WINDER, Thomas [350] 2 3
- Born: Cir 1680
- Marriage (1): BULL, Sarah [351] on 5 Jun 1704 in , London, London , England 1
- Marriage (2): GREGORY, Rebecca [477] on 1 Apr 1731 in , Hunterdon, New Jersey, USA
- Died: 23 May 1734, Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey, USA about age 54 4
Cause of his death was Drowned boarding ship for England.
General Notes:
By Larry Palmer, 6 Nov 2009 on ancestry.com: John Winder was the older brother of my 6x great grandfather James Winder. According to local records and Winder family stories, their father Thomas died in a "small boat accident" on the Delaware River as he embarked on what was planned to be his last business trip downriver.* John and James' mother died in 1731 and Thomas soon married Rebecca Gregory. The family was living in Amwell Township, New Jersey, near what is now Lambertville, when Thomas took his fateful trip in 1734. Rebecca was charged 2 pounds to have his body recovered from the river. We were visiting relatives in New Jersey recently when they offered to take us to the twin tourist towns of New Hope, PA, and Lambertville, NJ, which are connected by a busy bridge about 10 miles above the spot where George Washington and his army crossed the Delaware. On a sunny summer weekend, both towns were bustling with visitors eating ice cream cones and wandering through art galleries, antique stores, and souvenir shops. I told our hosts the story of Thomas Winder and we set out to see just where he could have drowned in such a lazy river. In Thomas' time, Lambertville was known as Coryell's Ferry after the ferry operator Emanuel Coryell. (An "Immanuel Correl" is mentioned in the Hunterdon County Court proceedings of 4 Jun 1734 regarding Thomas Winder's will.) The ferry was the Delaware River crossing point for the York Road between colonial Philadelphia and Manhattan Island. A mile downriver from this crossing are the Lambertville Rapids where the ridges of the Appalachian Highlands squeeze the stream into a narrower channel, with just under a 2-foot drop (looking south, New Jersey on the left, Pennsylvania on the right). A boat taking colonial travelers downriver to Trenton could not get upriver past this point. Travelers from the York Road at Coryell's Ferry would have had to take a small rowboat or dinghy to catch the larger vessel. The American Whitewater Association classifies the Lambertville Rapids as a Class 2, Medium, experience. ("Rapids of moderate difficulty with passages clear. Requires experience plus suitable outfit and boat.") From the "Newsletter of the Kayaker and Canoe Club of New York": "The Lambertville section of the Delaware River is affectionately known to locals as the Wing Dam, or sometimes Ding Wam. It is perhaps the best place New Jerseyans and Philadelphians have for a quick mid-summer workout. A worthwhile exercise can be painfully extracted from the forceful current and tricky eddies in river center. There's a friendly hole behind the [natural] dam on river right which gives the boater a chance to practice hole riding antics and will let loose with just a little prodding into a quiet, deep pool. This pool is a good place to try a new roll or squirt move too. An easily accessible rapid like Lambertville is an important resource for the local boating community." A careless or inexperienced colonial boatman could have hit one of those boulders in the river and tipped his passengers into the whitewater. I believe there is a good possibility that my 7x great grandfather, English-born Thomas Winder, drowned here on 23 May 1734. To his oldest son John Winder (1707-1770), Thomas left over 300 acres of land in Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just over that farthest ridge in the photo. Bowman's Hill Tower in Washington's Crossing, Pennsylvania, on the left side of the ridge offers an elevator ride to a great view. Three hundred years ago, this area was the cradle of what became the extensive Winder/Winders family in America. (*Upriver was the colonial frontier and beyond that were the lands of the Iroquois Confederacy.) -LP
