Old fumble fingers here hit the 'Send' button instead of the 'Edit' button on a draft e-mail to the group regarding the origin of the given name Minor. This is the rest of that message. I intended to finish my e-mail with this information on my Winn connections. In 1739 Elizabeth Winn m. Thomas Fortson, Sr. Location of this marriage is not known, but Thomas Fortson, Sr. d. 1742 in Caroline Co., Va Their son, Thomas Fortson, Jr., b. May 1, 1742 in Caroline Co., m. abt 1764 to Rachel Winn. These two marriages are documented in "Lt Thomas Fortson, Jr (1742 -1824) and some of his Descendants", John Wright Boyd, 1973. This is the definitive history of the Fortson family, and has been accepted by the DAR in qualifying Lt Fortson's descendants. The lineages of Rachel and Elizabeth Winn both are reputed to trace back to the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor marriage on which we are now focusing our attention. Below I have listed these lines as they have been published on-line. I am specifically not making any claims as to their accuracy. Elizabeth Winn, b. abt 1717, the daughter of Richard Winn, b. 1672 in Westmoreland Co., VA and Ann Cocke, b. abt 1680 in Virginia. This Richard Winn was reputed to be the son of John Winn and Elizabeth Minor. As noted If this union did not exist, then we have a problem with this line. Rachel Winn, b. 1743 in VA (?), was the daughter of Benjamin Winn, b. abt 1725 in Prince William Co., Va. Benjamin m. abt 1725 to Ann Tavener. Benjamin was the son of Minor Winn and Ann Byrd. This is the first Minor Winn (I think) who was reputed to be the child of the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor union. Again we have a problem. The above lines have been popularly circulated, but as Myles and others have demonstrated, they are probably incorrect. I have not been successful in proving these lines. Also. John Boyds references are not conclusive, as he has noted in his book. How much of these lines can we document now? Where do we stop? And my original question: Where did the surname Minor come from? As Ann Avery Hunter pointed out in her response to my first e-mail on this subject, sometimes a surname does not come from a direct ancestor. Any comments will be greatly appreciated. Earl Ferguson Atlanta

This is the will of the father of the Elizabeth Minor who was said to have been married to the John Winn Will of John Minor, Westmoreland County, Va. Deeds and Wills Book-2 pp. 182-183 Dated 22 Feb. 1698 Old style. *Proven 22 Feb. 1698. Old Style, *John Frederick Dorman, WESTMORELAND COUNTY , VA. WILLS AND DEEDS. Being sick in body. To my eldest son Nicholas Minor 400 acres out of the tract of land which I now hold, and my said son to have his first choice. Unto my second son William Minor 300 acres out of the aforementioned tract, and he to have his second choice. Unto my youngest son John Minor 300 acres out of the said tract. Unto my eldest dau. Frances Minor 200 acres, to have her first choice after her three brothers. Unto my youngest dau. Eliz. Minor 200 acres next adjacent to her sister Frances Minor's land. Unto my loving wife Ellenor Minor all her wearing apparrell. also one third of my estate both real and personal. The residue of my land should be sold to pay some part of my debts if occasion requires. William Read should have 100 acres in any part of my tract during his natural life. My loving wife Ellenor Minor and my eldest son Nicholas Minor executrix and executor. Morgan Williams should have twenty shillings to buy him a ring. Morgan Williams and William Read executors in trust. Sign: John Min Wit: Anthony Carpenter, Catharine Williams, Ester Kampe. 22 Feb. 1698 Proved by Anthony Carpenter and Katharine White, . Becky Thill ttg-inc@attibi.