Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Joseph Winston (June 17, 1746 – April 21, 1815) was an American pioneer, planter and

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

hero from

Surry County, North Carolina Surry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,359. Its county seat is Dobson, and its largest city is Mount Airy. Surry county comprises the Mount Airy, NC Micropolitan St ...

, and the first cousin of statesman and

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 ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

. He also served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

. In 1766, Winston moved to the northern part of

Rowan County, North Carolina Rowan County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina that was formed in 1753, as part of the British Province of North Carolina. It was originally a vast territory with unlimited western boundaries, but its size w ...

, the area which subsequently became the current

Stokes County, North Carolina Stokes County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,520. Its county seat is Danbury. Stokes County is included in the Winston-Salem, N.C., Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

Early life

Joseph Winston was born on June 17, 1746, in Louisa County in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. His ancestors emigrated to the American colonies from Yorkshire, England, in the 17th century. His father was Samuel Winston. In his youth, he fought with the Virginia militia against border Indians in 1763 before moving to the Province of North Carolina in the late 1760s. He settled on the Town Fork of the Dan River in what was Surry County and later became

Career

Before the war, he was elected a delegate to the

North Carolina Provincial Congress The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They ...

in Hillsborough. He was a member of the Surry County Committee of Safety. In 1775, he was selected as a delegate from Surry County to the

in Halifax in April 1776. He was the entry taker (register of deeds) for Surry County in 1778, where he assisted the

Moravians Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesi ...

in their Wachovia settlement. During the American Revolutionary War, he was a 2nd major and 1st major in the Surry County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, leading a unit of riflemen in several important battles, including the

Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was a minor conflict of the American Revolutionary War fought near Wilmington (present-day Pender County), North Carolina, on February 27, 1776. The victory of the North Carolina Provincial Congress' militia ...

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took pla ...

and the Battle of Guilford Court House. Winston later represented North Carolina as a

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and also served in the

(1787-1789).

Death

Joseph Winston monument Guilford Court House National Military Park

He is buried in the National Park at the site of the Battle of Guilford Court House, where a monument erected in 1893 notes Major Winston's command of the militia forces. The town of Winston, North Carolina (which later became part of

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

), is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Joseph 1746 births 1815 deaths History of Winston-Salem, North Carolina Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina People from Louisa County, Virginia People from Stokes County, North Carolina 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses