William Hinchman 1733-1814

THE WILLIAM HINCHMAN FAMILY

OF MONROE CO., VIRGINIA – WEST VIRGINIA

            WILLIAM HINCHMAN, I: was born about 1733 in England^[1] and died 6-20-1814 in Monroe Co., Virginia (West Virginia), age eighty-one years.^[2]  William and his wife Elizabeth are buried on the Monroe County farm where they settled in the late 1700s. According to H.C. Ragland’s History of Logan County, WV, William Hinchman – father of William who settled in Logan Co., VA-WV – was an English sailor.  He was the son of William Hinchman, Sr.^[3]

            William married^[4] ELIZABETH KIRWAN. Elizabeth was born about 10-2-1736^[5] and died 5-1-1828 in Monroe Co., Virginia (West Virginia), age ninety-two years.^[6]  According to copies of John (1773-1844) Hinchman’s Bible, his mother Elizabeth, born 10-2-1736, was  the daughter of John and Mary Kirwan.^[7]  This information needs to be investigated further, as members of the Kirwan family were early residents of Dorchester Co., Maryland.  Dorchester Co. records show that a John Kirwan died about 1745 and left a  widow named Mary and four children – Matthew, Elizabeth, Peter and John.          

            According to family tradition, William was an English sailor who came to America during the French and Indian War; was wounded and captured by the French during the siege of Quebec; and was later rescued by the English and released in Virginia.  See Stephen F. Hinchman’s story A Kind of Homecoming for an excellent account of this tradition.  In 1940, William’s great-granddaughter Sarah Clendenen^[8] shared the following tradition with her family:  “William came from England.  His boat was wrecked on the Virginia Capes and he had to swim to shore.”  In a 3-23-1972 letter to Charlotte Hinchman Oselador, William J. Hinchman,^[9] of W. Orange, NJ, and great-grandson of William III, wrote the following:  “He came from a family of many children in London and at the age of 12 ran away and became a cabin boy on a British ship.  Many years later he was a boatswain on a British Privateer in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, during the siege of Quebec in the Seven Years War.  His ship was captured by a more heavily armed French Privateer, & he was wounded (shot while serving as steersman), but the French boat was captured by a British Man-of-War.  He then was discharged in Virginia.  He had many children.  His oldest son, also named William, told about his father to my grandfather.”

Other references to William Hinchman include the following:  “His grandfather came from England, and there is also an admixture of Irish stock in the family.”^[10]  “William Hinchman, an Englishman, settled in this county east of Lowell … about the time of the Revolutionary War.”^[11]  “A few miles east of Lowell lived a Mr. (William?) Hinchman, an Englishman, who settled there possibly during the Revolutionary war. … He had a son, William.  … It was the pleasure of the writer to visit him in the year 1844.”^[12]

            William Hinchman was a resident of Dorchester Co., Maryland.  He was among the debtors of the estate of William Dean of Dorchester County on  10-12-1774;^[13]   he was a resident of that county according to State Council of Maryland records;^[14] and his son William, Jr. was born there.^[15] 

            Journal and Correspondence of the State Council of Maryland records contain information about William. According to charges brought in September 1780, mariners William Hinchman, Jr. and John Harper were considered “dangerous to the state”.  The sheriff of Ann Arundell County was instructed to bring them before a board of inquire (Vol. 5, p-273).  William was then accused of trading with the enemy.  He claimed innocence due to being “greatly intoxicated with liquor” which caused him to “utter sentiments foreign to the truth” (Vol. 6, p-75).  He further stated that he was the father of three children and guardian of two orphan girls [probably relatives].  Henry Harper stated that he had hired his small petty auger to William Hinchman of Dorchester Co. to carry salt to Baltimore Town and that he had no knowledge of his conduct and could give no evidence against him (Vol. 6, p-76).  William informed the board that he had been a private in the militia and served on board the schooners Molly and General Smallwood (Vol. 6, p-74). 

