Winegar, family, genealogy, palitinate, germany, switzerland, Amenia, Dutchess, New York

NOTE: The following material was copied from a typewritten document from the 1800s. The grammer, punctuation and spelling differs from that used today. Some spelling was changed/corrected from the original.

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Genealogy of

The Winegar Family

of Middlebury, Indiana.

In the following Letters, addressed to Caleb Winegar, of Union Springs, N.Y.

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There can be no doubt of the truthfulness of this History, as Ira Winegar is a man above deceit. He is possessed of the greatest conversational powers, and in his unassuming way captivates all hearers.

Caleb WINEGAR

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Middlebury, Indiana, June 25, 1855.

To Mr. Caleb Winegar:

My Respected Cousin:

I have devoted my leisure hours, of late, to collecting and arranging our Genealogical history, and have found it to be more of an undertaking than I was aware of, and whether it will be sufficiently interesting to be considered of any value I do not know. But according to promise I have undertaken it, and the result of my labor will soon be seen, and of course, go to our relatives for what it is worth. I could hardly conceive, before I undertook it, what a great disadvantage I have had to labor under for the want of authantic records as well as many other things of less importance. I have but little hope, dear cousin, that my narrative will meet your expectations, but I have done the best I could. Possibly I may so far succeed as to bring out such a chain of facts that with the aid of them you may, with your attainments and classical advantages, be able to bring out something that will interest our very numerous kindred. This I shall expect you to do. I think my lack of the advantages of an education will be sufficient apology for all the mistakes and errors I may commit. With these few remarks, I leave the matter, and commence.

Your cousin,

IRA WINEGAR

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PREFACE

Having had it in contemplation for some time to write out a short Genealogical History of our family, and being urged to do so by several of my esteemed relatives, I have concluded to undertake it.

In compiling the following, I have been materially aided by the Documentary History of the State of New York, published by order of the Legislature in 1880, by Mr. Spafford's Gazatteer, published in 1813, and re-published in 1828, and the History of Sharon, Conn., published by Charles Sedgwick, Esq., in 1839. But for by far the greatest portion of the matter collected I am indebted to the Traditionary History I have received from the lips of my honored father, Philip Winegar.

I proceed to the undertaking with diffidence, with such aids as I have. I can promise nothing flowery, but will confine myself to a very plaint statement of facts as I have them, and believe them to be true. If I succeed in perpetuating the history of our humble family to your satisfaction and more particularly to the present Young and rising generation, I shall feel myself amply rewarded for all my labor.

I had intended, before commencing the following brief History to make some comments on our name, its origin, meaning, pronunciation, etc. But my researches on this point have amounted to but little. I have consulted several learned Germans, and have obtained but little satisfaction. I am quite satisfied that we have no connection of the name in America, except those who have sprung from Ulric Winegar, our remotest ancestor.

I have never been able to hear of any that both spelled and pronounced the name as we have usually done. In the history of the Palatines the name occurs but seldom, and then, like other names connected with that colony, spelled any and every way, as for instance: Leche or Leshe for Lasher; Deitrig for Dedrick; Henrig for Henry; Olrig for Ulric, and being the most horrible spelling Imaginable. Our name was pronounced by the old Germans as "Wennecker'" and there are now, I am credibly informed, a number of families of German descent in Pennsylvanlien who spell and pronounce their names in that way. I am strongly of the opinion that this was the original name, and in this I am sustained by intelligent Germans. But be that as it may, the name has been handed down to us in its present form and has passed through so many generations that right or wrong, we have it as it is. I see that in Doc. Hist. of New York, vol. 3, page 724 the name is spelled Winiger.

There is, however, another matter connected with it that comes down nearer to the present day. It is a well-know fact that many of our kindred at the present day, pronounce the name "Wine-gar", making but two syllables, and accenting heavily on the i. This, they allege, with considerable force, as the true pronunciation of the word, according to the rules of orthography. That in order to pronounce it as we generally do, it would be necessary to add another letter, as Win ne gar Therefore, they hold to pronouncing it in two syllables. For myself, I would like to see a uniformity in the matter.

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Genealogy of the WINEGAR FAMILY

Olrig, or Ulric (which has been generally translated Oliver) Winegar, who was the pioneer and patriarch of the present Winegar family in America, was born in Switzerland in the year 1648, where he resided until he arrived at the age of manhood. From there he went to Wurtemburg, in Germany, where he married a woman by the name of Arnold, pr Arnoldt, (pronounced "Ornoldt" in German) by whom he had several children-- one son and several daughters.

In the year 1710 he joined the company, or rather the colony of the Palatines, who emigrated to America under the protection and fostering care of Anne, Queen of England. (For a history of the Palatines, see Doc. Hist. of New York, vol. 3.)

Soon after landing in America, he settled on a piece of land on the bank of the Hudson river, about two miles South of the present station or depot at Germantown, N.Y., on the Hudson River Railroad, and there lived several years as a tenant under Robert Livingston, the lord of the manor of Livingston, in the present county of Columbia, state of New York. (I have been on the spot, and the ruins of the cellar, etc., were pointed out to me by an old Dutch gentleman named Shultz. This spot or piece of land has been ever since, and is to this day, (1855) down and called among the descendants of the old settlers "Wenecker's lont," or Winegar's land.) Here he lived until the year 1724, with the exception of two or three years that he lived in the German camp, or what is now called Germantown.

