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 A collaborative interdisciplinary team is using historical documents, artifacts, GIS technology, and field work to develop a more thorough understanding of how the Tyson Valley tract has been used over time.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
 Horace Franklin Breed |
Horace Franklin Breed was born in Boston, Massachusetts and lived from 1824 to 1875. He owned land on what is now Tyson property according to plat maps from 1862 and 1870. He married Susanna P. Marlow. While evidence has not yet been identified that Breed was an enslaver, records indicate that members of the Marlow family were enslavers. | 1862 1870 |
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified. |
 Isabel (Belle) Buckingham Simpson |
Isabel (Belle) Buckingham Simpson, daughter of Tyson landowner Edward Buckingham and Emma Marlow, was one of two women known to have inherited land in the history of Tyson Valley. On her mother’s side, Belle was the niece of another Tyson landowner, Horace Franklin Breed, Sr. | 1878 1893 1909 1930 1878 – 1930 |
No records of relation to enslavement yet identified |
| Pierre "Cadet" Chouteau Jr. | Coming soon | 1862 | |
 Simon Abeles |
Simon Abeles lived from 1829 to 1862. He moved to Missouri in 1844, two years after his brother, Adolph Abeles. Simon is recorded as a landowner on plat maps of the current-day Tyson Research Center in 1862 and 1870. While Simon did not marry or have children, he was part of the Austrian Taussig-Abeles family group. These two families were intertwined by frequent marriages. | 1862 1870 |
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| Starks S. Cockrill, Sr. | Starks S. Cockrill Sr. (1795-1862), born in Virginia and a veteran of the War of 1812 during which he served as corporal in a Kentucky regiment, moved with his family to Missouri in the 1820s. By 1830, Cockrill held three people in slavery in Bonhomme Township. He received United States land grants in the region on several occasions, including in 1832, 1835, 1840, 1845, and 1853. The families of Starks S. Cockrill Sr., and his sons Christopher Cockrill and Starks Cockrill, Jr., all described as farmers in the 1850 census, lived next to one another in Bonhomme and held nine people in slavery. The families of Starks Cockrill Sr. and Jr. moved to Texas by 1860, but retained land in Missouri according to plat maps of 1862 and 1870. Starks Cockrell Jr. fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. | 1838 1847 1862 1870 |
1830 Census, Bonhomme, Missouri: Enslaved young woman, age 10-23 Enslaved young woman, age 10-23 Enslaved young man, age 10-23 1850 Census, Bonhomme, Missouri: Enslaved man, age 35 Enslaved woman, age 30 Enslaved man, age 22 Enslaved boy, age 10 Enslaved boy, age 8 Enslaved boy, age 6 Enslaved boy, age 4 Enslaved girl, age 2 Enslaved man, age 24 Learn more about the people Cockrill enslaved on SLIDE |
| William Dings | William Dings was born in 1841 and died in 1924. During the Civil War, Dings served for the Confederacy as Captain of Company C, 8th Missouri Infantry. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Dings returned to St. Louis and farmed. He is listed on an 1870 plat map as owning land in what is now Tyson Research Center. Dings’ father Fred Dings was an enslaver and the 1860 Census lists two women aged 28 and 18, a 4-year-old girl, and a 5-year-old boy as being enslaved by him. | 1870 | Dings’ father was an enslaver, listed under the name Fred Dings. The 1860 Census lists two women aged 28 and 18, a 4-year-old girl, and a 5-year-old boy as being enslaved by him. |