            Activities of the twelve-ton schooner Molly; eighty-ton sloop Molly; and schooner General Smallwood are described in  Ernest Eller’s Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution.  In June 1779, the Molly [?sloop] commanded by Captain Robert Conway out of  Baltimore and Lady Washington were driven into Wicomico River by British privateers.  Lady Washington was burned by her crew after being run aground.  Although Nathaniel Cooper in the Molly continued up Warehouse Creek, the vessel was captured by the British.  Perhaps, these were the vessels on which William served. 

            Soon after the trouble in Maryland, William, his wife Elizabeth, and children – Elizabeth, age 17; William, Jr., age 12; and John, age 6 -  and possibly two orphan girls settled in the Monroe County area of Greenbrier Co., Virginia (WV).  This is about the time the famous West Virginia mountain resort – The Greenbrier – was established. 

            One of the orphan girls may have been Margaret who was born in 1758 and mentioned in Oren F. Morton’s A History of Monroe County, WV.  The second girl may have been the Elizabeth Hinchman who married Philip Ellis in Monroe County 8-14-1804. 

            In 1800, William and his sons – William, Jr. and John – were listed as qualified voters in the presidential election in Monroe Co., Virginia.^[16] At that time, voting was restricted to men of property and worth.  As a result of the national election and the House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States. 

            Religion was important to frontier families including those in Greenbrier and Monroe Counties.  In 1781, Rev. John Alderson founded the first Baptist organization west of the Alleghenies -  the Old Greenbrier Church in Alderson, VA (WV).  Rev. Alderson^[17] performed the marriage ceremonies for William Hinchman and his wife Mary Ann Perry and John Hinchman and his wife Sarah Vincent.  According to Morton, another minister in the area was the controversial and popular itinerant preacher Lorenzo Dow.

            William and his sons acquired many acres of land in Monroe County east of the Greenbrier River.^[18]  According to a deed dated 12-23-1813, William acquired seventy acres in Greenbrier located in 1781 and one-hundred seventy-five acres surveyed in 1789.  In the late 1700s, William Hinchman recorded the following land warrants in Greenbrier Co.: seventy acres adjacent J. Given (Gwinn) in 1794; one-hundred seventy-five acres Wolf Creek in 1794; and four-hundred twenty-five acres Kelly’s Creek in 1799.^[19]  William Senior or Junior obtained sixty-four acres on Greenbrier River in 1793 and one-hundred fifty acres on the waters of Greenbrier in 1810.^[20] William received a Warrant for lands joining his own, John Perry, John Byrnside, Charles Mathrouston, and Charles Hynes in the late 1790s.  In 1804, he owned lands joining Conrad Kelly.  Other land owners living on Kelleys Creek in the early 1800s were John Dixon, James Gwinn and Joseph Vincent. 

            On December 23, 1813, William and Elizabeth deeded two tracts of land – seventy acres and one-hundred seventy-five acres – to their son John.  This document is signed by William Hinchman and witnessed by Richard Williams and Joseph Hinchman.  The Joseph Hinchman who witnessed this deed and William’s will may be the son of John. 

            According to William’s will^[21] dated 1-8-1813, he gave to his wife Elizabeth “the whole of my real and personal estate until her decease”; to his son William, Jr. 425 acres surveyed 1796 in Greenbrier Co.; and to his son John 175 acres surveyed in 1781 on Wolf Creek and 70 acres located in 1789 [probably land deeded to John in 1813].  To his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Ellice and William Dixon, he gave one dollar each and to their daughter Elizabeth Dixon a feather bed.  Any monies left after the death of his wife was to be divided among their grandchildren – William’s children John and Hannah; and John’s children William and Polly.  Other grandchildren, possibly including Joseph, were not mentioned.  The will was signed Wm. Hinchman (his mark) and witnessed by Seth Scarborough and Joseph Hinchman.  William’s son John became the owner of the farm and his descendants lived there for over two-hundred years. 

            Res: Dorchester Co., MD – 1774, 1780; Greenbrier Co., VA-WV – 1790;

Monroe Co., VA-WV – 1800; 1810, Cen 12. 

