John (Gwin) Gwinn (1792 - 1877)

Born 7 Nov 1792 in Greene, Southwest Territory, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Walker) Gwin — married [date unknown] in Blount County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 7 Mar 1877 at age 84 in Wilsonville, Shelby, Alabama, United States

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Biography

23.04--John Gwin, b. Nov 1792 in (then) Crowson's Cove, Greene Co., NC, (now) Wears Valley, Sevier Co., TN; d. 7 Mar 1877 in Wilsonville, Shelby Co., AL; bd. Gwin family plot, Wilsonville Cem.; m. 8 April 1812 in Blount Co., TN, by Justice of the Peace Joseph Walker (brother of the bride) to Jane Walker (b. 1794 in Blount Co., TN; d/o Thomas Walker and Elizabeth Magill);

24.01--Thomas Gwin--b. ca. 1814-1816; data unk.

24.02--Mary Gwin--b. ca. 1816; m1. 27 Dec. 1838 to Drury H. Roark; m2. on 17 May 1849 to Mr. Abel Turner

24.03--Isom Gwin, b. Mar 1817 in AL territory; d. 7 Dec 1853; m. Mary Burdine Wilson; MBWG m2. 28 Jan 1859 to John Steadman

24.04--William Gwin (18 Dec 1820--29 Apr 1889); m. 12 (13?) May 1842 Rosann "Roe" Carlisle Jones Wilson

24.05--Sarah Gwin (ca. 1826--31 Mar 1885); m. 18 Mar 1841 to Louis Basset

24.06--Ann Gwin (ca. 1827--1845); m. 19 Jan 1843 to Joseph Lavalette Basset

24.07--Martha J. Gwin (ca.1828--unk).; m. 22 Apr 1847 to Jesse Comelander

24.08--Chesley R. Gwin; (ca.1828--after 1880); m1. 20 Mar 1850 Frances E. "Fannie" Bell; m2. a widow, Mrs. Paralee (nee unk.) Blevins

24.09--Louisa A. Gwin; (ca. 1829-30--b. bef. 1830 census); m1?. Mr. Gaviness; m2?. on 17 May 1849 Mr. Wm. J. McKnight.

23.00--John Gwin (middle name unk.)--b. 7 Nov 1792 (from his gravestone--see photo) in TN (then NC--per his report to the 1850, 1860, and 1870 AL Census takers of Dallas Co.--possibly (and I believe he was) born in Crowson's Cove on Walden's Creek in Sevier Co.,); d. 7 Mar 1877 at Wilsonville, AL; m. 8 Apr 1812 (age 19.5) in Blount Co., TN, by Joseph Walker (Jane's brother, and Justice of the Peace) to Jane Walker, (b. ca. 1794; d. at Cahaba after 1864 and before 1870 census; bd. at New Cem., Cahaba, Dallas Co., AL, beside her dau. Louisa A. Gwin McKnight (see note "I" below); d.o. Thomas Walker, Sr., and Elizabeth Magill, both of Virginia); nine children; in 1860 Dallas Co., AL, Census, John, 68, and Jane, 66, were living in the home of W. G. Grice, 32, a carpenter b. in SC, and his wife, Eliza Grice, 20, b. in AL, along with Walter J. Roark, 15, and Elizabeth Comelander, 15 (two of John's and Jane's grandchildren, Walter being Daughter Mary's son and Elizabeth being Daughter Martha's daughter).

Vitals

John Gwin
Birth Nov 1792 Tennessee, USA
Death 7 Mar 1877 Shelby County, Alabama, USA
Burial Wilsonville Cemetery Wilsonville, Shelby County, Alabama, USA
Memorial ID 9741233

This page was created and maintained by Jason A. Owens, who later transferred it to me. Thanks for setting it up and letting me maintain it, Jason!

