Thomas Winn (abt. 1716 - bef. 1781)

Born about 1716 in Virginia [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 12 Apr 1781 before about age 65 in Lunenburg, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mary Gresham [send private message]

Biography

Removed parents - Richard Winn and Phoebe Wilkes of Hanover/Middlesex, Virginia.

Col. Thomas Winn and Daniel Winn were “very likely” brothers

Col Thomas and Daniel Winn were most likely the NEPHEW of Richard Winn (b.1672) of Middlesex Co. VA who m1. Sarah and m2. Anne Cocke. Col Thomas and Daniel Winn’s father was likely to be the brother (name unknown) of Richard Winn (b.1672) of Middlesex. FTDNA terminal SNP testing between the two sets of descendants make this the most likely scenario.

This means that Richard Winn (1701-1750; m. Phebe Pledger) would have been Col Thomas and Daniel Winn’s first cousin, as their father’s were brothers.

Colonel Thomas Winn Patriarch born circa 1718, died bef 12 April 1781 when his will was probated. ^[1][2]

Col. Thomas was the most prominent of the three “senior” Winns.

I first found Col. Thomas mentioned in 1743 as “Page’s overseer” in Hanover County.^[3] He appeared in Lunenburg records for the first time in a 1746 deed executed when he was still residing in Hanover. On the 8th day of April 1746, Samuel Winn of the county of Brunswick sold to Thomas Winn of the Parish of Saint Paul in the county of Hanover a certain tract or parcel of land containing 150 acres lying in Brunswick County.^[4] The Indenture was witnessed by John Winn, John Stone and Richard Stone.^[4]

Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County in 1746. He lived a high-profile public life in Lunenburg. He was a surveyor of a road in his area and was appointed to take tax lists, both positions of trust in the community. In 1751, he was sworn as a justice of the Lunenburg county court with the honorific “gentleman.” In 1755, he was sworn a “Captain of Foot” of the Lunenburg militia.^[5] He was a wealthy landowner; by 1761, he had amassed over 3,500 acres. In 1765, a commission appointed him Colonel^[6] and he was recommended by the Governor as a “fit person to be added to the Commission of the Peace” for Lunenburg. In 1772, the Governor of Virginia appointed him county coroner. He was a vestryman of Cumberland Parish from 1766 through 1780. ^[1]

Marriage

Spouses and children ^[7]

Thomas Winn and 1st wife Elizabeth Bannister had seven children:

1. John Winn (c1741-1768) m. Susanna. John died in Lunenburg Co. VA. His father Thomas Winn was executor of his will dated Mar 28, 1768.
2. Elizabeth Winn (c1745-1800) m. Joseph Winn (her cousin; son of Daniel Winn). Elizabeth died in Lunenburg Co. VA
3. Thomas Winn Jr. (c1747-1797) m1. Philadelphia m2. Leticia Martin. Thomas died in Abbeville Co. SC
4. Mourning Winn (c1749- Aft. 1797) m. John Hix. NFI
5. William Winn (c1751- Aft. 1803) m. Elizabeth. Last record of William Winn was a Land Plat to John Conn adjoining Wm Winn’s land in Abbeville Co. SC, dated 1803
6. Richard Winn (1753-1816) m. Sarah Hall. His grave and grave marker is at White-Yancey-Jones Family Cemetery near Chase City, Meckleburg Co. VA. The grave marker inscription dates are 1753-1816, so his birth year is firm
7. Banister Winn (c1756-1801) m. Jane Barnard. See Probate File of Banister Winn, administrated by William Barnard, 23 Nov. 1801, Chatham Co. GA

Thomas Winn & 2nd wife Sarah [unknown, possibly Bacon] had four children:

1. Edmund Winn (c1761- Bef. 1847) m. Elizabeth Cousins
2. Keturah Winn (c1763- Bef. 1796) m. Lydall Bacon Jr.
3. Henrietta Maria Winn (c1766- Abt. 1792) m. John Hardy d 1799 Edgefield Dist, SC ; Guardianships were appointed for John Hardy's four children in Lunenburg VA Sept 10, 1801[Lunenburg County Order Book 18, pg 159]
4. Washington Winn (c1769-1796) never married

Thomas Winn's last four children with Sarah were mentioned in his Will, as well as his youngest son from his first marriage, Banister Winn. The older six children from Thomas Winn's first marriage later filed a chancery suit following the death of their half-brother Washington Winn (Hix vs Winn, Lunenburg Co. VA, 1796). Note that Thomas Winn’s daughter Keturah married Lydall Bacon and his daughter Henrietta married John Hardy, not the other way around. There was a mixup when the clerk accidentally transposed their husbands’ names incorrectly on one page of the suit, but the Clerk corrected his mistake on another page and recorded them correctly.

