A. M. Winn
Encyclopedia
Major General Albert Maver Winn (1810 in Pumpkinville
, Virginia
- August 26, 1883 in Sonoma, California
), was an American
military
officer
, politician, Odd Fellow and freemason.
Winn, a native Virginian, who came to California
on May 28, 1849, and settled in Sacramento
on June 25 of that year. He immediately became active in civic affairs and in the fall of 1849 was elected to Sacramento's first City Council in and selected as its President, he was ex-officio the first mayor of Sacramento. But unlike his successor, Hardin Bigelow
, he was not elected directly to the office. He went on to be appointed the State Adjutant General and an early proponent of the small business community and labor reform movement. He remained in the state until his death and is remembered as one of the State’s Founding Fathers.
General Winn not only made his contributions to the civil and military beginnings of Sacramento, he was a prime mover in the fraternal and religious life of his community as well. He founded the Sons of the Revolutionary Sires, later the Sons of the American Revolution
, and was its first President. In 1851 he organized the Sacramento Odd Fellows General Relief Committee and he was elected its first president. He also was instrumental in the establishment of Grace Church (later St. Paul’s), the first Episcopal church in Sacramento, of which he was both an officer and communicant. Winn was also a Mason. Indeed his granddaughter wrote, “We are told that the general belonged to every fraternal society in Sacramento in the early days and it is quite probable that this is true.” He founded the Native Sons of the Golden West
(NSGW) and the Native Daughters of the Golden West. General Winn died at Sonoma on August 26, 1883 and was buried in Sacramento.
in the local militia in 1835. With his journeyman
status and military rank, Albert was recommended for membership in the Fraternal order Independent Order of Odd Fellows
. Here he met other ranking members of the local community and was introduced into political circles as a Jackson Democrat.
In 1836 he was promoted to the rank of Major in the militia, and served as assistant quartermaster on the staff of Gov. Charles Lynch
. Winn was appointed Drill Master in 1840, and on February 28, 1845, was made a Colonel in the First Regiment of the Mississippi Militia which became known as the Mississippi Rifles
. He was one of the judges of an election board that elected Jefferson Davis as Colonel of the First Mississippi Regiment of Volunteers and with him later went on to serve in the Mexican War. It was at the Battle of Buena Vista when other American units began to be overrun by the Mexicans that Col. Davis gave the now-famous order, "Stand fast, Mississippians!" The regiment stood their ground and the battle was eventually won. Davis' order later became the regimental motto. The unit was instrumental in capturing Monterrey, and mustered for service in the Spanish-American War.
Winn was also the Secretary of the Phoenix City Engine Fire Company and later President of the Master Carpenters and Joiners Society of Vicksburg. Under successive increasing grades of leadership Winn was quickly noticed for his technical and leadership abilities. Under the auspices of these organizations, Winn was given authority to expand the networks and associations of these organizations into the growing American settlement in the West as part of the policy of Manifest Destiny
.
On February 2, 1849, at the age of 38, Albert was ordered to establish and expand a new settlement in the recently organized state of California and help organize its civic and labor movement. Leaving his wife and son behind, he journeyed to New Orleans where he joined a Settlers and Explorers Company under Major Kinney. This company traveled by steamboat to Corpus Christi, Texas, and from there traveled overland to Durango, Mexico, where some members of the company split off to work on advance work with filibustering. Winn however continued to Mazatlan, from which Albert took a bark to San Francisco, arriving May 28, 1849. Winn then took a sailboat upriver to Freeport and walked from there to Sutter's Fort
, where he arrived on June 15.
To further cement the ties of the civic population in the growing town of Sacramento, Winn went about organizing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On August 20, for the purpose of providing assistance and relief to brother Odd Fellows who were suffering from illness and distress from their overland or ocean voyage, and to bury the dead, the first general meeting of the Odd Fellows was held at the general store. Winn’s first order of business when he became President of the City Council was to ensure that the dead were provided a coffin for burial. Prior to then, the dead were buried in their blanket, in which they were sewn.
Sometime during Fall of 1849, Captain John Sutter gave Winn power of attorney to sell land and Winn, as Sutter’s agent offered lots and farms on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers for sale. Winn also borrowed $5,000 in Sutter’s name at 10% interest per month and failed to notify Sutter or furnish an accounting. Sutter learned of this indebtedness only when the Sheriff served an attachment on him. By that time the debt had grown to $35,000.
