William C. Byrnes

Description
According to plat maps, William C. Byrnes (1827-1902) owned land in 1870 that is today part of Tyson Research Center, which he inherited from his father, Samuel Byrnes. His family is the namesake of the Burns-Stuart Cemetery on the south side of the Tyson property.
Bio
William C. Byrnes was born in 1827. He grew up in Missouri with his parents, Samuel and Nancy, and six siblings. In 1849, at the age of 21, he married Sophie Sullens, and the two had six sons.

In 1863, William’s father, Samuel, died. Samuel owned a valuable amount of real estate holdings, including a plot of land on the site of what would become Tyson Research Center. This land entered William’s possession, and he is named as a landholder in an 1870 census.

By 1880, William C. Byrnes moved with his family to Texas, where he remained until his death in 1902, at the age of 74.

There are no records of enslavement for Byrnes in St. Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement.
Birth Date
1827
Death Date
1902
Sex
Male
Child of
Samuel Byrnes
Spouse of
Sophie Sullens
Enslaver
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified.
Dates of Tyson Land Ownership
1870