Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

William Vinson (b. circa ? - d. 1840)
MSA SC 5496-014964
Property Owner, Medleys District, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

William Vinson and his wife, Frances Elizabeth Chiswell,1 had at least five children: Ann E., born around 1789, Charles, Sarah, and Mary, who were all born before 1790; and William B., born around 1795.2

From 1785 until 1816, Vinson leased seventy-five acres of land from Robert Peter.3 In 1801, he leased 200 acres of the tract "Thomas's Discovery Fortified."4 He purchased 157 acres of the same tract in 18065 and another 303 acres in 1826, this time from the tract "Mitchell's Range."6 Vinson's land neighbored his father's farm near the property of John P.C. Peter (Robert Peter's son) in the Medleys District, as shown in an 1865 map.

Vinson owned two slaves in 1790 and six in 1800, but the number had increased drastically to twenty-five by 1810.7 On July 16, 1831, three of John P. C. Peter's slaves ran away.8 Then, in September, Collin Brooks, Joe Carroll, Tobias Martin escaped from William Vinson.9 Three others, Clem Proctor, George Swine, and Sandy Swine, absconded from his son Dr. William B. Vinson, who lived on his father's property.10 On September 14, 1831, William Vinson and his son placed separate advertisements in the Daily National Intelligencer for the fugitive slaves' capture. In his advertisement, Vinson described his residence as "near Poolesville, ... and near the line of Ches. & O. Canal." The farm appeared on Simon Martenet's 1860 map of the county under his son's name.11

When Vinson wrote his will in 1836, he bequeathed 354 acres and the slaves Helen and Eliza to his oldest son Charles. He left another 354 acres to his son William, along with the slaves Sandy, George, Clem, Henry, and Rachel.12 Vinson also bequeathed various lands to his daughter, Ann E.Vinson, as well as a house, $120 per year, and the slave Judith to his daughter Mary Vinson. He left 218 acres to the children of his deceased daughter Sarah Hickman, along with six slaves: Emily's daughter Rachel to Anne Hickman; Rachel's son Dennis to Sarah Hickman; Lethy's son Nace to Mary Hickman; Lethy's daughter Harriet to Adelade Hickman; Letty's (sic) daughter Henrietta to Agnes Hickman; and Lethy's daughter Rachel to Frances Hickman. Letty and Lethy may have been two different women, or if these may simply have been accidental spelling variations of the same name. Vinson also left twenty-five dollars per year to his slave Bob.13

Vinson died on June 1, 1840.14 He owned sixty-three slaves at the time of his death.15
 

1.     Mary Gordon Malloy. Abstracts of Wills Montgomery County, Maryland, 1826-1875 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2007) 159.

2.     Sharon J. Doliante. Maryland and Virginia Colonials: Genealogies of Some Colonial Families (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991) 600, 622.
        J. Shaaff Stockett. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Vol. 30 (Baltimore, MD: 1870) 252.
        U.S Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Ann Vinson, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 7, Line 4 [MSA SM61-142, M 1499-1].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William B. Vinson, 1850, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 1, Line 6 [MSA SM61-142, M 1499-1].

3.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1794-1795, Liber F-6, Folio 147, [MSA CE 148-6]. Robert Peter to William Vinson, February 11, 1795. Lease.

4.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1799-1801, Liber I, Folio 361, [MSA CE 148-10]. Richard Thomas to William Vinson, February 11, 1801. Lease.

5.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1806-1807, Liber N, Folio 123, [MSA CE 148-14]. Richard Thomas to William Vinson, November 4, 1806. Deed.

6.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1825-1827, Liber Y, Folio 321, [MSA CE 148-26]. William Darne and Charles Gassaway to William B. Vinson, March 13, 1826. Deed.

7.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William Vinson, 1790, Montgomery County, district not stated, Page 27, Line 18 [MSA SM61-13, M 2053-1].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William Vinson, 1800, Montgomery County, District 2, Page 1b, last line [MSA SM61-33, M 2056-3].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William Vinson, 1810, Montgomery County, district not stated, Page 20b, 12th line from bottom [MSA SM61-53, M 2059-5].

8.     "150 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 28 July 1831: 1.

9.     "150 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 14 September 1831: 3.

10.   "300 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 14 September 1831: 3.

11.   Montgomery County District 3, Simon J. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-464.

12.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY, REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills, Original), Date: 1833-1839, [MSA C1142-13]. William Vinson, February 10, 1836. Probated June 23, 1840.

13.   Ibid.

14.   Stockett 250.

15.   U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for William Vinson, 1840, Montgomery County, Medleys District, Page 7, 5th line from bottom [MSA SM61-113, M 4722]. Slaves listed on Page 8, 5th line from bottom.


Researched and written by Rachel Frazier, 2010.

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