Winchester Notes BY MRS. FANNY WINCHESTER HOTCHKISS PRINTED AT NEw HAVEN, CoNN. BY THE TUTTLE, MoREHOUSE & TAYLOR Co. 1912 Copyright, 1912, by JUSTUS STREET HOTCHKISS. Edmund Winchester. From a 11amting, bg Harding. TO THE :MEMORY OF MY COUSIN THOMAS BRADLEE · WINCHESTER OF BOSTON I DEDICATE THESE WINCHESTER NOTES. [Mrs. Justus Street Hotchkiss, the compiler of this book, died after a short illness on January 24, 1912. While most of the book was in type when she was taken ill, she was unable to give much attention to the proofs or to make final revision. The book is_issued, therefore, without the super­ vision of her who, for years, gave such devoted care and research to the work., and to whose efforts the publication of this volume is due.] TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I. Main lines 0£ Winchester descent 0£ Edmund Winchester from the first ancestor, John Winchester, who came to New England in 1635. PART II. Lines of descent from John Winchester, Jr., through Capt. John Winchester, Henry Winchester and Benjamin Winchester. PART III. Lines 0£ descent from Josiah Winchester. PART IV. The Winchesters of Maryland. PART V. Notes on Alexander Winchester. PREFACE This work was undertaken entirely for private circulation, and in collecting and compiling the following Winchester Notes my motive has been _solely the desire to give to the great-grand­ children of Edmund Winchester, Sr., and their descendants, some knowledge of their ancestors in· this country, his lineage and theirs, also to preserve for them many facts regarding our family of to-day, with its numerous connecting links, known to me, but which would probably be lost to them after my death. _ The greater part of these notes·were collected between the years 1894 and 1900, revised and added to in 1904 and later. But, while searching for the information needed for the lineage of Edmund Winchester, much material in collateral lines, and many facts regarding the Winchesters of ·Maryland, came into my possession which I felt ought to be put into print, knowing that these would be of service to many, who, like myself, are trying to look into the past, and although these notes are frag­ mentary and incomplete, much necessarily being omitted, ·I hope they may prove, in the future, of some value to many Win­ chesters in the United States. I have failed thus far to find any connecting link between the New England and the ::Maryland Winchesters, though each branch of the family dates back to early in the seventeenth century, the original ancest"ors having arrived in New England in 1635, and in Maryland in 1647, or earlier. There is still another family, apparently not related to either of the ·above, which claims descent from one William Winchester, who arrived in Maryland from London in 1729. Mrs. Louis Jones, one of the lineal descendants of the latter, sent me a list of her branch of the family, previous to her death in 1905. She was formerly Miss Lillian Winchester, a daughter of Hon. Boyd Winchester of Louisville, Ky. Mr. Winchester Hall of Pocomoke City, Md., gave me much material of this same lineage, to which he viii WINCHESTER NOTES. belongs, and Mrs. Richard Persson of Memphis, Tenn., a grand­ daughter 0£ Gen. James Winchester, also helped me with valuable information, sending me, in 1904, a chart 0£ this par­ ticular family, all the members 0£ which claim descent from the above William Winchester, the emigrant of 1729. I have also had letters from Miss N. T. Winchester bf Belair, Md., from Mr. William Hall, Cashier 0£ the First National Bank of Gallatin, Tenn., and from Mr. William Winchester, President 0£ the National Union Bank of Baltimore, Md., all belonging to this same lineage. But Winchesters were in Maryland as early as 1647, and probably earlier, as the records 0£ Kent Island mention a deed of one John Winchester in 1647, and a deed 0£ sale to one Isaac Winchester in 1671. From Isaac Winchester descends the Rev. James R. Win­ chester, Rector of the Church of the Ascension in St. Louis, Mo. His lineage I have followed to within one or two genera­ tions of Isaac Winchester, who first purchased an estate called "Purlevant," which was still in the family of the Rev. James R. Winchester until about 1850. Possibly others may be able to connect these different branches 0£ the Winchesters of Mary­ land, though I have failed to discover any connecting link between them. Still, if this volume ever becomes the nucleus of a genealogy 0£ the Winchesters of the United States, I think it will be found that they all go back to· some one original family of Winchesters in Old England, as probably there we were all of one kin. