Samuel Byrnes

Description
According to plat maps, Samuel Byrnes (1791-1863) owned land that is today Tyson Research Center in 1862. His son, William C. Byrnes, is documented as a landholder on an 1870 plat map and likely inherited the property. The Byrnese family is the namesake of the Burns-Stuart Cemetery on the south side of the Tyson property.
Bio
Samuel Byrnes was the child of two Irish immigrants, William Byrnes and Mary Matilda
Irwin. He was born in Virginia in 1791, but moved to St. Louis around 1810, according to
census records. After his marriage to Nancy Williams, he would have seven children,
including Thomas Baxter, Ann, John, William (who would also later become a Tyson
landholder), Isaac, James, and Elizabeth.1
Samuel Byrnes purchased land on the site of what would become Tyson Research Center
sometime between 1846 and 1852. Census records state that Samuel worked as a farmer
and owned $4500 ($187,000) worth of real estate in 1850, so the property at Tyson was not
his only holding.2
Samuel Byrnes died in 1863. His son, William C. Byrnes, was reported as a landholder on
an 1870 plat map and likely inherited the property.3
No records have yet been identified that suggest Byrnes was an enslaver. There are no records of enslavement for Byrnes in St. Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement.
Birth Date
1791
Death Date
1863
Sex
Male
Child of
William Byrnes and Mary Matilda Irwin
Spouse of
Laura Frances Honey Byrns
Nancy Williams
Parent of
William C. Byrnes, Thomas Baxter Byrnes, Ann Byrnes, John Byrnes, Isaac Byrnes, James Byrnes, and Elizabeth Byrnes
Enslaver
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified.
Dates of Tyson Land Ownership
1862