Authors: Ed and Don Guenther, 2014

Sarah Winn Ingram Posing with Pipe

Her name was Sarah Winn, but her friends called her Sally. Sarah Winn, a descendant of the famous Winns of Gwydir Castle, was one of the brave women to cross the continent on the Oregon Trail in 1852. Sarah hailed from the Arkansas Ouachita Mountain country, growing up in the flatlands. She endured love and loss, experienced life, and saw death, but as a wife and mother Sarah never gave up. Her story mirrors that of many women of her time, but the telling of it never gets old. She traveled the Oregon Trail where she lost a son and a daughter. She came to Oregon looking for a life of dreams, of love, of family. She became a window of hope for those coming after. Facing various trials Sarah showed a resilience that is a prototype for all who would follow after. In the end she found her place in the Willamette Valley on the northwestern side of Oregon.

Wales

Sir John Winn(1550 – 1626)

Sir John Wynne, of Gwydir, married Lady Sarah Garrard(1554 – 1632), daughter of Sir William Gerrard, Knight and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1586 they had Owen, born in Gwydir, Carnarvonshire, Wales. They lived at Gwydir Castle.

NOTE: The families at that time named their children’s last name by the family line they were named after such as; Roger Wynne (named after fathers line) John Gwynn( named after mother’s line of GERRARDS. The two names blended at different points in history, the G (for GERRARD) was added to Wynne and it became GWYNNE, then the E was taken off; Gwynn. Then, the name was changed to Gwyn and finally to GWIN, GUIN, GWYN, GWYNNE and even WYNNE. Like most names, the Winn name gets murky as it is tracked through myriads of history. But we do know the Winn tradition as developed in the 19th century. This story shares the good and the bad that was carried on in the line.

Gwydir Castle

 Gwydir Castle
 Picture by Don Guenther

Owain Gwynedd (c1110-1169)

It is believed that the Wynns of Gwydir are of old Celtic stock, and trace the family line in an unbroken chain back to Owain Gwynedd (c1110-1169), Prince of North Wales, who reigned after 1137 AD. Descent is through Owain’s son, Roderick, Lord of Anglesey.  Owain was the descendant of Rodri Mawr (Roderick the Great), King of Wales, killed by the Danes in 876 AD, by his eldest son Anarwd, who inherited Gwynedd, and established what later became the 1st Royal Tribe of Wales.

Gwydir Chapel was built in 1673 and still houses records of the Winn family.

Gwydir became the ancestral home of the powerful Wynn family, descended from the Kings of Gwynedd, and one of the most significant families of North Wales during the Tudor and Stuart periods.

Sir Owen Wynn Baron of Gwydir Castle(1586-1660)

It is believed that Sir Owen Wynn, Knight and Baron, married Grace Williams(1592-  ), born in Wales, around 1610. He was the son of a baron, but Owen’s older brother Richard was in line for the baronetcy, not Owen. Owen had to seek his fortune elsewhere. In 1649, at the death of his older brother Sir Richard, Owen became the Baron of Gwydir Castle. Owen and Grace had at least 5 children: John, Richard, Owen, Sidney, and Thomas.

Captain John Winn(1627-1694)

No record has been found indicating which Winn crossed the Water, but John Winn died in Westmoreland County, Virginia, USA in 1694. He married Elizabeth Minor(1627- ) and they had a son, Minor, in 1668. 

Minor Winn I (1668-1711)

Minor Winn married Martha Ann Byrd around 1690. They had Minor in 1704.

Minor Winn II (1704-1776)

Minor Winn II’s Will:

Transcription of the will of Minor Winn (1704 – 1778)

Oringinal Will: p. 58 (Wills, Fauquier County, Virginia, Virginia State Library)

Original Will: Will Book 1, Page 343, Warrenton, Fauquier County, VA.

Written 31 Jul 1775, recorded March 23, 1776 in Will Book 1, Page 343, Fauquier County, Warrenton, VA, probated 23 Mar 1778

In the name of God amen. I Minor Winn being in perfect mind and memory thanks be given to the Almighty God for it as touching my temporal affairs doth make this my last will and testament first and principally I recommend my soul to God who gave it having the death and person of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to receive full and free pardon and forgiveness of all my sins, and for my body to the ground be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named and for my temporal estate which it hath pleased God to bestow upon me I give and bequeath of in manner as following.

Item I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Margaret Winn all my Estate Royl & Personal for and during her natural life.

Item I give and bequeath to my son William Winn one negroe man named Godfre and if any person whatever seas (sic) on the said negroe for his debts theor the said negroe shall be the hole & sole property of my granddaughter Martha Smith and her heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my son John Winn one negroe woman named Jean and one negroe boy named Ben and one negroe boy named Moses now in his possession also one negroe man named Antony to him and his heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my son James Winn one negroe man named James and one negroe boy named Lewis to him and his heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my son Minor Winn one negroe man named Reuben and one negroe man named Soloman now in his possession, also my riding horse Bridle & Saddle and all my wearing apparel to him and his heirs forever, also my great Bible in the same form and manner.

Item I give and bequeath to my son Richard one negroe man named Will, now in his possession also one negroe boy named Tom during his natural life and if my son Richard Winn should die without an heir Lawfully begotten by his body then his part of my estate shall be equally divided among my children then living (sic) and if he is got heir lawfully begotten I give it him and his heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Margaret Johnson one negroe man named Winny now in her possession also one negroe boy named Jack Monday to she and her heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Smith and equal part of my estate that is sold after paying my just debts to she and her heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Susannar Grant one negroe that she has in her possession named Dick, also one negroe girl named Hanner and if my daughter should die without an heir lawfully begotten by her body then her part of my Estate shall be equally divided among my children then living and if she has got heir lawfully begotten I give it to she and her heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my granddaughter Martha Smith one negroe girl named Lucy now in her possession to she and her heirs forever.

Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Smith’s children forty pounds to be equally divided among the whole after the decease of my wife. All the balance of my estate both royal (sic) and personal be sold after the decease of my wife at 12 months credit, with laking good bond and security and what remains after paying my just debts and funeral charges among my children then living by my said wife Margaret Winn whom I appoint my Executrix with my son Minor Winn my whole Executor of this my last will & testament, and during the life of my Executrix with my Executor she is to act and do as she thinks proper and it shall stand good to this my last Will & Testament.

Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this thirty first day of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy five.

MINOR WINN (X his mark) Seal

MARGARET WINN (X her mark) Seal

Signed & sealed in the presence of us:

Stephen Tolle

Thomas White

James Fleming2

(As seen in this will the Winn’s were adovcates of slavery, a blemish in our heritage. See footnotes.)

Minor Winn Married Margaret O’Connor

Minor Winn married Margaret O’Connor in 1725. She was the daughter of William and Margaret Connor from Ireland. In 1728 they were living in Caroline County, Virginia. Minor was known as one of the best bounty wolf hunters in the area. 

They moved to Orange County and then Fauquier County where they operated an Inn in 1769. Minor later purchased land at The Plains from Richard Henry Lee, an  American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. The Plains area had been the land of the Sioux and Iroquois Indians when a land deal was struck with them around 1722 not to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Minor and Margaret had 5 sons who fought in the Revolutionary War: Colonel John Winn, Colonel William Winn, Colonel Richard Winn, Captain Minor Winn III, and Captain James Winn. This Captain Minor Winn III, was the Great Grandfather of Stonewall Jackson.

Minor and Margaret had William in 1732.

William Winn(1732-1789)

William Winn was born in Warrenton, Fauquier County, VA in about 1732 to Minor Winn II and Margaret O’Connor. William married his 1st wife, Ann Lingan (1733-1756), in 1753. Ann was born in Baltimore, Maryland. It is believed that Ann died while giving birth to her second child. Her first child, Martha Winn, married Matthew Smith in South Carolina. 

William married his 2nd wife, Rosamond Wade Hampton (1735-1775), daughter of John Hampton Jr.(1683-1748) and Margaret Wade (1694- 1810), in 1757 in Fairfax, Virginia in about 1756. Rosamond was born in New Kent County, Virginia, and died in Fairfield County, Virginia. She was the 1st cousin of General Wade Hampton(1752-1835) and had 7 brothers and sisters. Colonel Wade Hampton was a distinguished veteran of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Rosamond was a descendant of William Hampton who came over just before the Mayflower in 1620 at the founding of Jamestown.

William’s brother, Minor, built a stone house in The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia. It still stands today. It is believed that the masonry work in the basement is from Minor’s and William’s father’s house on this location, built by Minor Winn(1704-1776).

William was a Colonel in the American Revolutionary War (Apr 19, 1775 – Sep 3, 1783) under George Washington’s command. In 1764, he moved to South Caroliona with his brothers, John and Richard, settled in the Cauden District, called Fairfield, and founded Winnsborough (now called Winnsboro), South Carolina. He and his brothers also founded the Mount Zion Society, an institution of learning, of which John was the first President. He served as horseman in the militia for 32 days in 1779. And furnished provisions for the militia in 1781.

In the journeys from Virginia to South Carolina the Winns would have traveled the Fall Line Road, following parallel to the coast going south.Virtually the entire Piedmont region of North and South Carolina was settled via the Great Wagon Road, the Upper Road, and the Fall Line Road during the latter half of the 1700s. What started as mere Indian trails became heavily traveled wagon roads, open to the large Conestoga wagons. The Conestoga was the u-haul of its day. All the family possessions could fit into a Conestoga, up to 6 tons!  It was drawn by horses, mules, or oxen. It was designed to help keep its contents from moving about when moving and could handle crossing rivers and streams, however, leakage could be a problem. 

The Upper Road ran north and south, as did the Fall Line Road, with the Upper Road being about 60 miles west of the Fall Line Road. What started in Virginia would end in Oregon as generations of Winns continually ventured onward, cutting trails and building things that would last.

By the 1740s these roads brought major access into the interior of Virginia and the Carolinas. By 1748 the original trails were improved enough to be considered wagon roads. This set of trails came to be called the Upper Road or Piedmont Road and provided access to interior farm lands. During the Revolutionary War these roads were important to both sides moving troops in the campaigns of the southern states.The Upper Road ended near where Winnsboro would be located.

William Winn’s Brother, Richard

Richard Winn(1750-1818), William Winn’s brother, was a Representative from South Carolina; he was born in Fauquier County, Va., in 1750; attended the common schools; moved to Georgia and then to Fairfield County in South Carolina in 1768; served as a clerk in a counting house; engaged in cotton buying and other mercantile pursuits, and was a land surveyor; he entered the Revolutionary Army as a lieutenant and attained the rank of colonel of State Militia. After the war he was promoted to the rank of major general of militia. He was a  member of the State assembly, 1779-1786, and was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Creek Nation in 1788. He was elected to the Third Congress and re-elected as a Republican to the Fourth Congress (March 4, 1793-March 3, 1797), then elected to the Seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Sumter; he was then reelected to the Eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from January 24, 1803, to March 3, 1813. Richard moved to Tennessee in 1813 where he became a planter, and continued in the mercantile business until his death on his plantation at Duck River, Maury County, Tennessee, December 19, 1818; his interment was at Winnsboro, Fairfield County, S.C. (See The Winns of Fairfield County: Colonel John Winn, William Winn, General Richard Winn, Page 10, Fairfield County, S.C. Museum.)

Colonel Richard Winn was wounded in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Hanging Rock. He was in command of the right flank with a Dragoon Command attached to him under Major Davies. Colonel Winn made use of a 13 year old boy as messenger. The boy’s name was Andrew Jackson, future President of the United States. 

Richard’s oldest son, Minor(1780-1799), died at the home of Andrew Jackson while studying law. Both Richard Winn and Andrew Jackson were great horsemen and racing enthusiasts. Jackson was president of South Carolina in 1780.

