Historic Tysonal Landowners
Julius Hutawa’s 1862 Atlas of the County of St. Louis, showing land owned by Byrnes, within the current Tyson border.
Samuel byrnes
Samuel Byrnes owned land that is current-day Tyson Research Center from 1862 through 1870. He is the namesake of the Burns-Stuart Cemetery to the south of Tyson’s property.
Byrnes’ birth and death year are not confirmed, due to confusion surrounding the highly variable spelling of his last name (Byrnes, Burnes, Byrns, Byrne). A confirmed mention of Byrnes first occurs in 1827, when he was named an executor of the will of Thomas Williams, along with fellow Tyson landowner Hamilton Williams. Byrnes remained tied to the Williams family, and would eventually buy Hamilton’s land after his death in 1851. Byrnes paid $904.00 for the property (roughly $36,000 today).
In 1872, a Samuel Byrnes, likely the same person, was admitted to the bar. This Byrnes served in the Missouri House of Representatives in 1876 and 1877, and in the Missouri State Senate in 1878. In 1891-1893, Byrnes was part of the US House of Representatives, for Missouri. After his political career, Byrnes practiced law in Jefferson County, just south of where Tyson is today.
Byrnes had two wives, first Laura Francis Honey Byrnes, and second Elizabeth Melisa Moss Byrnes. His son was named Thomas Byrnes and buried in the Byrnes Cemetery is another family member, Baby Burns. The gravestone has no date. In some years, William Byrnes is also listed as a Tyson landowner. William and Samuel were likely related.
There are no known records of enslavement for Byrnes in St. Louis county.
Baby Burns’ Gravestone at the Burns-Stuart Cemetery. Photo taken by Emmett Kearns on 7/19/2024.
Stuart-Burns Cemetery Sign. Photo taken by Emmett Kearns on 7/19/2024.
Resources
Biro, E. Tyson Border Polygon. (2023) Tyson Research Center.
Kearns, E. Byrnes’ Land 1870 ArcGIS Polygon. (2024) Washington University in St. Louis.
Office of Historic Preservation. (1993) Meramec River South Survey. Missouri State Parks. Retrieved 17 June 2024 from https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Meramec%20River%20South%20Survey.pdf.
Samuel Byrns. (24 June 2024). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Byrns.
Samuel Byrns. (24 June 2024). Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7279746/samuel-byrns.
St. Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement | Washington University in St. Louis. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2024, from https://sites.wustl.edu/enslavementstl/search/.
Thomas, J. L. (4 July, 1876). History of Jefferson County. Jefferson County Historical Society. https://jeffcomohistory.org/LisasHistoryArticles/1876HistoryJeffCoThomasSpeech.htm.
This Tyson landowner profile was researched and written by Undergraduate Fellow Emmett Kearns and edited by Undergraduate Fellow Juliana Morera during summer 2024.