From ancestry.com: THE WINDER FAMILY.* The progenitor of the WINDERS of Pennsylvania and New Jersey was Thomas WINDER of England, who settled in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in 1705. He was in New Jersey in 1703, and was one of the purchasers of Maidenhead and Hopewell, and participated in the agreement with Daniel Coxe, one of the proprietors of West Jersey, in relation to that purchase. Soon after the consummation of the purchase he returned to London, and was married at St. Margaret's, Westminster, June 5, 1704, to Sara BULL, and returned to West Jersey, settling in Hunterdon countly, where he became a landowner. In 1721 he purchased six hundred acres at Newtown, Bucks county, of John WALLEY, and in 1727 purchased three hundred and forty-one acres in Makefield, Bucks county, which descended to his son John, and remained in the tenure of his descendants for several generations until it was sold in 1837. He was a prominent man in Hunterdon county, and was commissioner of highways in Amwell township in 1723. He married (second) in 1731, Rebecca GREGORY, who survived him, and married Edward COLLINS in 1736. Thomas WINDER died, and letters of administration were granted on his estate May 23, 1734. The children of Thomas and Sara (BULL) WINDER were as follows: 1. John WINDER, born 1707, died August 9, 1770, married Rebecca RICHARDS. 2. Thomas, settled in Amwell, where he was living in 1736. 3. James, removed to Prince George county, Maryland, where he died in 1789. 4. Jane, who married John SLACK and settled in Lower Makefield, Bucks county, where many of her descendants still reside. 5. Elizabeth, married Peter PHILLIPS of Amwell, where they lived and died. Elinor, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (GREGORY) WINDER, married July 31, 1751, Thomas GUINNUP, of Philadelphia. John and Rebecca (RICHARDS) WINDER settled on the land purchased by his father in Lower Makefield, Bucks county, the other heirs making conveyances to him for their interest therein at various periods after the death of Thomas. His wife, Rebecca RICHARDS, was born September 19, 1714, and died January 19, 1788. The family were not members of the Society of Friends until 1747, when he and his wife applied for membership at Falls Meeting, and were admitted as members. John died in Makefield, August 9, 1770. The children of John and Rebecca (RICHARDS) WINDER, were as follows: I. Thomas, married, May 11, 1758, Elizabeth LINTON, daughter of Joseph and Mary (BLACKSHAW) LINTON, of Northampton township. 2. James, married (first) December 28, 1763, Sarah BAILEY, and (second) Mary BOOZ. 3. John, married, January 23, 1760, Margaret BRIGGS. He removed first to Delaware and later to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and still later to the state of Ohio. 5. Elizabeth, married (first) in April, 1759, Joseph LINTON, son of Joseph and Mary, before mentioned, and on April 2, 1795, married David FEASTER. 6. Sarah, married, April, 1761, Robert WHITACRE, and removed to Catawissa, Pennsylvania. 7. Hannah, married in 1770, Timothy BROOKS. Moses, Aaron and Rachel died unmarried. 11. Rebecca, married March 26, 1772, John NUTT, and removed to Fairfax, Virginia. 12. Mercy, died unmarried. 13. Ann married May 13, 1779, Absalom KNIGHT. 14. Aaron WINDER, born September 14, 1759, died July 2, 1824, married January 16, 1812, Sarah VAN HORN, born February 29, 1796, died January 27, 1838, daughter of Isaiah and Catherine (SUBERS) VAN HORN, of Makefield. He purchased in 1788 two hundred acres of the Makefield homestead, and built a house thereon in 1790. It is related that Catherine SUBERS, whose daughter he eventually married, was the first love of Aaron WINDER, and on her marriage to his successful rival in her affections, Isaiah VAN HORN, he abjured matrimony and lived single until the age of fifty-three years, when he married her daughter though Mrs. VAN HORN, the mother, had been a widow almost from the birth of the daughter. The children of Aaron and Sarah VAN HORN WINDER were as follows: I. Joel, born March 8, 1813, died in infancy. 