Edmund Winston Sr. (b. 1745 – d. August 18, 1818) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, politician, jurist, and

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

for

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Biography

Winston was born in 1745 in

Hanover County, Virginia Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover Courthouse. Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region. History Located in the wester ...

, the son of Lt. William Winston and Sarah Dabney. He became a lawyer in 1767 and supported the American Revolution, furnishing supplies in support of the cause of independence. By 1781, he had earned enough prominence for

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

to record in his book,

Notes on the State of Virginia ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' (1785) is a book written by the American statesman, philosopher, and planter Thomas Jefferson. He completed the first version in 1781 and updated and enlarged the book in 1782 and 1783. It originated in Jeffers ...

, that

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

from

western Virginia Western Virginia is a geographic region in Virginia comprising the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia. Generally, areas in Virginia located west of, or (in many cases) within, the piedmont region are considered part of western Virginia. T ...

was loaded on the boats at "Lynch's ferry, or Winston's, on he

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

." He was elected to represent

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, and Pittsylvania Counties in the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

from 1776 to 1783. Winston served as

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

in Campbell County during 1787-88. He was also a representative to the

Virginia Ratifying Convention The Virginia Ratifying Convention (also historically referred to as the "Virginia Federal Convention") was a convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, which had been drafted at ...

of 1788, which ratified the U. S. Constitution. In 1788, Winston was elected by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

to the General Court of Virginia, which heard appeals from the

county courts A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...

, and served in the role until 1813. During his first two weeks on the bench, from December 11 to December 24 of 1788, he was also an

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

member of the

Supreme Court of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

until it became a separate body with five judges. Winston was a friend of Thomas Jefferson, and, according to the Jefferson Papers, visited him at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

on multiple occasions.

Family and Children

In October 1771, he married Alice Taylor Winston, a daughter of his uncle, Judge Anthony Winston, of Buckingham County. They had six children, George Dabney, Sarah, Alice, Mary, Edmund Jr., and Elizabeth. Alice died in 1784, leaving him with six children ages 1-10. Their daughter Sarah married

George Cabell George Craighead Cabell (January 25, 1836 – June 23, 1906) was a nineteenth-century congressman, lawyer and editor from Virginia. Early and family life Born in Danville, Virginia, Cabell attended Danville Academy and later the University ...

, prominent surgeon and builder of

Point of Honor Point of Honor is an historic home, now a city museum, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The property has commanding views of the city and the James River. Its name originated due to the land on which it is built being used as a clandestine dueli ...

. Winston was a first cousin and long-time friend of Governor Patrick Henry, who appointed him as an executor of his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. After Henry's death in 1799, Winston was active in the settlement of the Red Hill estate and various tracts of land. This process involved frequent communication with Henry’s widow, Dorothea Dandridge Henry. In June 1802, he married Dorothea in Charlotte County. He had no additional children with Dorothea, but helped support her children from Patrick and his children from his first wife. In total, they had 21 children in their

blended family A stepfamily is a family where at least one parent has children that are not biologically related to their spouse. Either parent, or both, may have children from previous relationships or marriages. Two known classifications for stepfamilies i ...

; many of whom were adults at the time of their marriage. They lived at the Huntingtour Estate in Nelson County.

Death

Winston died on August 18, 1818, in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Edmund 1745 births 1818 deaths 18th-century American politicians Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Members of the Virginia General Assembly Patriots in the American Revolution People from Hanover County, Virginia Virginia colonial people

Biography

Family and Children

Death

See also

References