Having established and organized the arts and craftsmen and burghers of Sacramento, Winn worked to cement the contracts and union of the various commercial enterprises. Together with is financial bakers in the city, and flush with profits from the gold trade, Winn and his associates began the establishment of Grace Episcopal Church in Sacramento during August 1849.
With his associates in the Episcopal Church and senior officers of the Odd Fellows, Winn helped charter and establish the Freemason's Tehama Lodge. With the full support of the Odd Fellows, joined by the Masons and Grace Epsiscopal Church, the first hospital was established in California at Sutter's Fort. It became a joint venture between the Odd Fellows and the Masons on land which Winn had donated.
However, the coming year would prove to be less successful. The flood of January 1850 ruined the entire stock of Winn, Baker & McGhee and the business failed. Winn entered into a partnership with A. C. Latson on February 28, 1850, advertising their business as builders and lumber merchants. When Sacramento City became chartered on February 23, an election was held for new city officers. Hardin Bigelow
was elected Mayor on April 1 and Winn relinquished his position as the city's executive.
Nonetheless, because of his considerable achievements in the prior two years, and his previous military experience in Mississippi, Winn was appointed an officer in the California State Militia. On April 10, the California Legislature passed a resolution appointing A. M. Winn as Brigadier-General. Governor Peter Burnett approved his appointment.
The next four years were ones of considerable turmoil in California. Although the influx of Americans like Winn helped put California on a road of civilized progress, large numbers of indigent and foreign persons also arrived whose morals were considerably less grounded. Riots and organized criminal activity spread throughout the state and soon California was the most lawless state in the Union.
Among the most ruthless criminals was the gang of Joaquin Murietta. Winn helped organize the commission and survey which lead to the establishment of the California State Rangers
from among the State Militia. Additionally, he helped the various societies throughout the state organize the associations which identified, recruited, and supported the lawmen and Vigilante
groups that would pacify the state in a few short years. During the Squatters Riots of 1850, Winn issued a Proclamation declaring Martial Law and brought 500 members of the State Militia to patrol the streets of Sacramento City to guard against further civil unrest. In October, Winn participated in raising a force during the Coloma Indian troubles in El Dorado County. During the Cholera Epidemic of October - November 1850, Winn used his entire stock of lumber making coffins to bury the dead at his own expense. As a result of these successes, Winn was reappointed by Governor John Bigler
four years later.
Believing that strong law and order programs needed to be balanced with moral and educational programs aimed at mitigating addiction, vice, and criminality, Winn became a member of the Sons of Temperance in 1853 and organized the Winn Division # 220 in Sacramento. The Division was successful in limiting the number and location of saloons, establishing hospices and treatment centers, and publishing articles on the dangers of alcoholic and narcotic uses.
Winn also became a member of the Sacramento Pioneers Association and the Order of the Star Spangled Banner
on November 11, 1855. Through these organizations he helped push through several educational programs intent on organizing youth activity and growing civic consciousness in young adults especially those of foreign origin.
In 1857 Winn bought 1/5 interest in a syndicate which had purchased 3/4 of all land that John Sutter had claimed in what became Sutter County. Winn owned 2700 acres (10.9 km²) along the Sacramento River in Sutter County, called “Winn’s Ranch” where he built a landing where riverboats could stop which came to be known as “Winn’s Landing”. While living there he became the first president of the California Swamp Land Commission which had has its goal the clearing of pestilence prone swamp areas near towns and later became the chief organization behind the development of the San Joaquin agricultural valley. With these several successes behind him and under the influence of his numerous friends and associates, Winn took several runs at political office. However, his success had also earned enemies. Several corrupt machines in Sacramento and San Francisco, especially those with saloon, immigrant, and Catholic ties were virulently opposed to him. He was consistently rebuffed, and despite the success of the Know-Nothings in the growing Republican
movement which he supported, the rise of sectarian issues between North and South and Free and Slave complicated and ultimately divided the associations he had worked to establish. He was defeated in a bid for the California legislature, whose Congress later went on to deal with the Secession Crisis
.
Winn moved to San Francisco in 1860 and engaged in the real estate business. He was a regular contributor to the New Age and to the Daily Alta Californian. He stayed out of directly supporting either Union or Confederacy, but his sympathies remained with his native Virginia and his wife had relatives fighting in the confederacy. Finally, in 1862, tragedy struck as the roster list of dead from Shiloh was relayed. Stricken with grief at the loss of her family at the battle his wife Catherine died in 1862.
