Captain Thomas WYNNE

  General Notes:

NOTES: Thomas and his brother Joshua were Indian interpreters for the Nottaway, Meherrin, Nansemond, Pamunkey and Chickahominy Indian tribes and were asked to go north with these tribes to help negotiate a treaty with the Senacas.

In 1703, the Nottoway, Nansemonds, and Meherrin tribes requested that Thomas and his brother Joshua Wynne be appointed Indian Interpreters for the tribe. When a Chief of these tribes was taken prisoner by the Senecas, the Wynne brothers were begged to accompany the Indians on this long and dangerous journey, as without them "nothing could be accomplished". This journey was undertaken and their Chief was retrieved, temporarily averting a tribal war.

On 29 March 1715, Thomas' brother, Major Joshua Wynne, was shot and killed by Saponey* Indians because one of Joshua's servants had killed one of the Indian's 'great' men. Upon trial of the Indian, they pleaded that the Wynne's were the aggressors and that they never rest without revenge. The Indians said that they and the Wynne's were then equal, each having lost a great man. To avoid more bloodshed the Indian was pardoned. [*the Saponey or Saponi were of the Siouan linguistic stock, related to the nearby Tutelo tribe. They were unrelated to the Iroquoian speaking tribes Nottoway, Meherrin and the Algonquian speaking Powhatan Confederacy tribes (Pamunkey, Nansemond) that the Wynne brothers enjoyed friendly relations with.

Thomas Wynne's parents were Colonel Robert Wynne and a former widow, Mary Frances Poythress (maiden name believed to be Sloman). Robert Wynne was speaker of the House of Burgesses and served longer than any man in Virginia's history, from 13 March 1661 to 1675. Robert died on 8 October 1675. His will, dated 1 July 1675 and proved 15 August 1678 at Jordan's Parish or Charles City (present Prince George County) shows and estate in Canterbury, England of two houses and a farm, in addition to his 600-acre Virginia estate south of the James River.

The Wynne family name, often spelled "Winn", continued to be carried down as a first name in the Williams family for generations. The Wynne name also is one of the most common surnames among Native Americans living in eastern Virginia, although the genealogical relationship it is not known.

DEATH: Thomas is buried in Jones Hole Swamp.

(http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/y/n/Gary-Wynn-IN/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-1637.html)

  Research Notes:

Gary Wynn Family Tree (http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/y/n/Gary-Wynn-IN/index.html)