2. Mary, born June 18, 1814, died February 16, 1877, married Lawrence JOHNSON. (See JOHNSON Family). *Condensed from "Winders of America." By R. Winder Johnson 3. Rebecca, born February 22, 1817, died September 26, 1854, married General John ELY and had four children, but two of whom lived to mature age; Mary Winder ELY, born November 19, 1840, died July 12, 1860, married October 19, 1859, Joseph Parry BROSIUS; and Samuel Lawrence ELY, born May 24, 1847, died March 19, 1886, married December 29, 1865, Mary Comly KNIGHT. He was sheriff of Bucks county for the term of 1881-83. 4. Dr. Aaron WINDER, born October 17, 1821, died December 28, 1883, married August 21, 1846, Mary S. GILLAM, and had three children; William G.WINDER, M. D., of Andalusia, Bucks county and Philadelphia; Mary Ely WINDER, wife of Henry B. KNIGHT of Bucks county; and Lawrence Johnson WINDER, M. D. 5. Moses WINDER, born December 20, 1823, died April, 1864, married December 25, 1844, Margaretta THORNTON, and had six children, five of whom grew to maturity, viz: Sarah, born 1849, married Blackstone P. DODDRIDGE; Mary Rebecca, born 1851, died 1893, married Walter Richards JOHNSON, of Bensalem, Bucks county, Pennsylvania; Anna Louisa, born February 4, 1854, married April 6, 1885, Isaac Holborrow ROBERTSON; John Ely WINDER, born 1857, died 1866; and Aaron Augustus WINDER, born February 8, 1859, married October 12, 1880, Jane Phillips SLUGG, died September 5, 1903. Sarah (VAN HORN) WINDER married (second) August 24, 1825, Abner MORRIS, and had four children. Text taken from page 100 of: Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed AUGUST 2000 by GRACE T. BURTON of PA as part of the Bucks Co., Early Family Project, sites.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published October 2000 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at sites.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/
Research Notes:
According to Winders of America: In the [estate] inventory filed at Trenton, dated May 21, 1735, are mentioned "Two Great Bibles and three small ones by the concent of all ye Children and ye Widdow divided amonst them." Where did those Bibles go?
Also according to Winders of America, in regards the fact that his estate paid 1 pound for a funeral sermon: In the latter fact we have proof that he was not a member of the Society of Friends... The compiler does not agree this constitutes proof.
From The Bonner-Smith Circle by Ruth E. Bonner: Settled in Amwell Twp., Hunterdon Co., N.J.; was a proprietor of West Jersey; lived where Hopewell now is; in 1730 bought 600-A between Newtown and Yardley; crossed the Atlantic several times because of large interests in England; starting on a final trip he drowned from a small boat in the Delaware. In settling his estate, "paid for taking deceased body out of the water, he having been drowned, 2 (pounds), the Coroner"; 1746 "Acct. of Rebecca Collins, late Winder."
From Davis, History of Bucks County, Vol iii, p 639: "Thomas Winder came from England, settled in Hunterdon County New Jersey in 1705. He was in New Jersey in 1703 and was one of the purchasers of Maidenhead and Hopewell in Jersey, soon after the consumation of the purchase he returned to London, and was married at St. Margarets Westminster 6th mo ... to Sarah Bull (see following note) and returned to Hunterdon County Jersey where he became a large land owner. In 1721 he purchased a six hundred acre tract of land at or near Newtown, Bucks County [PA] of James Walley. "The 341 acres he purchased in Makefield Twp., in 1727 decended to his son John Winder. "Thomas and Sarah Winder had four children -- John, born 1707, Thomas who settled at Annwell N. Jersy; James who removed to Maryland; and Jane Winder who married John Slack of Lower Makefield, Bucks Co., where many of their descendants are still living..."
In the Pennsylvania Historical Library is a copy of Winders of America with an amendment pasted in the back. The amendment states that the "proof" of marriage between Thomas Winder and Sarah Bull had been forged in order to claim a reward offered by the author, R. Winder Johnson. In the same book was pasted a newspaper article from the Philadelphia Enquirer, 27 Dec 1910: BANKER CRUSHED BY BIG ANIMAL AMBULANCE R. Winder Johnson Run Down in Chestnut Street by Animal Vehicle.