Nonetheless, he continued to work at improving labor and small business associations at the local level. During his period in San Francisco, he edited the Labor journal known as The Shop and Senate. However, the Catholic and business political machine which Winn and others had worked against continued to remain strong in the city and Winn was consistently defeated at maneuvers to obtain a seat. Yet, with his reforming role and his association with the past Vigilante Committee and American Party
Winn was introduced to Charlotte L. King, the widow of the crusading editor of The San Francisco Bulletin, James King of William, who had been shot to death by Tammany Hall connected James P. Casey in 1856. On September 16, 1865, Alfred married Charlotte L. King and with the end of the War, his interests renewed in state affairs.
He took the lead in the Carpenter’s Union’s effort to enact legislation for an eight-hour workday in 1867. The Mechanics State Council was formed in 1867 at Winn’s suggestion. He drafted their constitution and bylaws, and served as their first President. Finally, he was instrumental in forming the Building and Trades Council of San Francisco which later went on to be a founding organization of the American Federation of Labor
. In 1869, Winn traveled to the eastern states where he spent several month pressing for federal legislation for an eight-hour day, restricting immigration to non-Catholic whites, worker safety rules in interstate commerce and a restriction on holding office to native born.
In keeping with his long held belief in 100% Americanism and fostering a lasting national identity on its native culture, in 1869, Winn attempted to organize a society to promote the culture and lineage of the founding father's of American California
based upon apprentices in the artisan and craftsmen trades. This initial society failed because the boys were too young to face the combination of hostility from big business and criminal discrimination from foreign ethnic political machines. So instead, he cultivated the members and in 1875 successfully rallied master craftsmen and small farmers in perfecting and establishing the organization which later became known as the Native Sons of the Golden West on July 11, 1875. Then in honor of the centennial, he organized the descendants of the Revolutionary War to march in the Independence Day Parade at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1876. After the march, he organized the body which went on to become the Sons of the American Revolution. This organization elected Winn as their first President, an office he held for five years.
In 1887, the Grand Parlor voted to assess each member fifty cents to raise money for a monument on Winn’s grave. The monument, erected in 1888 and restored in 2003 by Sunset Parlor #26, is a granite shaft fifteen feet high in the Pioneer Section of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
. It is the tallest monument in the cemetery and a fitting tribute to the founder of the Native Sons of the Golden West.
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
- August 26, 1883 in Sonoma, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
), was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
, politician, Odd Fellow and freemason.
Winn, a native Virginian, who came to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on May 28, 1849, and settled in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
on June 25 of that year. He immediately became active in civic affairs and in the fall of 1849 was elected to Sacramento's first City Council in and selected as its President, he was ex-officio the first mayor of Sacramento. But unlike his successor, Hardin Bigelow
Hardin Bigelow
Hardin Bigelow was the first elected mayor of the city of Sacramento, California, which was known then as "Sacramento City." Bigelow's efforts to construct Sacramento's first levees won him enough support to become mayor in Sacramento's first mayoral elections in February 1850...
, he was not elected directly to the office. He went on to be appointed the State Adjutant General and an early proponent of the small business community and labor reform movement. He remained in the state until his death and is remembered as one of the State’s Founding Fathers.
General Winn not only made his contributions to the civil and military beginnings of Sacramento, he was a prime mover in the fraternal and religious life of his community as well. He founded the Sons of the Revolutionary Sires, later the Sons of the American Revolution
Sons of the American Revolution
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...
, and was its first President. In 1851 he organized the Sacramento Odd Fellows General Relief Committee and he was elected its first president. He also was instrumental in the establishment of Grace Church (later St. Paul’s), the first Episcopal church in Sacramento, of which he was both an officer and communicant. Winn was also a Mason. Indeed his granddaughter wrote, “We are told that the general belonged to every fraternal society in Sacramento in the early days and it is quite probable that this is true.” He founded the Native Sons of the Golden West
Native Sons of the Golden West
-History:The Native Sons of the Golden West was founded July 11, 1875 by General A. M. Winn, a Virginian, as a lasting monument to the men and women of the Gold Rush Days...