When the six thousand acres of land which was purchased of Lord Livingston for the Palatines, by Governor Hunter, as agent for the corn-- as appears by said Doc. Hist., vol. 3, page 724-- was divided, he drew his share; but must have sold out the same year, viz.: 1724. For, as it appears in Mr. Spafford's Gazetteer of the New York, he moved to Oblong, Now Amenia, Dutchess Co., N.Y., In that year.

Mr. Spafford, in his history of Amenia, says that in 1711, Mr. Richard Sackett settled in this town, and was the only white inhabitant until the year 1724, when Ulric (or 0liver) Winegar moved there from the German camp." The spot where he settled in Amenia, as well as the place of Mr. Sackett, I have had pointed out to me by my father, your father's uncle.

 I regret to say that the subsequent history of the patriarch is indeed very limited. He has always been represented as a very laborious man, possessed of an iron constitution, and of great muscular power. A number of the last years of his life were spent with his son Garret. He died in Sharon, Conn., in the year 1750, aged one hundred and two years, (102), and was buried in the old Rowe burying-ground in the "Oblong". This burying-burying-ground was sometimes called the Winegar ground, as they were the first families buried there, and the land had been at different times owned by Rowe and Winegar. Many years ago the ground was pointed out to me. The exact number of the children of the patriarch Ulric Winegar I never knee. It is well understood, however, that he had but one son, Garret, and several daughters. One of the daughters married a man by the name of Dedrick, and another married Bastian or Sebastian Lasher, (sometimes called Lesher.) She was the maternal ancestor of the very numerous family of that name who now live in Columbia county, N.Y., the Mohawk Valley, Stone Arabia, in Montgomery County, N.Y., etc. I have been very intimately acquainted with one of her grandchildren, the late venerable George Lasher, of Clermont; and have seen Mr. John Lasher, who died some years ago at Stone Arabia.

This brings me to Garret Winegar, the only son of the patriarch. He was born in Germany in the year 1702, and was about eight years old when he immigrated to America with his father; and lived with him at the German camp and Livingston manor. At the age of about twenty-two he married Catherine Snyder. She was the daughter of one of the Palatine families. It was by this union that we became connected with the numerous family of that name. Many of their descendants still live at Germantown. A very few years after his marriage he moved from German camp to "0blond", now Amenia, Dutchess County, N.Y., where he made a permanent settlement. By his energy and industry he soon accumulated a handsome property

In pursuing the further history, I shall now turn to Mr. Sedgwick's History of Sharon, Conn. He says-- "The fertile valley of the "Oblong" had early attracted the attention of the emigrants from Germany, who had settled at what was called the German camp, on the Hudson River. The Winegar family settled near what is now called Hitchcock's Corners. The name of Hitchcock's Corners is comparatively modern; it was unknown, perhaps, by that name until a little short of sixty years ago. At the time Solomon Hitchcock commenced trading there, Ulric Winegar was the patriarch of the Winegar family. It appears that the General Assembly of Connecticut had, in the year 1734, granted a patent of land to one Daniel Jackson, and that in the year 1739 (the same year that Sharon was organized) he sold out his patent to Garret Winegar, who immediately built a grist mill at Hitchcock's Corners, within the bounds of Sharon, near site of the present woolen factory". Now, that I may be better understood, I will here remark that is here called Hitchcock's Corners lies part in Connecticut and part in New York, the line running nearly through the center. Mr. Sedgwick continues-- "It was this mill (the first ever built in the town) that ground the grain that fed the first settlers of Sharon." In following up the history, he further says-- "Captain Winegar was a respectable and most worthy man, and enjoyed to a great degree the confidence of the citizens of Sharon, having often been appointed to various offices. He died in 1758. In his last will and testament he made ample provisions for his wife and fourteen children," (and here gives their names). I might have continued my extracts from said book, showing some of the various stations he held, and committees he acted upon, but what I have already said will suffice to show that our honored ancestor was an intelligent and enterprising man, I might add, I have always been told that he was possessed of great mechanical ingenuity, which talent fell most profusely one some of his sons. He was possessed of a very strong natural mind, cultivated with a decent common education, mostly in German. I have always been told he had a strong, robust iron constitution, though he died comparatively young. He died quite suddenly with the Bilious Cholic in his own house at Hitchcock's Corners, (the same house in which I was born) July 22, 1755, aged about fifty, three years. He was buried in the same graveyard with his father. I was at his grave many years ago; it was marked by a low gray stone, and the inscription was quite plain. He left, as has been before stated, a widow and fourteen children, nine sons and five daughters. His widow survived him many years. She was afterwards married to Captain Delamater, a man much older than herself. He was great-grandfather to me on my mother's side. He was quite wealthy, but it seems there was an ante-nuptial contract that cut the widow off from dower. When this became known, our grandfather Ulric and old Uncle Conrad interfered and caused a separation, and embittered the remainder of their days. She died at Amenia the day Fort Washington was taken by the British, aged about seventy-three years, and was buried by the side of her first husband.

