William Winder Jr. (?-1808)
MSA SC 3520-1398
Biography
Born: in Somerset County.
Native: fourth generation.
Resided: near Rewastico Creek, Rewastico Hundred, Somerset County,
1798.
Family Background
Father: William
Winder (1714/15-1792).
Mother: Esther Gillis (1724-by 1770).
Stepmother: by 1770, Mary (?-1799).
Aunt: Lean Gillis (1726-?), who married William Adams (?-1795).
Brothers: John
Winder (1745-1822); Levin
Winder (1757-1819); and possibly Thomas, who was lost at sea early
in life.
Sisters: Jane; Leah (ca. 1760-?); Priscilla (ca. 1740-by 1779);
and Esther (?-ca. 1790).
Niece: Esther Wilson (?-by 1792), who married William Morris
(?-ca. 1799).
Married: by 1781 Charlotte (?-by 1808), daughter of John Henry
(ca. 1714-1781) and wife Dorothy Rider (1725-?). Charlotte was the niece
of Robert Jenkins Henry (ca. 1712-1766). Her brothers were John Henry,
Jr. (ca. 1750-1798); Charles Rider; Francis Jenkins Henry (?-1796); Robert;
and possibly also Rider (?-by 1787), but he and Charles Rider are probably
the same person. Her sisters were Niturah (Kiturah); Dorothy (Dolly), who
married Isaac Henry (?-ca. 1802); Nancy; and Sarah. Her cousin was Ann
Billings, who married Henry Steele (ca. 1715-1782).
Children
Sons: Gen.
William Henry (1775-1824), a lawyer who was in command of the American
Army at the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, and who married in 1799 Gertrude,
daughter of William Polk (1752-1812); Rider Henry (1787-1866); and Charles
H. (?-1804), who married Esther Winder, widow of Nehemiah King.
Daughters: Dorothy Arietta (1782-1815), who married the Rev.
James Laird, son of James Laird of York County, Pennsylvania, and wife
Martha Black; Charlotte Henry.
Private Career
Education: literate.
Religious Affiliation: probably Presbyterian, Wicomico Presbyterian
Congregation, Somerset (now Wicomico) County.
Social Status and Activities: Esq., by 1798.
Occupational Profile: "bread as a merchant"; owned a sawmill
and a gristmill in Rewastico Hundred, Somerset County, 1798; owned a sawmill
and a gristmill in Wicomico Hundred, Somerset County, 1798; attorney-at-law,
1806.
Public Career
Legislative Service: Lower House, Somerset County, 1777 (elected
to the 2nd session to fill vacancy), 1777-1778; Senate, Eastern Shore,
Term of 1791-1795: 1793 (elected on November 23, 1793, to fill vacancy;
qualified on November 30, 1793). 1794, 1795.
Local Office: commissioner of the tax for Somerset County, appointed
1783.
Military Service: 1st lieutenant, Salisbury Company of the Salisbury
Battalion of Militia, Somerset County, 1777; captain, 1780.
Out of State Service: commissioner of the navy board of the
middle department, 1778-1780; commissioner of accounts for the State of
Delaware, 1782-1787; district commissioner for the settlement of state
accounts with the Confederation government after the Revolution, appointed
1787; accountant of the Navy, July 1798, resigned, January 1800.
Wealth During Lifetime
Personal Property: wife inherited 1 slave and £100.0.0
in gold or silver from her father's estate, 1781; assessed value £905.0.0,
including 23 slaves and 12 oz. plate, 1783; 50 slaves, 1798; 56 slaves,
1800.
Annual Income: received a salary of $3,000.00 per annum as commissioner
of the Navy Board of the Middle Department.
Land at First Election: purchased 50 acres in Somerset County,
1771.
Significant Changes in Land Between First Election and Death:
purchased at least 412 acres in Somerset and Worcester counties between
1783 and 1808; patented a total of 1,975 acres in Somerset and Worcester
counties (1,940 acres of which were located in what is now Wicomico County)
between 1793 and 1800, a considerable portion of which he inherited from
his father in 1792; inherited at least 686 additional acres in Somerset
County from his father and an unspecified amount in Somerset County through
his wife by 1787; sold 1,374 acres in Somerset and Worcester counties
(1,146 acres located in what is now Wicomico County) between 1801 and 1806;
owned several lots, a warehouse, and mills near Salisbury, 1808.
Wealth at Death
Died: between June 7 and July 5, 1808, in Somerset County.
Personal Property: total estate value, $24,849.30 current money
(including 50 slaves and 82 books); final balance of estate, $18,339.08.
Land: at least 1,749 acres in Somerset and Worcester counties
(ca. 749 acres located in what is now Wicomico County) and several lots,
a warehouse, and mills near Salisbury.
Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., eds. A Biographical Dictionary
of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789. Vol II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1985, p. 903-904.
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