Fourth Generation Inclusive

Historical Documents of Genealogical Interest to Researchers of North Carolina's Free People of Color

Tag: Winn

July 24, 2014

Not a drop.

SKETCH OF THE SIMMONS FAMILY

William Simmons, the father of most all of the Simmons of Sampson County, was born in the eastern part of Sampson County, near Faison, N.C. In early life he married one Penny Winn, of Wayne County, N.C. William Simmons is now dead, but he has often often told the writer that he was of purse white and Indian descent, and judging from his features and general characteristics, we are quite sure that hsi statements were true, he having long black hair, and prominent cheekbones, and his color corresponding very strikingly near with the real Indian. His wife is living, and resides near Clinton, N.C. James Simmons, one of the sons of William and Penny Simmons, is a very prominent farmer, and has accumulated  quite a lot of real estate; also his hother brothers have shown a good share of industry, which has resulted in a similar accumulation. Percy Simmons married the daughter of Hardy A. Brewington.

BETSY J. SIMMONS

The subject of this sketch was formerly Betsy J. Thornton. SHe married Green Simmons in 1843 in Clinton. She is the mother of William Simmons and has numerous grandchildren residing in Sampson County who claim to be free from all negro blodd. Betsy had grey eyes, straight hair, high cheek bones, and in general appearance was half Indian and half white.

WILLIAM SIMMONS

The subject of this sketch lived in South Clinton township, Sampson County, but died a few years ago. His wife, still living, was Penny Winn who lived near Neuse River in Wayne County. William’s mother was Winnie Medline, who married Jim Simmons in Fayetteville, and she made an affidavit in 1902, in order that her son William could vote under the grandfather clause, that her mother was a white woman and her father was an Indian. She further states in her affidavit that there was not a drop of negro blood in her veins or those of her children. Her son, William Simmons, had dark brown eyes, straight hair and high cheek boones and light brown skin. He claimed that his grandfather and grandmother, on his father’s side, were Indians and came from Roanoke River, and never affiliated with the negroes. William Simmons has eighteen grandchildren whose parents have not intermarried with the negro race, and these children are without school advantages except by private subscriptions.

From George E. Butler, “The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their Origin and Racial Status. A Plea for Separate Schools,” (1916).

 

6 Comments
May 24, 2014

They were sold for his debts.

SALE OF NEGROES.

A public sale of negroes took place in this town at the Court House steps on Saturday last, of which the following is an account.

Negro woman, aged 25 with two young children brought 883.

Negro girl, aged, 16, brought $711

Negro girl, aged 22,   “             808

Negro boy, aged 22, “              817

The first three were purchased by Dr. Dortch of Stantonsburg, the fourth by Mr. John Davis, of Lenoir and the fifth by Mr. Fourney Jernigan of Wayne. They were the children of a free negro by the name of Adam Wynne, who had purchased their mother, his wife, previous to their birth. – They were consequently his slaves and he having become involved, they were sold for his debts. – Goldsboro Tel.

The North-Carolina State (Raleigh), 17 March 1852.

[Sidenote: These four were not the first or last of Adam Wynn’s children to be sold to pay off his debts. — LYH]

Leave a comment
April 10, 2014

Free colored farmers, no. 2.

These members of the Winn family were listed in the 1850 agricultural schedule of Duplin County:

Charles Winn. 125 improved acres, 199 unimproved acres, value $300. Farm implements valued at $50. 3 horses. 4 milch cows.  2 other cattle. 35 swine. Livestock valued at $230.  250 bushels, Indian corn.  8 bushels, oats.  100 lbs., wool. 500 bushels, peas and beans. 50 bushels, Irish potatoes.  400 bushels, sweet potatoes.  365 lbs., butter. Homemade manufactures valued at $75.

Adam Winn. 400 improved acres, 1500 unimproved acres, value $3800. Farm implements valued at $100. 6 horses. 6 milch cows.  30 other cattle. 6 asses and mules.  2 oxen.  20 sheep.  60 swine. Livestock valued at $715.  350 bushels, Indian corn. 10 bushels, oats.  70 lbs., wool.  100 bushels, peas and beans.  3 bushels, Irish potatoes.  1000 bushels, sweet potatoes. 450 lbs., butter.  Homemade manufactures valued at $42.