Children:^[22]

2.  Margaret Hinchman, b 1758, d prob before William’s 1-8-1813 will

2.  Elizabeth Hinchman, b 1763 Dorchester Co., MD, mar ?Philip Ellis

2.  William Hinchman, Jr., b 2-28-1768 MD, mar Mary A. Perry; mar Nancy Stollings

2.  John Hinchman, b 10-22-1773 MD, mar S. Vincent; B. Longnacre; E. Ellis

2.  Polly Hinchman, b ca 1774, d prob before William’s 1-8-1813 will

mar 2-6-1794, Greenbrier Co., VA-WV, William Dixon

3.  Elizabeth Dixon, b ca 1795, named in William’s 1-8-1813 will

View from Gravesite – Monroe Co., WV Near Riverview Church

Sacred to the memory of William Hinchman who departed this life June 20, 1814 age 81 years and Elizabeth who was the wife of WH departed this life the 1^st May 1828 age 92

The Hinchman Homeplace is located a few miles south of Alderson, West Virginia on the west side of Creamery Road on state highway 7 a few miles past the Riverview Church and Cemetery.  The William and Elizabeth Hinchman gravesite is located on this farm.  (From the house travel north to the first road on the left.  About 100 feet west on this road is a gate on the left.  Follow the lane about one-half mile through pasture to the gravesite.)  See map below and pictures on previous page.  The inscription reads as follows:  “Sacred to the memory of William Hinchman who departed this life June 20, 1814 age 81 years and Elizabeth who was the wife of WH departed this life the 1st May 1828 age 92.”

THE WILLIAM HINCHMAN, II FAMILY

OF LOGAN CO., WEST VIRGINIA

            WILLIAM HINCHMAN, II: was born 2-28-1768 near Chesapeake Bay, Dorchester Co., Maryland^[23] and died 11-19-1851 in Logan Co., Virginia (now West Virginia).^[24]  He was the son of William and Elizabeth Hinchman^[25] of Monroe Co., Virginia (WV).  William and his wife Mary Ann are buried in unmarked graves in the Hinchman Cemetery at the mouth of Rich Creek in Logan Co., WV. 

            William married (1) 5-6-1793 Greenbrier Co., Virginia (now Monroe Co., WV)^[26] MARY ANN PERRY.  They were married by Rev. John Alderson.  Mary Ann was born 5-2-1775 in Montgomery Co., Virginia (now Monroe Co., WV)^[27] and died 1-15-1832 in Logan Co, Virginia (WV).^[28]  She was the daughter of John Perry, Sr. who emigrated from Northern Ireland; served in the Revolutionary War; and settled in Virginia.^[29]  Mary Ann’s brother John Perry, Jr. married William’s niece Elizabeth Dixon. 

            Soon after the death of his first wife, William married (2) 3-27-1832 in Logan Co., Virginia (now West Virginia)^[30] NANCY STOLLINGS.  Nancy was born 4-12-1801 in Virginia^[31] and died after 1860 census.^[32]  She was the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Stollings.^[33]  When they married, Nancy was thirty-one years old and William was sixty-four. 

            Sources for this large family includes Ragland’s History of Logan County, W. Va 1896; and the research of the following: Corinne Hinchman McNamara, great-great-granddaughter of William Hinchman, III; Harry Wortman, descendant of John Perry; and Logan County genealogist – Dr. Dana Dorsey.  Printed marriage, court, deed, land, tax, and census records, as well as the research of family genealogists have been very useful.         

            William, like his father, acquired real-estate in Monroe County^[34] and later in Cabell County (now Logan Co., WV).  He obtained land grants for two-hundred acres on Kelly’s Creek in Greenbrier Co. in 1793 and one-hundred-fifty acres on the waters of Greenbrier in Monroe Co., in 1810.^[35]  On 10-20-1813, William and his wife Mary Ann sold to Elizabeth Dunavin two-hundred acres on the “dividing ridge” between Samuel Gwinn’s Branch and Kelley’s Creek for the sum of five shillings.  In 1814, William inherited four-hundred twenty-five acres from his father’s estate. 

            According to Stinson’s Greenbrier County, West Virginia Court Orders 1780-1850, the Hinchmans and Guinns were directly involved in court proceedings as follows:

            P-89.  “Court of Thursday 27 August 1789:  William Hinchman, Jr. is appointed constable in the room of Samuel Guinn who is discharged from that office.”

