REVISED TO INCORPORATE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY A DESCENDANT
I recently stumbled across online images of a Winn family Bible I had not seen before.[1] The Bible is from the family of James Winn, son of Daniel Winn of Lunenburg County, Virginia. James’s wife was Mary Ann Winn, daughter of John and Ann Stone Winn, also of Lunenburg. I wrote about James and Mary Ann briefly in Part IV of the recent Lunenburg Winn series.
What stands out about James in that article is his Revolutionary War service. He enlisted in February 1776 for two years in Capt. James Johnson’s company of the 6th Virginia Regiment, as did his brothers Elisha and William Winn.[2] He is shown on a Revolutionary War roll as a Sergeant in May 1777.[3] His individual service record lists him in Capt. Billey Haley Avery’s company of the 6th Virginia Regiment from August 1777 through January 1778. He was discharged in February 1778 at Valley Forge.[4] That catches most people’s attention, as well it should. And because today is November 11, I hereby send best wishes and gratitude to all veterans, including my husband Gary, a Vietnam vet, and (posthumously) to James Winn, a many-greats uncle of mine.
Back to the Winns: my article goes on to say that James probably left Lunenburg because there doesn’t seem to be a will or estate administration for him there. I added that I did not know where he went. In short, I just flat lost James and Mary Ann.
So … have we found James, son of Daniel, in this family Bible record? As a black plastic “Magic 8 Ball”[5] might say, “all signs point to ‘yes.’ ” For starters, the first members of the family recorded in the Bible are named James and Mary Ann Winn. The Bible says he was born in 1757. I had estimated that Daniel’s son James was born in 1757-1758, so the Bible’s birth year is spot on.
Also, several descendants of this family have been accepted by the D.A.R. on the basis of the Revolutionary War service of James Winn, son of Daniel Winn of Lunenburg. In short, there is every reason to accept that the James and Mary Ann Winn in the Bible record are the same people as James and Mary Ann Winn of Lunenburg.
But wait, there’s more … one descendant of James posted a comment on the original version of this article. She says the line has been Y-DNA tested and is well-established as part of the genetic family of Daniel Winn of Lunenburg. This blog has turned out to be a great way to meet nice cousins, and she is another one who is also a great researcher.
There is an “in memory of” marker for a James F. Winn in the Oakwood Cemetery in Martinsville, the county seat of Henry County, Virginia. Here it is:
Please note that the marker is fairly modern, perhaps mid 20th-century. The cemetery wasn’t founded until 1883, sixty-eight years after James died, so it is virtually certain that he was not buried there.[6]
A minor nitpick: the many Lunenburg records for James Winn, son of Daniel, never included a middle initial. The same is true for his military service records, which have his first and last names only, with no middle initial. There is no evidence of a middle name or initial in the Bible, either … he is simply James Winn. Nevertheless, the marker includes a middle initial, and most Ancestry trees identify him as “James Francis Winn.” Of course, people routinely include middle names for 18th-century men without any basis in the records, so this isn’t s a big surprise.
OK, back to the Bible. It was printed in 1833, roughly two decades after James and Mary Ann died. The family entries are in two parts. First, there is a list of gifts of the Bible from one Winn family member to the next – i.e., the Bible’s ownership provenance. Four pages headed “Family Register” follow. Those pages record names, dates of birth, and some marriages for family members. I was reeling after reading both, and didn’t feel as though I had a handle on this family until I did a fair amount of additional research. May you have better luck.
Here, sans commentary, is a verbatim transcription of the family information. It begins with the provenance of the Bible and continues with the four pages of “Family Register” entries.
“This my fathers family Bible. I will to my niece Susie Winn Shute after my death it is to be hers. [Signed] Mary A. Thompson. April 30, 1895.”
“I give this Bible to my cousin Walter S. Winn & if he ________ [indecipherable] _______ William Winn. [Signed] Susie W. Shute.”
“I give this Bible to John T. Winn Jr. with the request that it be kept in the Winn family. Walter S. Winn, June 5th1920.”
“I give this Bible to William Edward Winn with the request that it be kept in the Winn family. Jan. 28, 1962, Charlotte, NC, John T. Winn Jr.”
“I give this Bible to Thomas Edward Winn with the request that it be kept in the Winn family. April 26, 2003, Charlotte, NC.”