(NSGW) and the Native Daughters of the Golden West. General Winn died at Sonoma on August 26, 1883 and was buried in Sacramento.
Background
His family moved to Zanesville, Ohio, where he attended a one room school and, at the age of 16, became a carpenter’s apprentice. It was here that he began his interests in civic association which he later came to exemplify. In 1829 he married Catherine Gaffney in Zanesville, and they moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1832.Career
In keeping with conscription into the militia under state law, Albert attended military training. In light of his aptitude and education, Albert attended additional military schooling and was appointed a LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the local militia in 1835. With his journeyman
Journeyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....
status and military rank, Albert was recommended for membership in the Fraternal order Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
. Here he met other ranking members of the local community and was introduced into political circles as a Jackson Democrat.
In 1836 he was promoted to the rank of Major in the militia, and served as assistant quartermaster on the staff of Gov. Charles Lynch
Charles Lynch
Charles Lynch was a Virginia planter and American Revolutionary who headed an irregular court in Virginia to punish Loyalist supporters of the British during the American Revolutionary War. The terms "lynching" and "lynch law" apparently derive from his name.Lynch was born in Virginia to Quaker...
. Winn was appointed Drill Master in 1840, and on February 28, 1845, was made a Colonel in the First Regiment of the Mississippi Militia which became known as the Mississippi Rifles
Mississippi Rifles
The "Mississippi Rifles" or the 155th Infantry Regiment, is Mississippi's oldest National Guard unit. Its history predates statehood, back to June 1799, and it is the seventh oldest infantry regiment in the United States Army...
. He was one of the judges of an election board that elected Jefferson Davis as Colonel of the First Mississippi Regiment of Volunteers and with him later went on to serve in the Mexican War. It was at the Battle of Buena Vista when other American units began to be overrun by the Mexicans that Col. Davis gave the now-famous order, "Stand fast, Mississippians!" The regiment stood their ground and the battle was eventually won. Davis' order later became the regimental motto. The unit was instrumental in capturing Monterrey, and mustered for service in the Spanish-American War.
Winn was also the Secretary of the Phoenix City Engine Fire Company and later President of the Master Carpenters and Joiners Society of Vicksburg. Under successive increasing grades of leadership Winn was quickly noticed for his technical and leadership abilities. Under the auspices of these organizations, Winn was given authority to expand the networks and associations of these organizations into the growing American settlement in the West as part of the policy of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
.
On February 2, 1849, at the age of 38, Albert was ordered to establish and expand a new settlement in the recently organized state of California and help organize its civic and labor movement. Leaving his wife and son behind, he journeyed to New Orleans where he joined a Settlers and Explorers Company under Major Kinney. This company traveled by steamboat to Corpus Christi, Texas, and from there traveled overland to Durango, Mexico, where some members of the company split off to work on advance work with filibustering. Winn however continued to Mazatlan, from which Albert took a bark to San Francisco, arriving May 28, 1849. Winn then took a sailboat upriver to Freeport and walked from there to Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state-protected park in Sacramento, California which includes Sutter's Fort and the California State Indian Museum. Begun in 1839 and originally called "New Helvetia" by its builder, John Sutter, the fort was a 19th century agricultural and trade colony in...
, where he arrived on June 15.
Work in California
Arriving in Sacramento City on June 25, he immediately set up his carpenter’s bench under the shade of an oak tree at the foot of K Street, and commenced work on a coffin, which he immediately sold for $50. Organizing the various craftsmen of carpenters and craftsmen he soon had large commercial enterprise which included a partnership with the Baker and McGhee General Store. On August 1 he was elected as a member of the Sacramento City Council and was chosen as its President on August 25To further cement the ties of the civic population in the growing town of Sacramento, Winn went about organizing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On August 20, for the purpose of providing assistance and relief to brother Odd Fellows who were suffering from illness and distress from their overland or ocean voyage, and to bury the dead, the first general meeting of the Odd Fellows was held at the general store. Winn’s first order of business when he became President of the City Council was to ensure that the dead were provided a coffin for burial. Prior to then, the dead were buried in their blanket, in which they were sewn.
Sometime during Fall of 1849, Captain John Sutter gave Winn power of attorney to sell land and Winn, as Sutter’s agent offered lots and farms on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers for sale. Winn also borrowed $5,000 in Sutter’s name at 10% interest per month and failed to notify Sutter or furnish an accounting. Sutter learned of this indebtedness only when the Sheriff served an attachment on him. By that time the debt had grown to $35,000.
