Washington DC - Genealogy Trails - Will of Timothy Winn

Washington District of Columbia

Last Will and Testament
of Timothy Winn
September 20, 1773 - February 18, 1836

Furnished by : John G. Sharp

Timothy Winn
U. S. Navy Purser
Washington Navy Yard
(1773 -1836)
Introduction

Timothy Winn was born on 20 September 1773, to a prominent family in Burlington Township, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Winn entered the United States Navy in 1799, and served on the Frigate Chesapeake. As a Purser on the U.S.S. Chesapeake he had served on an expedition to North Africa against the Barbary Corsairs (1801-1805).¹ He married Rebecca Ann Dulaney (1784-1865) at Alexandria, Virginia in 181l. The couple had three children: Eliza Rebecca Winn (1812-1835), William Timothy Winn (1813-1848), and Mary Louisa Winn (1818 -1854). Timothy Winn was appointed Purser at the Washington Navy Yard in 1815; a powerful position which he held until his death on 18 February 1836. The Washington Navy Yard Purser was almost by definition an extremely influential position and as such, Timothy Winn was in charge of contracting for the District of Columbia's largest employer and industrial concern. As the Washington Navy Yard Purser, Timothy Winn was in charge of all procurement and contracting for naval supplies and equipment. Timothy Winn was said to be a man of considerable scholarship and learning.
Timothy Winn's Last Will and Testament like other such legal documents reflects primarily his business and commercial interests, especially his involvement in the Washington Navy Yard Bridge Company and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company as a major shareholder in both. These commercial concerns gave Timothy Winn the requisite entry and the ability to take active interest in local and national politics. He was also a major backer of the Corporation Stock of Washington City which gave him a prominent voice in the District politics. Timothy Winn's Last Will and Testament is a reflection of both his wealth and social standing in the early Washington, D.C.² community. The inventory of his personal estate and possessions noted during the subsequent probate of his Last Will and Testament gives further evidence of his rich and socially connected life. Winn was a well known figure at the Navy Yard where he was in charge of paying the workforce. Michael Shiner (1805-1880), a slave and later a freeman who worked at Washington Navy Yard for fifty five years mentions Timothy Winn three times in his Diary.
Timothy Winn's Last Will gives us glimpses too of his personal concerns, most pronounced of which was his strong love, and his desire to pass on his estate intact to his wife and children. Here he provides detailed instructions and tries to consider all eventualities, such as the early death of his children and the perceived need to take care of his then ailing wife Rebecca (she outlived him by thirty years). One issue that clearly troubled Naval Purser Winn was the strong possibility that the Department of the Navy would make claim against his estate for non approved and alleged improper payments to Washington Navy Yard employees while acting as Navy Agent.³ Here Winn leaves emphatic instruction for his heirs not to pay what for Winn is clearly an unjust demand.
Like many Naval Officers and men of property⁴ , Timothy Winn owned slaves. The 1830 Federal Census for the District of Columbia enumerates three slaves owned by Timothy Winn and one free Black male in his employ. In his 1836 Will, there are eight slaves noted, and we find that Timothy Winn, like many slave owners in antebellum Washington, was conflicted as to how to arrange for his slaves after his death.⁵ The term "servant" is the polite euphemism found in this and other such documents. The house and property, including the servants, are for his wife Rebecca during her lifetime (which fortunately for the family and his servants was a long one). Had Rebecca died soon after her spouse, then the "servants" Charles Grandison and Eliza Savoy would have been bequeathed to Winn's son, William Timothy and his daughter Mary Louisa respectively. In that case, the servants would have come to his heirs with the following caution: "They are neither of them to be sold nor be set free on any account whatever. I have too much regard for them to set them free to provide for & support themselves in their old age, after having had their faithful services for the best part of their lives. They must be comfortably & well provided for & kindly treated & supported & receive every indulgence compatible with their situation." One rationale for Winn expressly stating a high regard for the servants, yet insisting that they were not to be freed, was to minimize the real likelihood that older slaves might be quickly manumitted by a new owner and left elderly and free but with no income or support.⁶
Some of this same conflicted thought is found in other provisions of his Will: "My Servant Man, John Douglass" the will relates, "shall not be free, nor shall he be sold without his own free will & consent. He may be held in common by my Son & Daughter."
We can never know for certain what Timothy Winn's slaves actually thought of their late master. But regardless of their relationship, his slaves under law, were simply property and as such still subject to public sale on his death to pay his or his heirs debts or simply for the convenience of their new owners.
One very real fear of all District of Columbia slaves,⁷ after the death of a master, was to have their families broken up or for one or more family member "to be sold south", where conditions of servitude were even harsher. Fortunately, after Timothy's death, Rebecca Winn continued to live on.
Timothy Winn's last years were probably sad ones. His daughter Eliza Rebecca Winn died at age 23, and the Department of the Treasury auditors held Winn personally liable for hiring an assistant as purser's clerk with out the necessary authorization.⁸ During this same period his beloved wife Rebecca (according to his will) was ill and to add to his existing burdens the new Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, Commodore Isaac Hull attempted (unsuccessfully) to replace him as Washington Navy Yard Purser.⁹
In 1835, the last summer of Timothy Winn's life was particularly uneasy. In eastern cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC, workers were agitating for a ten hour day. In July of that same year, Commodore Isaac Hull issued an order changing Yard work procedures and a bitter labor strike began when the mechanics and laborers refused to return to work. The Yard strikers blamed Commodore Hull for bringing in Black caulkers from Baltimore, Maryland. These strikers believed that Black workers were to be used to break their strike. This and other incidents exacerbated always simmering racial tension in Washington, and the Navy Yard white mechanics and laborers went on a three day rampage in which they threatened Blacks and broke up their businesses and property. Finally after days of disorder and riot, President Andrew Jackson, ordered on August 12, 1835, a company of US Marines to re-establish order and arrest the rioters in the unstable city.¹⁰
Timothy Winn died on 18 February 1836 age 63 and is buried at the Congressional Cemetery, R41/126. Rebecca Ann Winn died in 1865; age 82, she is buried alongside her husband in the Congressional Cemetery, R41/127.¹¹

