1. Manuscript Diary headed: Book of Measurements and Memoranda of work and facts connected with the North River Impt. Beginning January 1, 1856.

      Octavo, 36 pp., plus four pages of receipts for gun cotton, photographic formulae, including collodion, developer, etc.. plus blanks. Bound in cloth backed boards, binding worn, portion of spine missing, boards warped, some damp-staining, text inscribed in both pencil and ink, in generally good legible condition. Some of the penciled pages are light.

     The entries run from February 18^th - March 18, 1856. Contains brief description of work done, problems encountered plus measurements and survey notes for various, locks, dams, etc., along the line of the canal. He notes the progress on the line of the James River & Kanawha Canal, attendance in court at Lexington as witness in a lawsuit against the canal company brought by a man whose land the canal traversed, efforts to reach a settlement, etc. He notes difficulties brought on by the weather, heavy snow and ice on the "western side of the Blue Ridge," etc.

2. Manuscript Notebook, inscribed on front free endpaper, Notes of Work. N. R. Nav. Impt. 1856. J. A. Byers.

 octavo, 178 pp., of measurements and survey notes, occasional topographical sketches, text in pencil, bound in original cloth backed boards, binding worn, and broken, boards warped and soiled, text clean and legible. Also contains the signatures of Johnston and Tyler Shoul, Kanawha County, Virginia, apparently employees of the company. There is a pencil folk art sketch of a steamboat and man at the end of the volume presumably executed by one of these gentlemen.

3. Manuscript Notebook containing survey and field notes, bearing the ownership signature of Joseph Byers, Sharpsburg, Maryland

octavo, 57 pages, plus blanks, contemporary sheep, worn and soiled, inscribed in pencil, some smudging, else good.

     The present notebook, undated, contains survey notes for sections of what is presumably the C & O canal, it notes measurements for locations on the "Virginia shore." 

4. Manuscript Notebook containing Measurements, Specifications and drawings for repairing Locks and Dams

12mo, 16 pp., plus blanks, original flexible sheep-backed wrappers, in very good clean, legible condition. Contains detailed measurements, damage assessments, cost estimates for repairing various dams, locks and other fixtures along the route of the canal, presumably the Coal River Canal. The text is accompanied by detailed pencil sketches of the dams and locks.

5. "Calculations of Contents of Ganley River Reservoir"

n.p. circa 1860's, folio, 34 pages, rolled, some light dust soiling, else very good.

Ganley River is located in West Virginia.

6. "Statement Showing the Estimated Cost of the Kanawha River Improvement from Loup Creek to the Ohio River"

n.p. circa 1850's, folio sheet, measuring 16 x 20 inches, rolled, some light dust soiling, else very good. Detailed construction estimates.

7. Detailed Construction Drawing of a Canal Lock

n.p., n.d., circa 1850's. pen and ink, pencil and colored wash on paper, rolled, torn, edges chipped and nicked some soiling, else good. Detailed plan of a canal lock. 

The collection also includes some miscellaneous material, letters, letter fragments, etc.

John A. Byers (1806-1872) was for many years Chief Engineer of the western division of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company at Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Lewes, Delaware in 1806. He was also engaged as civil engineer on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, and was one of the constructors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. He became Chief Engineer and Supt. of the Coal River Navigation Company, of West Virginia. His brother Joseph Byers, also a noted civil engineer, was Assistant Engineer, 1836-1840, on the James River at Warminster, Virginia, and Superintendent of the work on that section. The two brothers were engaged as early as 1826 in the most important inland navigation works in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The last work of importance performed by John A. Byers was the surveys of the James River and Kanawha Canal. The books which contained his surveys of this improvement were so accurate that they were purchased after his death by the U. S. Government from his widow for the continuation of the work.

The sons of Joseph Byers continued as civil engineers and gained considerable repute in their field, Charles Byers, son of Joseph, was for many years the Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, John M. Byers was instrumental in constructing the Pennsylvania Railroad, Joseph Byers, (son) was engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad and later in charge of the coastal defenses of Brazil.