Colonel Francis M. Wynkoop.
The Remains of Colonel Francis M. Wynkoop.--In the Supreme Court, at Philadelphia, on Tuesday last, the case of Angeline C. Wynkoop vs. Anna McK. T. Wynkoop was argued on an appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, and it involved a very interesting question as regards the rights of relatives in the disposition of the body of a deceased member of the family. The history of the case disclosed the following state of facts:--Col. Francis M. Wynkoop died suddenly, from an accidental gunshot wound, at his residence, at Valencia, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, on the 13th day of December, 1857. His body, very shortly after his decease, was removed to the residence of his brother-in-law, Thomas I. Atwood, at Pottsville, and from there buried in Mount Laurel Cemetery, in the borough of Pottsville, with military honors. Colonel Wynkoop had commanded a regiment during the Mexican war, composed in part of volunteer companies from Schuylkill county, and those whom he commanded, together with those with whom he served in Mexico, as far as practicable, attended his funeral and formed part of his military cort�ge. The blood relatives of the deceased were desirous that the funeral should take place in Pottsville, and the remains deposited in the lot of ground in the Mount Laurel Cemetery, owned by the mother of the deceased (Angeline Wynkoop). To this, the widow, Mrs. Anna McK. T. Wynkoop, yielded a reluctant ascent, with the understanding, as she claims, that the body might afterwards be removed to Laurel Hill Cemetery, at Philadelphia, but a portion of the relatives, however, whose ascent is thus claimed, controvert this allegation.--Mrs. Anna Wynkoop, the widow, some time after the burial, made arrangements for the removal of the body to Philadelphia, and this coming to the ears of Mrs. Angeline Wynkoop, the mother, she in writing, requested one of the wardens of Trinity Church, Pottsville, to forbid any trespass or opening of the ground, in any way, in her lot in Mt. Laurel Cemetery, without the written order of her daughter, Mrs. Atwood, or her son, John E. Wynkoop, until further notice, &c. In consequence of this order the keys of the Cemetery were refused to the undertaker employed by Mrs. Anna Wynkoop. The widow then, on the 30th of November, 1858, filed her bill of complaint, setting forth the desire expressed by Col. Wynkoop, in his lifetime, to be buried, after death, at Laurel Hill Cemetery, near the monument there erected to the memory of Mrs. Wynkoop's father, Major Twiggs; that she consented to his burial at Pottsville only after earnest solicitations by her husband's relatives, and after solemn assurance from the relatives that she should be permitted to remove the remains to Philadelphia, whenever she pleased to do so. In the bill she asserts that, as widow and administratrix, she has the legal right to remove the remains to Laurel Hill Cemetery, and an injunction was prayed to prevent the defendants (Mrs. Angeline Wynkoop and others) from interfering with the complainant in the removal of the body.
"MOUNTAIN PASS, forty miles from Vera Cruz, Monday Evening, April 12th, in my tent, at Camp.
It was further alleged that the deceased had frequently expressed a desire to be buried by his regiment at Pottsville. The answer further set up that as Mrs. Angelina is the owner of the burial lot in Mt. Laurel Cemetery, she has the absolute and unqualified right to control the removal of the remains deposited therein, and to prevent the lot from being invaded or disturbed in any way.
Source: Unknown, "Local Affairs, The Remains of Colonel Francis M. Wynkoop," The Miners' Journal and Pottsville General Advertiser, Pottsville, Pa., Saturday, 1 March 1862, page 2, col. 4.
The "Anna," whose verses Frank referred to, in the above noted inscription in his bible, was his sister, Anna Maria Wynkoop, and not his wife, Anna McKnight Decatur Twiggs, whom he did not marry until 1850, and presumably only met after the Mexican War was over. The writing of verses seems to have been something Frank shared in common with his father and sister. The "Neddy" mentioned in the verse is probably their youngest brother, Edward Wanshaer Wynkoop, commonly known to his friends as Ned. He would have been 11 years old in 1847. Chris
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Created May 6, 2004; Revised May 6, 2004
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