Timothy Winn, was a naval officer,
although he remained ashore at the Washington Navy Yard from 1815 -1836.
My understanding is that the rank of US Navy Purser in the early Navy was something comparable to our modern Naval Supply Corps Officer. The Supply Corps was founded on February 23, 1795, when President George Washington appointed Tench Francis as the Purser of the Navy, the precursor to what we now call the Supply Corps. Typically most large naval ships had pursers as did most naval shore establishments such as Washington Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Charleston and Norfolk.

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Ms Lauret Savoy, for bringing Timothy Winn to my attention, and providing the copies of his Last Will and Testament and the District of Columbia probate inventory of his estate and for so generously sharing information regarding her great, great, great grandmother Eliza Savoy and her descendants.
My gratitude goes to Ms Gail Munro of Washington D C, who once again, has kindly shared her incredible knowledge and understanding of the Methodist Church in the District of Columbia and its important historical records

Bibliography

The Congressional Cemetery where Timothy and Rebecca Winn are both buried has transcribed extracts of Timothy Winn's will online and a short summary of The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. William Ryland, which was published in the: Columbia Historical Society, Volume 4, this article relates aspects of the life of Timothy Winn and his slave Charles Grandison. The Congressional Cemetery page is:
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:Mq4lYMBkfI4J:www.congressionalcemetery.org/PDF/Obits/W/Obits_Winn.pdf+%22Charles+ grandison%22+%22Timothy+Winn%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Allen, Gardner Weld Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs Houghton Mifflin New York 1905
Brown, Letitia W. Free Negroes in the District of Columbia 1790-1846 Oxford University Press New York 1972
Green, Constance McLaughlin. The Secret City: A History of Race Relations in the Nation's Capital. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967.
____. Washington: A History of the Capital 1800 -1950. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962.
_____. The Economic Position of Free Blacks in the District of Columbia in The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 58, No. 1. (Jan.1973), pp.61-72.
Maloney, Linda M. The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986.
Sharp, John G. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962. Stockton, CA: Vindolanda Press, 2005.
http://www.history.navy.mil/books/sharp/WNY_History.pdf
Shiner, Michael The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869. Navy Department Library online, transcribed with an Introduction and Notes John G. Sharp 2007.
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html#biblio
Tremian, Mary. Slavery in the District of Columbia: The Policy of Congress and the Struggle for Abolition. New York: G.B. Putnam's Sons, 1898.
A Naval Encyclopedia: Comprising a Dictionary of Nautical Words and - Naval art and Science Phrases, Biographical Notices and Records of Officers by Officers and Others L.R. Hamersly & Co. Philadelphia 1880
The Washington Directory Showing the Name, Occupation, and Residence, of Each Head of a Family & Person in Business, Together With Other Useful Information. Washington, DC: S.A. Elliot, 1827.
U.S. Navy Library Naval Officer 1798 -1900 Navy Department Library online at
http://www.history.navy.mil/books/callahan/reg-usn-w.htm

Transcription

This transcription was made from a copy of the holographic manuscript of the Last Will and Testament of Timothy Winn filed in the District of Columbia Orphan's Court (Probate Court) No.1, 848 O.S. The spelling, punctuation and the use of ampersands is that of the original document.
John G. Sharp

