Edward W. Hyer

History

Edward W. Hyer was the brother who joined C.H. Hyer's boot-making shop in Olathe, Kansas, as demand grew, after which the firm's name became C.H. Hyer and Sons. He was born 20 December 1858 in Kankakee, Illinois, and died 3 December 1928 in Olathe.

Their father, William Hyer, is named on the company's own heritage page. According to that account and a transcribed obituary, Charles taught shoemaking at the School for the Deaf before opening a shoe-repair shop with Edward put in charge; the brothers formalized a partnership known as Hyer Brothers in 1880. Edward later spent time in the grocery business in Chillicothe, Missouri, with his brother-in-law Dick Strethlow starting in 1890, before returning to serve as general superintendent of the C.H. Hyer Sons cowboy-boot factory until ill health forced him to stop, about two years before his death.

Sources differ on the founding year of the company: the Autry Museum dates its start in Olathe to 1874, while Olathe Boot Company's own heritage page dates the sons' home workshop to 1875.

Sources

• Olathe Boot Company, “Heritage — Since 1875”
• Autry Museum collections record for C. H. Hyer and Sons (PE209817)
• WikiTree, “Edward William Hyer,” obituary transcription