Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Short but Important Life of Peter Winfield II

Most people have overlooked the brief life and scarce records of young Peter Winfield. His appearance in the 1830 census of Montgomery County, North Carolina, they take it as a nod to his grandfather, Peter Winfield I, without realizing through the benefit of a timeline, that his grandfather, per land records and estate records that name a will, that must have burned in one of the many Montgomery County Courthouse fires, reveal that Peter Winfield, the grandfather, died in 1802, before his grandson Peter was ever born.

Peter was the son of Peter Seniors only son Edward. The only son that lived to adulthood, perchance. There are no records of any other sons being born in Virginia prior to their journey to North Carolina.

Peter Winfield, son of Edward, and his wife Charlotte Freeman Winfield, daughter of Arthur and Agnes Freeman, had resided in Mecklenburg County, Virginia where their 4 known children were born; Edward and his 3 sisters, Sarah, Ancena (or Arena) and Virginia.


Peter appears to have traveled back and forth between Anson County, where he bought property along the Rocky River from Hugh Ross on April 7, 1787 near White Oak Branch. He also was named as a witness on deeds in Mecklenburg and Brunswick County, Virginia.

Edward, son of Peter and Charlotte and named for his paternal grandfather, was born about 1866 or 1867 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. He married Sussannah Lee, the daughter of Robert Lee, Jr. and Argent Culpepper. The Lee's had also migrated from Virginia to Anson County along the Rocky and PeeDee Rivers.

The first census of the United States in 1790, shows Edward with one male over 16, one male under 16 and one female in his household. These figures would most likely represent Edward and wife Sussanah and their firstborn son, Arthur Freeman Winfield, named for Edwards maternal grandfather, Arthur Freeman.
Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:1
Free White Persons - Females:1
Number of Household Members:3
By 1800, the family had grown considerably.


Edward Winfield
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:1
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15:1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:1
Number of All Other Free Persons:5
Number of Slaves:3
Number of Household Members Under 16:3
Number of Household Members Over 25:2
Number of Household Members:13
The adults between 26 and 44 would have had to have been Edward and Susannah. The male 10 to 15 would have been Arthur Freeman Winfield and the male under 10, John Winfield, second born son. The female under 10 would have had to have been only daughter Eliza.

John and Eliza are noted in a lawsuit in my earlier post: Whispers of Eliza Winfield Lilly .

Ten years later, the family had grown again. Slaves had increased from 3 to 13 and children from 3 to 4. 
Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44 :1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:1
Numbers of Slaves:13
Number of Household Members Under 16:3
Number of Household Members Over 25:2
Number of Household Members:19
Edward and Sussanah are still between 26 and 44. Arthur Freeman Winfield between 16 and 25 and John and third born son Peter under 10.  John, born in 1800, was a newborn during the 1800 census, and was still counted as under 10 in 1810, but probably had just turned 10. Peter, next to the youngest had been born.

The 1820 cenus of Anson County lists Edward "Edw"  and Freeman Winfield next to each other. The image can be pulled up on ancestry. com, but is not transcribed. It also exists in the book "1790-1840 Census of Anson County, North Carolina". Edward was no males under 10 in his household. The next category is 10 to 16, he has one. The next category is 16 to 26. He has one. The next category is over 26, he has 2. For females, he has one 10 to 16 and one over 26. The youngest male would be youngest son Milton. The one 16 to 26 would have been Peter. The two over 26 would be Edward and second son John. The female 10 to 16 would be Eliza and the one over 26, Susannah. 

Freeman had married Mary Burroughs, daughter of Bryan Boroughs and Sarah Waddell in 1818. This is important in the brief life of Peter II. 

The 1820 shows Freeman with just 2 adults, himself and wife Mary or Polly, and the oldest of their daughters having been born. 

This would have been Susan Lee Winfield, born 1819.
Freeman Winfield
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:3
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:1
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39:1
Slaves - Males - Under 10:5
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:1
Slaves - Males - 24 thru 35:1
Slaves - Females - Under 10:5
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23:3
Free White Persons - Under 20:5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:7
Total Slaves:15
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):22
By 1830, Freeman had 5 daughters and 15 slaves. Freeman served in the War of 1812. He was a Quarter Master Sergeant. As thus, he qualified in the Alabama land lottery, and relocated his family to Perry County, Alabama. He is shown as obtaining 6 land patents near the community of Sprott between 1835 and 1837. He likely traveled with relatives, William Boroughs and Thomas Billingsley, among others. 