WILL OF TIMOTHY WINN

[Last Will & Testament of Timothy Winn (20 Sep 1773 -19 February 1836) District of Columbia Orphan's Court (Probate Court) 1836 Box 13]
I, Timothy Winn, a Purser in the Navy of the United States do make & declare this Instrument of Writing to be my last Will and Testament -
My will is that Executors, hereinafter to be named as soon as practicable after my death proceed to settle & pay any balance, that m[a]y be standing against me & justly due on the Books of the 4^th Auditor of the Treasury of the United States & that they pay as soon as may be all my other just debts -
        There is the sum of nine hundred dollars standing against me & disallowed at the Treasury. This charge was made by me as an allowance for Clerk hire for paying off the Superintendents, Mechanics and Labourers of the Navy Yard, & which was then sanctioned by regulation of the Navy Department. Should it not be relinquished, but insisted upon, my Executors are not to allow it, until the Government shall have sued my Estate, & the Verdict of a Jury shall have determined the question -
        My will is likewise, that my family petition Congress & perseveringly continue so to do, until relief shall be obtained for Navy Agent's Commission, or an equitable allowance in some other form, for my services in receiving & disbursing the funds at the Navy Yard, Washington City, from the second Quarter of eighteen hundred & fifteen to the first quarter of eighteen hundred & twenty nine, inclusively amounting to upwards of one million & eight hundred thousand dollars, & for which I have not received a single cent-
        To enable my Executors to pay off my debts, my will is, that they sell immediately my Carriage & three Horses, that they take whatever is standing to my credit at the Bank of the Metropolis & the Patriotic Bank of Washington & at any other Bank or Banks, & that they collect with all convenient dispatch all debts due me, & should the aggregate be insufficient for the purpose they must sell my Stock in the Franklin Fire Insurance of Washington City, on which one thousand dollars has been paid, or such part thereof as shall be requisite for the purpose Should there still be a deficiency they must sell such real or personal property as will be the least prejudicial to the interests of my Heirs, the amount thus sold to be the least, that will possibly answer the purpose -
        My will is, after all my debts shall be paid, that none of my Estate, either real or personal, shall be sold on any account whatever, unless to save my family from want, or such part as may be disposed of to advantage, which yields no income, the proceeds to be vested in some property yielding an income, but that my Executors ascertain & collect the whole income of my estate & should my Wife Rebecca continue in her present unfortunate state of mind, they must provide every necessary & every possible convenience & comfort that her situation may require, & after paying all such expenses, the remainder must be equally divided between my Son, William Timothy & My Daughter, Mary Louisa, one half to each, semiannually or annually, as shall be found most convenient -
        My dwelling house, & servants, with the out houses and gardens, & all the household & kitchen furniture are to remain in their present situation during the life of my Wife as a place of residence for her & for my sons and daughter. Should my wife fortunately recover from her present mental indisposition, then the house, gardens, furniture, Servants & everything else shall remain in their present state for a residence & for the use of my Wife during life, she remaining my Widow, & my two children shall have free & full liberty to make the house their home permanently, or whenever & as long as they shall see fit & the whole income of my estate shall be equally divided between my Wife & my two Children, that is, one third part to each -
        I give & bequeath to my Son, William Timothy all my wearing apparel, my double cased Gold Watch, & my Silver Spurs -
        At the death of my Wife I give & bequeath as follows, & it is expressly ordered & directed, that none of the following bequests be received, or taken possession of, till after the death of my Wife -
        I give & bequeath to my Son, William Timothy all Estate in Kenty County, Maryland, known as Winn's Resurvey of Howell's Point, the Portrait of my Father & my large Family Bible. The Bible & Spurs were bequeathed to me by my grandfather, Timothy Winn, of Middlesex County, Massachusetts -
        I give & bequeath to my Daughter, Mary Luisa five thousand dollars of the Corporation Stock of Washington City & five thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Patriotic Bank of Washington. Should either, or both these be below their par value, then a sufficient quantity of other property must be added thereto to make the whole sum equal to ten thousand dollars, I give her, likewise my two old Scripture Painting & my Piano Forte -
        I give & bequeath to my Granddaughter, Rebecca Ellis two thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Washington Navy Yard Bridge Company, two thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company & my Stock in the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Washington City on which one thousand dollars have been paid, provided the same shall not have been sold to pay my debts. Should this be the case, then property to the amount of one thousand dollars per valuation must be assigned to her, so as to make the aggregate five thousand dollars-
        I give & bequeath to my Son my Servant Man Charles Grandison,¹² & to my Daughter my Servant Woman Lizy, or Eliza Savoy. They are neither of them to be sold, nor be set free on any account whatever. I have too much regard for them to set them free to provide for & support themselves in their old age, after having had their faithful services for the best part of their lives. They must be comfortably & well provided for & kindly treated & supported & receive every indulgence compatible with their situation, & should either of my Children die, or by reason of any casualty or misfortune become incapable of providing for his or her Servant , the other Child must take such Servant & fully comply with all the requirements herein stated -
        My Servant Man, John Douglass shall not be free, nor shall he be sold without his own free well & consent. He may be held in common by my Son & Daughter; or should one of them wish to own him, the other must pay such one half his estimated value. Should both wish to own him, my Executors John Coyle & William Speiden shall determine by Lot to which he shall belong, the fortunate one paying the other half his estimated value -
        My Servants Betsy or Eliza Diggs & Juliette Tayloe, with her child, may either be sold, or be held in common by my Son and Daughter. If sold, the proceeds to be equally divided between them, but in no event shall either of them reside with, or in the family of my Daughter -
        I give to Judge Powhatan Ellis¹³, the portrait of my late Daughter Mrs. Eliza R. Ellis -
        I give to my Sister Mrs. Mary Reed of Middlesex County Massachusetts the Miniature likeness of my later Brother Jonathan Bowers Winn -
        I give to my Brother William Winn of Boston the Declaration of Independence - Washington's Farewell address, both set in gilt frames -
        I give to my Executor John Coyle my large New Map of the United States by Mitchell, with the Accompaniment -
        I give to my Executor William Speiden my pair of Globes -
        Judge Powhaton Ellis of Mississippi has in his possession two boys Alfred & Edward, Sons of my Servant woman Lizy Savoy, for whom he holds no Bill of Sale, or Instrument of Conveyance. Should he not return them voluntarily, they are never to be asked or demanded of him. If voluntarily returned, I give Alfred to my Son & Edward to my Daughter.
        Should my Granddaughter Rebecca Ellis die before marriage, or before having arrived at twenty one years of age, without legal issue, or should she die single after having arrived at twenty one years of age, leaving no legal issue, then the five thousand dollars herein bequeathed to her shall be equal divided between my Son & Daughter. Should one of my children die without legal issue, then the whole sum of five thousand dollars herein bequeathed to my Granddaughter shall belong to & become the property of the survivor. Should either of my children die single & intestate, leaving no legal issue, the whole property bequeathed to such Child in this Instrument of Writing shall belong to & become the property of the survivor -
        My will is that my Silver Plate be equally divided between my Son & daughter; & that all residue of my Estate both Real & Personal be equally divided between them, or they may hold the whole in common, if they can so agree - Should it not so happen, that both my children should be anxious to possess the same article or articles of personal property or the parcel or parcels of real estate, & they can not agree between themselves, then my Executors John Coyle & William Spieden¹⁴ shall determine by Lot to which such property shall belong, the fortunate one paying the to the other half the estimated value of said property, & in this mode must every question of the kind be settled, my object being to avoid a sacrifice of property, by sale at Public Auction -
        I do hereby declare, constitute & appoint my Son William Timothy Winn, John Coyle & William Speiden, all of Washington City, to be the Executors to this my Last Will & Testament -
        In Witness & confirmation of this my last will & Testament I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal, at the City of Washington, District of Columbia, this twenty eighth day of December, A.D., eighteen hundred & thirty five -