            P-186.  “Court of Thursday 2 June 1796:  James Guinn vs Wm. Hinchman, in case.  Deft. pleads not guilty, asks for leave to prove the words in the declaration were not maliciously spoken.  (Members of the jury) find deft. guilty and say that plffs damages by occasion thereof are 2 pounds and one penny plus costs.”

            P-186.  “James Guinn vs Wm. Hinchman Jr., in case, Deft. pleads not guilty.  Plff. was solemnly called, but came not, neither (is) his suit further prosecuted, therefore it is ordered that he be non-suited and pay the deft. 5 shillings damages plus costs.  Ordered James Guinn to pay John Perry, John Dixon, Elizabeth Wood, and Wm. Graham $3.10 for 6 days attendance as witnesses for him vs Hinchman and Bailey Wood $1.59 for 3 days attendance as witness for him at this same suit.” 

            P-186.  “Ordered Wm. Hinchman to pay Wm. Legg and John Hutcheson $3.10 each for 6 days attendance as witnesses for him vs Guinn; also to pay Mary Dixon, Eliza. Hinchman, Robert Perry, and David Jarrett $1.59 each for 3 days attendance as witnesses for him at this same suit.  Memorandum:  Court is of the opinion that 3 of these witnesses were unnecessary and they are not allowed to be taxed in the bill of costs against Guinn.” 

            P-187.  “Friday 3 June 1796.  Wm. Graham vs Samuel Gwinn, in case.  Ordered Samuel Guinn to pay Wm. Hinchman $1.59 for 3 days attendance as witness for him at suit of Graham.  Court of Saturday 4 June 1796.  Ordered John Hinchman to pay James Graham $1.59 for 3 days as witness for him vs Guinn.”

            In 1896, H. C. Ragland wrote about William and his family in History of Logan County as follows:

            “William Hinchman settled near the mouth of Rich Creek … about the year 1814.  … His sterling worth was seen and appreciated by the people and he was soon made one of the Justices of Cabell County, and upon the organization of Logan County he became a member of its first County Court. 

            According to Cabell County court records, William was involved in numerous real estate transactions in the Cabell  (Logan in 1824) County area.  On 3-14, 1814, William purchased a tract on Guyandotte opposite Clay’s Island from Henry Farley, Garland Conley, and Thomas Chapman.  Several months later on 10-1-1814, William purchased two tracts (or the same) – 500 acres on Guyandotte from Huff’s Creek to Cloyd’s Island and a tract below Huff’s Creek – from Garland Conley.  This acreage was part of a survey for William Ward 9-19-1796.  In 1816, William acquired land grants for twenty-two acres on Guyandotte River above Cloid’s Island and seventy-eight acres on Rich Creek.^[36] 

            In 1820, real-estate negotiations involved Jesse Toney, Peter Dingess, Henry Farley, Squire Toney, and  William Hinchman.  On April 25th, Henry Farley transferred eighty acres to William Hinchman and on July 31st, Peter Dingess, Jess Toney, and William Hinchman transferred to Squire Toney a tract acquired by Edmund Morris through a tax sale and conveyed to Dingess, Toney and Hinchman.  On October 4th, Peter Dingess and Jesse Toney transferred to William Hinchman a five-hundred acre tract purchased by Edmund Morris and sold to Dingess, Toney, and Hinchman. The same day, William Hinchman and Jesse Toney transferred to Peter Dingess a tract purchased by Edmund Morris and sold to William Hinchman 8-5-1815. The July and October transactions were tracts of tax land that Edmund Morris had previously purchased from Sheriff Mark Russell. Another real-estate transfer in Cabell (Logan) County involved seventy-five acres from William to his son William Jr. on April 12, 1822, Deed Bk p 553. 

            Court records show William served as justice of the court in 1820 and 1821.   On December 15, 1814, William Hinchman, John K. Hinchman, and John Perry Sr. witnessed a deed.^[37] 

            In 1815, William was taxed in Logan County for two males over 16, three horses, and fifteen head of cattle.  He was listed in tax lists and census records for Cabell County, Virginia (now Logan Co., WV) from 1815 through 1850.  Logan County was formed in 1824 from parts of Cabell, Kanawha, and Giles Counties. 