By 1830, Susannah had passed and father Edward was living with only youngest son Milton Winfield, who would own property in both Anson and Stanly County, and marry Mary Ann Pickler, a German girl, and remain childless. Milton would be the last Winfield in the area, except for the sons of Peter. His widow would marry first cousin, Marriott Freeman Davis. 
Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59:1
Slaves - Males - Under 10:3
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:4
Slaves - Males - 24 thru 35:3
Slaves - Males - 36 thru 54:3
Slaves - Females - Under 10:4
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35:3
Slaves - Females - 36 thru 54:2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:1
Total Free White Persons:2
Total Slaves:22
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):24
On November 14, 1822, thirty year old John M. Winfield started his own family by marrying Eliza Beard, daughter of Micheal Beard of Rowan County. Her brother John Beard would also join the family by marrying the Winfield's cousin Annabelle Morrison, daughter of Ancena Winfield, Edwards sister. 

John remained in North Carolina most of his life, but would migrate to Pope County, Arkansas in the 1850's, while he was in his 50's. John and Eliza had 10 children. 

1830 was the only census Peter would be in as head of his own household. He is shown with a wife and two little boys under 5 in his household, and 6 slaves. He was a farmer and lumberman. His plan was to float lumber down the river to South Carolina. He was shown as living in Montgomery County, meaning he lived in what is now the Stanly County side of the Rocky River. 

Name:Peter Winfield
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1
Slaves - Males - Under 10:2
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:1
Slaves - Females - Under 10:1
Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23:2
Free White Persons - Under 20:2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:4
Total Slaves:6
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):10
Peter had went to Randolph County to find his bride. 

ame:Peter Winfield
Gender:Male
Spouse:Polley Goldston
Spouse Gender:Female
Bond Date:7 Nov 1825
Bond #:000115195
Level Info:North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:002999
County:Randolph
Record #:01 299
Bondsman:Bryan Boroughs

Bryan Boroughs was the bondsman. Bryan was the father of Peter's sister-in-law, Mary Burroughs Winfield, wife of his older brother Freeman. 

Polly, whose Christian name was Mary, as many Mary's were called Polly instead, was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Goldston and Lydia Waddell. If you recall, Bryan Burroughs was married to Sarah "Sally" Waddell. Both were daughters of Edmund Waddell and Lucy Birdsong. Both families made important marks in Virginia and North Carolina history. Edmund Waddell was a member of the 1788 Ratification Commitee, fought in the Revolutionary War, serving as a Lieutenant and was a State Senator from North Carolina between 1793 and 1798. His wife Lucy, was the daughter of Major John Birdsong and his wife Mary Armstead. Major Birdsong was a member of the Provencial Congress, Served as sheriff of Chatham County, a Member of the Assemby, and a member of the House of Commons, among other offices and honors. 

So Mary Bouroughs Winfield's mothers Sarah "Sally" Waddell Bourgouhs and Mary "Polly" Goldston Winfields mother Lydia Waddell Goldston, were sisters. That is how Peter found his wife from Randolph County. Family connections were of great importance in those days. 

The Goldston or Gholston family was centered in Chatham county, North Carolina, not far from the counties of Moore, Montgomery and Randolph.
There is even a small town named for the family. 

Chatham is a mostly rural county, but a very early, political county in North Carolina. Many families of central N. C. camped out in Chatham before spreading out. It's green, hilly and full of grand old homes that have been abandoned as citizens have left for larger venues that Chathams small towns. 

Some times important things can be found while looking for something entirely different. While attempting to find information on Mary A. Davis, daughter of Henry Davis and wife Martha Palmer, my great, great, great grandparents whom I have been concentrating on recently, I came across these little gems in a book on excepts from The Carolina Watchman, an early Salisbury, Rowan County, Newspaper. 

Death Notices: Peter Wintfield, aged about 27, Aug. 23 1830, on Rocky River in Rowan County. (Sept 7, 1830 issue). 

Note: The Rocky River does not flow through Rowan County and did not at that time either. They likely meant Montgomery County as Stanly did not yet exist. It does also flow through Cabarrus County, but the Winfield family did not live in this area.
The Rivers connected the early families of North Carolina and the rivers were also the cause of death as many people attempted crossing or in transporting goods and animals up or down them. Rivers became common county boundaries to prevent death while attempting to get to the county courthouse, as in the case of the split between Montgomery and Stanly County, NC in 1841.
Chatham County Courthouse

The Carolina Watchman also mentioned the marriage of brother John Winfield to Eliza Beard in  1822, as her family hailed from Rowan County. Other marriage of notes were those of the Crump sisters, a family closely associated to the Davis's and Winfields:

Miss Ann Crump to William Allen   1835
Miss Camiline Crump to Newberry F Hall  1840
Miss Caroline Crump to Shepherd Lee  1840

Note: Shepherd Lee was the son of William "Rocky River Bill" Lee and Rosa Crump. Also, a relation of Sussanna Lee Winfield and Rowena Lee Davis, wife of James M. Davis, Sarah Winfield Davis's son. 

