William B. Zinn (December 6, 1795 – February 20, 1875) was a nineteenth-century farmer, mill-owner, militia leader and politician, who ultimately freed his slaves and became one of the founders of the State of West Virginia.
Early life
Born on December 6, 1795, in what was then called Gladeville, in Preston County, Virginia (but which became Kingwood, West Virginia, during his lifetime), William Zinn was born to Jacob Zinn (1773–1857) whose father had emigrated from Germany, and his second wife, Sarah "Sallie" (Byrne) Bland, the widow of Thomas Bland. He had three older half-brothers, and two younger brothers: Charles B. Zinn (1797–1863) and Peyton Zinn (1807–1860) and sisters Clara and Permelia Zinn Brown (1804–1886). He married at least twice. From his first wife ___Franklin, he inherited slaves and about $8000 in gold and other property when her parents died.[1] His second wife was Juliet Caroline Franklin Zinn.
Career
Zinn farmed and operated a mill in Preston County, which the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached in the mid-1950s. In the 1850 census Zinn owned 22 slaves.[2] At some time he may have freed most, for in the 1860 census he only owned three slaves, compared to the seven slaves owned by his fellow Unconditional Unionist, William Gay Brown, Sr. (who had succeeded him in the House of Delegates in 1832).[3][4] Preston County voters elected Zinn to represent them, part-time, in the Virginia House of Delegates eight times.[5] He also led the local militia, with the rank of Major.
After the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 voted to secede from the Union over the vehement opposition of Preston County's delegates, Brown and James C. McGrew, Zinn became one of the Preston County leaders who attended the first Wheeling Convention in May 1861. Zinn served as the Convention's chairman beginning on May 13.[6][7] The Secession Convention expelled Brown and McGrew on June 29, and five Preston County men voting in a Confederate camp on October 24, 1861, elected others to replace them. By contrast, Major Zinn also served as one of Preston County's representatives to the Restored Government at Wheeling, alongside Charles Hooten.[8]
Postwar career
After the war he served in the West Virginia House of Delegates for a term beginning in 1866 and then was elected to the state Senate and served until 1869.[9] In 1870, Zinn and his wife Julie lived in Rowlesburg, a lumber and mill town that was the second largest in the county, along with two young men who worked on his farm.
Death
Zinn died in Preston County on February 20, 1875, and is buried in the family cemetery in Arthurdale, West Virginia.
References
- ^ After the 1840 census, in which the nine-member household included no slaves; the two subsequent censuses have indexing problems, for his only appears in the slave schedules.
- ^ 1850 U.S. Federal census, Preston County Virginia District 45
- ^ Although the Virginia census is unavailable online, U.S. Federal Census for District 8, Preston County, Virginia shows this Zinn as owning three slaves: a 60-year old and a 26-year old black male, and a 45-year old black female. Technical issues prevent checking who might have become the county's largest slaveholder; on that particular page, no other Zinn appeared, and the largest slave owner was George W Fairfax, whose 8 slaves may have constituted a single family. Two other people surnamed "Fairfax" owned 7 slaves apiece.
- ^ Owens, Richard H. (2013-06-20). Rogue State: The Unconstitutional Process of Establishing West Virginia Statehood. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-5977-2.
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619–1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978), pp. 320, 335, 340, 345, 356, 361, 450, 456
- ^ "U.S. Civil War - West Virginia".
- ^ "History of Wheeling City & Ohio County, West Virginia - Book".
- ^ "West Virginia Sesquicentennial Timeline: June 25, 1863". www.wvculture.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20.
- ^ Virginia, West (1920). West Virginia Blue Book.