WINDER, Christopher Figen [16783] ³

   Other names for Christopher were FEIGENWINTER, Christopher and WINDER, Stofel.

  Research Notes:

Christopher F. Winder
brianvhendrix ([email protected])

I have proven that Christopher F. Winder, who you have listed as born in North Carolina in 1787, was in fact Christopher Feigenwinter, born in 1792 in Salisbury, North Carolina to Christoph and Barbara Feigenwinter. His father Christoph was a Swiss soldier drafted in Reinach, Switzerland, and brought to the colonies to fight the Americans during the Revolution. He deserted and started a family in Salisbury.

His son Christopher fought in the War of 1812 under the name Christopher F. Winter and later moved to the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, where he adopted the name Winder. He ended up in the Republic of Texas where he today has hundreds of descendants. CF Winder had at least one brother, Henry Figen Winter, who has descendants in Arkansas and Texas as well.

Please update the entries on the Winder Wonderland with this information, if you would. I will be happy to provide documentation as requested. Everything I have is on my Hendrix Family Tree on Ancestry.com, username Brian Hendrix

Thanks,
Brian Hendrix
Houston, Texas


Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:02:07 -0400 From: Kathleen Boyett <[email protected]>

Thank you for responding! Due to results from an autosomal test, I am wondering if the Winder name (supposedly from Switzerland in my case) could have morphed from a more Slavic name as people moved westward. I don't have another good candidate for a surname that could have come from Eastern Europe, and I had a small % match in that area. I am guessing that my German-speaking Winders and the English Winders don't have anything to do with each other DNA-wise. Rootsweb has been down this week and I have not been able to look at the site, but one thing I remember was that persistent idea of Gennete (spelling on Census), the wife of Christopher F. (no documented evidence of his name being Figan) having the maiden name of McFadden. (1st known generation in America) I have never seen where that came from, but my only aunt, who did some considerable research, had that name in her notes as well. She had C.F.'s son Peter with the name "Peter McFadden Christopher Winder." His grave marker merely saying "P.M.C. Winder" has not helped any researchers on the internet, that's for sure. Find-A-Grave has his name as Peter Mock Christopher, of all things. Well, LEGALLY that cannot be so. If Gennete's last name was indeed given as a middle name to son Peter, then her surname was McCartney. If that name is suggested on a tree, it should have a note with "unproven" by it. Two different legal proofs, Peter Winder Jr's death certificate, and the birth certificate of Peter Jr's daughter Nannie Mae, both give his middle name as McCartney. (Her sister Keren corrected it in 1962 - Nannie had been taken home without being named.) Son Dewey's death cert, his wife as informant, had "Mock" as the middle name, without the Christopher. That is a typo for "Mac" because he was called Uncle Mac by everyone. All the men in this era went by their middle names - daughter Biddie Irene's husband Curtis Eugene went by Gene; daughter Nannie Mae's husband Floyd Jesse went by Jesse; and father Peter Winder went by Mac instead of McCartney. So, the names of Peter Sr and Jr should be changed to reflect this, and Gennete should not be given the name McFadden. I am also not certain of the immigration record proposed to be Christopher Winder's. The man was 19 years old, a baker from Worms, sailed from Rotterdam and arrived PA in Sept 1816. That would make him born in 1797. That is rather late to match any of the Census records for him (6-10 years, but still possible, of course), plus C.F. was a blacksmith. Baker and blacksmith use rather different skills. And what about the Census records where he or someone in the household said every time that he was born in N or S Carolina? Only one, when he was in his eighties, said he was foreign born (Switzerland). I would imagine that was where he thought his Parents were born and he misunderstood the question. That is also the Census where he gave his name as Stofel instead of Christopher. Another correction you should make is that Stofel is not his actual name. It is not a second middle name to be added to the rest of his name. Stophel or Stofel is an affectionate name, a nickname, for Christopher in German. If that name is listed on a tree at all, it should be in quotes where people can tell that it was just a nickname. Christopher F. "Stofel" Winder, perhaps. Since I cannot see the site, that is all I remember right now. I think that was everything anyway. After one does so much research, it starts getting maddening seeing all the mistakes everywhere on the internet for all one's surnames. You correct one place and another incorrect thing pops up somewhere else. That is just the way it goes! Thank you, Kathleen

Note from Ann Winder, Jul 2014: The Figan name seems to have continued on to Henry Figan Winder, as per his birth certificate, so I am leaving this unproven part of his name in place for the time being.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Occupation: Blacksmith.

2. census: Federal, 1830, Eastern Division, Blount, Tennessee, USA.
1 male under 5 (1826-1830) Peter
2 males 5-9 (1821-1825) Nathaniel, Peter
1 male 10-14 (1816-1820) Robert
1 male 30-39 (1791-1800) Christopher
2 females under 5 (1826-1830) ?, ?
1 female 5-9 (1821-1825) Elizabeth
1 female 40-49 (1781-1790) Genette

3. Voter Register, 1846, , Panola, Texas, USA. Indexed as Chrstopher Windr, born in North Carolina

4. census: federal, 1850, , Panola, Texas, USA. Indexed as Christopher Wender. Christopher born in North Carolina, Genette, Elizabeth and John born in Tennessee. This event was shared with Elizabeth Jane WINDER (Household Member), Genette McFADDEN (Household Member), and John Stofel WINDER (Household Member).

5. Property, 4 Apr 1850, , Sevier, Tennessee, USA. ⁵ warrant 27681

6. census: federal, 1860, , Rusk, Texas, USA. Indexed under C F Winder This event was shared with Charity PHILLIPS (Household Member), Eleanor Ellen BOYETT (Household Member), Ellen BOYETT (Household Member), John BOYETT (Household Member), John Stofel WINDER (Household Member), Nancy J. BOYETT (Household Member), Susannah BOYETT (Household Member), William B. BOYETT (Household Member), and Zachariah BOYETT (Household Member).

7. Voter Register, 17 Aug 1867, Mount Enterprise, Rusk, Texas, USA. Born in North Carolina

8. census: federal, 1870, , Nacogdoches, Texas, USA.

9. cemetery: Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Aug 1870, , Nacogdoches, Texas, USA.

Christopher married Genette McFADDEN [16963] [MRIN: 6027] in 1815 in , Blount, Tennessee, USA.¹ (Genette McFADDEN [16963] was born in 1785 in , , Tennessee, USA ² and died in 1858 in woods, Panola, Texas, USA.)

Christopher next married Charity PHILLIPS [16835] [MRIN: 6021] on 6 Oct 1858.² (Charity PHILLIPS [16835] was born on 28 Feb 1791 in , , Georgia, USA ² and died on 24 Dec 1863 in , Nacogdoches, Texas, USA ².)