            The 1840 and 1850 Logan County Census reveal that slaves were included in the William Hinchman household – two in 1840 and three in 1850. Other Hinchmans – James H.; John K.; Ulysses; and William, III – did not have slaves.  The 1840 census included the following:  William (age 70-80); his wife (age 40-50); one son (age 5-10); three daughters (ages 5-10); and one daughter (age 10-15).  During the 1850 census, William and Nancy were living in Logan County with their children – Floyd, Nancy Ann, Penelope, Arrisba, Patsy, and Edna.  In 1850 William’s real estate totaled $3,725.00. William died the following year and in 1860 Nancy Hinchman was listed as head of a household. 

            David Graham writes in History of the Graham Family (1899) the following:  “He [William Hinchman I] also had a son, William, who a great many years ago moved to Logan county.  It was the pleasure of the writer to visit him in the year 1844 and remembers that he told him the year of his birth, which was 1770 and further recalls that he told him on that occasion that he was the father of twenty-four children by two wives.”         

            William, the father of twenty or more children, was seventy-three when his last child was born.  His children Ulysses, James Harvey, Floyd, Nancy Ann, Penelope, and Patsy remained in the Logan area.  William III moved to the Barboursville area of Cabell County and Edna lived in Boone County with her sister Arrisba and husband.  Several other children – John K., Hiram, Cyrus, Amanda, and Milton – moved to Michigan between 1835 and 1840.       

            William died before the Civil War, but his children and grandchildren were directly involved in the bloody conflict.  In 1861, his sixty-one year old son William, a Union sympathizer, was a civilian prisoner of the Confederates.^[38]  Grandsons Adam and Lewis fought for the Union in Cabell County.  James Harvey Hinchman was Captain of the local Home Guard for the Union and his son John J.W. died during the Civil War.  Arrisba’s husband Thomas Nelson Ballard died for the Union cause in Martinsburg.  Floyd fought with Co. D. 36th Infantry, Confederate States of America.  The American Civil War was tragically a war of brother against brother in the Hinchman family as well as many others. 

            Genealogical information about Hinchman and other Logan County families was recorded in the Logan Banner in 1896 by Henry Clay Ragland a prominent attorney and citizen of Logan County and later printed by the Logan County Genealogical Society and now in 2001 on the Internet – www.angelfire.com/wv/snr/tsloghist.html.

Monroe Co., VA – 1800; 1810, #12, 41020, 11110; 1815 Cabell (Logan), VA Tax List

1820 – Cabell (Logan) Co., VA – 1820, 84A, 221201, 210102

1830 – Logan Co., WV, Cen 275 or 276, 001100001, 00200001

1840 – Logan Co., WV, Cen #088, 21-24, William Hinchman, Esq, incl 2 slaves

1850 – Logan Co., WV, Cen 121, #40 William 1768, Nancy 1811, Floyd 1833 VA;

Nancy Ann 1835 Va; Penelope 1837 VA; Risley 1838 VA; Patsy 1840 VA; Edney 1842 VA

1860 – Logan Co., WV, Cen #235 Rich Creek, Nancy 58, Edna, and Arrispah with Floyd.  

Children of William and Mary Ann Perry Hinchman:^[39] 