Having established and organized the arts and craftsmen and burghers of Sacramento, Winn worked to cement the contracts and union of the various commercial enterprises. Together with is financial bakers in the city, and flush with profits from the gold trade, Winn and his associates began the establishment of Grace Episcopal Church in Sacramento during August 1849.
With his associates in the Episcopal Church and senior officers of the Odd Fellows, Winn helped charter and establish the Freemason's Tehama Lodge. With the full support of the Odd Fellows, joined by the Masons and Grace Epsiscopal Church, the first hospital was established in California at Sutter's Fort. It became a joint venture between the Odd Fellows and the Masons on land which Winn had donated.
However, the coming year would prove to be less successful. The flood of January 1850 ruined the entire stock of Winn, Baker & McGhee and the business failed. Winn entered into a partnership with A. C. Latson on February 28, 1850, advertising their business as builders and lumber merchants. When Sacramento City became chartered on February 23, an election was held for new city officers. Hardin Bigelow
Hardin Bigelow
Hardin Bigelow was the first elected mayor of the city of Sacramento, California, which was known then as "Sacramento City." Bigelow's efforts to construct Sacramento's first levees won him enough support to become mayor in Sacramento's first mayoral elections in February 1850...
was elected Mayor on April 1 and Winn relinquished his position as the city's executive.
Nonetheless, because of his considerable achievements in the prior two years, and his previous military experience in Mississippi, Winn was appointed an officer in the California State Militia. On April 10, the California Legislature passed a resolution appointing A. M. Winn as Brigadier-General. Governor Peter Burnett approved his appointment.
The next four years were ones of considerable turmoil in California. Although the influx of Americans like Winn helped put California on a road of civilized progress, large numbers of indigent and foreign persons also arrived whose morals were considerably less grounded. Riots and organized criminal activity spread throughout the state and soon California was the most lawless state in the Union.
Among the most ruthless criminals was the gang of Joaquin Murietta. Winn helped organize the commission and survey which lead to the establishment of the California State Rangers
California State Rangers
The California Rangers, or the California State Rangers, was California's first state wide law enforcement agency formed in 1853 to deal with the outlaw gangs troubling the Gold Country during the early 1850s. The force was disbanded following the success in suppressing the Five Joaquins gang...
from among the State Militia. Additionally, he helped the various societies throughout the state organize the associations which identified, recruited, and supported the lawmen and Vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
groups that would pacify the state in a few short years. During the Squatters Riots of 1850, Winn issued a Proclamation declaring Martial Law and brought 500 members of the State Militia to patrol the streets of Sacramento City to guard against further civil unrest. In October, Winn participated in raising a force during the Coloma Indian troubles in El Dorado County. During the Cholera Epidemic of October - November 1850, Winn used his entire stock of lumber making coffins to bury the dead at his own expense. As a result of these successes, Winn was reappointed by Governor John Bigler
John Bigler
John Bigler was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Democrat, he served as the third Governor of California from 1852 to 1856 and was the first California governor to complete an entire term in office successfully, as well as the first to win re-election...
four years later.
Believing that strong law and order programs needed to be balanced with moral and educational programs aimed at mitigating addiction, vice, and criminality, Winn became a member of the Sons of Temperance in 1853 and organized the Winn Division # 220 in Sacramento. The Division was successful in limiting the number and location of saloons, establishing hospices and treatment centers, and publishing articles on the dangers of alcoholic and narcotic uses.
Winn also became a member of the Sacramento Pioneers Association and the Order of the Star Spangled Banner
Order of the Star Spangled Banner
The Order of the Star Spangled Banner was an oath-bound secret society in New York City. It was created in 1849 by Charles Allen to protest the rise of Irish, Roman Catholic, and German immigration into the United States....
on November 11, 1855. Through these organizations he helped push through several educational programs intent on organizing youth activity and growing civic consciousness in young adults especially those of foreign origin.