Another interesting marriage I found announced in this paper was that of Bethany Delamothe to Willis Morgan in 1839. This couple was feature in my post: Jobs Children: Bethany.

As a lesson hard learned, always remember to record your sources when researching your family history. I have stacks of papers from years past of looking into the Winfields', are they were one of the first families I dug into very thoroughly. I remember finding in some old record, of Peter Winfield being killed in a logging accident. It did not mention his age, or give his date of death, as the newspaper article did. The age of 27  also synchs his year of birth.

Peter's life was short but important. Every current Anson County Winfield is descended from him. Freeman moved his family to Alabama and John to Arkansas. Milton died childless as his wife was barren. Peter was the only one to leave descendants along the Rocky River. He and Mary had two sons. Those two sons were John Peter Winfield and Willilam Winfield. 

In 1833,  3 years after her husbands death, Mary Polly Goldston Winfield married a farmer and minister, John Richardson Barber. Mary had been a young bride, only 16 when marrying Peter Winfield. She was also a young widow, only 22 when Peter died, and 25 when she married John Richardson Barber. 
John R. Barber was a farmer, but also performed many marriages. He may have even taught at Brown Creek Church, where the family is buried. After having 2 sons with Peter Winfield, Polly and Rev. Barber had 8 children of their own. The Barbers are another post. 

Since Peter died while Stanly was still Montgomery and Montgomery is a "Burnt County", his estate records do not exist that is known. Mary and sons probably inherited whatever propery he had accumulated, as both Mary and sons are seen in later census records as owning slaves. 



Name:John Barber
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:2
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14:2
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:2
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39:1
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:2
Slaves - Females - Under 10:1
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35:1
Persons Employed in Agriculture:4
Free White Persons - Under 20:7
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:9
Total Slaves:4
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:13

The 1840 census shows the John Barber residence with 7 children. This would include John Peter Winfield , William Winfield, Lydia and Sarah Barber, Robert Barber and James Barber, born in 1840.

Name:John R Barber
Age:44
Birth Year:abt 1806
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Dumas Shop, Anson, North Carolina
Gender:Male
Family Number:1024
Household Members:
NameAge
John R Barber44
Mary Barber42
William Winfield21
John Winfield20
Peter Hight20
Lydia A Hight16
Robert Hight14
Sarah Hight11
James Hight9
George Hight7
Sydney High5
Walter High2
The 1850 census shows the young Winfield men still living with their mother and stepfather. A Peter High was living with the family and the transcriptionist incorrectly listed the Barber children as "Hights". Peter was the son of Benjamin High and Polly Richardson High, a relative of John R. Barber. The High family of Anson are also tied into the Davis family later on. 


Name:John R Barber
Age in 1860:53
Birth Year:abt 1807
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1860:Wadesboro, Anson, North Carolina
Gender:Male
Post Office:Wadesboro
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
John R Barber53
Mary Barber51
William Winfield30
Robert Barber23
James Barber20
George Barber18
Sidney Barber15
Walter Barber11
Mary Barber7
1860 finds William Winfield still living with his mother and stepfather, but brother J. P. has gotten married. 

ame:John P Winfield
Age in 1860:30
Birth Year:abt 1830
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1860:Diamond Hill, Anson, North Carolina
Gender:Male
Post Office:Wadesboro
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
John P Winfield30
Susan Winfield25
Edward Winfield8
William Winfield5
John Winfield2
In 1851, at age 19, John Peter Winfield married a young lady with a considerable family history and a long southern name "Sussanah Sarah Virginia Liles". The Liles were one of the leading families of Anson county, founding the town of Lilesville. Susan was the daughter of Jesse Liles and wife Eleanor Dumas McClendon. The Dumas and McClendons were also Anson county royalty, along with the Wades, the Walls, the Ingrams, the Flakes, the Lilly's, the Burns, the Kikers and the Thomas's. And the small, but affluent Winfields. 

In 1860, the oldest  3 of the 4 sons of John Peter and Susan were born. In all the 4 were: Edward, William Liles, John Goldston, and Robert Jesse. These 4 would be the source of all the current Winfields in Anson. John Peter, like his father before him, would not live a long life. He would die in the Civil War. His widow would marry a Thomas and his brother would also die young, and without issue. The tale of John Peter and his sons are another post. But without the short life of Peter Winfield II, no Winfields would be found in these parts today. 

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