Tyson Research Center
Tyson Research Center was established as Washington University’s 2,000-acre environmental field station in 1963. Sixty years later, in 2023, Tyson embarked on a journey to understand its history through a reparative lens. The Tyson History Project was launched to preserve, interpret, and communicate the history of the Tyson landscape – both prior to and since WashU’s presence. A collaborative interdisciplinary team is using historical documents, artifacts, GIS technology, and field work to develop a more thorough understanding of how the Tyson Valley tract has been used over time. With guidance from the WashU & Slavery Project, the team aims to explore Tyson’s history with particular attention given to the harm caused to both humans and the land.
Historical Tyson Landowners
| Name | Bio | Dates of Tyson Landownership | People Enslaved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Morschel | Like many men of European heritage in nineteenth century St. Louis, Christian Morschel (1834-1901) involved himself with several business ventures to expand his wealth. Morschel specialized in the mining industry. He may have been interested in the land along the Meramec for the purpose of sand and gravel mining. By 1870 he was living in Bonhomme Township with his family and co-owned land with Philip Kais in what is today Tyson Research Center that bordered a stretch of the Meramec according to 1878 and 1893 plat maps. Although records indicate that Morschell died in 1901, a 1909 plat map names Morschell owning land with J. B. Hollman. | 1878 1893 |
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified. |
| Christopher Cockrill | Christopher Cockrill (1818 – 1873), born in Fayette, Virginia, moved with his parents and family to Missouri in the 1820s. His father, Starks S. Cockrill, Sr., obtained land grants on what is now Tyson Research Center Property, and in 1830, the Cockrill family held three people in slavery in Bonhomme Township. By the recording of the 1850 census, Starks S. Cockrill Sr., Starks Cockrill Jr., and Christopher Cockrill had all established separate households next to one another and worked as farmers. While the families of Starks Cockrill Sr. and Jr. moved to Texas by 1860, Christopher Cockrill continued to live in Bonhomme Township, where he enslaved five people according to the 1860 census and held land on what is now Tyson property according to an 1870 plat map. The Cockrills were enslavers. The 1830 Census for Bonhomme Township lists two girls and a boy aged between 10-23 as enslaved by Starks Cockrill, Sr. In the 1850, he enslaved three men aged between 22-35, four boys aged between 4-10, a 30-year old woman and a 2-year old girl in Bonhomme Township. In 1860, Christopher Cockrill enslaved a 30-year old man, a 25-year old woman, and three boys aged 1, 6 and 11 in Bonhomme Township. |
1870 | |
| Edward Milldollar Buckingham | Edward Buckingham was born in 1814 to Gideon Buckingham and Maria Crowley. He married Emma Marlow in 1845. Buckingham appears as a landowner on what is now Tyson property in 1862 and 1870. His daughter, Isabel (Belle) Buckingham Simpson, inherited land from her father. | 1862 1870 |
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified |
| Elias Browne Cockey | Elias Browne Cockey (1800 –1838) held land on what is now Tyson Research Center property according to an 1838 plat map. Cockey was killed the same year by James H. Dougherty, with whom he had a contract to deliver 1,000 saw logs. After Cockey’s death, James, a man he enslaved, was sold at auction. | 1837 | James |
| Elizabeth L. Hart Coats | Elizabeth L. Hart Coats (1812-1859) received land from her father, Henry C. Hart, which the U.S. government granted to him for his military service in the War of 1812. Elizabeth Hart settled in Missouri and married James Coats. The Harts were enslavers. In 1855, Henry C. Hart and Elizabeth L. Hart emancipated Susan, a 25-year-old woman described as married to George Kibby on December 4, 1855. It is possible, but not confirmed, that a Henry Hart in the 1840 St. Louis census who enslaved one young woman was the same Henry C. Hart. According to the 1860 Census, H. Clay Hart enslaved 14 people in Carondelet: three women ages 60, 30, and 22, four men ages 35, 32, 24, and 21, a 17-year-old youth, four boys ages 13, 10, 6, and 4, and two girls ages 3 and six months. |