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <EAFerguson@aol.com> To: <WINN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 11:19 PM Subject: [WINN] Minor Winn question > Old fumble fingers here hit the 'Send' button instead of the 'Edit' button on > a draft e-mail to the group regarding the origin of the given name Minor. > This is the rest of that message. > > I intended to finish my e-mail with this information on my Winn connections. > > In 1739 Elizabeth Winn m. Thomas Fortson, Sr. Location of this marriage is > not known, but Thomas Fortson, Sr. d. 1742 in Caroline Co., Va > > Their son, Thomas Fortson, Jr., b. May 1, 1742 in Caroline Co., m. abt 1764 > to Rachel Winn. > > These two marriages are documented in "Lt Thomas Fortson, Jr (1742 -1824) and > some of his Descendants", John Wright Boyd, 1973. This is the definitive > history of the Fortson family, and has been accepted by the DAR in qualifying > Lt Fortson's descendants. > > The lineages of Rachel and Elizabeth Winn both are reputed to trace back to > the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor marriage on which we are now focusing our > attention. Below I have listed these lines as they have been published > on-line. I am specifically not making any claims as to their accuracy. > > Elizabeth Winn, b. abt 1717, the daughter of Richard Winn, b. 1672 in > Westmoreland Co., VA and Ann Cocke, b. abt 1680 in Virginia. This Richard > Winn was reputed to be the son of John Winn and Elizabeth Minor. As noted If > this union did not exist, then we have a problem with this line. > > Rachel Winn, b. 1743 in VA (?), was the daughter of Benjamin Winn, b. abt > 1725 in Prince William Co., Va. Benjamin m. abt 1725 to Ann Tavener. Benjamin > was the son of Minor Winn and Ann Byrd. This is the first Minor Winn (I > think) who was reputed to be the child of the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor > union. Again we have a problem. > > The above lines have been popularly circulated, but as Myles and others have > demonstrated, they are probably incorrect. I have not been successful in > proving these lines. Also. John Boyds references are not conclusive, as he > has noted in his book. > > How much of these lines can we document now? Where do we stop? And my > original question: Where did the surname Minor come from? As Ann Avery Hunter > pointed out in her response to my first e-mail on this subject, sometimes a > surname does not come from a direct ancestor. Any comments will be greatly > appreciated. > > Earl Ferguson > Atlanta > >

Also, below read what Jack had said was the reasoning behind the thought that Elizabeth Minor had married John Winn. Please remember that Myles says there is no documentation showing this marriage and with out shifting back though some paper work, he said something along the lines that the original sources were just speculation with no documentation. But here are some thoughts from Jack. Jack Wynn, jwynn@mindspring.com, part one, Editor: I belive the basic for the John Winn and Elizabeth Minor marriage is that it was known that John Winn married one Elizabeth Minor. This comes from an article title, "JOHN MINOR OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY VIRGINIA." No author given. this states in part, "It is only known that John Winn m.a Elizabeth Minor and because Elizabeth daughter of John Minor (Will of 1698) was the only Elizabeth Minor in that area at that time, she is belived to be the one." This genealogy begins by saying''John Minor b. in England, belived to be son of Ann nd Harry Mynors of Garway, England. Immigrated to VA. prior to 1627 with his widowed mother,and sister, Jane Kidwalider wife of John Kidwalider." THE COMPLETE BOOK OF EMIGRANTS, by Peter Coldham, which covers the period between 1607-1660 of Va., does not list any Minor, any spelling having came to Va. during that period, neither does it list a Jane and John Kidwalider. It does list on page 465 a Jane and John Kidwillar. Dated 1 Aug 1660. ''The following bound to John Woory, merchant to serve in Nevis, John Kidwillar, yeoman for 5 years. Jane Kidwillar, spinster for 5 years."It is difficult to belive had the Minors been in Va. prior to 1627 that they would have not showed up in some of the many records covered in this book. Richard Winns children, son of John Winn and Elizabeth Minor, were born in Middlesex County. My point is, doesn't it seem possible that Elizabeth Minor could have been the daughter of many of the other Minors in that area of Middlesex? There was a family of Minors who settled there ca 1673. Ref: John B Minor, THE MINOR FAMILY OF VIRGINIA, (1923) In his preface he states,"In an old Bible which belonged to my father Dr. Charles Minor, and which is now in my possession, he wrote the following memorandum in 1853". (And