In 1857 Winn bought 1/5 interest in a syndicate which had purchased 3/4 of all land that John Sutter had claimed in what became Sutter County. Winn owned 2700 acres (10.9 km²) along the Sacramento River in Sutter County, called “Winn’s Ranch” where he built a landing where riverboats could stop which came to be known as “Winn’s Landing”. While living there he became the first president of the California Swamp Land Commission which had has its goal the clearing of pestilence prone swamp areas near towns and later became the chief organization behind the development of the San Joaquin agricultural valley. With these several successes behind him and under the influence of his numerous friends and associates, Winn took several runs at political office. However, his success had also earned enemies. Several corrupt machines in Sacramento and San Francisco, especially those with saloon, immigrant, and Catholic ties were virulently opposed to him. He was consistently rebuffed, and despite the success of the Know-Nothings in the growing Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
movement which he supported, the rise of sectarian issues between North and South and Free and Slave complicated and ultimately divided the associations he had worked to establish. He was defeated in a bid for the California legislature, whose Congress later went on to deal with the Secession Crisis
Secession in the United States
Secession in the United States can refer to secession of a state from the United States, secession of part of a state from that state to form a new state, or secession of an area from a city or county....
.
Winn moved to San Francisco in 1860 and engaged in the real estate business. He was a regular contributor to the New Age and to the Daily Alta Californian. He stayed out of directly supporting either Union or Confederacy, but his sympathies remained with his native Virginia and his wife had relatives fighting in the confederacy. Finally, in 1862, tragedy struck as the roster list of dead from Shiloh was relayed. Stricken with grief at the loss of her family at the battle his wife Catherine died in 1862.
Nonetheless, he continued to work at improving labor and small business associations at the local level. During his period in San Francisco, he edited the Labor journal known as The Shop and Senate. However, the Catholic and business political machine which Winn and others had worked against continued to remain strong in the city and Winn was consistently defeated at maneuvers to obtain a seat. Yet, with his reforming role and his association with the past Vigilante Committee and American Party
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
Winn was introduced to Charlotte L. King, the widow of the crusading editor of The San Francisco Bulletin, James King of William, who had been shot to death by Tammany Hall connected James P. Casey in 1856. On September 16, 1865, Alfred married Charlotte L. King and with the end of the War, his interests renewed in state affairs.
He took the lead in the Carpenter’s Union’s effort to enact legislation for an eight-hour workday in 1867. The Mechanics State Council was formed in 1867 at Winn’s suggestion. He drafted their constitution and bylaws, and served as their first President. Finally, he was instrumental in forming the Building and Trades Council of San Francisco which later went on to be a founding organization of the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
. In 1869, Winn traveled to the eastern states where he spent several month pressing for federal legislation for an eight-hour day, restricting immigration to non-Catholic whites, worker safety rules in interstate commerce and a restriction on holding office to native born.
In keeping with his long held belief in 100% Americanism and fostering a lasting national identity on its native culture, in 1869, Winn attempted to organize a society to promote the culture and lineage of the founding father's of American California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
based upon apprentices in the artisan and craftsmen trades. This initial society failed because the boys were too young to face the combination of hostility from big business and criminal discrimination from foreign ethnic political machines. So instead, he cultivated the members and in 1875 successfully rallied master craftsmen and small farmers in perfecting and establishing the organization which later became known as the Native Sons of the Golden West on July 11, 1875. Then in honor of the centennial, he organized the descendants of the Revolutionary War to march in the Independence Day Parade at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1876. After the march, he organized the body which went on to become the Sons of the American Revolution. This organization elected Winn as their first President, an office he held for five years.
Death
Winn died at Sonoma on August 26, 1883 and his body was taken to Sacramento for the funeral. The Masons whose precepts he had so well adhered to, the Odd Fellows he had served so long and so faithfully, and the ministry of Grace Church he had helped to found might well have conducted his funeral, but this honor was given to the Native Sons of the Golden West who laid their Brother-Founder to rest under the ritual of the Order which gives back the body of the fallen son of California to the soil of his native state. Sacramento paid a high tribute to its first mayor, with courts and civic offices suspending business on the day of the funeral.In 1887, the Grand Parlor voted to assess each member fifty cents to raise money for a monument on Winn’s grave. The monument, erected in 1888 and restored in 2003 by Sunset Parlor #26, is a granite shaft fifteen feet high in the Pioneer Section of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery , located at 1000 Broadway, at 10th Street, is the oldest existing cemetery in Sacramento, California. The cemetery is located at the highest point in Sacramento...
. It is the tallest monument in the cemetery and a fitting tribute to the founder of the Native Sons of the Golden West.