Richard Winn married Priscilla McKinney in South Carolina and they had eleven children. His daughter Priscilla married a Blocker. Christine married Dr. William Bratton. Margaret married David R. Evans. Sons Thomas and William served in the War of 1812. His oldest son, Minor, came to Tennessee in 1798 and read law in the offices of Gen. Andrew Jackson. It is said that Minor Winn lived and died in Jackson’s home and is buried in the Jackson graveyard.

Gen. Richard Winn died on 18 December 1818 near the Sawdust community in western Maury County. The exact location of his grave is unknown.

Lord Cornwallis 

Thirteen British colonies officially became the United States of America on July 4, 1776.  Lord Cornwallis of England gained access to the southern portion of the newly claimed country through Charleston. Several of the Winn family fought in the war and prevented Cornwallis and the British from attacking further north.

In 1780 Lord Cornwallis spent a hard winter in Fairfield County, South Carolina, after the defeat of the British and Loyalists at Kings Mountain. At that time, the village of what would become  Winnsborough had about 20 dwellings. It is alleged that the county name originated from a statement made by General Cornwallis when he declared “How Fair These Fields” during the British occupation of the area in 1780-81. The House Cornwallis stayed in during the occupation is still standing.

During the stay of Lord Cornwallis in Fairfield County, Colonel John Winn and Minor Winn (Richard’s brothers) attempted to ambush and kill his Lordship, but they failed when one of their slaves, holding their horses, conveyed their activity to the British. Some say the slave betrayed them, others say that they had betrayed the slave by not giving him freedom. The Winns were captured and condemned to the gallows. With ropes around their necks, they were marched out towards the gallows, but Cornwallis pardoned and released them. According to Richard Winn’s own account, Richard sent word to Cornwallis threatening him with dire results if he executed his brothers. Cornwallis backed down. JOHN WINN, with his brothers William and Richard, all ended up in South Carolina, and settled in the Fairfield District. Winnsboro’ takes its name from them. He and his brother Richard served conspicuously and gallantly in the Revolutionary war. At one time he was a prisoner of Lord Cornwallis, and sentenced to death for an attempt to ambush the general, but was released through the influence of Colonel Phillips, a loyalist, to whom special kindness had been previously shown. (The Wynne of Winn Family by J.L.M. Curry; The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 203-205).

Under any circumstances, Cornwallis would have made them swear not to take up any further arms against the crown. He may have pardoned them because of past service that they had done for the crown, he may have known of their background coming from Ireland where they at least initially served the crown. At any rate, their necks were spared.

While Colonel John Winn was imprisoned, his wife died.

The Hamptons

Another branch of the Guenther ancestry includes the Hamptons, who first came to America in 1620 as part of the Jamestown settlement. Rosamond Hampton married William Winn.

Anthony Hampton(1715-1776), brother of Rosamond Winn, was a captain in the Revolutionary War. He had moved from Virginia to North Carolina and finally to South Carolina. He married Eliazbeth Preston on March 10, 1741. It was on his recently acquired land in South Carolina, with his home only partially built, that Cherokee Indians approached their home. At first they appeared to be friendly, and this was not surprising as the Hamptons knew some of them, but then in an instant trachuey was revealed as a bullet killed Anthony’s son Preston. Anthony was then tomahawked through the skull, Eliazabeth receiving the same. The butchery also took the life of their infant granddaughter. John Bynum, their 8 year old grandson, escaped to tell the story. (Gleaned from The Hampton Massacre by Susan Dixon, 1940 article in the State Newspaper).

Wade Hampton, son of Anthony Hampton,was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. His exploits can be found on the Guenther Family Site’s Honor Wall, a tribute to war veterans.

One of the antecedents in Rosamond Hampton Winn’s line was William Hampton(1592-1652). He married Joane Hotten(1596-1683) in 1614. They crossed the Atlantic in 1620 and were part of the Jamestown settlement. Jamestown was founded in 1607 on a spit of land with easy access by ship, inland on the Chesapeake Bay. Originally Jamestown was a private settlement but starting in 1617 it was annexed by the Crown. It was the first permanent English settlement in America. They encountered trouble with the Powhatan Indians who claimed it was located on their hunting land. Peace was achieved  when Pocahantas married John Rolfe in 1614; however, it was short lived and under Chief Opechancanough the Powahatan’s attacked in 1622, killing 1200 settlers.

Slavery was initiated in Jamestown in 1619. Virginia became a hotbed for the issue and the result was the Civil War in America in 1861.

Joane died in 1623, the same year she bore Thomas, maybe making it a death in childbirth. Both William and Joane died in Hampfield, Gloucester County, Virginia.

Taken from the Southern Cousins Hampton web site and listed below, as is, without modification:

“William Hampton, born ca May 1590/92 (1586), christened 28 May 1592 in Twickenham Parish, Middlesex, England, “Heritage of Stokes County, NC†states “he was the eldest son of Laurence Hampton, Sr. William Hampton, the first generation Hampton in this country, came at the age of 29 to Jamestown, VA aboard the ship Bona Nova in the fall of 1620 when the colony had about 1,200 people.

“He had been a wool merchant in London and probably came at the bidding of his uncle, Thomas Hampton. Thomas had been an original stockholder in the “London Company” which in 1607 sent a group of English settlers to Virginia to establish a colony. This was strictly a business venture and land in the colony was available through stock investments, to the settlers. William later paid the passage of his wife Joanne and their three children, William, Jr., Grace and Elizabeth. They arrived in 1621 on the ship Abigail; a cousin, John Hampton also arrived on the Abigail.

“His first property was at old Point Comfort, near Mobjack Bay in Gloucester Co. VA, then Isle of Wight Co., then Eastermont River, where he built a plantation named “Hampfield”. He was a wool merchant, buying wool from other Virginians and shipping it to his brother Laurence Hampton in London, who was a merchant tailor.”