Their oldest son was Hendrick, and the others follow in the following order -- John, Ulric, Conrad, Hannes or Johannes, Garret, Samuel, Jacob, Gideon. As to their daughters, I do not know the order of their ages, but they were all younger than the oldest son, and all older than the three youngest brothers. Their names were:- Susannah, Hannah, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Mary, (or Molly, as she usually called.) Of these, aunt Molly was the only one I ever saw. Susannah married Nicholas Rowe and always lived in the Oblong, and within two miles from where she was born. I do not remember seeing her, although I was living in the neighborhood, and was some three or four years old when she died. Hannah married Wilhelmus (or William) Rowe; of her I know but little, but I believe she died somewhere in Albany county. Catherine married Zachariah Flagler, and immediately moved to a place called the Clove, in the town of Fishkill, Dutchess County, where she died, but at what time I do not know.

I have always understood that Mr. Flagler was quite a prominent man in his day, a very extensive farmer, and possessed of a great amount of wealth. Elisabeth married William Mitchell; they lived many years in the "Oblong", and moved from there to the "Nine Partners", Dutchess County, where they both died. (It has been said by some, and so says Elder Reuben Winegar in his letter to you, (Caleb Winegar) that Aunt Elizabeth was married to William Flagler. This may be so; but I am strongly of the opinion it was not so, for several reason. One is that I never heard such a thing mentioned by my father, or any of the old relatives. If it was so, she must have been left a widow very soon, for it is certain that she married William Mitchell, by whom she had a large family; and there was not one of the old aunts that I have heard spoken of more frequently than aunt Betty Mitchell as she was familiarly called. I am very intimately acquainted with several of her grand-children, now in this county. I talked with one of them a few weeks ago upon this point, and he agreed with me in every particular.) They had seven children that grew up, and they and their children are scattered all over the country. A11 with whom I am acquainted are respectable and intelligent people. Mary married Doctor Thomas Young, quite a celebrated man in his profession. They moved to Boston before the revolutionary war, and he died there during that memorable struggle. Soon after his death she disposed of her property, and most unfortunately took the most of her pay in continental currency, which was supposed to be good a that time, but soon depreciated in her hands and left her almost penniless. As I said before, she was the only one of the sisters that I remember seeing. She was a most excellent, strong-minded woman. She returned to the Oblong, where she spent the remainder of her days, in the neighborhood where she was born. She died in her own house, and was buried in the same yard with her father and kindred. -- How many children she had I do not know, but I think not many. I never knew but one, Susannah, who married Doctor Nace, (or Neice, as it was, commonly pronounced.) After she became a widow, she followed school, teaching; I attended her school when quite young. I could scarcely have a mother better than her. She died at about fifty years of age.

Having passed through the history of our honored ancestor, Garret Winegar, and his five daughters, I will now turn my attention to his nine sons. I am constrained to repeat what I have before hinted -- that I must sincerely regret my knowledge is so limited; and I seem to feel this the more as I approach our present time and generation. That I have to state is mostly from memory, being the statements I have had, from time to time from my father and my honored Aunt Sophronia Karner. But I have reason to believe the most of it to be correct; I shall endeavor where there seems to be doubt, to note it as I pass along. Many of the little incidents noted in the following pages, may not be very interesting to our numerous friends, but perhaps they may better be preserved than entirely lost to posterity.

Hendrick, the oldest son of Garret, was, perhaps, but far the most talented and enterprising of the whole family. He settled in the Oblong, on the same spot where his father and grandfather lived, and a very few years after his father purchased the Jackson patent, he bought what landed property his father owned in the Oblong. he soon accumulated a very large property; and it has often been said that at one time he possessed more wealth than the whole Family of the name put together. He was also considered one of the most ingenious men that lived in his day. His ingenuity run mostly in iron and brass. One little thing I would mention -- I had it from undoubted authority. But a few years ago a rifle of his make was owned on Sharon mountain by a man named Skiff, and old as it was, homely and unfashionable as it was, he repeatedly refused Forty dollars for it. Hendrick made every part of it, even to the lock. There is another lasting monument to his memory still standing -- that is his mansion house. It is commonly called, In the neighborhood, the old stone house. It is very large, two stories high besides a basement on a level with the ground. -- It was a splendid edifice in its day; built of smooth faced stone, brick around the windows and doors; with the initials of his name in large letters, and the year in which it was built (1761) in front. It passed out of his family nearly seventy years ago. I saw it last winter, the same old mansion, except that it has within a few years underwent a general repair, with some of the modern improvements. and I am very sorry to say, the name and date are no more to be seen, being entirely covered by a plaster of cement. What is not very common in the family at the present time, Hendrick was quite a military man, and served a while as an officer in the Old French War. How it happened I do not know, but I have been told that he died with very little property. He left his fourth wife a widow, and left children by his first three. He died in Kent, Conn., before my recollection. His remains were brought to the old burying ground, where he sleeps with his fathers, less than one hundred rods from his old mansion. I never saw but two of his children, Garret and Zachariah. They were both forge men; they owned a forge in Kent, where they were doing a heavy business between forty and fifty years ago. I am told they both died wealthy. Of his daughters I know but little. He had quite a number, and I have frequently been told they married very respectably.

