When Alva Elmer Byerley was born on 10 December 1889, in Corydon, Harrison Township, Harrison, Indiana, United States, his father, Benjamin Franklin Byerley, was 27 and his mother, Alice Monzell McAdams, was 18. He married Mildred Polk on 7 December 1921, in Allen, Indiana, United States. He lived in Scott, Van Buren Township, LaGrange, Indiana, United States for about 20 years and Allen, Indiana, United States in 1920. He registered for military service in 1917. He died on 15 November 1963, in Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana, United States, at the age of 73, and was buried in Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana, United States.