Taken from the Atkins Family tree and displayed as is, without modification:

“William and his family settled for a short time in Jamestown, then moved a few miles south to Elizabeth City, Virginia. In March 1622 on Friday the 22, a terrible Indian massacre occurred which came near to exterminating the entire colony of Jamestown. By this time of the massacre, William and family were found living in Elizabeth City, Virginia. This later changed name to Gloucester County, Virginia.

“On 25 March 1651, Hampton, age 59, was granted 700 acres on the east side of the Easternmost River below Pudding Swamp (Put-In-Creek,) near the present town of Mathews, Va. where he established Hampfield Plantation that same year.” 

Winnsboro, South Carolina

William was living at “76”, a town and military station in western South Carolina in 1790. He served with distinction in the Revolutionary War and then returned to Virginia and then,   traveling the Upper Road, to Camden, South Carolina, near what would become Winnsboro.

William fought to keep the British from gaining access to the north through the Port of Charleston. It was at Charleston that Americans suffered their worst defeat of the war in 1780. The British planned to attack from the south via Charlestown, seeking to come at George Washington in the north. During the Revolutionary War the Upper Road and Fall Line Road were important to both sides moving troops in the campaigns across southern states. 

Winnsboro, South Carolina

William drew a land patent of 1200 acres there. William, like other Winns in early America, traded in lands. He was land certified in Wateree Creek, South Carolina. It was here that he received a 300 acre land grant in 1770. He was also a land surveyor, having surveyed some of his own land. He acquired numerous other land grants in various parts of South Carolina.

Brothers John, Richard, and William came to Fairfield County in 1765 where they founded the town of Winnsboro in 1785. The village was laid out and chartered in 1785 upon petition of General Richard Winn, Colonel John Winn and John Vanderhorst, who all served in the Revolutionary War. More than one hundred lots were sold between 1785 and 1787. 

While away from home during the Revolutionary War nursing war wounds, a group of Tories went to Richard Winn’s plantation, drove off his stock and slaves, and burned every building on the place.

Winnsboro, to become the seat of Fairfield County, lies in the Piedmont on a ridge between the Broad and Wateree Rivers. Native Americans and early settlers of the Piedmont region called the area “Big Shoals of the Saluda” after the Saluda River. The shoals were a shallows created by sand accumulation and the Native Americans used the shoals as a crossing. Henry Pinckney Hammett bought this property for his cotton mill that used the water power of the shoals. The name of the area changed again to Piedmont, which literally means foot of the mountain. The shoals became the location where the cotton was milled using the water power created by the shoals.

By the time Eli Whitney’s cotton gin was patented in 1794, Fairfield County was well on the way to becoming one of the biggest producers of upland cotton in the state.They dealt in human merchandise as well, slaves brought mostly from Africa. It was by the cheap manpower of slaves that they became rich.

Incorporated in 1832 and named for the Revolutionary War hero Richard Winn, Winnsboro became a religious and educational center. 

William died in 1813 while on business in Charleston, South Carolina. He is buried next to his brother John’s wife, Dorothea Wright, in Winnsboro, South Carolina. William Winn and Rosamond Hampton had 10 children.

William Winn’s wife Rosamond Hampton was the youngest daughter of John Hampton II and Margaret Wade. They had Minor H. Winn in 1775 in Winnsboro, South Carolina.

Minor H. Winn III(1775-1840)

Minor H. Winn married Leodicia Bedford in South Carolina and they resumed the trek West. They moved to Tennessee in about 1810 where James and Zadok were probably born. Sally likely was born here as well. From there it was on to Arkansas.

The South’s crops required large tracts of land and cheap labor. In the North there was industrialization which resulted in many young people leaving farm life for factory jobs.

The Winns were builders, thinkers, surveyors. The Middle School was on James Winn’s farm in West Fork, Arkansas. Zadok and James stayed in West Fork and the young took off west to get cheap land.

Agriculture in the United States dates back to the food-raising activities of American Indians, and many current crops come from plants such as corn, cotton, potatoes, and tobacco that were first domesticated by Indians in South and North America. In the early 1600s when the colonists were making their way to America, agricultural methods in England and other parts of the world were still primitive. Fields were dug by oxen pulling wooden plows, seeds were broadcast by hand, and grains were harvested with scythes just as they had been for the previous 2,000 years. From the Indians the first American settlers learned how to clear land, till the fields, and grow the corn that was crucial to their initial survival.

Although Indians taught the colonists to plant fish with their corn, fertilization of other crops was not a common practice. The native fertility of the relatively acid and nutrient-poor eastern soils was rapidly exhausted, and pioneering families commonly abandoned their farms and moved on to fertile virgin lands to the west. By 1850 one traveller wrote, “Eastern Virginia appeared to have suffered the ravages of a great war or an attack by another horseman of the Apocalypse. I traveled for 50 miles on horseback and could find nothing but abandoned farms and plantations with buildings in decay and fields overgrown with nettles and brush. Mother Nature is reclaiming that which for 200 years has been giving food and clothing to man.”

The mid-1800s began an era of great change in American agriculture, an Agricultural Revolution. It was influenced by the British, which brought advances in cultivation methods, breeding of improved crop varieties, and use of fertilizers and crop rotations to maintain soil productivity. Crop fertilization was introduced to the American colonies in the 1850s when ships were used to import guano, the droppings from seabirds living on islands off the coast of Peru. A vigorous market soon developed for soil amendments such as guano, manure, crushed bone, and lime; and by 1860 seven factories had been established in the United States to manufacture mixed chemical fertilizers.

The use of pesticides also began in the mid 1800s, when it was discovered that dusting of grape plants with sulfur provided a cure for powdery mildew. Soon afterwards, an arsenic-containing compound called Paris Green was introduced for control of the Colorado potato beetle, an insect native to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, which became a serious agricultural pest because of its appetite for domestic potatoes grown by pioneers. Chemical control of agricultural pests expanded rapidly after these initial discoveries, and by 1893 there were 42 patented insecticides offered by several manufacturers.