T. Winn, (Seal)
Signed, Sealed & Declared by the said Timothy Winn to be his Last Will & Testament in the presence of the Subscribers who, likewise, witnessed the signature of each other respectively.
Edward W. Clark
Richard Barry ¹⁵
A.G. Herold ¹⁶
True copy
        Dist Ed. N. Roach
               January 3. 1834

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

End Notes
¹Allen, Gardner Weld Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs p.327
²Shiner Michael Diary pages 19, 25 and 71
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html
³See The Captain from Connecticut the Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull by Linda M. Maloney 1985 p.430 for a discussion of similar problems experienced by Isaac Hull while Commandant at Washington Navy Yard.
⁴Sharp, John G. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799 - 1962 p.16 -17 and Diary of Michael Shiner p.27 for Michael Shiner's account of Commandant Thomas Tingey's slave footman also see endnote 25 for further discussion. Prior to the Civil War most all WNY Commandants, officers and senior civilians owned slaves, including Commodore Isaac Hull. Slaves made up a significant portion (5 to 10% of the WNY antebellum workforce. Slaves were especially numerous in the yard blacksmith /anchor shop and among ship caulkers. Some of the reward notices for runaway slaves connected with WNY are to be seen at
http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/wny_app_reward.html
⁵See Genovese, Eugene Roll Jordan Roll The World the Slaves Made Vintage Books New York 1975 pages 75 - 86 for a discussion of the contradiction of the slave owner's "duty and burden".
⁶See Brown, Letitia Free Negroes in the Distrcit of Columbia 1790 -1846 especially pages75-96 for her discussion of the problems surrounding the death of a slave master and how owners in the District of Columbia attempted to provide for slaves.
⁷See Tremain Mary and The Slave Code of the District of Columbia 1860
[Available online from the Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sthtml/stpres02.html.]
⁸33^rd Congress HR Bill 707 dated January 30, 1855 "For the relief of Rebecca Winn a widow, and executrix of the last will and testament of her husband Timothy Winn deceased late purser in the Navy of the United States. That the accounting officer of the Treasury be, and they are required to adjust the accounts of the late purser Timothy Winn so as to allow his legal representative the sum of six hundred dollars per annum for clerk hire during his service as purser at Washington Navy Yard deductions there for what ever payments on account of clerk hire have already been made."
⁹Maloney, p. 420 Commodore Isaac Hull wanted to appoint John Etheridge, his Secretary, as Purser. Hull's request was not granted but John Etheridge was made Commandant's Clerk at a salary just a little less then Winn's.
¹⁰See Michael Shiner Diary entries for 1835, pages 59 - 65.
¹¹See the Congressional Cemetery web page for obituaries and photos of the graves of Timothy and Rebecca Winn.
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/
¹²Charles Grandison remained a slave through out his long life Grandison apparently continued to live with the Savoy family and he died close to age one hundred as recounted in The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. William Ryland Columbia Historical Society, Volume 4
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/
In 1834 -1836 Eliza Savoy was a member of Ebenezer Methodist Church, class number 16. Eliza's name is written in the Membership Register for Ebenezer Station 1834 -1845 as "Elizabeth Survoy" Michael Shiner too attended Ebenezer Methodist Church on occasion ( see Diary page 15 and 16 entries for 1821 and 1822, and his first wife Phillis Shiner was also a member. My profound thanks to Ms. Gale Munro of Washington DC for her research which has provided some of the few facts we have regarding these two women. Gale's analysis and thoughts on the meaning of these unpublished Methodist Church records have deepened my own understanding of these essential records. .
From the approximate age of her son Edward, Eliza Savoy, may have been somewhere between age thirty and forty year of age in 1836. Eliza Savoy was probably a house slave, and possibly a cook and or body servant for Rebecca Winn. Documentary evidence for her life is nominal; we simply do not know if she like her son Edward Savoy was ever manumitted. Eliz Savoy's name is not listed on the 1850 census nor is her date of death known.
¹³Powhatan Ellis (1790- 1863) was Timothy Winn's son in law and United States Senator from Mississippi1825 -26 and 1827 -1832. He later became US District Judge. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - 2005.
¹⁴William Spieden (1805 -1861) one of the executor's was a prot�g� of Timothy Winn who appointed 18 year old Spieden to a position at Washington Navy Yard Purser's office. Spieden's appointment as Purser Clerk was challenged by Treasury Department auditors and Timothy Winn as Purser was deemed liable for the funds allocated. In 1836 Speiden was appointed US Navy Purser for Norfolk Va. William Spieden later served with Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan. Information on Spieden is from the Heritage Gazette fall 2006 issue p.4. The Heritage Gazette is a publication of the Association for the Preservation of the Historic Congressional Cemetery.
¹⁴Richard M. Barry 1804 -1867 worked at the Washington Navy Yard where for over forty years he was Clerk of the Rolls.
¹⁵Adam G. Herold 1803 - 1864 was the Washington Navy Yard, Chief Clerk of the Naval Store, where he worked for over forty years. Adam Herold's son, David Herold, was hung on 7 July 1865 for his involvement in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Timothy Winn U. S. Navy Purser Washington Navy Yard (1773 -1836) Introduction
