After departing Seattle, Washington, the destroyer rehearsed in the Hawaiian and Solomon Islands for the invasion of the Palaus . Arriving off Peleliu 12 September (D-Day -3), Leutze bombarded enemy positions ashore and suffered her first casualty when shrapnel from an enemy shell sprayed the ship. Withdrawn on the 24th, she joined Task Group 77.2 (TG 77.2) at Manus Island , Admiralties , for the invasion of the strategically important Philippines .

      Action off Leyte began 18 October with little serious opposition to the preinvasion bombardment but rose to a crescendo climax with the Battle of Leyte Gulf 24 and 25 October. Leutze, first firing on an enemy plane two days earlier, suffered 11 casualties on the morning of the 24th when hit during an enemy bombing and strafing run. That night in Surigao Straits with Rear Adm. Jesse B. Oldendorf ’s 7th Fleet support ships, she attacked with torpedoes the ships of Japan ’s Southern Force under Adm. Shoji Nishimura . During this phase of the last major battle between surface ships, Nishimura lost two battleships and three destroyers in a vain attempt to force his way through the Straits and attack the American invasion fleet.

      Thereafter with its surface fleet decimated, Japan again resorted to airstrikes. Although Leutze emerged unscratched, on a single day 1 November, four sister ships of her screen were crashed by suicide planes.

      After a period of tender overhaul, she steamed out of Kossol Roads 1 January 1945 for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf , Luzon , Philippines. En route the ship received ice cream for all hands for returning a sailor fallen overboard from Makin Island (CVE-93). She arrived in Lingayen Gulf 6 January for fire support. While supporting this operation, Leutze 7 January sank a Japanese patrol vessel and 9 January a small suicide boat loaded with explosives.

      Careful preparations were made for the next assault. Iwo Jima , desired as an airfield site, was selected as the target. Practicing with underwater demolition teams at Ulithi and conducting exercises until beyond Saipan , Leutze arrived Iwo Jima 16 February. Despite intensive previous bombing and shelling, enemy fire was heavy.

      While protecting Navy frogmen on the 17th, she took, a shell on the after part of the forward stack. Remaining until the completion of her mission, she then transferred her seriously wounded commanding officer and three other injured and resumed station. Ordered back to Ulithi the next day for repairs, she returned to Iwo Jima early in March but only for 4 days, as much of this fleet was now needed for Operation Iceberg , the conquest of Okinawa .

      This last big amphibious operation of the war, unlike Iwo Jima, took place within range of Japanese land-based planes. While escorting battleship New York (BB-34) for the preinvasion shelling of 27 March, Leutze made two depth charge runs which apparently sank a midget submarine . On a second voyage with Mobile (CL-63) and Oakland (CL-95), she arrived Okinawa 3 April. This was 2 days after D-Day but in time for the first of the Japanese operations “Ten Go”, the massed kamikaze attacks.

      end of history [16]
    • Uncled Fred worked for the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) before the war.

      Note: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal created by President Roosevelt.


      end of note
    • Tue 2/26/2019 5:40 AM

      Fred Byars,

      Hi, Fred Byars, #0020670

      We took a look at your CV and would like to offer you this post. Partnership with a list of logistics companies makes it possible to search for the best logistics solutions for our customers. Our dynamic company is recruiting to fill the position of logistics manager.

      Your tasks are: market monitoring to look for the minimum value of various goods or services, correspondence and other documents verification and organization, researching and project control.

      You will also be entitled to employment benefits which includes: medical and dental insurance, two weeks holiday pay yearly after probation.

      If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail to get more information about the offer. Please pay attention that this job offer is for US citizens or persons with permit to work in the US only.

      Yours truly,

      Loren Curtis

      end of offer

  • Sources 
    1. [S67] "High's Funeral Home Records",McMinnville,Warren Co.,TN transcribed by Shirley, p. 3 (Reliability: 3).

    2. [S8773] "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SP7L-15Q : acc.

    3. [S8774] "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4HF-9VX : acc.

    4. [S14291] Eva Pearl Byars Bess Fultz, sister to Fred Swindell Byars, confirmed by telephone, July 10th, 2019, that he was in the.

    5. [S10933] David A. Hennessee, Researcher, info@classroomfurniture.com, 626 Biscayne Drive, West Palm Beach, FL 3401, 561.832.661.

    6. [S14898] This person, place, event, location, comment, document or photo was abstracted or parsed by David A. Hennessee, http://t.

    7. [S13150] Cousin Dawn, dawncline1124@gmail.com, Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018, 2:14 PM, transcribed Uncle Fred's WW II Navy diary,.

    8. [S14904] Uncle Fred's Discharge Document, http://thehennesseefamily.com/media/discharge_back1.pdf, This person, place, event, loc.

    9. [S14245] Dawn Cline, dawncline1124@gmail.com, submitted this Death Certificate Saturday, June 22nd, 2019, this person, place, eve.

    10. [S7902] DeKalb Co.,TN Marriage Book:1901-1950, compiled by Jorene Washer Parsley, p. 78 (Reliability: 3).

    11. [S8770] "Hogg DNA Project - A List of Hogg Lines", line VA1657: descendants of John Hogg of New Kent Co. VA, http://hdhdata.org/.

    12. [S12220] "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNGR-Y8P : acc.

    13. [S12219] "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SP7L-15Q : acc.

    14. [S12221] "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4HF-9VX : acc.

    15. [S46747] "High's Funeral Home Records",McMinnville,Warren Co.,TN transcribed February 24, 1994, by Shirley Ann Barnes, 116 Seitz.

    16. [S12374] "USS Leutze", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Leutze_(DD-481), revisited or retrieved, recorded & uploaded to the websi.