3.  Hannah Hinchman, b 2-7-1794 Greenbrier, VA, d 2-14-1813

3.  Mary Hinchman, b ca 1795 Greenbrier, VA, d 8-19-1797

3.  John K. Hinchman, b 9-3-1797, d 5-28-1868 MI, mar d/o Ben White

3.  Elizabeth Hinchman, b 7-10-1799, d 5-18-1829, mar Benjamin Smith

3.  William Hinchman, b 12-23-1800, d 10-2-1862 NC, Seymour, Hatfield, Chapman

3.  Hiram Hinchman, b 3-2-1803, d 12-23-1871 MO, mar d/o Thomas Riggins

3.  Cyrus Hinchman, b 4-13-1805, d 8-15-1882 MI, mar d/o F.R. Pennell

3.  Ulysses S. Hinchman, b 4-13-1807, d 3-7-1882 WV, mar Miss McDonald

3.  Amanda Hinchman, b 4-1-1809, d 9-7-1886 MI, mar Robert Clendenin

3.  (male child) Hinchman, b 4-16-1811, d 4-16-1811

3.  Milton Hinchman, b ?-27-1812, d 1886 MI, mar d/o Ben Cary

3.  Sarah Hinchman, b 1-6-1816 Cabell Co., VA, d … OH, mar Ira Chambers

3.  James Harvey Hinchman, b 1-4-1818 Cabell Co., VA, d 9-13-1905, m Miss Gore

3.  Mero S. Hinchman, b 12-4-1819 Cabell Co., VA, d …  , mar Levi Gore

Children of William and Nancy Stollings Hinchman, born Logan Co., VA (WV):^[40] 

3.  Floyd Hinchman, b 1-20-1833, d 1866, m Miss Chambers, Miss Mangus

3.  Nancy Ann Hinchman, b 8-4-1834, d … , mar Joseph Scaggs

3.  Penelope Hinchman, b 6-7-1836, d … , mar George Claypool

3.  Arrisba Hinchman, b 9-2-1837, d 1-12-1904 WV, Thos. N. Ballard, Jasper Workman 

3.  Patsy Hinchman, b 9-17-1839, d … , mar James Lee Chambers

3.  Edna Hinchman, b 3-13-1841, d 2-28-1881, unm, 1880 Boone Co. with Arrisba

JOHN HINCHMAN – MONROE CO., VIRGINIA

            2.  JOHN HINCHMAN:^[41] was born 10-22-1773 near Chesapeake Bay, Dorchester Co, Maryland  and died 1-15-1844 in Monroe Co., Virginia (now West Virginia) age 70-1-23.  He was the son of William and Elizabeth Kirwan Hinchman of Monroe County.  John, Sarah, and Barbary are buried in Johnson Crossroads Cemetery, Monroe County – rough field stone markers.  According to John Hinchman’s Bible his mother was Elizabeth the daughter of John and Mary Kirwan [prob of Dorchester Co].

            John married^[42] (1) 12-11-1794 Greenbrier Co., VA  SARAH “SALLY” VINCENT.^[43]  They were married by Rev. John Alderson founder of the Baptist Church at Alderson, Greenbrier Co, VA (now Monroe Co., WV).  Sarah was born 1-30-1773 and died 8-27-1820, age 42.  She was probably the daughter of Joseph Vincent who obtained a warrant for sixty-two acres on Kellies Creek in 1815. 

            John married^[44] (2) 10-4-1821 (8-8-1821) Greenbrier Co., VA BARBARA “BARBY” LONGAKER^[45]  They were married by Jno. McElheny.  Barbara was born 5-8-1787 and died 7-19-1830, age 43.  She was the daughter of Jacob Longaker whose will was probated 3-1822 in Greenbrier, VA.  At the time of their marriage John was forty-eight years old and Barbara was thirty-six.  John was a widower with four sons – 23, 21, 20, 15 and five young daughters – 15, 12, 10, 8, 5. 

            John married^[46] (3) 8-14-1832 (8-8-1832) Monroe Co., VA EVE ELLIS^[47].  Eve was born 3-20-1796 and died 2-8-1888, age 92 years in the home of Perry and Sarah Ellis Conner. Eva Hanger Hinchman is buried in the Swope Cemetery at Broad Run, Monroe Co., WV near her daughter and son-in-law – Perry and Sarah Ellis Conner.  Res: 1850-1880 with Sarah Ellis Conner.  When John and Eva married, he was fifty-nine and she was thirty-six.  He had four sons and two daughters in Indiana; a son & daughter in Monroe County; and two daughters, ages 19 and 16, at home. 

            Sources for this family include the John Hinchman Bible; cemetery, marriage, and census records and family members including Agnes Hinchman Leach, the last Hinchman owner of the farm, who provided copies of deeds. 