Levi Winn. 150 improved acres, 236 unimproved acres, value $1500. Farm implements valued at $60. 3 horses. 4 milch cows. 1 oxen. 12 other cattle. 11 sheep. 15 swine. Livestock valued at $300.  200 bushels, Indian corn. 75 bushels, oats. 3 bales, cotton. 45 lbs., wool.  200 bushels, peas and beans. 25 bushels, sweet potatoes. 50 lbs., butter. 5 tons, hay. Homemade manufactures valued at $10.

Washington Winn. 50 improved acres, 58 unimproved acres, value $400. Farm implements valued at $25. 1 horse. 2 milch cows. 1 other cattle.  8 swine. Livestock valued at $155.  250 bushels, Indian corn.15 bushels, oats. 15 lbs., wool. 40 lbs., rice.  40 bushels, peas and beans. 40 bushels, Irish potatoes. 50 bushels, sweet potatoes.  100 lbs., butter. 40 lbs., cheese.  3 tons, hay. Homemade manufactures valued at $30.

Sally Winn [widow of Gray Winn].  60 improved acres, 163 unimproved acres, value $500. Farm implements valued at $15.  3 horses. 2 milch cows. 3 other cattle. 10 swine. Livestock valued at $115. 220 bushels, Indian corn.  1 bushel, oats. 25 lbs., wool.  100 bushels, peas and beans. 50 bushels, Irish potatoes. 50 bushels, sweet potatoes. 6 tons, hay. Homemade manufactures valued at $5.

Leave a comment
May 7, 2013

The Winn family.

Image

Winn Family Marker, Center Street, Mount Olive.

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2013.

[Sidenote: And thus, myth is codified.

There’s no question that the early 19th century Winns were a remarkable family.  However, to my knowledge, there is no definite evidence that there was an Adam Winn Sr., father of Adam Jr., Charles, Gray, Levi, and Washington Winn.  There were at least two Adams, as deduced from the dates of deeds. Though it’s not clear when the first one lived, the second was born circa 1805.  (What does the 1790 date relate to?) My research suggests that Charles Winn in fact was the son of Charles and Jinny Winn and had a brother named William Winn. The records also reveal a James Winn who bought and sold property with his kin. There are, moreover, contemporaneous female Winns, whose relationship to the “five brothers” is unaccounted for.

There is no definite evidence that Adam Winn (the one known as “Jr.”) ever married, but he had three or more sets of children. The oldest (Charles, James, Woodard, Marshall and Woodley) were born slaves to one or more enslaved mothers (one named Venus). Two other sets, the Newells and Parkers, who primarily used their mothers’ surnames, were born to white women. — LYH]

Leave a comment
May 5, 2013

Approved teachers.

State of North Carolina, Wayne County, Monday, Sept. 3rd 1877

To the Register of Deeds of Wayne County:

The County Examiner, in pursuance of Section 16 of the School Laws, reports for the year ending the day preceding the first Monday in September, 1877, as follows:

TEACHERS EXAMINED AND APPROVED.

…

Washington Simmons. Col’d. Third Grade. Male.

…

J.C. Carroll. Col’d. Third Grade. Male.

…

Mathew Aldridge. Col’d. Third Grade. Male.

Washington Winn. Col’d. Third Grade. Male.

Susan Winn. Col’d. Third Grade. Female.

Mary Aldridge. Col’d. Third Grade. Female.

…

2 Comments
April 29, 2013

Two tracts on Mumford Street.

Washington Winn to Lewis W. Levy.