John will be next in order, and but for the great accident that befell him in freezing both his feet in a most shocking manner, which made him a cripple for life, I should, for the want of information, pass him over by saying very little. At an early day, when he was in the prime of life, he settled in the town of Lee, Berkshire county, Mass., where some of his descendants live until this day What particular business he followed there, whether his mechanical business or farming, I do not know. He, like his brother Hendrick, could do or make anything he turned his time to; but his principal trade was a millwright, at which very few if any, excelled him in his day. The country was new where he lived, and game plenty, and like many others, he was a great hunter. The following narrative of the calamity that befell him, I will here give as I have always heard it from my father and my worthy Aunt Sophronia Karner. He started one morning on a hunting excursion in company with an Indian. After traveling on some distance, they separated and were to meet again at a certain place agreed upon. After they had separated a short time, he shot and brought down a buck, and while in the act of cutting the throat of the animal, it sprang up and made off. John following on his track, which was plainly marked by the blood, expecting every moment to find him. He continued to follow until late in the afternoon, when he was compelled to abandon the chase, and when he turned his thoughts towards home, he found he was completely lost. Then turning his attention to a resting place for the night, he fixed a bed of evergreens, etc., and after long and fruitless efforts to make a fire, he laid himself down to sleep. In his exertions to start a fire, he cut out all his pockets and destroyed nearly every vestige of linen about him, and consumed nearly all his powder. I have never understood that he was at all frozen the first night. The next morning he started again for home, the cold increasing. He traveled all day in the storm, and at or near night found himself at the very spot where he started from in the morning. Exhausted with fatigue and hunger he again laid himself on his cold bed for another night. This was the fatal night to him. He arose in the morning, and with what little strength he had pursued his dismal journey. The Indian before mentioned reached the agreed upon, and after waiting as long as he could, returned to his home. The alarm of his absence and supposed death spread through the settlements, and large parties started in pursuit in different directions, and fortunately, near nightfall, he was found by a party of men on horseback, some ten miles from home. So exhausted with cold, hunger and exertion that he could not travel to exceed four or five rods without resting. It being late, the party were compelled to encamp for the night. The next morning he was put upon a horse and conveyed home. He was so badly frozen that both feet were taken off about midway between his ankles and toes. After intense suffering for many months, he recovered. Of his after life I known but little, except that he lived may years, and although a cripple, followed his millwright business. He died in Lee, but at what time I do not know. I have always been told however, that he was the second one (except Gideon , the infant) that died out of the family. Of his wife I know nothing, and of his children but little. I have seen two of them -- Mr. Samuel Winegar, who then lived somewhere near Oneida Lake, and Mrs. Barret, who lived and died in Rdgway, Orleans county, N.Y. ( I have seen a son, (Luther Barret) of Mrs. Barret; I say him in De Ruyter, Madison County, he married a daughter of Benjamin Michell. -- (C. Winegar)

Ulric, my grandfather is the next in order, but as there will be many things to mention in connection with him, I have concluded to leave his history until the last.

Conrad, the fourth brother, is the only one, except my grandfather, that I ever saw. He was a noble, prepossessing man in his appearance. In features he looked much like my grandfather, but was some three or four inches taller. He always lived in Oblong, in the same neighborhood where he was born. He was for many years a respectable magistrate in Amenia, and was known ever since my recollection by the appellation of old Esquire Winegar. He died about the year 1810 or 1812, at about eighty years of age, and was buried in the same old grave-yard with his ancestors. Of his wife I know nothing, except that her name was Rowe. He had but few children-- I believe but one son; his name, I think, was Garret. He died many years before his father, and before my recollection. The only one of his children that I remember seeing was Mrs. Boyd, wife of Captain Samuel Boyd of Amenia. I have, however, seen and been acquainted with several of his grandchildren, of whom Solomon Winegar, a respectable and wealthy farmer who still lives in Sheffield, Mass., is one.

Johannes, (which translated into pure English means John) the fifth brother, I know but little of. I have always been informed that he settled at an early day, or at least many years ago, in Albany County. He outlived all his brothers and sisters, and died in Westerlo, Albany county, at eighty-four years of age. It appears by a letter from his grandson, Reuben Winegar, to you, (Caleb Winegar) now before me, that his wife's maiden name was Hatch. They had nine children, four sons and five daughters. I saw one of his sons nearly forty years ago, in the city of Albany. I was inquiring for my cousin Ashbel, uncle Hendrick s son, and was directed to him through mistake, His name was Meltiah.

Of Garret, the sixth son, like some of the rest, I know but little. While comparatively young he settled at Fort Ann. At what age or when he died, I know not. He died before my grandfather, and, as I have always supposed at Fort Ann; but in this I may be mistaken. I have heard something about his family; some of his descendants now live in Wisconsin--wealthy, popular people. His son Samuel has visited at my father's house in Herkimer County, when I was a youth, but I happened to be from home and did not see him.

Samuel, the seventh son, after coming to manhood, settled in Sharon, on part of the old Jackson patent, where he was born; and for several years lived near and owned, with his younger brother Jacob, the old mill property of his father. The old house that he built for himself, and lived in a great many years, stood some fifteen or twenty rods north-west of the old dam, and was standing the last time I was there. When they disposed of the old mill property, it passed into the hands of Captain James Reed. He moved to the Royal Grant, now Fairfield, Herkimer County, N.Y., where he died, but at what time I do not know. He did not live to be very old; he was some few months younger than my father, and died some years before him. My father made him a visit in 1801, and the next thing we heard, a few years after, he was dead. He left children but of them I know nothing.

