Richard E. Byrd the South Pole by air. However, his claim to have reached the North Pole is disputed. Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of Esther Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia. His ancestors include planter John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who established Richmond, and Robert "King" Carter, a colonial governor. He was the brother of Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, a dominant figure in the Virginia Democratic Party from the 1920s until the 1960s; their father
Harry F. Byrd Jr. of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His uncle Richard E. Byrd was a pilot and polar explorer. In 1931, at his father's urging, Young Harry Byrd enrolled at Virginia Military Institute. Two years later, Byrd transferred to the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity, but left before graduating due to family circumstances, as discussed below. On August 9, 1941 Byrd married Gretchen Thompson. They had two sons (Harry and Thomas), and a daughter, Beverley. In 1935, Young Harry Byrd left the University of Virginia in Charlotteville to