The South was mainly populated by the English and soil conservation was unheard of in early America, but in the North, spearheaded by Germans, the land was replenished. In the North they did it without slaves. The South was geared for the ‘Gentry’ and the gentry required someone else to do the work. Since no one would do it willingly and they would not pay to have it done, they sought out the slave market. The early Winns were slavers but as the descendants came west, slavery was left behind. It was a new day.

Washington County, Arkansas. 

County records show the Winns as land barons in Arkansas. Land was cheap. Minor and Dicey both died and were buried in Woolsey, Washington County, Arkansas. Minor H. Winn was a member of  the West Fork church.

Sarah Sally Winn(1816?-1881)

Sarah Sally Winn married Moses Graham in 1830, around age 14. Probably between 1832 and 1836 they moved to Washington County, Arkansas, where Sally’s brothers had gone. Moses died in 1840. They had 3 daughters: Minerva(1834-1897), Elizabeth(1837-1884), and Nancy(1840-1852). Moses died the year Nancy was born.

Sarah married William Ingram in 1846. All three Graham daughters came West with Sally and her second husband William Ingram in 1852. Nancy died on the Oregon Trail at age 12 and was buried near the Trail. Sally and William also had their children with them which included Leodicia(1847) and James(1850).

Sarah’s siblings were John Minor(1797-1891), Zadok Zedrick(1799-1852), James Minor(1810-1869), Jane(1812-1876), and Winifred(1821-1896).

After Sarah’s brother James died, and being left alone with four small children at one of the most critical times in the history of the U.S., the Reconstruction days immediately following the Civil War, James’ wife Eliza Hancock Winn was able to keep her young family together with the help of a devoted ex-slave girl, Emaline, who chose to cast her lot with the safety of the farm where she was born. The two held the family intact during those trying times, the widowed mother managing the large farm near what is now the town of West Fork, Arkansas, while the teen-age black girl assumed the responsibility of looking after four lively children. Emaline has gone down in the historical records of this family as a heroine.

Though Arkansas sided with the Confederacy some of the Arkansans fought for the North and for Freedom. Sarah’s brother Zadok had a son, Zadok, who fought for the Union army from 1863-1865 in Company E, Arkansas Cavalry. Zadok traveled the war path of his forebears,    breathing the dry dust of the hot trodden trail; sloshing through the mud in the heavy rains; letting blood in the tradition of the bayonet musket ball; the tragedy of killing fellow  countrymen. In the Revolutionary War they fought to gain a nation, Zadok fought to keep it. While Zadok fought, Sarah was building a home in far away Oregon.

 

Zadok Winn(1798-1852) married Elizabeth Breechen(1803-1869). They had a farm in Washington County, Arkansas, on Winn’s Creek. In 1852, during the great flood, the creek rose to treacherous levels and Zadok was carried away. His wife anxiously awaited his return, but only his body would return. 

Zadok and Elizabeth had a son named Jesse, born in South Carolina about 1799. Jesse came to Oregon with three of his siblings following the Civil War and married Ann Grazelle Taylor who had come to Oregon from Iowa in 1852.

Sarah Winn Graham Ingram Excluded From Church 1847

Sarah being ‘excluded’ from the Primitive Shiloh Baptist Church in 1847 after she became pregnant by William before marriage, is documented in the church records. In the exclusion the church did not even acknowledge her marriage to William Ingram, referring to her as Sally Graham. Perhaps they did not acknowledge Sally’s marriage, considering William a heathen. Sally’s mother also died in the year 1846. These events speak of Sally’s time of need when her church failed her. William removed his family from this vicious environment. 

Being illegitimate in that time period was serious.  The word, illegitimate, was stamped on your birth certificate, in some states you could not inherit property.  The kings of both France and England had illegitimate children and none of them were in line for the throne, the kings often tried to figure out some way to make them a duke or duchess of something, or if they wanted to, they ignored them.  Elizabeth I was declared illegitimate by Henry VIII and that had to be changed.  

That said, Sarah claimed marriage in 1845 when they hit Oregon, a loving thing to do for the future of their children.

Most churches shun. It is much easier to see and deal harshly with someone else’s sins than to face one’s own shortcomings. The real heartache for Sarah was that just when she needed her church family the most, they turned her away. Later, in Oregon, Sarah would win William over to the Christian faith, a testimony to her own faith.

William and Sarah’s Blended Family

Their spouses had died and left them each with children. William had 5 children with Martha McClendon, who he married in 1835 .At the time of the Oregon Trail their ages were Mary age 16, Samuel age 14, Ethalinda age 12, Sara age 10, and William age 8. Sarah Winn had married Moses Graham in 1830 and at the time of the Oregon Trail their ages were Minerva age 18, Elizabeth age 15, and Nancy age 12. 

The Tigard-Galbreath, Ingram and Harer Wagon Train, 1852

They were attracted to Oregon for the Oregon Donation Land Claims, pioneers looking for a homestead in a green state with rich soil. A man could get 320 acres and if he had a wife, together they could homestead 640 acres. It was an attraction to get Oregon settled and gain statehood. William and Sally would be part of this great trek.

Most of the Oregon Trail travelers were farmers, as would be expected since the goal was generally to acquire large tracts of land for farming.

It appears that at Bear River the Tigard-Gilbreath wagon train of about 105 persons merged with the Ingram and Harer trains and together they made up over 400 people, all coming from Arkansas. In Tigard’s letters he records much death on the Oregon Trail, including the crippled little Nelson girl who was accidentally shot while moving a loaded rifle. There was sickness and delirium on the trip as well as trouble with Indians.  

Oregon Trail 1852

The wagon trains of 1852 consisting of 200 people set out from Washington County, Arkansas,  probably in early to mid May. Most Oregon trail travelers started in St. Louis, Missouri. As with many of the Oregon Trail travelers they experienced disease, death, and tragedy. They traveled by ox team, the surest way when encountering difficulties such as mud and mountains. It was necessary to get through the mountains before snowfall, which usually started sometime in November.