here I will not take word for word just the high points.) "Dr. Charles Minor and all his kindred are descend from a Dutchman named Doodes Minor who was admitted to full. citizenship in 1673 by an act of Assembly found in "Hennings Statutes at Large." v.1 308. Along with four other compatriots Maindort Doodes and his son Doodes Minor were Naturalized by an act of a Grand Assembly, holden in James City the 12 Sept. 1673. They were to have all rights and privileges including those of free traffique and trading that were allowed to any natural b. Englishman of the Colony. Maindort Doodes made his will 1677 signed his name Maindort Doodes and named his son as Doodes Minor. There are some who belive Doodes Minor was an Englishman, but if so why should he be naturalized when coming to an English colony as Virginia was at that time? Maindort Doodes, a Dutch Sea Captain. His will was sealed with his signet ring bearing the impress of a Dutch Ship of the 17th Century. Doodes Minor, who married Elizabeth Cocke, settled on the Rappahannock and its waters in County of tfiddlesex. He had four sons, Garret Minor, Minor Minor, John Minor, and Peter Minor. Doodes son Peter was apprenticed by his mother Mrs. Elizabeth Minor to a Boston ship Capt John Phillips in 1677. He afterwards ran away from his Master and never came home. A letter from him to his brother Garret, written at Rotterdam, was in possesssion, I think of the second Garret's son Samuel 0. Minor. I once made a copy of this letter which was burned by a kinswoman. dislikinq the humble life in which it exhibited her collateral Ancestors. This book traces the desc. of Garrett Minor. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Source of these articles was The Four Wynns Newsletters Cuz Becky ----- Original Message ----- From: <EAFerguson@aol.com> To: <WINN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 11:19 PM Subject: [WINN] Minor Winn question > Old fumble fingers here hit the 'Send' button instead of the 'Edit' button on > a draft e-mail to the group regarding the origin of the given name Minor. > This is the rest of that message. > > I intended to finish my e-mail with this information on my Winn connections. > > In 1739 Elizabeth Winn m. Thomas Fortson, Sr. Location of this marriage is > not known, but Thomas Fortson, Sr. d. 1742 in Caroline Co., Va > > Their son, Thomas Fortson, Jr., b. May 1, 1742 in Caroline Co., m. abt 1764 > to Rachel Winn. > > These two marriages are documented in "Lt Thomas Fortson, Jr (1742 -1824) and > some of his Descendants", John Wright Boyd, 1973. This is the definitive > history of the Fortson family, and has been accepted by the DAR in qualifying > Lt Fortson's descendants. > > The lineages of Rachel and Elizabeth Winn both are reputed to trace back to > the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor marriage on which we are now focusing our > attention. Below I have listed these lines as they have been published > on-line. I am specifically not making any claims as to their accuracy. > > Elizabeth Winn, b. abt 1717, the daughter of Richard Winn, b. 1672 in > Westmoreland Co., VA and Ann Cocke, b. abt 1680 in Virginia. This Richard > Winn was reputed to be the son of John Winn and Elizabeth Minor. As noted If > this union did not exist, then we have a problem with this line. > > Rachel Winn, b. 1743 in VA (?), was the daughter of Benjamin Winn, b. abt > 1725 in Prince William Co., Va. Benjamin m. abt 1725 to Ann Tavener. Benjamin > was the son of Minor Winn and Ann Byrd. This is the first Minor Winn (I > think) who was reputed to be the child of the John Winn - Elizabeth Minor > union. Again we have a problem. > > The above lines have been popularly circulated, but as Myles and others have > demonstrated, they are probably incorrect. I have not been successful in > proving these lines. Also. John Boyds references are not conclusive, as he > has noted in his book. > > How much of these lines can we document now? Where do we stop? And my > original question: Where did the surname Minor come from? As Ann Avery Hunter > pointed out in her response to my first e-mail on this subject, sometimes a > surname does not come from a direct ancestor. Any comments will be greatly > appreciated. > > Earl Ferguson > Atlanta > >