Ken
The Courthouse did burn but the records I am looking at are land bought from the Gov.
His land in Iron Co. was:
Issue date 9/1/1859
120 acre
Section 3 - Twnshp 30 North - Range 4 East
William C. bought 86.76 acres in Wayne County.
Issue date was 4/1/1858
This was located in section 1 - Township 29 North - Range 4 East.
This would have been a mile or two north of Patterson.
This is a different twnshp and section from the land in Iron co.
William may have sold this when he moved to Iron Co.
The card I looked at in the Archives did not give a birthdate or death.
There are six pages of Byrd Land Patents in Mo. and five pages in Arkansas, so I'll bet he had plenty of family
Elmer