The 1852 train traveled Evan’s Trace into the Santa Fe Trail. From there they merged into the Cherokee Trail and on into the Oregon/California Trail. The Ingram, Harer and Tigard-Gilbreath wagon trains merged at the Thomas Fork of the Bear River River. The Tigard-Gilbreath wagon train took the northern route.  Finally, in Idaho, they continued on the well known Oregon Trail.

Sally’s daughter Minerva Graham, was 18 when she traveled with Sally in 1852. She married in Oregon to John Vinson in 1854. Minerva’s obituary states that she was a good Christian and a courageous woman.

James Ingram(1821-1886), William’s brother, and James’ wife Minerva Ingraham(1824-1904) also came in the Wagon Train of 1852. With them was their 5 year old son Lewis. Lewis’ Obituary says that he remembers they encountered and fought Indians on the trip. With them were their children Berry, Green, Lewis, and Matilda Jane. Their daughter Charlotte died in infancy in 1851. James and Minerva made a land claim just north of Harrisburg, Oregon, in 1853, it is thought along the Big Muddy River.

Nancy Graham Dies on Trail

Sarah Ingram was not alone on the trail. Many women accompanied their men on this absurd venture. There was plenty of good farming back east still to be had, why did the men have to choose Oregon, so far from everything? Did they not consider the risks? Women mostly certainly did consider the risks. 

Sarah’s daughter, Nancy Graham, never saw Oregon. She died on the trail in 1852. They buried her on the trail, hoping to disguise the grave from Indians who might dig up and desecrate the body. Whatever dreams Nancy had were only left in the memory of Sarah.

Women on the Oregon Trail

In 1852 Lydia Allen Rudd was on one of the wagon trains starting in Independence, Missouri. She kept a detailed journal on the trip. The most notable thing repeating itself over and over in her journal was the almost daily passing of graves, endless graves on the Oregon Trail. (Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel, 1982).

Sarah needed a fresh start. Oregon could provide that.

Women who were younger and had no kids fared well coming west in a wagon, but for the women who were older or had children or were pregnant, the trip could be very costly. Sarah was 36 years old in 1852 and she had a passel of children, two of whom would die as a result of the Oregon Trail.

The year 1852 was reportedly a wet year in the spring as the trains moved across the prairie. That meant wet clothes. Wagons and supplies never quite drying out. It meant mud holes. The nights were chilly and damp blankets made it hard, especially for the children; earaches were common. Mothers still had their regular chores of cooking in the wind, gathering firewood, even tending stock, washing, mending, food storage,  but the addition of caring for young children was overwhelming. The women had to fight the desire to be back home. 

A journal entry by Charlotte Pengra in 1853 outlines a day on the trail : “ I hung out what things were wet in the wagon, made griddle cakes, stewed berries, and made tea for supper. After that was over made two loaves of bread stewed a pan of apples prepared potatoes and meat for breakfast, and mended a pair of pants for Wm. pretty tired.” Another entry, “I feel very tired and lonely.”(Women’s Diaries by Schessel).

“The emigration year of 1852 stands out as the year of illness and death on the trail for humans and animals alike.  Most of the human toll was the result of cholera. While the diaries often suggest that the cattle died from an imaginary disease called “hollow horn”, it is thought by some experts that the loss of cattle was actually due to anthrax with the stress of the journey as a contributing factor.  Most of the trains for this year were small in size due to the difficulty in finding water, camping spots and feed for the cattle. A larger train was simply too hard to manage. Most companies were made up of family and friends with single men hired to drive wagons and assist with the cattle.  Assuming that a train consisted of 50 or fewer individuals it would mean that there were at least 200 separate trains headed for Oregon.” (Stephanie Flora, oregonpioneers.com)

In The Plains Across historian author John D. Unruh, Jr., takes account of people who were returning to the east from the west. There were many ‘gobacks’ or ‘turnarounds’ with various reasons for going back: death, theft, poor planning, discouragement, physical injury, company quarrels, or just plain homesickness.  Some of these were from the California gold rush, some all the way from The Willamette Valley. In 1852 the gobacks may have numbered as high as a thousand people. Ezra Meeker said that he met a group of eleven wagons returning, all driven by women; all of the men of the entire train dead.

Another woman had buried a child along the Platte River, then buried her husband west of Salt Lake. She was a turnaround. To be sure the travel was heavy on the trail in 1852, with about 10,000 people headed to Oregon, and another 50,000 to California. Wagons would mingle with other trains and sometimes switch trains. The Gobacks were heavily questioned about the conditions of the trail or about the destination. The forts were a place to take respite, to gather information.

Sarah’s daughter Minerva had a son, Louis, the same year Sarah gave birth to her own daughter, Leodicia, in 1847. Louis’ obituary refers to the Oregon Trail trip. For a 5 year old boy this must have been quite an adventure. Not so much for the mothers.

Also on the 1852 wagon trains was Sarah’s nephew, John Winn. This is believed to be Sally’s nephew, her brother Zadok’s son. At some point on the trip, according to the Tigard letters, John Winn became captain of the merged three wagon trains that the Tigards wrote about in his letter. Winn ended up settling on a farm on Ferguson Creek off the Long Tom river. John is buried in Monroe, Oregon, with his wife Elizabeth.

In Wyoming, the train would have passed by Fort Bridger, established around 1843 by the famous mountain man Jim Bridger. Fort Bridger was located on Black’s Fork of the Green River and was established to serve the wagon trains coming west. Bridger was known as “Blanket Chief” by the Flatheads and Crows after his Flathead wife made a beautiful and unusual multicolored blanket that he wore and had for special occasions. The name meant little at first but as he became known for the qualities the Indians admired, the name became greatly respected and honored.” There is a good chance that Sally’s train of 1852 met Blanket Chief, unless they took Sublett’s cut-off through 50 miles of the water-less Green River desert, a route that had become preferred because it cut 46 miles off the trip.

The Snake River Trail entailed many dangerous ledges and steep dropoffs as it wound along the river. River crossings on the Oregon Trail were numerous and expensive. To ferry across might cost as much as $5 per wagon. The crossings started way back on the Platte River.

