Holbrook line: Edward Winn, Immigrant -

Edward Winn should be fairly well documented.  After all, he's a direct ancestor of President Grover Cleveland, so shouldn't we expect to know more about him than about the average guy who came to America?  Well, we might expect it, and there is perhaps a little more information than we're used to finding, but the amount is still pretty minimal, and in some cases, conflicting. 

For instance, was he born in  in Ipswich, Suffolk, England in , or he was born in Thornton Curtis, Lincolnshire in.  I would be happier if I could find an exact birth or christening date.  I tend to think the Ipswich, Suffolk information could be a guess based on that being the point of his departure to Massachusetts, but at this point anything is possible.

He married Joanna, probably Joanna Sargent although I have seen it suggested that her name was Hatch) in England and they came to America with at least three of their children sometime before 1640.  There seems to be at least a hint that the family spent some time (weeks? months? years?) in Charlestown when they arrived here, and in 1640 Edward was one of several men who were asked to plan the settlement of Woburn, Massachusetts.  The family was there by 1641, and Edward was admitted a freeman there in 1643. 

After that, there is little that is on record.  The birth of his son Increase is recorded in 1641 as the first child born in Woburn.  He is listed in a deponent's index, and I'd love to read that deposition for it might tell his age, where he was from, his current occupation, and his statement about the case he is testifying in.  So far I haven't found the court records, though.  His wife Joanna died in 1649 and Edward married Sarah Beal that same year.  She also died, and he then married Anna or Hannah Page Wood, a widow.  There are three references to land owned by Edward Winn in a book of early land deeds, but the land, whatever its size, is described only as a boundary for someone else's land.  Also he was a town selectman from 1660-1664. 

He died in Woburn on September 5, 1682, having helped to found a town and in one way or another, having seen it through the first 40 plus years of life.  For that, he deserves to be honored. 

The line of descent is:

Edward Winn-Joanna probably Sargent
Ann Winn-Moses Cleveland
Enoch Cleveland-Elizabeth Counts
Sarah Cleveland-Israel Joslin
Sarah Joslin-Edward Fay
David Fay-Mary or Mercy Perrin
Luceba Fay-Libbeus Stanard
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants