09/03/2026
Found in the obituary collection at the Cedar Rapids Area Genealogy Library in a book covering the Cedar Rapids Republican Obituaries for the years of 1922 and 1923:
Perry "Commodore" Byam enlisted in the Civil War at the age of 9 years and 10 months (or 10 years and 9 months depending
on the paper that carried his obituary). He served as a drummer boy in Company D, 24th Iowa Infantry His nickname of "Commodore" was given to him by this fellow soldiers because his first name was Perry and he went by the nickname most of his life.