            John extended the size of the Hinchman farm in Monroe County through land grants and purchases.  According to Sims Index of Land Grants, John obtained land grants in Greenbrier Co., VA for the following: One-hundred acres adjacent to William Cavendish in 1796 and one-hundred forty-four acres on Kelly’s Creek in1799.  Another land grant  for one-hundred seventy-four acres was located on the head waters of Wolf Creek and Stone Creek in 1831. 

            On 5-15-1804, John acquired one-hundred thirty-three acres from James Smith and Lewis Scothorn.  The 1804 document was witnessed by “William Hinchman, attorney”.  On December 23, 1813, John received two tracts of land – seventy acres and one-hundred seventy-five acres – from his parents William and Elizabeth. John was given the same in the will of his father dated 1-8-1813.  These documents were witnessed by Joseph Hinchman.  

            John Hinchman was involved in Greenbrier and Monroe County Court proceedings.  According to Stinson’s Greenbrier Co., WV Court Orders, on 6-4-1796, John Hinchman was ordered to pay James Graham $1.59 for three days as witness for him vs Guinn.  That same month John served on the jury for McClung vs George Mollohan.  Oren F. Morton writes in A History of Monroe County, West Virginia that the first civil suit in the newly-formed Monroe County was Hinchman vs Levi Lowe. 

            Additional land was added to the Hinchman holdings.  First, on 8-30-1815 John acquired two-hundred from Lewis Scothorn who was unable to pay his taxes for the years 1799-1805.  Secondly, on 4-15-1817, John became the owner of two-hundred acres on the ridge between Samuel Gwinn’s Branch and Kellys Creek for $230.00.  He was the mortgage holder when Elizabeth Dunavin transferred the property to Henry Alexander and William Clark.  This property was previously sold to Elizabeth Dunavin by William Hinchman Jr. and his wife Mary Ann on 10-20-1813.  John deeded the property to Joseph Miller 7-27-1822 and Miller to Boswell and Leland Vass 12-18-1822.  John’s son William became the owner 4-3-1830 with the highest bid of $120.00. 

            On 6-15-1818, John and Sarah, his wife transferred one-hundred seventy-five acres and seventy acres to their twenty-one year old son William.  This is the property transferred to John by his parents in 1813.  In 1827, John witnessed the purchase of a seventy-five acre “plantation” for $150.00 by his son William from Andrew Burns. John acquired more land on 12-10-1819, when he purchased one-hundred-fourteen acres and fifty acres in Monroe Co. from Peter and Jane Miller.  In 1833, John ordered a “tree to tree” survey of his extensive property. 

            According to Morton’s History of Monroe County, John and his sons served in the county government.  John was a qualified voter in 1800. Hinchmans appointed by the Governor to serve as Monroe County Justices were John in 1814 and William in 1845.  In 1852, William was elected County Justice for the Fifth District.  In 1837, John Hinchman probably the grandson was appointed Sheriff of Monroe County and sometime after 1873 a John Hinchman was president of the county court.   

            The estate of John Hinchman, dated February 1844, names wife Eve; sons – William, Joseph, James, John, Andrew; daughters – Cynthia, Malinda; and others as beneficiaries (Ross Johnston).  Information recorded in the John Hinchman Bible are births of the following:  Joseph; Thomas; James; John; Andrew; Polly; Malinda; Nancy; Elizabeth; Syntha.  Also recorded are the births of his wife Sarah; wife Barbara; and his mother.  Deaths recorded are: Thomas; Nancy Ellis; and John Hinchman.  Marriages recorded are: John and Barbara; James and Nancy; John and Margaret; Polly; Andrew; Nancy; Malinda; John and Eve; and Elizabeth and Owen.  