According to researcher Robert L. Winder (manuscript enclosed as part of personal communication, November 1997): In April 1986 a personal examination of the St. Margaret's (Westminster) Parish Register found the entry recording the marriage of Thomas WINHER and Sara Bull on 5 Jun 1704. There has been some controversy in the past over this record, with claims made that the "original" entry showed the groom as Thomas WRENHAM, with a later emendation correcting the name to Thomas Winder. The record examined in the Muniments Room of Westminster Abbey by the compiler in 1986 showed no erasures, write-overs, or emendations whatsoever. Quite likely the copy at the Abbey is the Bishop's transcript, and not the original register... At this point, however, it must be stated that the compiler has found in all of England, as yet, no other record that can be identified to this Thomas Winder who married Sara Bull at St. Margaret's Westminster on 5 June 1704...A search of the baptismal records for St. Margaret's, Westminster Parish Register for the years 1704 through 1710 found no baptisms of children of Thomas Winder or Winher or Ninher and wife Sara... Thomas seems to have acieved some prosperity, as indicated by the inventory of his estate filed in 1734 (New Jersey Archives Vol. XXX, page 538). This inventory included "a canoe, new rifle barreled gun, old ditto, large fowling piece, new small gun set off with brass, old gun and pistol, old sword, two great Bibles and three small ones, negro Ben, valued at six pounds, negro Toby valued at 30 pounds, wheat sold to Benjamin Pidcock", as well as 552 acres of land in Lower Makefield Township in Bucks County, PA.
THE LAMBERTVILLE BEACON [NJ], May 11, 1933 He (Winder) owned much land in Bucks Co., Penna, as well as a tract in old Amwell a few miles east of Lambertville, ,N.J. consisting of 320 acres which was conveyed to him on the 7th and 8th days of ___, 1710, by John Williamson. The title to this land as well as much other land of these West Jersey tracts was disputed by Colonel Cox, and many of these owners signed an agreement to cooperate in trying the title to their land. Thomas Winder, with many others, signed this April 23, 1731 (page 11, Hales History, Pennington Church). He was a Commissioner of Highway, Old Amwell, N.J. 1723. (Somerset and Hunterdon History page 343 and 346). Also see (Winders of America, Lippincot Co., Phila, 1902). Thomas Winder died intestate. This land went to John Winder, who conveyed it to Peter Phillips, Nov. 26, 1747, and Peter conveyed a part of it to John and Sarah (Rose) Phillips and they to Jacob Holcombe, 112 acres, June 25, 1794. (Old parchments in possession of J. Howard Phillips).
To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2001 5:14 PM Subject: Winder genealogy Hello! I found your entry on Ancestry.com indicating that the parents of Thomas Winder (1681-1734) who married Sarah Bull were John Winder and Bridget Bourow. Could you please tell me what documentation you have for this? Hopefully, Ann Winder [Received no answer to this query, alas!]
Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol. II 1730-1750. Part II Page: 538 Name: Thomas Winder Date: 23 May 1734 Location: Hopewell, Hunterdon Co. Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol. II 1730-1750. Part II yeoman. Int. Adm'x, Rebecca Winder, widow. Joseph Peace, of Trenton, yeoman, surety.
1734, June 4. Inventory includes bonds of Samuel Baker, --- Parker, Thomas Newman, Frances Hague, Randle Idons, Immanuel Correl, Thomas Hoff, Abel Janney, Jr.; a canoe, new rifle barreled gun, old ditto, large fowling piece, new small gun sett off with brass, old gun and pistol, old sword, two great Bibles and three small ones, negro Ben (£6), Toby (£30), wheat sold Benjamin Pidcock. Debtors--Joseph Peace, John McGloughlin, Peter Likin, Jonathan Cooper, Thomas Hough, Henry Slackt, Joseph Price, Joseph Higbey. Due from John Windor for wheat pr Peter Windor. 23 sheep in Pennsylvania. Made by Joseph Kirkbride, Andrew Smith, John Burroughs.
1746, March 10. Account of Rebecca Collins, late Rebecca Winder, administratrix. Mentions John Parker, William Yard, Richard Arnels (or Amels), Samuel Parker, Thomas Robinson, Richard Skirm, Eliakim Anderson, Thomas Palmer, "Flour" Greenland, James Neilson, Bennet Bard, Samuel Biles, Rut Johnson, Thomas Hamlin, Jeremiah Foster, John Andrewson, Sarah Dagworthy (for Theo. Severns), John Wills, Benjamin Canby, Mary Davis, Manuele Coryele, Ezekiel Clements, Timothy Smith, John and Thomas Winder (sons of deceased), James, Jane and Elizabeth Winder (other children of deceased), William Snowden, Timothy Smith, Joseph Kirkbride, John Burrows, Andrew Smith, Sarah Davis. Paid for taking deceased body out of the water, he having been drowned, £2; the Coroner; copy of a writing said to be a will made by deceased, but proved not to be such. Eleanor Winder, youngest child of deceased.
Extracted from DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE COLONIAL HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, VOLUME XXX, CALENDAR OF NEW JERSEY WILLS, VOLUME II, 1730-1750; Paterson NJ, 1918 ( Libers 1, 2, etc. are of West Jersey Wills. Those as Libers A, B, etc., are of East Jersey Wills) 1734, May 23. Winder, Thomas, of Hopewell, Hunterdon Co., yeoman. Int. Adm'x, Rebecca Winder, widow. Joseph Peace, of Trenton, yeoman, surety. 1734, June 4. Inventory includes bonds of Samuel Baker, ------------ Parker, Thomas Newman, Frances Hague, Randle Idons, Immanuel Correl, Thoms Hoff, Abel Janney, Jr.; a canoe, new rifle barreled gun, old ditto, large fowling piece, new small sett off with brass, old gun and pistol, old sword, two great Bibles and three small ones, negro Ben [page 539] (£6), Toby (£30), wheat sold Benjamin Pidcock. Debtors - Joseph Peace, John McGloughlin, Peter Likin, Jonathan Cooper, Thomas Hough, Henry Slackt, Joseph Price, Joseph Higbey. Due from John Windor for wheat pr Peter Windor. 23 sheep in Pennsylvania. Made by Joseph Kirkbride, Andrew Smith, John Burroughs. 1746, March 10. Account of Rebecca Collins, late Rebecca Winder, administratrix. Mentions John Parker, William Yard, Richard Arnels (or Amels), Samuel Parker, Thomas Robinson, Richard Skirm, Eliakim Bard, Samuel Biles, Rut Johnson, Thomas Hamlin, Jeremiah Foster, John Andrewson, Sarah Dagworthy (for Theo. Severns), John Wills, Benjamin Canby, Mary Davis, Manuele Coryele, Ezekiel Clements, Timothy Smith, Joseph Kirkbride, John Burrows, Andrew Smith, Sarah Davis. Paid for taking deceased body out of the water, he having been drowned, £2; the Coroner; copy of a writing said to be a will made by deceased, but proved not to be such. Eleanor Winder, youngest child of deceased. Hunterdon Wills, 107 J.
'Enlightenment' generation in Anglo-American history, born 1674-1700.
Thomas and Sarah emigrated from London to America in 1705, although Thomas had been there previously on business. They lived in Mercer and Hunterdon counties in western New Jersey and had property across the Delaware River in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They have a large number of descendants, especially in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio.
Sarah and Thomas Winder lived among Quakers in the colonies and some of their descendants became members of the Society of Friends. But these Winders were Anglicans as evidenced by their marriage in St. Margaret's Church which was and is at the core of the Church of England. The Toleration Act of 1689 made life a little easier for Quakers and other Protestant dissenters who would not accept the official Anglican liturgy. But it is doubtful that the bishop would have sanctioned Quaker marriages at St. Margaret's.
Thomas was involved in several successful commercial interests until he drowned in a small-boat accident on the Delaware River during a business trip. To his son John, Thomas left over 300 acres in Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County. For more on his will, see below. (Note that the name is spelled Winder, not Winders.)
Noted events in his life were:
1. Residence: , London, Middlesex, England. 5 Resided In Area Of London, England
2. Migrated, 1705, , Burlington, New Jersey, USA. 5 Location became Hunterdon county in 1714.
Thomas married Sarah BULL [351] [MRIN: 154] on 5 Jun 1704 in , London, London , England.1 (Sarah BULL [351] was born circa 1685 6 and died before 1 Apr 1731 in Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey, USA 7.)
Marriage Notes:
Westminster, St. Mary's
Thomas next married Rebecca GREGORY [477] [MRIN: 189] on 1 Apr 1731 in , Hunterdon, New Jersey, USA.
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