Jacob, the eight son, I know as little of, and perhaps less, than either of the others. He, as I have before stated, at one time owned a share in the old mill property; but he disposed of his interest in that when he was quite a youngerly man, and moved to Dianesburgh, Schenectady county, where he lived the balance of his life. At what time he died I do not know; he was living in 1810, but died a few years after. He always followed his old occupation, that of a miller. Of his particular qualifications I know but little. I believe he never acquired much property, and conclude, from all I have heard and know, that he lived and died a respectable poor man.

Gideon was an infant, and very young at the time of his father's death. He died at about three years of age.

I have thus passed through the forgoing, which, according to my arrangement, brings me to our own branch of the family, and of course, nearer home . I regret, if possible, more than ever , that in this particular part of the narrative in which we ,as a branch of a numerous family are so much interested -- I am so destitute of authentic dates ,having never seen the family record, which I have been told my grandfather kept with great care; but I shall do the very best I can with the limited knowledge I have. (I hope that if any person who reads this knows were the record is ,he will send it, or a copy of it to me that I may give it a place in this record. C. Winegar).

Ulric , as I have before remarked, was the 3rd son of Garret; he was born in Amenia, formerly called "Oblong", Duchess Co. N.Y., in the year 1729; and was married quite young to Miss Ann or Mary Nase, then (or Neice, as it was commonly called, ) a daughter of Philip Nase, who moved to the "Oblong Valley" from German Camp, about the time the Winegar Family settled there. He settled some 6 miles further south than did the Winegar’s, near the present line of Dover. His old homestead still remains in the Family, and many of his descendants still live in the name neighborhood. He had but one son, Philip and several daughters. Philip had four sons, Philip, William, Cornelius and John, who lived near each other and joined farms; they were all quite wealthy respectable men. The last I heard of them, they were all dead, except John; I have seen all of them. Philip Nase, the patriarch, like many of that class of people, was a frugal, laborious man , and accumulated a very handsome property. At one time, about the year 1750, he was robbed of three hundred pounds sterling, ($1500.00 in silver and gold, but two ruffians who entered his house in the nighttime and threatened them with death if they resisted. He did no not live to be very old. The day he died he saddled his own horse, intending to leave home on business, and while preparing to leave was taken ill and was a corpse in a few hours.

Grandfather Ulric had seven Children -- five sons and two daughter. The sons were Hendrick , Philip, Ashbel, Zachariah, and Samuel. The daughters were Elizabeth and Sophronia. He settled in Oblong, where he lived many years. He buried his first wife about the year 1761, end about the year 1765 married a second wife by the name of Howel or Heel a New Haven lady. I never knew much about her, and never saw her, although she died long since recollection.

From all that I have been able to learn, my grandfather Ulric was never very successful in making property; although in his younger days he seems to have been an active business sort of a man, as may be inferred from the various real estate he owned at different times. At one time he owned, and it is said, might have kept, the beautiful farm since owned by Elijah Reed Jr. Be also built and owned a small but quite respectable grist-mill in Sharon, about a mile up the stream from where his fathers mill stood. I have been on the spot and saw the ruins of the old dam. I was told by a very old lady who lived in the neighborhood at the time, that it was built in strife caused by a difficulty with some of his brothers about the old mill property. Be that as it may, he was, ever since my recollection and probably long before, quite poor; and I have every reason to believe that had it not been for the kindness of his affectionate son, my worthy uncle Ashbel, your grandfather, he must have come to want, and perhaps suffered in age. He served a campaign in the British Army during the o Old French war. He survived his son Ashbel a few years, died with his grandchild, your father's brother Ulric, at Nassau, Rensselaer County, N.Y., about the year 1812, aged 82 or 83 years old. Of his personal appearance I was too young to judge, but according to my recollection he was a fair-featured, fair complected (toned) man, in height hardly the middle stature, tolerably thick-set, and a little stooped shoulders.

(As my kind and universally beloved cousin Ira closes his account of my great-grandfather Ulric,1 will here add a little to his history. About 12 years ago, I visited my uncles and cousins who lived in Butler Co., N.Y., and while I was staying with my fathers brother, uncle Ulric, we commenced talking about our ancestors; and they related me that some years ago, while he lived in Nassau, they were digging a cellar at Nassau village, and. found a plate of iron of half-moon shape and about six inches long, with these letters engraved upon it---"Sergeant Ulric Winegar, l760". It being the same name as my uncle's, they took it to him and he preserved it. It was of course the property of my great-grandfather Ulric, and is proof positive that he was in the French War, and was an officer. My uncle Ulric died some seven or eight years ago, and into who’s hands the records of the family have fallen, I do not know; but I shall write some of them, and will give the answer a place in this book. Feb.21, 1 858. C. Winegar. )

