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
Richard Evelyn Byrd III Baltimore, Maryland. He had gone missing on September 13, 1988, after being placed on a train in Boston bound for Washington, D.C. Byrd was supposed to attend a National Geographic Society event honoring the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, but never arrived. The cause of his death was dehydration and malnutrition which resulted from Alzheimer's disease. He was buried, near his father, in Arlington National Cemetery. Richard Evelyn Byrd III Richard Evelyn Byrd III (February 19, 1920 – c. October 3, 1988) was a United States naval officer, Antarctic explorer, and the son of Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. Richard