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to my cousin, Mr. Henry W. Cunningham 0£ Boston, for much valuable informa­ tion regarding the New England Winchesters. FANNY WINCHESTER HOTCHKISS. 1907. [Mrs. Hotchkiss was taken ill while the last few pages of this work were being put into type, and died at her home in New Haven, Jan. 24, 1912.] Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Justus Street H otchlciss. New H a1Jen, Oonn. Built in 1882-S. PART FIRST CHAPTER I JoHN WINCHESTER, SR. RICHARD SEALIS. CONIHASSETT GRANT. JOHN WINCHESTER, JR. - BucKMINSTER LINEAGE. MARY WINCHESTER. JONATHAN WINCHESTER. JOHN AJ\TJ> ]\{ARY ALnrs. JOSIAH WINCHESTER. CHAPTER I JOHN WINCHESTER, SR. Looking back to the old Winchesters, who came to New England over two hundred and seventy-five years ago, the first of whom was born in England nearly three centuries ago, in 1616, I do not find that they were men of note or known :for their great deeds to mankind, but I do realize that they were men of strong character, earnest purpose and deep religious_ convictions, upright and useful citizens, holding many offices of trust in the communities of which they were members, and . helpful in the upbuilding of the towns they selected for their homes, showing both ability and public spirit. They were truly the pioneers of the new world. They left the old country in order to find religious freedom in the new, and probably the right to live according to more liberal ideals than could be theirs in old England. They wanted to make their way in life, they needed land and found it in abundance in the wilderness, but the wilderness did not yield its wealth to these newcomers with­ out hard labor and many tests of endurance, which strengthened character and developed the Puritan type. The first John Winchester was about nineteen years old when he came to New England in 1635. (James Savage, Vol. IV, p. 592.) He was made a freeman J\farch 9, 1636-7. (Colonial Records, Vol. I, p. 194.) He had land granted to him in Hingham in 1636. He became a member of the Ancient and Honorable ....t\.rtillery Company of Boston, Mass., in 1638. John Winchester of Muddy River (now Brookline), freeman 1637, died April 25, 1694, aged upwards of 80. Member of the Ancient and Honorable Company of Boston, J\fass., in 1638. (Raikes' History of Ancient and Honorable ....t\.rtillery Company, 2d edition, Boston, 1842, p. 77.) 4 WINCHESTER NOTES. He probably remained in Hingham until 1647-8, and may have lived in Scituate, as he married there, Oct. 15, 1638, Hannah Sealis, daughter of Deacon Richard Sealis of that town. (Scituate. Church Records, Vol. IX, p. 286.) By 1655-6 he had removed to Muddy River (now Brookline), where, with wife, Hannah, he joined the church of the old apostle, John Eliot, in Roxbury, :Mass., in 1674 (Church Records), and where he held some town offices, being Surveyor £or Brookline in 1664, 1669-70. (Boston Records, Vol. VII, pp. 23, 52.) He made his will in 1691, and died in Brookline, :Mass., April 25, 1694, leaving his estate to his sons John and Josiah.· (Suffolk County Probate, Vol. XIII, p. 434.) Inventory of John Winchester, Sr., £307, 10 s. Hannah, his widow, died in Brookline, Sept. 18, 1697. CHILDREN OF JOHN AND HANNAH (sEALIS) WINCHESTER. 1. JOHN WINCHESTER, born in Hingham, Mass., 1642-3; baptized there June 2, 1644. (Hist. of Hingham, Mass., p. 330.) Mar­ ried Joanna Stevens; died in Brookline, Mass., 1717-18. 2. ~IA.BY WINCHESTER, baptized in Hingham, Mass., March 26, 1648. (Hist. of Hingham, Vol. 2, p. B. 30.) Married (1) John Druce; (2) Rosamund or Erozoman Drew, or Drue. Rosamund Drue and Marie Druse were married Feb. 18, 1677. (Roxbury Town Records, p. 117.) _ 3. JONATHAN WINCHESTER, married Mary-. "Jonathan Winches­ ter-1679-Month 1--day 8--dyed of a fever." (Roxbury Land & Church Records, p. 183.) 4. JOSIAH WINCHESTER, born March 27; baptized May 20, 1655, at Roxbury, Mass. (Roxbury Church Records, by Rev. John Eliot, p. 121.) Married Dec. 10, 1678, Mary, daughter of Peter and Ann Lyon. She was born 1650; died July 27, 1730. He died Feb. 22, 1728. RICHARD SEALIS. ( Also written Sellice and Seales.) HANNAH SEALIS married JOHN WINCHESTER, Oct. 15, 1638. ( Scituate Church Records.). Deacon Richard Sealis, or Sellice, was one of Mr. Lothrop's church, who appears in Scituate, Mass., in 1634. He joined the church in Scituate Dec. 24, 1637, and was elected a Deacon. WINCHESTER NOTES. 5 By his first wife, whose name is unknown, he had born in England: Hannah, who married John Winchester, Oct. 15, 1638; and Hester, who married Samuel Jackson, November, 1639. He married ( 2d), probably in England, Eglin Han­ ford (maiden name Hatherly), who had twice been a widow. Her first husband was the father 0£ Edward Foster, lawyer; she was the mother 0£ Rev.