John Gwin, one of my 16 ggg-grandfathers, was born in 1792 in western North Carolina, what would become the state of Tennessee four years later. His parents, Isom Gwin and Mary Canterbury Gwin, had married in Montgomery Co., VA, several years earlier, and had moved to this western North Carolina site to purchase land. Isom eventually staked claim to a 249-acre tract in Sevier Co., which was finally surveyed in 1807. John grew up on this plantation maintained by slaves held by his father.

Isom became a Christian somewhere along the line, and eventually he felt called by God to serve Him as a pastor. During this time he became more and more convicted of the evils of slavery, and he often spoke against that institution both from the pulpit and in the community. Finally he released all his slaves, sold the farm, and moved with most of his family and not a few friends to the new free state of Indiana.

But John and his older brother, William, evidently disagreed quite openly with their father, so when Isom moved to Indiana, John and William took their families to the new slave state of Alabama, settling first (and buying land) in Shelby County where John's son Isom was born, then moving to (and buying more land in) Dallas County's new seat and the new state capital of Cahawba. John opened a wheelwright shop there.

Anna Gayle Fry mentions his home on page 41 of her 1908 book, MEMORIES OF OLD CAHABA, as follows: "Occupying the block on Oak Street, between First South Street and Capitol Avenue, was Academy Square with its Indian mounds. The two-story brick building was ornamented by a large observatory and belfry. Across the street, in front of the Academy on the corner of first South Street, was the residence of John Guiwn (sic), another old landmark of early days. Adjoining the Guiwn place, at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Walnut Street, was the Presbyterian church."

John and Jane had at least these children:

• 01 Mary Gwin m1. Drury Roark, m2. Abel Turner
• 02 Thomas Gwin
• 03 Isom Gwin m. Mary Burdine Wilson
• 04 William Gwin m. RoseAnn Carlisle Jones Wilson
• 05 Sarah Gwin m. Louis Basset
• 06 Ann Gwin m. Joseph Lavalette Basset
• 07 Martha J. Gwin m. Jesse Comelander
• 08 Chesley R. Gwin m1. Frances E. "Fannie" Bell, m2. Mrs. Blevins
• 09 Louisa A. Gwin m. Wm. J. McKnight

Family Members:
Parents:

• Isom/Isham Gwin 1764–1830
• Mary Canterbury Gwin 1770–1850

Spouse:

• Jane Walker Gwin 1794–1867

Siblings:

• Polly Gwin Walker 1788 – unknown
• Elizabeth Gwin Denton 1788–1858
• William Gwin 1790–1833
• Virginia Jane Gwin Tipton Weathers 1795 – unknown
• Richard Walton Gwin 1804–1885
• Nancy Gwin Houston 1805–1855
• Sarah Gwin Houston 1805 – unknown
• Sara / Sarah Gwin Houston 1806–1880
• Mahala C. Gwin Houston 1807–1880
• Minerva Gwin Wright 1809 – unknown

Children:

• Sarah Gwin Basset unknown–1885
• The Honorable Isom Gwin 1817–1853
• William Gwin 1820–1889
• Louisa A. Gwin McKnight 1829 – unknown

Gravesite Details: 84 years, 4 months old at time of death ^[1]

Census

Name: John Gwin
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1860
Event Place: Cahaba Town, Dallas, Alabama, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 68
Race: White
Birth Year (Estimated): 1792
Birthplace: Tenn

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
W G Grice M 32 S C
Eliza Grice F 20 Ala
John Gwin M 68 Tenn
Jane Gwin F 66 Tenn
J W Boark M 15 Ala
Elizabeth Comelander F 15 Ala^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9741233/john-gwin
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHDD-YSM : 3 October 2017), John Gwin in entry for W G Grice, 1860.

• http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwinisham.htm
• Gwin-155 was created by Ronnie Walker through the import of Ronnie Walker Family Tree.ged on Sep 22, 2015.
• Letter from Michael Lambert of January 2008
• [1] The Cabells and Their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy Alexander Brown January 1, 1895 Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Wife, Child page 299