Timothy Winn was born on 20 September 1773, to a prominent family in Burlington Township, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Winn entered the United States Navy in 1799, and served on the Frigate Chesapeake. As a Purser on the U.S.S. Chesapeake he had served on an expedition to North Africa against the Barbary Corsairs (1801-1805).¹ He married Rebecca Ann Dulaney (1784-1865) at Alexandria, Virginia in 181l. The couple had three children: Eliza Rebecca Winn (1812-1835), William Timothy Winn (1813-1848), and Mary Louisa Winn (1818 -1854). Timothy Winn was appointed Purser at the Washington Navy Yard in 1815; a powerful position which he held until his death on 18 February 1836. The Washington Navy Yard Purser was almost by definition an extremely influential position and as such, Timothy Winn was in charge of contracting for the District of Columbia's largest employer and industrial concern. As the Washington Navy Yard Purser, Timothy Winn was in charge of all procurement and contracting for naval supplies and equipment. Timothy Winn was said to be a man of considerable scholarship and learning. Timothy Winn's Last Will and Testament like other such legal documents reflects primarily his business and commercial interests, especially his involvement in the Washington Navy Yard Bridge Company and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company as a major shareholder in both. These commercial concerns gave Timothy Winn the requisite entry and the ability to take active interest in local and national politics. He was also a major backer of the Corporation Stock of Washington City which gave him a prominent voice in the District politics. Timothy Winn's Last Will and Testament is a reflection of both his wealth and social standing in the early Washington, D.C.² community. The inventory of his personal estate and possessions noted during the subsequent probate of his Last Will and Testament gives further evidence of his rich and socially connected life. Winn was a well known figure at the Navy Yard where he was in charge of paying the workforce. Michael Shiner (1805-1880), a slave and later a freeman who worked at Washington Navy Yard for fifty five years mentions Timothy Winn three times in his Diary. Timothy Winn's Last Will gives us glimpses too of his personal concerns, most pronounced of which was his strong love, and his desire to pass on his estate intact to his wife and children. Here he provides detailed instructions and tries to consider all eventualities, such as the early death of his children and the perceived need to take care of his then ailing wife Rebecca (she outlived him by thirty years). One issue that clearly troubled Naval Purser Winn was the strong possibility that the Department of the Navy would make claim against his estate for non approved and alleged improper payments to Washington Navy Yard employees while acting as Navy Agent.³ Here Winn leaves emphatic instruction for his heirs not to pay what for Winn is clearly an unjust demand. Like many Naval Officers and men of property⁴ , Timothy Winn owned slaves. The 1830 Federal Census for the District of Columbia enumerates three slaves owned by Timothy Winn and one free Black male in his employ. In his 1836 Will, there are eight slaves noted, and we find that Timothy Winn, like many slave owners in antebellum Washington, was conflicted as to how to arrange for his slaves after his death.⁵ The term "servant" is the polite euphemism found in this and other such documents. The house and property, including the servants, are for his wife Rebecca during her lifetime (which fortunately for the family and his servants was a long one). Had Rebecca died soon after her spouse, then the "servants" Charles Grandison and Eliza Savoy would have been bequeathed to Winn's son, William Timothy and his daughter Mary Louisa respectively. In that case, the servants would have come to his heirs with the following caution: "They are neither of them to be sold nor be set free on any account whatever. I have too much regard for them to set them free to provide for & support themselves in their old age, after having had their faithful services for the best part of their lives. They must be comfortably & well provided for & kindly treated & supported & receive every indulgence compatible with their situation." One rationale for Winn expressly stating a high regard for the servants, yet insisting that they were not to be freed, was to minimize the real likelihood that older slaves might be quickly manumitted by a new owner and left elderly and free but with no income or support.⁶ Some of this same conflicted thought is found in other provisions of his Will: "My Servant Man, John Douglass" the will relates, "shall not be free, nor shall he be sold without his own free will & consent. He may be held in common by my Son & Daughter." We can never know for certain what Timothy Winn's slaves actually thought of their late master. But regardless of their relationship, his slaves under law, were simply property and as such still subject to public sale on his death to pay his or his heirs debts or simply for the convenience of their new owners. One very real fear of all District of Columbia slaves,⁷ after the death of a master, was to have their families broken up or for one or more family member "to be sold south", where conditions of servitude were even harsher. Fortunately, after Timothy's death, Rebecca Winn continued to live on. Timothy Winn's last years were probably sad ones. His daughter Eliza Rebecca Winn died at age 23, and the Department of the Treasury auditors held Winn personally liable for hiring an assistant as purser's clerk with out the necessary authorization.⁸ During this same period his beloved wife Rebecca (according to his will) was ill and to add to his existing burdens the new Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, Commodore Isaac Hull attempted (unsuccessfully) to replace him as Washington Navy Yard Purser.⁹ In 1835, the last summer of Timothy Winn's life was particularly uneasy. In eastern cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC, workers were agitating for a ten hour day. In July of that same year, Commodore Isaac Hull issued an order changing Yard work procedures and a bitter labor strike began when the mechanics and laborers refused to return to work. The Yard strikers blamed Commodore Hull for bringing in Black caulkers from Baltimore, Maryland. These strikers believed that Black workers were to be used to break their strike. This and other incidents exacerbated always simmering racial tension in Washington, and the Navy Yard white mechanics and laborers went on a three day rampage in which they threatened Blacks and broke up their businesses and property. Finally after days of disorder and riot, President Andrew Jackson, ordered on August 12, 1835, a company of US Marines to re-establish order and arrest the rioters in the unstable city.¹⁰ Timothy Winn died on 18 February 1836 age 63 and is buried at the Congressional Cemetery, R41/126. Rebecca Ann Winn died in 1865; age 82, she is buried alongside her husband in the Congressional Cemetery, R41/127.¹¹