James Ingram Dies, Age 2 

On the trip they fought Indians. They were also helped by Indians. Two children wandered off and were lost. They were found and rescued by Cayuse Indians who cared for the children overnight. One of the children was William and Sarah’s son James, age 2. However, soon after arrival in the Dalles little James died, probably of pneumonia, never having recovered from their wandering in the wilderness. Little James was buried at the Dalles.

The Oregon Trail was full of danger and difficulty. Estimates of death on Oregon-California-Mormon Trail is as follows:

CauseEstimated deaths

Disease 6,000–12,500

Native American attack 3,000–4,500

Freezing 300–500

Run overs 200–500

Drownings 200–500

Shootings 200–500

Miscellaneous 200–500

Scurvy 300–500

Totals 9,400–21,000

Oregon City

Oregon City was founded in 1829, the first settlement of early pioneers in the Willamette Valley. This was the end of the Oregon Trail. Supplies could be replenished here with what money a person had left. In 1848 when Oregon was declared a territory, Oregon City was the first capitol. It was in Oregon City where the Land Claims were taken out. The lucky ones had land spotted by relatives or friends ahead of time. Many had to rough out that first winter after arrival before they could get to claims. There were no houses on claims, just land and dirt and trees.

The Ingram Train arrived in Oregon on November 12, 1852, almost 6 months after starting out. From The Dalles, they came down the Columbia River via barge and landed in Oregon City. The Atfalati people inhabited the Tualatin Plains into the 19th century. They were hunters and gathers, but by 1852 they had been nearly wiped out by plagues and diseases brought by the Europeans. In 1870 the population of the Atfalati Indians was counted at 60, having been removed from the Willamette Valley by an 1851 treaty, which placed them at Wapato Lake. Their land had been ceded to the settlers. By the time William and Sarah arrived, the land was pretty much up for grabs.

Farmington, Oregon.

Did you ever wonder what it was like for a woman like Sarah with children to get to Oregon and gaze out upon her husband’s dream of 320 acres? Numbing. Debilitating. Shock. Everything she knew has been left behind and there is this: nothing. No house or maybe a mud shack. Rain, lots of rain in the late fall. Supplies are on empty. Extra chores everywhere just to survive. Women with young children or carrying a child in pregnancy were especially vulnerable to the miseries of arriving in Oregon. How do you keep everybody in the family warm and fed? This was a man’s dream but for a woman it took a woman’s endurance. And for sure, women of that day stood to the challenge and prevailed, but uprooting to Oregon was not the first choice for most of these women.

William and Sally Ingram settled in Farmington, Oregon, near the Harris Bridge. Farmington was one of the earliest settlements in Oregon and was prominent for a time as an important milling and grain-shipping station on the Tualatin River when steamships were a major source of transporting goods. The Farmington Church was founded in 1845 by Sarah and Philip Harris, travelers of the Meek Cut-off. Here William and Sarah took a land claim, 319.44 acres. Riches beyond belief.

But as with many western towns, Farmington, also known as Bridgeport, fizzled. 

Sarah’s Pipe Smoking Picture

As for the picture of Sarah Winn Ingram smoking the pipe, there is a story passed down in the oral tradition of the family. Ronald B. Guenther says that as a boy he would visit the aunts, one being Aunt Girthy, in Hillsboro. Nobody made buckwheat pancakes like Aunt Girthy. They loved any kind of consternation which is why they liked so much to go to the graveyard and then tell stories about the folks underground.  At Aunt Girthy’s Grandma Wilda would hide the picture of the pipe smoking Grandma out of embarrassment. But as the picture was finally found out, it was declared that two of Sarah’s granddaughters had talked Sarah into the picture with the pipe. But it was made clear that you were to say that she did not smoke, it was because of her catarrh, which is an excessive discharge or buildup of mucus in the nose or throat. That was Sarah’s wish and she extracted a promise from the granddaughters that that would always be made clear, she smoked for medicinal reasons. Some say that is hogwash, that Sarah just liked to smoke. 

It is believed that the first piano the picture sat upon was that of Leodicia Ingram, Sarah’s daughter, the daughter that had caused so much trouble back in West Fork when Sarah was cast out of her church. You know, Sarah was a tough one and all the women in the Landess and those close to them were tough and hard. The classic picture has since been passed down as a family heirloom, though the tin plate is not to be found.

Sarah’s and William Ingram’s Graves, Lewis Pioneer Cemetery, Hillsboro, Oregon, Guenther Photo Collection

The Death of Sarah and William Ingram

William died in 1775, Sarah in 1881. They are both buried in the Lewis Pioneer Cemetery in Hillsboro, Oregon.(See Leodicia Ingram Story). Descendants of William and Sarah have spread out across the Willamette Valley and beyond, a testament to the vision of the early pioneers. It is notable that on Sarah’s grave stone it is inscribed with ‘Wife of William Ingram’. Sarah loved him and he was good to her. He honored her the most when he became a Christian at the end, a testimony to Sarah’s own undying faith.

Sarah’s Children:

Sarah’s Daughter Minerva Graham

Minerva Graham(1834-1884) was 18 years old when she came on the Oregon Trail with Sarah. She married John H. Vinson in 1854 at age 18 in Washington County, Oregon. Minerva had 5 children; two lived past age 24.

Sarah’s Daughter Elizabeth Graham

Sarah’s daughter Elizabeth(1837-1884) was 15 when she traveled the Oregon Trail with Sarah. At age 16, in Washington County, Oregon, she married William Landess on February 17, 1853. Elizabeth had 8 children, only two of which lived past age 7. Three of those died in the first year.

Sarah’s Daughter Nancy Graham

Nancy(1840-1852) died at age 12 on the Oregon Trail. 

Sarah’s Son James M. Ingram

James(1850-1852) died at the end of the Oregon Trail at age two.

Sarah’s Son Lewis C. Ingram

Lewis(1851-1863) traveled the Oregon Trail with Sarah at age one. He died on November 23, 1863 at age 12 in Washington County.