Hendrick, the eldest son of grandfather Ulric, married in Amenia, but his wife's maiden name I have forgotten, only that her Christian name was Alice---everybody called her aunt Alice. She died of dropsy about 1810 or 1812. I never knew that they had more than four children -- 2 sons and 2 daughters. The names of the sons were Samuel and Ashbel, and of the daughters Anna and Elizabeth ,or Betsy. Samuel S. married for his first wife Margaret Boyd, his second cousin and for his second wife Susan Chamberlin. He had several Children by each, of which only two are living--Milton by his first wife, Betsey by his last.- They both live in Kent, Conn. Samuel died in Sharon about 1841 or 1842, leaving a handsome property to his wife and children. His widow has since died. Samuel was a most excellent man, and highly esteemed by all who knew him. Ashbel married a woman by the name of Cady, in Duanesburgh, Schenectady Co. I have seen her a few times, and think her an excellent woman. I believe they are both dead. He was a house carpenter by trade. I know but little of his children, but believe one of his sons is a mill-writh. Anna married Conrad Boyd, her second cousin, and grandson of old Uncle Conrad Winegar. They both died since. They never had any children, and lived and died poor. Betsey married Joseph Crane, a blacksmith, quite a man for gathering property. I was little aquatinted with them; they both dead. At what time Uncle Hendrick died I do not know; he outlived all the family except aunt Karner, and died at something over seventy years of age, in the same neighborhood where he was born and had always lived. He, jointly with his son Samuel Snyder Winegar, heired a handsome property, the real estate of old Uncle Samuel Snyder.

Philip, (my father, and uncle of your father, Philio Winegar) second son of Ulric, was born at the Oblong, January 14, 1752. He was married at the age of twenty one years to Miss Mary Griswold, the eldest daughter of Mr. Azariah Griswold, of Sharon, by whom he had seven children-- four sons and three daughters, three of whom, one son and two daughters, died in infancy. The other four lived to have families. Zachariah, and Oliver, the three sons are dead; and Mary the only surviving sister and widow of Rev. Datus Ensign, lives at Mechanicsville, Saratoga Col., N.Y. I am well acquainted with a number of her children- Mary, my father's first wife, died about the year 1789 in Sharon. In the year 1792 ,my father married for his 2nd wife, Rebecca. Daughter of Martin Delameter, of Amenia, by whom he had seven children, all of whom married and had families. The five sons of Ira, (myself) James, Jacob, Leonard and Gilbert; the two daughters were Ann and Margaret. The five sons are believed to be all alive, but the sisters are both dead. In the year 1800 my father moved from Sharon to Danube, Herkimer Co. N.Y., where in April, 1815. he was accidentally killed by the kick of a horse. His widow, Rebecca. died in Danube in February 1832. My father took an active part in the revolutionary war, and served through three campaigns. He was a patriot, and, if he was my father I must be permitted to say, an excellent man, and the kindest of parent.

Ashbel, (your father' s father) grandfather, was twice married. and left children by both wives. He lived many years at Nassau, Rensselaer County, N.Y., on a farm that he owned. where he died, universally known and lamented by a great circle of friends and relatives in the year 1805. I will leave it for some of the descendants of this my most honored uncle, to write out a full history. (I will perform that duty, if spared long enough, at the end of this narrative. C. Winegar)

Zachariah lived, from early childhood, with old Uncle Samuel Snyder, who adopted him as his son and heir, he being childless. In this the honorable old gentlemen was doomed to be disappointed-- he died suddenly at the early age of fifteen years.

Samuel was never married. He served his country through nearly the whole of the Revolutionary War, and assisted to fight a number a of her battles, which broke down his constitution and almost entirely destroyed his hearing. His deafness was caused by the firing of the heavy cannons. It is not a burning shame to say that such a man should die a town pauper, and very much neglected in his old age? But enough of this, my heart sickens at the thought. had rather a weak mind. It is certain he was in the battle of Stone Arabia, in Montgomery Co. N.Y. It seems that Major Brown was on his way to meet Van Rensselaer, and fell into an ambuscade, when he was attacked by' about 1500 men, composed of Indians and Tories, led on by Sir John Johnson, and that cruel savage, Col. Brant. The brave Major Brown fell, as well as did all his forces except two, and one of the two that escaped was our ancestor, Samuel Winegar. These facts are well established by tradition and authentic history. A monument was erected to Major Brown near the battle-ground.

Elizabeth, or Aunt Betty, as she was familiarly to be called, married Jacob Myers, of Amenia. She died in child-bed with her second child. Their children, James and Sarah, were kindly taken by uncle Samuel Karner and wife (aunt Sophronia Karner), and adopted as their own. James died when but nine years old, and Sarah, or Sally as she was commonly called, lived with them until her marriage with Elijah Reed, Jr. She had a large family, and was left a widow a number of years ago. Last winter she was living with her children near Towanda, Bradford Co., Penn. Perhaps it might be considered out of place here, but be that as it may, I consider her one of the very best of woman, and of all the relatives I have in the world, there are none for whom I cherish a more warm-hearted affection.

Sophronia, the last one of the whole number, my most honored aunt Sophronia Karner, as I have always called her, was taken when quite young and brought up by old uncle and aunt Snyder. She was married when quite young to Samuel Karner, a house carpenter by trade, a man of limited education and quite an ordinary mechanic, but one of the cleverest, best-hearted men in the world. I suppose that it is generally known among the relatives that they never had any children. He never possessed much property, but was always in good credit, and no one lived better than he did. He died in his own house in Amenia, the same that was owned by old aunt Molly Young in her life time, situated about 30 rods from the old mansion of old uncle Hendrick Winegar, He died about the year 1820 of pulmonary consumption. After his death, aunt Sophronia sold out her property, and spent the remainder of her days with her niece and adopted daughter, Mrs. Sarah Reed, where she died about 1834 or 1835. (I think my uncle Samuel Karner must have been quite a man as my brother Samuel K, Winegar was named after him, and I believe my father has a letter of his. I will call and see him, and will give it a place in this book. C .Winegar. )

