William W. Winsor (1811 - aft. 1866)

Born 29 Nov 1811 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Betsey (Simmons) Winsor — married 17 Jan 1841 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

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Biography

William was the son of John Winsor and Martha Howett.^[1] He married Elizabeth "Betsy" Simmons.^[2]

William left Massachusetts and briefly worked as a lighthouse keeper at Tatoosh Island, Clallam County, Washington, United States.^[3][4] He is enumerated both in Duxbury and at Tatoosh Island in the 1860 Census. However, he was certainly in Washington before 1860, and not in Duxbury, as stated by a court case in the Plymouth County Court of Common Pleas, session 7, begun 7 December 1857.

That was the case of Zadock Bradford (Duxbury) v. William W. Winsor (Duxbury). It was noted in the case that the defendant was out of the Commonwealth and no personal service was made upon him. The plaintiff published the court order for 3 successive weeks in the Old Colony Memorial, a Massachusetts newspaper.

Along with Rufus Holmes, another Duxbury native, William is among the first settlers of Port Angeles, Clallam County, Washington, United States. Another Duxbury man, Captain Alexander Sampson, joined them there. Both William and Rufus had a trading business, shipping halibut to San Francisco and trading with Native Americans. The three men were part of the Cherbourg Land Company to plat a town site and sell lots, even though their donation land claims were only for settlement, not for resale.^[5]

While Rufus ultimately returned to his family in Duxbury and died there on 17 June 1893, it is unknown what happened to William.

He is listed in Bancroft's Hand-Book Almanac for the Pacific States for 1862 on page 61: District of Puget Sound. Tatoosh Island Light House - W. W. Windsor, Keeper - 0.^[6]

Most notably, William is mentioned in the diaries of James G. Swan, as well as his book Almost Out of the World: Scenes from Washington Territory on pages 23 - 29, 70, 74, 91, 100, 117, 118 and 121. He is further mentioned in Swan among the Indians: Life of James G. Swan, 1818-1900 by Lucile Sanders McDonald on pages 40, 87, 88, and 96.

The diaries of James Swan cover William Winsor quite a bit, as do court records in the area. By 1862, he was selling whiskey to the local Native Americans. He was prosecuted for it in Olympia sometime in September of 1862, and then he was seen in Victoria, British Columbia in November 1862.

He ran the Rough and Ready Saloon in Port Angeles, which was destroyed by the flooding in 1863.^[7]

In May 1864 he was in Victoria (British Columbia), and had refused to pay for a boat he had ordered from the Native Americans. In 1867, W. W. Winsor is mentioned in a court case for debt collection by Alonzo Davis against him in Jefferson County, Washington^[8], which is next to Clallam County. This case file is the last record found of William at this point. He filed an appeal on the case on October 3, 1866, to be heard by the U.S. District Court when it was next in session in Port Townsend. It is not known what became of him after this date. This remains an ongoing research project for the profile manager.

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850[1] (The New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1911), Page 205.
2. ↑ Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850[2] (The New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1911), Page 338.
3. ↑ Cape Flattery Light on Tatoosh Island begins operating on December 28, 1857.[3] By William S. Hanable, Posted 6/08/2004, HistoryLink.org Essay 5703
4. ↑ Gibbs, Jim. Lighthouses of the Pacific. Schiffer Pub., 1986. Pages 147-148.
5. ↑ Port Angeles — Thumbnail History (https://www.historylink.org/file/8210)
6. ↑ Hand-Book Almanac for the Pacific States: An Official Register and Year-Book of Facts For the Year 1862.[4] San Francisco: H.H. Bancroft and Company. 1862. Page 61.
7. ↑ Washing Rural Heritage.[5] "Port Angeles Once Washed Away." 1863.
8. ↑ Frontier Justice, Jefferson Frontier Justice.[6] Case Number JEF-516. Civil (debt collection). Alonzo Davis vs. W. W. Winsor. 1867.

• US Census, 1850.[7] FamilySearch, database with images. Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; image 18 of 64, family 159, line 27; National Archives microfilm M432, film number 333, image number 00134.
• Massachusetts State Census, 1855.[8] FamilySearch, database with images. Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; image 6 of 36, family 83, line 13; State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 953,956.
• US Census, 1860.[9] FamilySearch, database with images. Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; page 32, family 300, line 4; National Archives microfilm M653, film number 519, image number 00085.
• US Census, 1860.[10] FamilySearch, database with images. Cherbourg, Clallam, Washington, United States; page 23, family 220, line 21; National Archives publication M653.
• US Census, 1860.[11] FamilySearch, database with images. Tatooch Island, Clallam, Washington, United States; page 24, family 229, line 1; National Archives publication M653.