Timothy Winn, was a naval officer, although he remained ashore at the Washington Navy Yard from 1815 -1836. My understanding is that the rank of US Navy Purser in the early Navy was something comparable to our modern Naval Supply Corps Officer. The Supply Corps was founded on February 23, 1795, when President George Washington appointed Tench Francis as the Purser of the Navy, the precursor to what we now call the Supply Corps. Typically most large naval ships had pursers as did most naval shore establishments such as Washington Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Charleston and Norfolk.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Ms Lauret Savoy, for bringing Timothy Winn to my attention, and providing the copies of his Last Will and Testament and the District of Columbia probate inventory of his estate and for so generously sharing information regarding her great, great, great grandmother Eliza Savoy and her descendants. My gratitude goes to Ms Gail Munro of Washington D C, who once again, has kindly shared her incredible knowledge and understanding of the Methodist Church in the District of Columbia and its important historical records
Bibliography
The Congressional Cemetery where Timothy and Rebecca Winn are both buried has transcribed extracts of Timothy Winn's will online and a short summary of The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. William Ryland, which was published in the: Columbia Historical Society, Volume 4, this article relates aspects of the life of Timothy Winn and his slave Charles Grandison. The Congressional Cemetery page is: http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:Mq4lYMBkfI4J:www.congressionalcemetery.org/PDF/Obits/W/Obits_Winn.pdf+%22Charles+ grandison%22+%22Timothy+Winn%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Allen, Gardner Weld Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs Houghton Mifflin New York 1905 Brown, Letitia W. Free Negroes in the District of Columbia 1790-1846 Oxford University Press New York 1972 Green, Constance McLaughlin. The Secret City: A History of Race Relations in the Nation's Capital. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967. ____. Washington: A History of the Capital 1800 -1950. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1962. _____. The Economic Position of Free Blacks in the District of Columbia in The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 58, No. 1. (Jan.1973), pp.61-72. Maloney, Linda M. The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986. Sharp, John G. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962. Stockton, CA: Vindolanda Press, 2005. http://www.history.navy.mil/books/sharp/WNY_History.pdf Shiner, Michael The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869. Navy Department Library online, transcribed with an Introduction and Notes John G. Sharp 2007. http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html#biblio Tremian, Mary. Slavery in the District of Columbia: The Policy of Congress and the Struggle for Abolition. New York: G.B. Putnam's Sons, 1898. A Naval Encyclopedia: Comprising a Dictionary of Nautical Words and - Naval art and Science Phrases, Biographical Notices and Records of Officers by Officers and Others L.R. Hamersly & Co. Philadelphia 1880 The Washington Directory Showing the Name, Occupation, and Residence, of Each Head of a Family & Person in Business, Together With Other Useful Information. Washington, DC: S.A. Elliot, 1827. U.S. Navy Library Naval Officer 1798 -1900 Navy Department Library online at http://www.history.navy.mil/books/callahan/reg-usn-w.htm
Transcription
This transcription was made from a copy of the holographic manuscript of the Last Will and Testament of Timothy Winn filed in the District of Columbia Orphan's Court (Probate Court) No.1, 848 O.S. The spelling, punctuation and the use of ampersands is that of the original document. John G. Sharp
WILL OF TIMOTHY WINN
[Last Will & Testament of Timothy Winn (20 Sep 1773 -19 February 1836) District of Columbia Orphan's Court (Probate Court) 1836 Box 13] I, Timothy Winn, a Purser in the Navy of the United States do make & declare this Instrument of Writing to be my last Will and Testament - My will is that Executors, hereinafter to be named as soon as practicable after my death proceed to settle & pay any balance, that m[a]y be standing against me & justly due on the Books of the 4^th Auditor of the Treasury of the United States & that they pay as soon as may be all my other just debts - There is the sum of nine hundred dollars standing against me & disallowed at the Treasury. This charge was made by me as an allowance for Clerk hire for paying off the Superintendents, Mechanics and Labourers of the Navy Yard, & which was then sanctioned by regulation of the Navy Department. Should it not be relinquished, but insisted upon, my Executors are not to allow it, until the Government shall have sued my Estate, & the Verdict of a Jury shall have determined the question - My will is likewise, that my family petition Congress & perseveringly continue so to do, until relief shall be obtained for Navy Agent's Commission, or an equitable allowance in some other form, for my services in receiving & disbursing the funds at the Navy Yard, Washington City, from the second Quarter of eighteen hundred & fifteen to the first quarter of eighteen hundred & twenty nine, inclusively amounting to upwards of one million & eight hundred thousand dollars, & for which I have not received a single cent- To enable my Executors to pay off my debts, my will is, that they sell immediately my Carriage & three Horses, that they take whatever is standing to my credit at the Bank of the Metropolis & the Patriotic Bank of Washington & at any other Bank or Banks, & that they collect with all convenient dispatch all debts due me, & should the aggregate be insufficient for the purpose they must sell my Stock in the Franklin Fire Insurance of Washington City, on which one thousand dollars has been paid, or such part thereof as shall be requisite for the purpose Should there still be a deficiency they must sell such real or personal property as will be the least prejudicial to the interests of my Heirs, the amount thus sold to be the least, that will possibly answer the purpose - My will is, after all my debts shall be paid, that none of my Estate, either real or personal, shall be sold on any account whatever, unless to save my family from want, or such part