Archibald C. Byars, M. D. In professional life, nowhere is the value of thorough preparation more evident than in the science of medicine. In the domain of the physician the university is a vital necessity, if the devotee reasonably hopes to reach the plane of a broad practice. When a young man, Archibald C. Byars prepared himself with patience and thoroughness, and the result is shown by the fact that in the years of his actual practice he has made noticeable strides toward eminence. Doctor Byars was born in Scotland County, Northern Missouri, February 21, 1870, and is a son of James K. Polk and Sarah Elizabeth (Owen) Byars.

James K. P. Byars was born in 1843, in Warren County, Tennessee, whence his family had come as pioneers from North Carolina. As a young man he moved to Northern Missouri, where he was married and where he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until the year 1876, when he removed to Shelby County, Missouri, and there continued to be engaged in agricultural operations, as a farmer and stock raiser, until his death in 1884. A stalwart democrat, he took an active part in civic and political affairs, but never was an aspirant for public office, preferring the quiet of his farm to the strife and doubtful honors of the public arena. He was a faithful member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which he was an elder, and Mrs. Byars still belongs to that faith. She was born in Kentucky, went to Northern Missouri with her parents in girlhood, and still survives Mr. Byars, being a resident of Laclede, Missouri. They were the parents of three children, namely: Archibald C.; Mary Rosina, who is the wife of Frank Clay, a shipper of stock at Laclede, Missouri; and Edith D., who is the wife of Dr. W. M. Duffy, a physician and surgeon of Hamilton, Missouri.

Archibald C. Byars received his early education in the public schools of Northern Missouri, following which for one year he was a student at Oakland College, Knoxville, Knox County, Missouri, and then spent three years at the Clarence (Missouri) High School. Following this, he enrolled as a student at Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Saline County, Missouri, but after one year his health failed and he was forced to give up his studies. During the next two years he did little, but at the end of that time, having recovered, entered the Tennessee Medical College, at Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained one year. He next went to the Knoxville (Tennessee) Medical College, where he remained three years and was graduated in 1902 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. When he left college halls, Doctor Byars did not cease his studies, but has been a close and careful student, having taken in 1910 a post-graduate course at the Kansas City Post-Graduate School, and in 1911 a post-graduate course by correspondence with the Post Graduate Clinical Medical College, Chicago, from which institution he received his diploma.

In 1900, two years prior to his graduation, Doctor Byars began the practice of medicine at Nashville, having taken an examination before the State Medical Examining Board. Later, while still attending college, he practiced at Nashville, Tennessee, but in July, 1902, came to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where he spent a short time. He next went to Rossville, this state, in 1904 to Midlothian, in 1910 to Mulhall, Logan County, Oklahoma, and in 1911 to Tampa, Florida, where he remained for one year. Following his return to Oklahoma, he was for one year engaged in practice in the country districts of Jefferson County, and in 1914 settled at Terral, where he has since continued to be engaged in a general medical and surgical practice. He has attracted to himself an excellent professional business, having displayed the possession of marked abilities and talents, broad information and experience, thorough learning and a conscientious devotion to his profession that makes him a decided factor in elevating its standards and upholding its ethics. He belongs to the Jefferson County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and maintains an excellent reputation among his fellow practitioners. In addition to his medical practice, and in connection therewith, he conducts a pharmacy on the main street of the village, where he carries a full line of drug goods, and prepares his own prescriptions. Fraternally, the doctor is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern . Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen and the Knights of the Maccabees, and is popular in all orders. With his family he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a trustee.

Doctor Byars was married at Asheville, North Carolina, to Miss Ophelia Magness, who was born in De Kalb County, Tennessee, daughter of the Rev. Green Magness, a Baptist preacher, who is now deceased. Two children have been born to this union: Sarah Ruth, who is a sophomore at the Terral High School: and William Sheldon, who is in third grade in the public schools.