Here is the first page headed “FAMILY REGISTER.” In the original Bible, the names are shown in two columns on each page. I couldn’t make that format work here. Sorry. It would be easier reading.
Column 1
James Winn was born April 14th 1757
Mary Ann was born 14th December 1759
Olive Winn was born January 28th 1779
Crecy Winn was born November 29th 1780
Archelaus Winn was born November 17th 1784
Younger Winn was born April 12th 1786
Frances Winn was born October 15th 1787
Coleman Winn was born June 30th 1789
Elizabeth Ann Winn was born June 15th 1791
Column 2
James Winn and Mary Ann Winn were married on the 15th of May 1778
Jerusha James Winn was born March 7th 1793
James Sibley Winn was born January 1st 1795
Arlysha Scott Winn and Clearecy Harloe Winn twin sisters were born February 4th 1797
Whitehead Washington Winn was born February 22nd 1799
Clarecy Harloe Winn died Sept 6th 1802
Mary Ann Winn the wife of James Winn died August 13th 1813
End of first page of the register. Here is the second page, also titled FAMILY REGISTER …
Column 1
James Winn died June 14th 1815
Mary Ann Winn his wife died August 13th 1813
Susanna Winn died Dec 16th 1864.
Archelaus W. Winn died April 13th 1868
Column 2
Calma C. Winn wife of Rev. G. W. Winn died Aug 4th 1893.
George Washington Winn died April 8, 1895
Livin A. Winn died May 16th 1892
Louisa Yourman? Winn died June 25th 1894
Mary Ann Winn Thompson died Oct 29 1905, the last of the old family
End of the second page. Here is the third page of the Family Register …
Column 1
Archelaus W. Winn was born Nov. 17th 1784
Susanna Ballanfant was born January 23rd 1789
Ebenezer P. Winn was born Aug 17th 1809
James Winn was b. June 26th 1812
John B. Winn Sept. 2nd 1814
Joseph B. Winn Dec. 6 1816
George W. Winn b. Jul 5th 1819
Mary Ann Winn Nov. 23, 1821
Column 2
Louisa Y. Winn 28 Apr 1824
Levin A. Winn 22 Mar 1826
William Alexander Winn Aug 29th 182? 1828?
Franklin L. P. Winn 20 May 1831
Mary Elizabeth Hoskins was b. 21 Dec 1837
F. L. P. Winn and M. E. Hoskins were married 1855
End of the third page of the register. Here is the fourth and final page …
Column 1
Joseph B. Winn died Jan 9th 1828
John B. Winn died Oct 23rd 1855
Ebenezer P. Winn d. 12 Jul 1863
John A. Thompson died Oct 21 1866
William A. Winn d. 12 Dec 1866
Silas D. Thompson d. Nov 8th 1882
Column 2
John Thompson Winn d. July 12, 1932, Bedford Co., TN, son of F.L.P. and M.E. Winn was born Mar 23, 1856.
Walter Salt? Winn son of Livin A. Winn and Marth A. Winn was b. July 2 1864
Emma Ellen Maxwell Winn wife of W. S. Winn was born Oct. 5, 1871
John A. Thompson and Mary A. Winn was married Aug 10th 1852
S.? D. Thompson and Mary A. Thompson m. Dec 13th 1870
E. L. Winn son of J. T. Winn Sr. was born Feb 16 1882
And that’s all of the family information in the Bible. If the spirit moves, I will prepare and post a conventional descendant chart for clarity, along with some additional information from census and other records.
See you on down the road.
Robin
[1] The Bible is online at the Library of Virginia at this link.
[2] James Winn’s military muster rolls at the National Archives can be viewed at this link.
[3] Online at FamilySearch.org, United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783: May 1777 muster roll, Sergeant James Winn and Corporal Elisha Winn in Capt. James Johnson’s company of the 6th Virginia Regiment, available here.
Id., Capt. Billy Haley Averys Company of the 6th Virginia Regiment, January 1778, Sergeant James Winn and Corporal Elisha Winn. NARA Series M246, Roll 103, online at this link.
[4] See Valley Forge Muster Roll Project here.
[5] Mattel still manufactures the Magic 8 Ball.
[6] Here is a link to the Find-a-Grave site for Oakwood Cemetery.