                            

Sarah’s Son John M. Ingram

John(1853-1863), born the year after the Oregon Trail migration, died on December 5,1863 at the age of 10. Lewis and John may have died of the cholera epidemic of that time period. The cholera vaccine would not be available until 1896. It could have been the flu, polio, a strep infection (in those days called septic sore throat) which turned into scarlet fever, measles, cholera or course, typhoid fever. All would have been a good candidate;  the childhood diseases killed many off in those days. Smallpox is another possibility. It kills many and for those who survive have an immunity to later outbreaks. Smallpox epidemics in the Pacific Northwest occurred in 1800-1801, 1824, 1836, 1853, and 1863. Whooping cough was another killer.

Lafayette U. Ingram

Lafayette(1861-1933) was born in 1861 in Washington County, and married Martha Wheeler in 1882. They had 4 children. Lafayette died in 1933 in Los Angeles.

Sarah’s Step Children 

Sarah was also a step mother to William’s children through Martha McClendon. William and Martha had 5 children but one died the year she was born, that was Mary, born in 1836. Then there was Samuel P., age 14 on the Oregon Trail; Ethalinda,  age 12 on the Oregon Trail; Sarah, age 10 on the Oregon Trail; and William, age 8 on the Oregon Trail.

Sarah had a passel of kids on the Oregon Trail!

Leodicia Ingram(1847 – 1909)

Leodicia Ingram was born on September 26,1847 to William Ingram and Sarah Sally Winn Graham. Leodicia was 5 years old when she traveled the Oregon Trail in 1852 with her parents Sarah and William Ingram. At the age of 15, she married  John Landess(1823-1904), age 39. John had taken a donation land claim near Scholls, 320.03 acres according to the land patent of 1850.

Corena Maylona Landess(1873-1931)

Corena Maylona Landess was the 4th child of John Landess and Leodicia Ingram. In 1889, at the age of 16, she married Wilbur Wiley(1856-1909). They had 3 children: George(1890-1962), Wilda(1891-1960), and Dora(18920-1944). 

Wilda Wiley(1891-1960)

Wilda Wiley married Joe Delsman(1887-1940) in 1910. They had Louise(1913-1927), Geraldine Clara, and Richard(1917-1943).

Geraldine Clara Delsman(1916-2012) 

Geraldine married John Guenther(1912-1991) in 1935. They had the 14.

Winns in the Slave Trade by Ed Guenther

As shown by Minor Winn’s will, this branch of the Winn clan was deep into the slave trade. Black tribes in Africa were capturing and enslaving other blacks from neighboring tribes, and selling them to white slavers to be sold in America. It was a plague of the American South. The plight of the Blacks was made worse when England’s Charles Darwin made claim that Blacks did not have the same ancestry as whites, but evolved from a lower form of humanity. Although a deception, much of the world bought into it and the ramifications exist to this day. The Civil War started when democrats of the South refused to free the slaves. Many who fought in the Civil War did not believe in slavery, but they believed in the South, and felt like the the South should be able to control its own destiny. Many thought the Civil War was a one time deal, but then a new issue arose in America, abortion was legalized in 1973 by a Supreme Court decision, making for a new Civil War without guns.

Slavery in America started in the late 16th century, unless you count the slavery amongst American Indians and Mexicans, which started earlier. There were several justifications of slavery, and in particular of enslaving the blacks. First, some claimed blacks had the mark of Cain. That is in the Bible, they reasoned. After killing Abel, God marked Cain. Then there is the story of Noah. Noah cursed Ham and Ham’s descendants were the Canaanites and the Hamites and of course, the Hamites were identified with a number of people groups including black Africans. Naturally enough, stemming from such evil folks as those, the blacks had to be subhuman and worthy of enslavement. Even most Christian leaders of the day, in the South, would not stand up for the helpless, nor would the political leaders of the South. 

Mostly, these were people looking for free labor, slave labor, and the blacks were easy to distinguish as looking different so they could more easily be kept track of. The Blacks in Africa acerbated the problem by selling other Blacks into slavery. So there was a breakdown in every aspect of human behavior, from every corner, anywhere a dollar could be made. Human trafficking still goes on today in every skin color. Similar to the early slavery of the South, modern sex slavery is bigger than ever. America faces another slave crisis.

As can be seen from Minor Winn’s will, the Winns were big into forced slavery. The men, women, and children were sold and willed to others with little or no regard for the person’s family. They sold them as one would sell an animal. There were times when a reporter from the North would approach blacks on a plantation and ask how they were being treated. If the black slave had any common sense, and they almost always did, they would respond that their masters treated them wonderfully. Any other response would  inevitably come to the knowledge of the owner and the slave would fear being beaten unmercifully. Just so with the Winns, there is a report that their slaves said they were wonderful. Little wonder at that.

By the time our story gets to Sarah Winn, slave ownership is only in her past ancestry. Sarah was a God fearing woman and took no part in the slave trade of her predecessors.

Bibliography:

Bettridge, John W., Winn history: johnwbettridge@juno.com

Chappell, Buford S., M.D., The Winns of Fairfield County

Curry, J.L.M., The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 203-205

Stromberg, Joseph; Smithsonian, Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism, April 30, 2013:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/starving-settlers-in-jamestown-colony-resorted-to-cannibalism-46000815/#AJJ1pEwK6ZGrkAmB.99

Peoquet du Bellet, Louise; Edward Jaquelin, Martha Jaquelin; Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume 4

Schlissel, Lillian, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey, 1982

Turner, Richard Winn: History of Maury County, Tennessee 

Wikipedia: Winnsboro: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnsboro,_South_Carolina

Winn, James A., Genealogy Of The Winn Family 1500-1936, 916 N. 5th St., Ft. Smith, AR, 1936

Wright, Colonial Families of the Southern States of America: A History and Genealogy of Colonial Families who Settled in the Colonies Prior to the Revolution; 1911: https://books.google.com/books/about/Colonial_Families_of_the_Southern_States.ht

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