as may be disposed of to advantage, which yields no income, the proceeds to be vested in some property yielding an income, but that my Executors ascertain & collect the whole income of my estate & should my Wife Rebecca continue in her present unfortunate state of mind, they must provide every necessary & every possible convenience & comfort that her situation may require, & after paying all such expenses, the remainder must be equally divided between my Son, William Timothy & My Daughter, Mary Louisa, one half to each, semiannually or annually, as shall be found most convenient - My dwelling house, & servants, with the out houses and gardens, & all the household & kitchen furniture are to remain in their present situation during the life of my Wife as a place of residence for her & for my sons and daughter. Should my wife fortunately recover from her present mental indisposition, then the house, gardens, furniture, Servants & everything else shall remain in their present state for a residence & for the use of my Wife during life, she remaining my Widow, & my two children shall have free & full liberty to make the house their home permanently, or whenever & as long as they shall see fit & the whole income of my estate shall be equally divided between my Wife & my two Children, that is, one third part to each - I give & bequeath to my Son, William Timothy all my wearing apparel, my double cased Gold Watch, & my Silver Spurs - At the death of my Wife I give & bequeath as follows, & it is expressly ordered & directed, that none of the following bequests be received, or taken possession of, till after the death of my Wife - I give & bequeath to my Son, William Timothy all Estate in Kenty County, Maryland, known as Winn's Resurvey of Howell's Point, the Portrait of my Father & my large Family Bible. The Bible & Spurs were bequeathed to me by my grandfather, Timothy Winn, of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - I give & bequeath to my Daughter, Mary Luisa five thousand dollars of the Corporation Stock of Washington City & five thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Patriotic Bank of Washington. Should either, or both these be below their par value, then a sufficient quantity of other property must be added thereto to make the whole sum equal to ten thousand dollars, I give her, likewise my two old Scripture Painting & my Piano Forte - I give & bequeath to my Granddaughter, Rebecca Ellis two thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Washington Navy Yard Bridge Company, two thousand dollars of the Capital Stock of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company & my Stock in the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Washington City on which one thousand dollars have been paid, provided the same shall not have been sold to pay my debts. Should this be the case, then property to the amount of one thousand dollars per valuation must be assigned to her, so as to make the aggregate five thousand dollars- I give & bequeath to my Son my Servant Man Charles Grandison,¹² & to my Daughter my Servant Woman Lizy, or Eliza Savoy. They are neither of them to be sold, nor be set free on any account whatever. I have too much regard for them to set them free to provide for & support themselves in their old age, after having had their faithful services for the best part of their lives. They must be comfortably & well provided for & kindly treated & supported & receive every indulgence compatible with their situation, & should either of my Children die, or by reason of any casualty or misfortune become incapable of providing for his or her Servant , the other Child must take such Servant & fully comply with all the requirements herein stated - My Servant Man, John Douglass shall not be free, nor shall he be sold without his own free well & consent. He may be held in common by my Son & Daughter; or should one of them wish to own him, the other must pay such one half his estimated value. Should both wish to own him, my Executors John Coyle & William Speiden shall determine by Lot to which he shall belong, the fortunate one paying the other half his estimated value - My Servants Betsy or Eliza Diggs & Juliette Tayloe, with her child, may either be sold, or be held in common by my Son and Daughter. If sold, the proceeds to be equally divided between them, but in no event shall either of them reside with, or in the family of my Daughter - I give to Judge Powhatan Ellis¹³, the portrait of my late Daughter Mrs. Eliza R. Ellis - I give to my Sister Mrs. Mary Reed of Middlesex County Massachusetts the Miniature likeness of my later Brother Jonathan Bowers Winn - I give to my Brother William Winn of Boston the Declaration of Independence - Washington's Farewell address, both set in gilt frames - I give to my Executor John Coyle my large New Map of the United States by Mitchell, with the Accompaniment - I give to my Executor William Speiden my pair of Globes - Judge Powhaton Ellis of Mississippi has in his possession two boys Alfred & Edward, Sons of my Servant woman Lizy Savoy, for whom he holds no Bill of Sale, or Instrument of Conveyance. Should he not return them voluntarily, they are never to be asked or demanded of him. If voluntarily returned, I give Alfred to my Son & Edward to my Daughter. Should my Granddaughter Rebecca Ellis die before marriage, or before having arrived at twenty one years of age, without legal issue, or should she die single after having arrived at twenty one years of age, leaving no legal issue, then the five thousand dollars herein bequeathed to her shall be equal divided between my Son & Daughter. Should one of my children die without legal issue, then the whole sum of five thousand dollars herein bequeathed to my Granddaughter shall belong to & become the property of the survivor. Should either of my children die single & intestate, leaving no legal issue, the whole property bequeathed to such Child in this Instrument of Writing shall belong to & become the property of the survivor - My will is that my Silver Plate be equally divided between my Son & daughter; & that all residue of my Estate both Real & Personal be equally divided between them, or they may hold the whole in common, if they can so agree - Should it not so happen, that both my children should be anxious to possess the same article or articles of personal property or the parcel or parcels of real estate, & they can not agree between themselves, then my Executors John Coyle & William Spieden¹⁴ shall determine by Lot to which such property shall belong, the fortunate one paying the to the other half the estimated value of said property, & in this mode must every question of the kind be settled, my object being to avoid a sacrifice of property, by sale at Public Auction - I do hereby declare, constitute & appoint my Son William Timothy Winn, John Coyle & William Speiden, all of Washington City, to be the Executors to this my Last Will & Testament - In Witness & confirmation of this my last will & Testament I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal, at the City of Washington, District of Columbia, this twenty eighth day of December, A.D., eighteen hundred & thirty five - T. Winn, (Seal) Signed, Sealed & Declared by the said Timothy Winn to be his Last Will & Testament in the presence of the Subscribers who, likewise, witnessed the signature of each other respectively. Edward W. Clark Richard Barry ¹⁵ A.G. Herold ¹⁶ True copy Dist Ed. N. Roach January 3. 1834
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End Notes ¹Allen, Gardner Weld Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs p.327 ²Shiner Michael Diary pages 19, 25 and 71 http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/shinerdiary.html ³See The Captain from Connecticut the Life and Naval Times of Isaac Hull by Linda M. Maloney 1985 p.430 for a discussion of similar problems experienced by Isaac Hull while Commandant at Washington Navy Yard. ⁴Sharp, John G. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799 - 1962 p.16 -17 and Diary of Michael Shiner p.27 for Michael Shiner's account of Commandant Thomas Tingey's slave footman also see endnote 25 for further discussion. Prior to the Civil War most all WNY Commandants, officers and senior civilians owned slaves, including Commodore Isaac Hull. Slaves made up a significant portion (5 to 10% of the WNY antebellum workforce. Slaves were especially numerous in the yard blacksmith /anchor shop and among ship caulkers. Some of the reward notices for runaway slaves connected with WNY are to be seen at http://www.genealogytrails.com/washdc/wny_app_reward.html ⁵See Genovese, Eugene Roll Jordan Roll The World the Slaves Made Vintage Books New York 1975 pages 75 - 86 for a discussion of the contradiction of the slave owner's "duty and burden". ⁶See Brown, Letitia Free Negroes in the Distrcit of Columbia 1790 -1846 especially pages75-96 for her discussion of the problems surrounding the death of a slave master and how owners in the District of Columbia attempted to provide for slaves. ⁷See Tremain Mary and The Slave Code of the District of Columbia 1860 [Available online from the Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sthtml/stpres02.html.] ⁸33^rd Congress HR Bill 707 dated January 30, 1855 "For the relief of Rebecca Winn a widow, and executrix of the last will and testament of her husband Timothy Winn deceased late purser in the Navy of the United States. That the accounting officer of the Treasury be, and they are required to adjust the accounts of the late purser Timothy Winn so as to allow his legal representative the sum of six hundred dollars per annum for clerk hire during his service as purser at Washington Navy Yard deductions there for what ever payments on account of clerk hire have already been made." ⁹Maloney, p. 420 Commodore Isaac Hull wanted to appoint John Etheridge, his Secretary, as Purser. Hull's request was not granted but John Etheridge was made Commandant's Clerk at a salary just a little less then Winn's. ¹⁰See Michael Shiner Diary entries for 1835, pages 59 - 65. ¹¹See the Congressional Cemetery web page for obituaries and photos of the graves of Timothy and Rebecca Winn. http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/ ¹²Charles Grandison remained a slave through out his long life Grandison apparently continued to live with the Savoy family and he died close to age one hundred as recounted in The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. William Ryland Columbia Historical Society, Volume 4 http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/ In 1834 -1836 Eliza Savoy was a member of Ebenezer Methodist Church, class number 16. Eliza's name is written in the Membership Register for Ebenezer Station 1834 -1845 as "Elizabeth Survoy" Michael Shiner too attended Ebenezer Methodist Church on occasion ( see Diary page 15 and 16 entries for 1821 and 1822, and his first wife Phillis Shiner was also a member. My profound thanks to Ms. Gale Munro of Washington DC for her research which has provided some of the few facts we have regarding these two women. Gale's analysis and thoughts on the meaning of these unpublished Methodist Church records have deepened my own understanding of these essential records. . From the approximate age of her son Edward, Eliza Savoy, may have been somewhere between age thirty and forty year of age in 1836. Eliza Savoy was probably a house slave, and possibly a cook and or body servant for Rebecca Winn. Documentary evidence for her life is nominal; we simply do not know if she like her son Edward Savoy was ever manumitted. Eliz Savoy's name is not listed on the 1850 census nor is her date of death known. ¹³Powhatan Ellis (1790- 1863) was Timothy Winn's son in law and United States Senator from Mississippi1825 -26 and 1827 -1832. He later became US District Judge. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - 2005. ¹⁴William Spieden (1805 -1861) one of the executor's was a prot�g� of Timothy Winn who appointed 18 year old Spieden to a position at Washington Navy Yard Purser's office. Spieden's appointment as Purser Clerk was challenged by Treasury Department auditors and Timothy Winn as Purser was deemed liable for the funds allocated. In 1836 Speiden was appointed US Navy Purser for Norfolk Va. William Spieden later served with Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan. Information on Spieden is from the Heritage Gazette fall 2006 issue p.4. The Heritage Gazette is a publication of the Association for the Preservation of the Historic Congressional Cemetery. ¹⁴Richard M. Barry 1804 -1867 worked at the Washington Navy Yard where for over forty years he was Clerk of the Rolls. ¹⁵Adam G. Herold 1803 - 1864 was the Washington Navy Yard, Chief Clerk of the Naval Store, where he worked for over forty years. Adam Herold's son, David Herold, was hung on 7 July 1865 for his involvement in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

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