This Indenture made this 15th day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and Fifty three between Washington Winn of the County of Wayne in the State of North Carolina of the one part and Lewis W. Levy of the County of Cumberland and State abovesaid of the other part. Witnesseth, that the said Washington Wynn for and in consideration of the sum of twelve hundred Dollars to him in hand paid by the said Lewis W. Levy at and before the sealing and delivering of these presents the receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge hath given, granted and bargained, Sold, aliened, remised, released, and confirmed, and doth by these presents, give, grant, bargain and sell, alien, remise, release, and confirm unto the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs & assigns all that tract or parcel of land, situate lying and being in the Town of Fayetteville in the South Side of Mumford Street and Beginning at the North East corner in the margin of Said Street and runs as the said Street about South 70 East to within three feet of Sampsons North West corner in said Street. Thence parallel with said line of Sampsons Lot to within three feet of Sampsons back on South West corner. Thence to a stake within about eight feet of the said Phillis Dennis South East corner of her back lot.  Thence to her corner, thence with her line to the beginning corner on the margin of Mumford Street. It being a lot of land Sold by Thomas J. Curtis to Phillis Dennis 13th Novr 1840 & registered in Book V, No. 2, page 475. Also one other tract of land Beginning at the intersection of Mumford and Robinson Streets on the South side of Mumford Street and runs thence South [illegible] East one chain and (50) fifty two links. Then South [illegible] West two chains & Sixty links to the corner of Lot No. 5. Thence North Seven and half degrees West one chain eighty four links to Robinson Street. Thence at Robinsons Street two chains to the Beginning. Being Lot No. 1 conveyed by Isaac Newberry to Phillis Dennis & Registered in Book K [illegible] 2, page 199. To Have and to Hold the said Land with its appurtenances to the proper use, behoof and benefit of the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Washington Wynn for himself and his Heirs, Executors and Administrators doth covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns, that he the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns and every of them, shall have hold, occupy, possess and enjoy the said Land, with its appurtenances, without any let, suit, hindrance, molestation or eviction from or by the lawful claim or claims of any person or persons whatsoever, to warrant and forever defend. In testimony Whereof, the said Washington Wynn hath hereunto Set his hand affixed his seal, the day and year first above written.  Washington Winn

Sealed and Delivered in Presence of James Banks

State of North Carolina, Cumberland County  } April 18th 1854

Then was this Deed proved before me John McLaurin

Grantee Book 51, p. 542, Register of Deeds Office, Cumberland County Courthouse, Fayettevllle.

Leave a comment
April 28, 2013

Not so fast — those slaves are mine.

William K. Lane v. Jane Bennett et al., 56 NC 371 (1858).

This case was removed from the Wayne County Court of Equity.  By valid will, Furnifold Jernigan made several provisions for the disposal of his slaves.  To his wife Jane Jernigan (who later married Thomas Bennett), he left 13 slaves, including Bill Winn, John Winn, Simpson and Anne. To his daughter Mary Anne Kelly, he left eight slaves, including Olive. He provided for the liberation of “negroes, Dave, Tom, Morris, Lila and Mary” and their transport to a free state, and he directed that ten named slaves be sold. John A. Green and William K. Lane were named executors.

Before the legacies were paid out, Adam Winn filed suit to recover John Winn, Bill Winn, Simpson, Anne, Olive and Dave, claiming that (1) he had mortgaged the slaves to Jernigan to secure payment of money Jernigan loaned him, and (2) he had a judgment attesting that he had repaid the money, and the slaves had been reconveyed to him.

The executors filed a “bill” with the court seeking guidance on the will’s provisions.  Jane Bennett and Mary Anne Kelly claimed the full value of the slaves bequeathed to them or, in the alternative, the amount paid by Winn to redeem them.  The court found that each was entitled to the amount of the redemption. (And, incidentally, Dave, having been redeemed by Winn, “loses, of course, his freedom intended for him…”)

[Sidenote: As noted elsewhere, John Winn and Bill Winn were Adam Winn’s sons, as well as his slaves. He mortgaged his children repeatedly. Jernigan, of course, was a notorious negro-stealer. — LYH]

1 Comment
April 26, 2013

The Winns of Mount Olive.

…

On March 20, 1838 the county records show that in consideration of the sum of $19.00, Adam Winn deeded the railroad a right-of-way through his lands. In November, 1837 and again in February of 1838 the President and Directors of the railroad had appealed to the Wayne County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions to force Winn to sell them a right-of-way. At that point the railroad was getting near the county line. Winn sold in 1838. It is believed that  Winn’s land lies along present day Center Street.

…

The 1838 deed to the railroad stated that the adjoining lands to the north belonged to Basil Kornegay, a rich Duplin County planter, member of the state House of Commons in 1814, and brother-in-law of William Rufus King, Vice-President under Franklin Pearce. The adjoining land of Winn’s was owned by Charles Winn, who was a member of his family.

With Winn’s lands on the south, and Flowers’ and Slocumb’s on the north, the railroad had a clear right-of-way to Dudley. The railroad track begins at Wilmington, curves at Faison, and then runs in an almost direct line to Weldon. When it was finished in 1840, with 161 miles of track, it was the longest railroad in the world.