Perhaps there are very few of our relatives that have come to the years of understanding but what have heard something of our old and most worthy kinsman, Samuel Snyder-- old uncle Snyder, as he was familiarly called. So much has been said of him and so many amusing anecdotes told of him, that I feel unwilling to close my narrative without giving him at least a passing notice. He was the son of the palatine families, and it has often been said, among the relatives, that he was born on the passage from Europe to America, but I have ascertained to my full satisfaction that this is a mistake, It was an older brother. He was born at the German camp, in the year 1711 or 1712. Many of the descendents of Conrad, his brother, now live in Germantown, very respectable people. He was own brother to our old Great-grandmother, (wife of Garret). He married, at about thirty years of age, Miss (Sarah, I think) Nase, daughter of Philip Nase and sister to our grandmother, (wife of Ulric), As I have before said, they were childless. He purchased a very fine Farm in the Oblong, near Hitchcock’s corners, where he lived and died. He was great-uncle to my father, and his wife was my father's own aunt. He was a simple hearted man, and one of the most honest men in the world. He possessed a very handsome property, and it has been frequently remarked in the family, that he strove much harder to make others happy than to make himself so. No relative that I have in the world, or ever had, have I a more vivid recollection of, than I have of old uncle Snyder.

And surly I can never forget how many times, when I was a small mischievous chap, have I, with others like myself, crawled slyly into the yard to take by stealth the old man's pears, and when he discovered us, how we would scamper, or test the virtue of the old man's cane; and after enjoying a hearty laugh to see us all pull for life would call us back and give us as many pears as we wanted. He died in his own house near the close of the year 1807, in the ninety seventh year of his age. As I mentioned before, he left a very handsome property to uncle Hendrick, my father's brother, and his son Samuel Snyder Winegar.

This will close my narrative, I have made so many excuses and apologies already that I am ashamed to say or repeat them, but I will say that you will have something to do to put what I have written, or the substance of it, in form, and will probably omit some and some. I shall leave it with you.

Before I make a final close, I must beg leave to indulge in a few general remarks, which, I have said, you may copy or not. I happened a number of years ago, to fall in company with one of our name, quite an intelligent young man, I soon found him to be a great-grandson of old uncle Hendrick. I remarked to him at that time that our family had got to be numerous indeed and spread over the four quarters of the globe, and that I had the pleasure of an aquantaintance with a great number of them, that, as a family, I did not think them very remarkable for anything in particular, that I had scarcely ever heard of a degraded one among them, that I had not heard of a doctor nor a lawyer among them, that I had not heard (for it was but a few years since, that you and your brother Benjamin Franklin Winegar, who has since died were lawyers), and I have never heard of but one preacher and that in the department of civil office; I never knew one to hold office higher than Justice of the Peace, Supervisor, Coroner, or Associate Justice; that in military matters I never knew one higher than Captain; that there were but few farmers among them, and that at least four or five were mechanics, mostly workers in iron, or millwrights.

Most Respectfully Yours

IRA WINEGAR

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To bring this history further down, and deal fairly with and by all would extent the work too much. It was thought that each branch could better continue their own history. The forgoing is all that I will go down to our children, and to its value is priceless. I trust that posterity will do justice to our kind cousin Ira, who has been to great trouble and expense in gathering these facts.

CALEB WINEGAR

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Frederick D. Winegar, Sr, was born in 1805 at Onondago Co. N.Y., at Fibous. Died 15.Jan.1881. Married Lodema Blanchard, who was born in Ashtabula Co. Ohio, and died 16.Feb.1863.

Their children:

Edward Winegar, born 24 July 1833.

Revilo Winegar, born 1834.

Adelice Winegar, born 14 May 1836.

Mosiah Winegar, born 5 Oct. 1838.

Maroni Winegar, born 1841.

Mary Winegar, born 23 Dec. 1843

Hiram J Winegar, born 17 Jan. 1845.

Amanda Winegar, born 2 Feb. 1850.

Frederick Winegar, born 25 Oct. 1848.

Ovanda Winegar, born 10 Aug. 1851

 

Edward Winegar , b. 24. July 1834. at Ashtabula Co., Ohio United in

marriage with Mrs. Mary Jane (Lytle) Anderson on 22 Feb. 1860.

Their Children:

Anna May Winegar, b.31 Dec. 1861 .

Carrie Winegar)

Corra Winegar ) twins, b.9 May 1868.

Jennie Lodema Winegar, b. 9 Mar. 1870.

Charles E.Winegar,b. 24 July 1872.

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Revilo Winegar, b.1834 in Ashtabula, d. Sep.1850.

Adelia Winegar, b. 14 May 1836, at Ashtabu!a, d. 4. Dec. 1877.

Mosiah Winegar, b. 5 Oct. 1838 at Hancock Co. Ill. on Bear Creek, near Nauvoo; d. June 12, 1905 at Burlington, Colorado. He married Catherine Summer, b. 22 May 1839 in Adams Co. near Nauvoo; (marr. 25 Jan.1863)., at the home of Frederick D. Winegar, Sr., at Kennebec Township, Monona County, Iowa.

Their children:

Edmann Wallace Winegar, b. l Nov. 1862 at Beividere Post 0ffice, Monona Co. Iowa.

Aseph Walter Winegar, b. 29 Dec. 1863 at Little Sioux, Harrison Co. Iowa.