Research Notes

Wikitree Free-Space Page. Winn Research Archive [please request "trusted list" on that page for notifications of changes]. Contains history of prior internet published blogs/conclusions

Excerpt from Digging up Dead Relatives blog that contains extensive research with documented sources on Winns of early Virginia^[1]

"The subjects are three Winns who were born in the first quarter of the 18th century and died in the last quarter in Lunenburg. Y-DNA establishes they were genetic relatives. Here they are:

1. Thomas Winn, the grantor in that baffling 1762 deed. Let’s call him Col. Thomas because he was a Lunenburg militia colonel.
2. Daniel Winn, the grantee in the 1762 deed. Daniel, bless his heart, has a reasonably unique name and doesn’t require a nickname to distinguish him from other men having the same name. Daniel and Col. Thomas were brothers.
3. John Winn of Lunenburg, as opposed to John Winn of Amelia. Amelia John was a brother of Col. Thomas and Daniel. Lunenburg John was not their brother, although Y-DNA testing proves a genetic relationship. The three patriarchs are also connected in many Lunenburg records. Lunenburg John is surely at least a distant cousin of Daniel and Col. Thomas, although I can’t figure out the family relationship.

Note - 2/26/2023- this paragraph is confusing/misleading... "We known John Winn (1730-1781) of Amelia County was NOT the brother of Daniel & Col. Thomas Winn." - per the FTDNA WINN surname group coordinator

This begins by briefly discussing each patriarch and identifying their children. That is also where it ends, because the three men had thirty-one children among them. Information about grandchildren is therefore limited, so far. In fact, I now find this article is so long that I must break it up into two and perhaps three or more parts….

… this Part I, about the persistent Winn error and Col. Thomas Winn. "^[1]

• See Winn Surname Project at Family Tree DNA news
• DNA results at the Winn Surname Project at FTDNA have grouped the Wynne/Winn lines into SubGroups. The largest group Winn from Puleston Group is a Welsh-origin group containing six confirmed subgroups of Colonial Era Virginia families, which Y-DNA testing has determined to be one group sharing a common paternal Winn/Wynn ancestor in Wales.

• Winn Surname Project at Family Tree DNA news from Stephanie and not copyrighted.
• We have two YDNA groups with origins in Wales identified. We want to find participants still living in Wales to join and participate. The hope is that we will identify a group or groups who have a connection to the groups we have identified in USA...

• Y-DNA Group K. The Winn from Puleston Group is a Welsh-origin group. It is the largest group in Winn Surname Project. Within this group there are six confirmed subgroups of Colonial Era Virginia families, which Y-DNA testing has determined to be one group sharing a common paternal Winn/Wynn ancestor in Wales.
• In this group, the immigrant ancestors from Wales are thought to be Thomas, Robert, and John Wynn, sons of Gruffydd Wynn of Trefechen, Denbighshire, descendant of a Wynn paternal line stemming from Madog Puleston....if you have a tree that you've linked back to Robert Wynne, Mayor of Canterbury, you must disconnect those generations from your tree because Robert Wynne, Mayor of Canterbury, is an entirely different YDNA Group.
• The YDNA results between Group K and Group M do not match, and the haplogroups do NOT match. Project co-administrator, Stephanie Winn Miller, is contact for the Winn/Puleston group at Family Tree DNA https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/winn/about/news

Updated Feb 23, 2023; by FTDNA project coordinator
Within the proposed Winn/Pulesotn Group, there are six confirmed subgroups of Colonial Era Winn ancestors, which Y-DNA testing has determined to be one group sharing one Welsh paternal ancestor. These six Winn families are as follows:

1. Minor Winn (1704-1778) m. Margaret Connor; moved up the Rappahannock River from Caroline County to Culpepper, then to Fauquier County, Virginia. Sons were John (m1. Dorothea Wright; m2. Penelope Kirkland), William (m. Rosamond Hampton), Minor (m. Elizabeth Withers), James (m. Hannah Withers), and Richard Winn (m. Priscilla McKinney).
2. Daniel Winn (1715-1789; Will written 1789 & probated 1799) m. Sarah; resident of Prince George County, Virginia, 1744-1755, and moved to Lunenburg County in 1756. His nine sons include Joseph (b. 1739; m. Elizabeth Winn, a cousin), Thomas (m. Joyce Farguson), John (m. Susanna), Alexander (m1. Elizabeth Barnes; m2. Mrs. Jane Stone, Widow), Elisha (m. Lucy Ellett), Orsamus (m. Frances Jeter), William (m. Elizabeth), James (m. Mary Ann Winn, a kinswoman), and Galanus Winn (m. Rebecca Lester).
3. John Winn (1719-1795) m. Anne Stone; resident of Brunswick & Lunenburg Counties, Virginia. His 1740 Brunswick County Land Grant fell in Lunenburg County after the county division in 1748. Sons were John (m. Mary Lyall), Peter (m. Letty Stone), Littleberry (m. Mary Maynard), and Mourning Winn (m. Sarah Jones).
4. Col. Thomas Winn (b. 1716-1720; d. 1781) m1. Elizabeth Banister and m2. Sarah; resident of Hanover County Virginia in 1743, and moved to Brunswick & Lunenburg Counties after 1745. His 1746 Land Deed in Brunswick County fell in Lunenburg County after the county division in 1748. Sons of his 1st marriage were John (d. 1768; m. Susanna), Thomas (m1. Philadelphia; m2. Letitia Martin), William (m. Elizabeth), Richard (m. Sarah Hall), and Banister (m. Jane Barnard). Sons of his 2nd marriage were Edmund (m. Elizabeth Cousins), and Washington Winn (never married).
5. Richard Winn (1701-1750) m. Phebe Pledger; born in Middlesex County, Virginia, and landowner in Hanover County in 1731. He also owned a quarter plantation in Amelia County. Richard Winn's baptism in 1701 was recorded in the Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex Co. Virginia to parents Richard Winn (b. c1672) & Sarah of Middlesex County. Richard Winn & Phebe Pledger's only son, John Winn (c1730-1780), served as Burgess of Amelia County 1778-1761 and 1769-1776, as Amelia County Delegate to the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776, and as Amelia County Delegate 1777-1778. John Winn married Susanna Irby. After his death, John's widow Susanna inherited his plantation and mill on Little Nottoway River & Lazaretta Creek in Amelia, which land fell in Nottoway County after the county division in 1788. Their sons were Richard (m. Jane Pincham), John (m. Myrtila Minor), and Charles Winn.
6. John Winn (1705-1789) m1. Elizabeth and m2. Mary Pledger; born in Middlesex County and was a resident of Hanover Co. Virginia in 1728. He lived in Hanover County until his death in 1789. John Winn's baptism in January 1705 was recorded in the Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex Co. Virginia to parents Richard Winn (b. c1672) & Sarah of Middlesex County. In 1754, John Winn gave a deposition in Hanover County Court as testimony in the Amelia County chancery lawsuit, Johnson vs. Martin, saying that he, "John Winn of Hanover County," was then 48 years old and knew John Johnson 26 years ago in Hanover County when he lived on a tract joining to Johnson, which was formerly owned by Michael Holland. John Winn was born 1706 (new style) by the Greogorian Calendar adopted in Virginia in 1752, and 1705 (old style) by the former Julian Calendar discarded in 1752. John Winn married his second wife Mary Pledger c1738, after the death of first wife Elizabeth. Their sons were Hezekiah (m. Christiana Bowles), John (m. Mary Bowles), Thomas (m. Elizabeth Dabney Anderson), and Peter Winn (m. Sally George King).

• Genealogical Blog Digging Up Dead Relatives: -- Legends, Outright Lies, and Useful Facts About Our Ancestors

Tag: Col. Thomas Winn

        This appears to be a well researched and documented site with many articles on the Winns of Virginia by Gary Noble Willis & Robin Rankin Willis, a pair of serious amateur genealogists who loosely follow the Chicago Style for citations supporting their assertions of fact. This article has hyperlinks to other articles spotlighting Col Thomas Winn.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} All documented Sources listed at http://digupdeadrelatives.com/2021/10/15/lunenburg-winns-part-i-of/
2. ↑ Lunenburg County, Virginia, Will Book No. 3, 1778-1791, Page 75-76, citing will of Thomas Winn. Digital images: Familysearch.org [database with images] Film #007645430, image 496 of 659. Accessed 16 April 2022.
3. ↑ Chamberlayne, C. G. The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover, County, Virginia 1706-1786. Richmond, Virginia. The Library Board. 1940. Page 311, citing Tho's Winn. Digital images: HathiTrust Digital Library. Accessed 15 April 2022.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Lunenburg County, Virginia, Deed Book Volume 1, Page 71-72, citing Samuel Winn to Thomas Winn. Digital images: Familysearch.org [database with images] Film #007898594 image 47 of 533. Accessed 15 April 2022.
5. ↑ Lunenburg County, Virginia, Court Orders, 1754-1759, Page 400, citing Thos. Wynn and John Wynne. Digital images: Familysearch.org [database with images] Film #007898597, image 237 of 724. Accessed 16 April 2022.
6. ↑ Lunenburg County Virginia, Order Book No. 11, 1765-1766, Page 86, citing entry 6, Thomas Winn Gentleman. Digital images: Familysearch.org [database with images] Film #007897233, image 553 of 658. Accessed 22 June 2022.
7. ↑ List of children; Winn - Daniel & His Nine Sons, 2nd Edition, 2009, by Warner Martin Winn et al (including Stephanie Winn Miller). - page 121. ; C.G. Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book of St Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia 1706-1786, pg 311; various Deed books, wills on file in Lunenburg Co Va

• Source: S1 FamilySearch.orgFamilySearch Family Tree; FamilySearch.org; database, (http://familysearch.org : modified 02 March 2020, 03:23), entry for Joseph Winn (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:L8LM-54V); contributed by various users. PersonID: L8LM-54V

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Winn-455 created through the import of The Tuter and Bunch Families_family line_2012-08-23_01.ged on Aug 23, 2012 by Rick Tuter. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Rick and others.
• Winn-1553 was created by Don Leuty through the import of Martin_2017-06-25.ged on Jun 25, 2017.
• Ancestry Family Tree https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/6989691/person/306803139/facts