…

Charles and Levi Winn were both blacksmiths, a vital service in a community which moved almost entirely on hoof. Adam Greenfield, Samuel Parker, George Simmons, Henry Coleman, Edward Griffin and Branson Merritt were coopers. A cooper is a man who makes and repairs barrels. Eastern North Carolina had long been famous for its tar and pitch, commonly called “naval stores.”

…

The Winn Family

The Winn family is one of the most interesting in the area. In 1836 Ginny Winn purchased a hundred acres of land from Ezekiel Norris in the lower part of Wayne. This is the first land transaction by Winns in Wayne County, though John Kornegay of Duplin County deeded Adam Winn, also of Duplin, land on the northeast “precosin” (swamp) on September 18, 1834. This land ran into Wayne County at one point near present-day Mount Olive.

In the 1850 census the Winn family is listed as “mulatto”, but in the 1860 census they were listed as “black”. The Winn family were free blacks from Duplin County who had received their freedom prior to 1834. The Artis, Simmons and Greenfield families of Mount Olive were also free blacks, according to the1860 census.

Adam Winn was himself a slave owner, for in April 1849 he borrowed money from Benjamin Oliver of Duplin, and put up three slaves, Bethana, Martha and Oliver, as security, along with 133 acres of land. The Winns did business with the most prominent and respected white families, and through the years have generally been considered the most outstanding family of their race in the area. They have produced farmers, school teachers and tradesmen and have been leaders in the black community of Mount Olive. Adam Winn who was also one of the first magistrates of Mount Olive, had sons, William, Charles and Levi. Charles and Levi were blacksmiths, the first to be located in the village of Mount Olive. Levi Winn owned land west of the railroad which was later purchased by Dr. Roberts, and transferred in 1854 to William W. Loftin and Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cobb. William and Charles Winn also owned land in the Mount Olive area.

…

Extracted from John Baxton Flowers III, “Early History of Mount Olive,” Mount Olive Tribune, 7 September 1979, posted in http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/wayne/history/other/earlyhis8ms.txt

9 Comments
April 19, 2013

Of sound mind and memory.

I Charles Winn of the County of Wayne and State of North Carolina being in sound mind and memory do this the 2nd day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and eighty one make and declare this to be my last will and testament in manner and in form following that is to say

Item 1st – I leave to my beloved wife America Winn the plantation where on I now live during hir natural life time, and after her death I give and bequeath the said plantation to the lawfull heirs of her body.

Item 2st – I give and bequeath to William Winn, Churchwell Winn, Margaret Capps, Levi Winn, Mary Winn, Francies Winn, Charles Winn, Wyett Winn and Nancy Winn, my tracks of land lying on Brooks Swamp and adjoining the lands of A.T. Grady and the heirs of James Kelly Dec’d to be devied between them.

Item 3 – I leave to my wife all of my Househole and Kitchen furntiture during hir naturall life and after hir death to be devied between hir children.

Item 4th – I leave all of the balance of my personall property to be sold by my Executor for cash and pay all of lawfull debts and the Balance if any to be devied between the children of my wife America Winn.

Item 5th – I do here by constitute and appoint James Winn Executor to this my last will and testament, in witness where off I Charles Winn Sr. have here unto set my hand and seal.  Charles X Winn

Signed and sealed in the presents of us who at this time subscribed our own name as witnesses there to – John A. Kornegay Jr., George Winn

Office of Clerk of Superior Court, Wayne County Courthouse, Goldsboro NC.

In the 1860 census of Brogden, Wayne County: Charles Winn, wife America, and children Churchill, Marina, Levyet, Mary, Frances, Wyatt, and Nancy.

Leave a comment
April 5, 2013

Lost.

Lost or Mislaid, sundry Notes and Bonds.

1 Bond that I hold against Adam Winn for one boy, Woodward Winn.

1 Note against J.A. Brady for $200.

2 Notes against W.L. Jenkins, one $20 and one $10.

My Accounts and Receipts payable to me.

1 Note against W.B. Field; Land Deeds, and my free papers.

I forewarn all persons from trading for said notes and accounts as I have not got value received for them.                         HENRY SIMMONS. Nov. 12.

Fayetteville Observer, 19 November 1860.

[Sidenote: Woodward Winn was Adam Winn’s son, and a slave. — LYH]

Leave a comment