1810 – Monroe Co., VA, Cen 562, 19, 22010, 22100, John 26-44, spouse 16-26

1820 – Monroe Co., VA Cen 170A, 001401, 32001 1, John 45+, spouse 45+,

            incl female slave 14-26

1830 – Monroe Co., VA, Cen 021, John

1840 – Monroe Co., VA, Cen 169, John

1850 – Wolf Creek, Monroe Co., VA, Cen 419, Eve 43 VA wid,

            incl James Ellis 31 VA; Sarah Ellis 26 VA

1870 – Wolf Creek, Monroe Co., VA, Cen 087, Eva 77 WV, with Sarah and Perry Conner

1880 – Monroe Co., VA, Cen WO12, Eve with Sarah Conner

Children^[48] of John & Sarah Vincent Hinchman born in Greenbrier-Monroe Co., VA-WV. 

3.  Joseph Hinchman,* b 5-26-1795, d 7-24-71 IN, mar 12-28-16 Rebecca Thomas

3.  William Hinchman,^[49] b 8-30-1796, d 1-20-1863 VA, mar 9-18-1817 Mary Symms

3.  Thomas Hinchman, b 6-24-1798, d 7-20-1832 VA, 1816 16 yrs levy-free

3.  James Hinchman,* b 1-24-1800, d 8-28-1883 IN, mar 4-3-1822 Nancy Nickell

3.  John Hinchman,* b 10-10-1801, d 6-2-1865 IN, mar 8-12-1824 Margaret Nickell

3.  Andrew Hinchman,*^[50] b 11-4-1803, d 10-24-1851 IN, mar 6-22-1826 Lavina Garton

3.  Mary Polly Hinchman,^[51] b 6-10-1806, d 1-28-1891 IN, mar 2-9-1826 Jesse Garton 

3.  Malinda Hinchman,^[52] b 3-29-1809, d after 1880 IN, mar 2-1-1832 Thomas Ellis  

3.  Nancy Hinchman,^[53] b 3-10-1811, d 2-10-1840 VA, mar 9-6-1831 John Ellis

3.  Elizabeth Hinchman, b 12-21-1813, mar 11-4-1836 Owen Ellis Jr.

3.  Cynthia Hinchman,^[54] b 2-7-1816, d 4-10-1845 VA m4-25-1844 Anderson A McNeer

Note:  Sarah Hinchman, mar 2-2-1836 Monroe Co., VA-WV, John Johnson 

            ? d/o Joseph and Rebecca Hinchman

Note:  See Indiana Hinchmans:  John and Sarah’s sons  Joseph; James; John; and  Andrew and daughters  Polly and Malinda settled in Indiana. 

SOURCES – JOHN HINCHMAN

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  1880 U.S. Census.  www.familysearch.org

Cemeteries of Monroe County, West Virginia.  The Monroe County Historical Society .              Union, WV. 

Evans, Norma P.  A Register of the Marriages Celebrated in Greenbrier Co., (West)

              Virginia 1781-1849.  Beaumont (TX): …, 1983. 

–,  Monroe County (West) Virginia Marriages 1799-1850.  Beaumont (TX): Tony Reyes Printing, 1985.

Johnston, Ross.  West Virginia Estate Settlements.  Fort Worth: American Ref. Pub, 1969.

Morton, Oren F.  A History of Monroe County, West Virginia.  Baltimore: Regional Pub. Co., 1974.

Sims, Edgar.  Sims Index of Land Grants in West Virginia.  State of Virginia.  1952.

Stinson, Helen S.  Greenbrier Co, W VA Court Orders 1780-1850.  Moorpark(CA).  1988.

U.S. Federal Census.  Virginia – 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1870, 1880.

UNPUBLISHED SOURCES

Hinchman, David F.  Correspondence.  Cincinnati, OH.  1991.  nanasotapartners@msn.com.

Hinchman, John.  1773-1844.  “John Hinchman Bible.” [Provided by Sharon Hinchman]

Hinchman, Sharon.  Correspondence.  Carmel, IN. 1994.  shinch@aol.com

Hinchman, William.  1796-1863.  “William Hinchman Bible.”  [Father’s death date]

Leach, Agnes Hinchman.  Correspondence 1991.  Roanoke, VA.  [Copies of deeds  &  William               Hinchman’s Bible.]

Monroe County Library.  “Hinchman Family File.”  Union, WV.

Wortman, Harry H.   Oklahoma City, OK.  1970′s.  [Hinchman-Perry Research].

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