Richard Dickinson Winn

Richard Dickinson Winn. . , Richard Dickinson Winn, a son of Elisha and Judith Cochran Winn, was born January 14, 1816. Gwinnett’s first county elections and court sessions were held at his childhood home near Hog Mountain. Winn served as a Justice of the Inferior Court of Gwinnett County 1841-1853. He was also a member of the Georgia House of Representatives 1851-1852. In 1861, Winn was one of three delegates from Gwinnett to the secession convention in Milledgeville where the State of Georgia resolved to withdraw from the Union. In 1873, he served on the first Gwinnett County Commission and as President of the County’s second Board of Education. Winn is also remembered for his biographical sketches of Gwinnett’s early settlers. These biographies, which he began writing in 1871, provide much of the County’s early history. Winn died January 11, 1894., Site of Richard D. Winn House , Near here, stood the house of Richard D. Winn. In 1836, Richard married Charlotte Mitchell and they moved to this location in 1837. In 1860, their plantation encompassed 672 acres. Richard resided here until his death in 1894. The Winns had five children: Samuel, Thomas, Archelus, William, and Alice. All four sons served the Confederacy in the War Between the States. Samuel rode with Gen. John H. Morgan’s “Raiders” and, as Colonel, commanded the 13th Georgia Cavalry. Samuel also served in the Georgia Senate 1873-1876, as Mayor of Lawrenceville 1892-1894, and as a County Court judge. Thomas was a U.S. Congressman 1891-1893 and county school commissioner 1877-1890. Archelus was a physician and William was a Methodist minister and teacher. Alice married Tyler Macon Peeples, publisher of “The Gwinnett Herald” newspaper. Richard’s grandson, Courtland S. Winn, was Mayor of Atlanta 1911-1912.