WINDER, James [416] ^{3 4}

   Another name for James was WINDERS, James.

  General Notes:

According to Dorinda Shepley:
WINDER WILL - WASHINGTON CO, MD

JAMES WINDER, A, 212-213 Written 15 Mar 1785, rec 15 Aug 1789
w/Elizabeth
ch/Daniel
Mary M. Cown (or McCown?)
Susana Oar
Mary Darlling [Should be Mercy Darling...AW]
Rachel Subley/Snelely
Elizabeth Bond
Thomas
James
John
Alexander
Isaac
George

According to Robert L. Winder (June 2000):
I have a comment on the death date of James Winder, of Washington Co, MD: His will was written in 1785, therefore my opinion is that the tombstone inscription in Funkstown Cemetery was misrecorded as 1782. Probate was not until 1789. I find it hard to believe that James would have died prior to 1789, as probate of the will would not reasonably have been delayed until 1789. When I searched the Funkstown cemetery, there were no inscriptions before 1800 that were legible, and James Winder's stone seemed to have disappeared.

According to Robert L. Winder (Sep 2000):
James Winder, birthdate unknown, son of Thomas Winder and Sara Bull Winder, moved to Prince Georges County, Maryland sometime prior to 1743. On 9 May 1743 James Winder and Elizabeth Sherwood were married at All Saints' Parish, located in Frederick, Maryland. At that time All Saints' Parish was the Anglican parish for all of Frederick County, which then included not only present-day Frederick County, but also the present counties of Washington, Garrett, Alleghany, and Carroll in Maryland. It is to be understood that, although James Winder "of Washington County" apparently resided in the same physical location from about 1752 until his death in 1789, this location had been in Prince Georges County until about 1743, then in Frederick County until 1776, then finally in Washington County from 1776 until the present. Land records in Maryland show that James Winder, by deed dated 18 January 1752, bought a hundred-acre tract known as Medcalf's Meadow, located in Frederick County, from a James Perry. Both parties to the deed were described as "of Frederick County, Maryland". This tract was described as being in "Calverton or Conogochegue Manner", and the physical description of Medcalf's Meadow starts:
"Beginning at a bounded White Oak standing by the side of a little spring within half a mile of the Waggon Road that goes from Stulls Mill to the Mountains…". Stulls Mill was located on Antietam Creek, just shortly to the east of present-day Hagerstown, Maryland On 7 March 1759 James Winder also received by patent 48 acres of land in a tract known as Boys Harbour, which he sold on 5 Nov 1763. The description of Boys Harbour starts: "Beginning at a bounded white oak standing about half a mile above Stulls Mill on the NorthWest side of the Antietam…". From these descriptions it is seen that James Winder's lands in Maryland were in the upper Antietam Valley, not far eastward from Hagerstown, Maryland. Land records further show that James Winder returned a "Resurvey" of Medcalf's Meadow, by which he added some 112 acres of vacant land that were contiguous with the original survey. Apparently this resurvey action of 1763 did not result in a prompt "Resurvey Grant", as the Maryland Land Office issued a "Grant of Reconfirmation" for the entire 212-acre "Resurvey of Medcalf's Meadow" only on 12 December 1782.

James Winder of Washington County, Maryland wrote his will on 15 March 1785, and it was proved in Washington County on 15 August 1789. A tombstone inscription has been reported from Funkstown Cemetery, Maryland supposedly reading James Winder, died 4 July 1782. It seems possible that this tombstone may be for our James Winder who died in 1789, with the last digit of the year being mis-copied. A check of the Funkstown Cemetery in January 1988 found no stones prior to 1800 that had legible inscriptions. James Winder lived quite close to Funkstown, and land records show that he and his sons bought and sold lots in Funkstown, which was originally known as Jerusalemtown. James Winder's will named as legatees his wife Elizabeth, his daughters Mary McCown, Susanna Ore, Mercy Darlling, Rachel Snebely, and Elizabeth Bond; and his sons Thomas Winder, James Winder, John Winder, Daniel Winder, Alexander Winder, Isaac Winder, and George Winder. The will set forth a complicated scheme of paying specific bequests to his children, apparently in order of their age, as well as a complex procedure for evaluating his plantation and setting up the sale of the land to his sons, any one or in combination, by their mother, who was to be allowed to remain on the plantation in any case. The will further specified a time limit of five years after James' death for the completion of the appraisal and sale action. The appraisal appears not to have been made by the time limit of the will, as the widow, Elizabeth, sold a portion of the land in 1794. Sons Daniel and John were named to dispose of the land in the event of the failure of the appraisal and sale scheme set forth in the will - but, in 1795 son Daniel also died. The title to the land was not then settled until 1804, when the heirs of James Winder brought suit in the Maryland Court of Chancery for settlement of the title. With the agreement of the surviving heirs, the title was then settled on one John Winder who was probably the grandson of James Winder who died in 1789.

The tracing of descendants of James Winder in Washington County, MD is obfuscated, not by the lack of records, but by a general confusion in the probate and land records there of the names Winder and Winter, a German immigrant named Winter having settled near Hagerstown. The records of Washington County interchange Winder and Winter quite indiscriminately, with a resultant confusion that prevents certainty in many identifications.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. census: Maryland, 1760, All Saints, Frederick, Maryland, USA.

2. Residence, 10 Mar 1761, , Prince George's, Maryland, USA. ^{7 8} [in regards the estate of his father, Thomas Winder]...and at last, on March 10, 1761, James Winder, of Prince George County, Maryland, and wife Elizabeth completed the sale to John Winder...

3. census: Maryland, 1766, Petitioner, Frederick, Maryland, USA.

4. Loyalty Oath: Maryland, 1778, , Washington, Maryland, USA.

5. Died, 4 Jul 1782. ⁶

6. Will, 15 Mar 1785. ⁹

7. Probate, 15 Aug 1789. ⁹

8. cemetery: Funkstown Cemetery: , Washington, Maryland, USA.

James married Sarah Elizabeth SHERWOOD [1109] [MRIN: 207] on 9 May 1743 in All Saints, Prince George's, Maryland, USA.^{1 2} (Sarah Elizabeth SHERWOOD [1109] was born in 1722 in All Saints, Prince George's, Maryland, USA ¹ and died before 1804 in , Washington, Maryland, USA ¹.)

  Marriage Notes:

Marriage at All Saints in what would become Frederick county in 1748.

Twelve surviving children of James Winder and Elizabeth Sherwood Winder are known from James' will and corroborated, in the main, from other contemporary records, such as the record of the chancery suit, and a few others concerning persons who can be identified.

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