Anna Belle Winegar, b May 9, 1868 at Little Sioux.

Efnie Laura Winegar, b 27 Jul. 1874 at Little Sioux.

Bessie Maud Winegar , b. Nov 12, 1876 on the Soldier, near Moorehead. Iowa. Died Oct. 1878.

Lillie Winegar, b. July 1878 and died same month in Castana, Iowa.

 

Moroni Winegar, b. 1841 , at- died - ______ married Hattie ____

Children:

Lorena Bell Winegar, b. 8 June 1878.

Edith Winegar, b..3 .Nov. 1 1879.

Leroy David Winegar, b 12. Jan. 1885.

Ella Blanche Winegar, b.8.Aug.1886.

Esther Ann Winegar, b 13 Oct. 1889.

( Edith Winegar united in marriage with C. William Neal, on 6 May 1903. Helen Evangeline Neal born on Sep. 27 1905.)

 

Mary Winegar: b. 23 Dec.1843. marr.______Moody.(Mr. Moody was a doctor).

 

Hiram J. Winegar: b.17.Jan.1845, and died in June ,1903. United in marriage to Emma M. Perrin, who was born 31 .Dec. 1841 , and died 11.Mar.1901.

Children:

Elmer D. Winegar, b.1868 and died 1876.

Myrtella J .Winegar, b.17 Apr.1870. Marr. George M. Bennett on Apr.__l894. (five children born, all living 1930)

Frederick D. Winegar, b. 4 .July 1872, d. 15 Feb. 1880.

Josephine A .Winegar, b. 29 Jan. 1878. Married Morgan Brown in 1908.

Frank Elwood Winegar, b. 29 Jan 1880. Marr. Nina Norville on 15 Jan 1910.

Robert Frank Winegar, b. 15 Dec. 1912

 

Amanda C. Winegar, born 2.Feb.1850.,in Pottawattamie Co. near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Marr. Charles Smith , who was born in Maine.

Children:

Mark N. Smith b. 27 Feb. 1879.

Agnes T. Smith b.13.Jan.1883.

Ruth A. Smith, b. 25. 1884.

Charles Frederick Smith, b. 4 Feb. l893.

 

Frederick Winegar, b. 5.0ct. 1848; marr. Sarah Gray on 3.Mar.l880. died- GGG

Children:

James Garfield Winegar, b. 11.Nov.1882.

John Warren Winegar, b. 14 Mar.1885.

Bessie Winegar, b. 21.Sep.1886.

Eva Winegar, b. 26 Nov. 1892.

Ovanda Winegar,b.10.Aug.1851; was married 29. Oct.1870. to Henry Bard.

Children:

Annie L. Bard, b.26 Dec. 1871; died

Archer J. Bard, b. 2.Apr. 1873.

Fred Bard, b.26.0ct-1874; died

Amy M. Bard, b.21 June 1876; died

Manford M. Bard, b.19.June 1879.

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Charles E. Winegar, son of Edward Winegar was born 24 July 1872. He married 26 Sep. 1900 ____ who was b. ___.b

Children:

Elbert Winegar, b.3 Apr. 1901, died Aug.1901.

Fern Winegar, b. 14 July 1902.

 

Edman Wallace Winegar, b .Nov. 1862, in Monona Co. Iowa. Marr. At Whiting,. Iowa, on Jan. 29, 1884 , Anna Catharine Nelson, 1863 at Barret, Denmark.

Children:

Walter Wm. Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 28 Dec. 1884.

Bertha Maud Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 13 .Nov. 1886.

Florence Mable Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 19 Apr. 1888.

Floyd Mosiah Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 19. Feb.1891.

Lester Raymond Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 23 Aug. 1892.

Leroy Franklin Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 20 Jul. 1895.

Frederick David Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 20 May 1897.

Claudius Warren Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 29 Dec. 1899.

Hazle Edna Winegar, b. Sloan, Iowa, 24 Jun. 1903.

 

Aseph Walter Winegar, b. 29 Dec.1863, at Little Sioux, Harrison Co., Iowa. Marr. Sarah Jane Baltzell, b. at Burlington, Iowa, 20.Dec.1871 (Md. 15.Apr. 1893. at Sloan.)

Children:

Grace Marian Winegar, b. 17 .Mar. 1894. Marr. 1 Dec. 1915 Edwin S. Coombs.

Helen Catherine Winegar, b. 14 Dec. 1899, marr . Eugene A. Kiger, on Aug.27,1920.

Frank W. Winegar, b. 3.Dec. 1901.

All three children born at Sloan, Iowa.)

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Anna Belle Winegar, b. 9 Mar. 1868 at Little Sioux , Harrison Co. Iowa married Grant Stephenson, who was born at Clinton Co., Missouri on Mar. 19, 1864 on ________

Children:

Elvin Winegar Stephenson, was born at Woodbury Co. Iowa, on July 14-,1901.

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Efnie Laura Winegar, b. 27. July 1874 at Little Sioux, Harrison Co. Iowa. Married Frederick Burton Shumate, who was born in, Montrose Co , Iowa, May 23, 1872. Married-GGG________

Children:

Maynard Acton Shumate, b. 18 Apr. 1903.

Eva Catherine Winegar Shumate, b. 9.Feb. 1908.

Leslie Russel Shumate- b. 3 May, 1911.

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