Richard Winn

Richard Winn (1750 – December 19, 1818) was an American politician, military officer, surveyor, and merchant. He served as a general in the South Carolina militia during and after the American Revolutionary War and represented South Carolina in both state and federal government.

Early life and family Richard Winn was born in 1750 in Fauquier County, Virginia. He was one of the children of Minor Winn and Margaret Conner Winn, a family that traced its American roots to early Welsh migration.

He moved south with his brothers John and William, first to Georgia and then to Fairfield County, South Carolina, where he worked as a land surveyor and merchant.

Founding of Winnsboro Winn was among the chief petitioners who laid out and chartered the village that later became Winnsboro, South Carolina. The land on which the town developed included a large tract originally owned by him.

According to local history, the settlement was known as “Winnsborough” as early as 1777 due to his position as a major landowner and emerged formally under that name in 1785 through the efforts of Richard, John Winn, and John Vanderhorst.

Later life and death After his final term in Congress, Winn relocated his family to a large tract along the Duck River in Maury County, Tennessee, where he continued in planting and mercantile pursuits.

He died on December 19, 1818, on his Tennessee property. The exact location of his burial is uncertain; however, it was historically reported to be in Fairfield County, South Carolina, with some memorialization in Greenwood Cemetery in Columbia, Tennessee.