Joseph Thomas Wynkoop.
Joseph Thomas Wynkoop.

Confederate Veteran     269

Joseph Thomas Wynkoop

    I wish to pay a humble tribute to one of our most esteemed citizens who passed to his reward on Easter Monday, [Monday April 7, 1919-chw], from his home, Woodgrove, Round Hill, Va. Joseph Thomas Wynkoop was the son of William B. and Catherine Cleveland Wynkoop and was born April 15, 1840. The high estimation in which he was held by his community was attested by the large crowd that attended his funeral and by the beautiful floral tributes that came from all directions. Among these were two that attracted marked attention. They were the Confederate colors worked in flowers. One was sent by the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, the other from Wakefield. A touching incident connected with his death was that it happened on the anniversary of his wife's death, which occurred on Easter Monday four years ago. The same beautiful suggestion of the resurrection surrounded both calls into life eternal, and the same hands that laid her to rest under a cloudless April sky placed him by her side to sleep his last long sleep. Their pastor, the Rev. I. B. Lake, D.D., officiated upon both occasions.
    Mr. Wynkoop was a gentleman in the truest and noblest sense of the word, for it could be said of him, as was said of the Chevalier Bayard, he was "without fear and without reproach." When in his early youth the war clouds gathered over Virginia, he was among the first to offer his services in her defense. In 1858 he enlisted in a volunteer company under the command of Capt. Welby Carter, that went to the scene of John Brown's raid. When the war came on, this company

Joseph T. Wynkoop.
Joseph T. Wynkoop.

became part of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, Company H. under Gen. J. E. B. Stuart. This regiment did magnificent service in the first battle of Manassas, the Loudoun company coming out with only twenty men. After this battle he served as a courier for Gen. G. W. Smith until the spring of 1862, when he again entered the regular service. After that the history of the noble Army of Northern Virginia was his life. He actually participated in all the great battles of slaughter through which it passed: Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, Seven Days' fight around Richmond, Bloody Angle, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the end. Of the four who rode abreast in the mad charge at Manassas, he alone reached the enemy's lines; the other three were literally shot to pieces.
    Mr. Wynkoop had a deep vein of sentiment in him, which made him absolutely loyal to an ideal, a cause, and to whatever he loved. His loyalty to the Southern cause never wavered, but to the day of his death he loved to talk with and about his old comrades in arms and the stirring experiences through which they had passed. He came through the great conflict unscathed, having had two horses killed under him and his hat shot from his head. He was near Stonewall Jackson when he received his fatal wound and was by J. E. B. Stuart when he was killed.
    A nation is made greater by ever keeping before the young the examples of it's noblest citizens. We in Loudoun would select no better life than that of Thomas Wynkoop for our youth to model their lives upon. As he was, so would we have all Virginians and All Americans to be. Great would be America if we could all go to our graves with such a record. As a Christian, as a soldier, as a citizen, as a husband, as a father, as a friend, long may he be remembered, and long from his silent grave may he teach to coming generations a lesson of courage and devotion, of love and faith! In looking back over his life we find it ever a flower of that civilization which we call the Old South, of which the English poet wrote:

"Ah, realm of tears! but let her bear
    This blazon to the end of time.
No nation rose so white and fair,
    None fell so pure of crime."
    [James M. Kilgore, Round Hill, Va.]


Source:

Kilgore, James M., "Joseph Thomas Wynkoop", Confederate Veteran, Nashville, Tenn., Vol. 27, No. 5(?) (May? 1919): p. 269.


Notes and Acknowledgment:

    Thomas is how he preferred to called, apparently, since in the 1850 census information found in Carol Fite's book, Tracing Their Steps. Some of the Descendants of Cornelis Evertsz Wynkoop, (page 26), he is listed as Thomas, aged 10:

Federal Census, 1850, Loudoun Co., VA, Enumerated July 30, 1850, Family No. 707, Dwelling No. 707.
William Winekoop age 42
Catherine 42
George 14
Thomas 10
Mary 8

Children of William Wynkoop and Catherine Cleaver Wynkoop.
65. i. George Washington Wynkoop.
66. ii. William C. Wynkoop.
67. iii. Joseph Thomas Wynkoop.
68. iv. Mary (F.) Wynkoop.
69. v. Garner Wynkoop.

It is not certain if Garner Wynkoop was first child of William Bennett and Catherine Cleaver Wynkoop or if he was the child of Samuel C. Wynkoop and 1st wife. The Wynkoop Family of Loudoun County Virginia.
    I've been unable to discover the rank that Thomas held in Company H. of the 1st Virginia Cavalry of the Northern Army of Virginia. (Company H. was designated as the Loudoun Light Horse of Loudoun County.) One of the more famous Rebels to spring from the 1st Virginia Cavalry was John Singleton Mosby, which may explain the hat that Thomas is wearing in his portrait, above.

    The typed roster cards for him really have precious little information regarding his military experience. You'll find them on display here:

T. Wynkoop

Thomas Wynkoop

    His older brother, George Washington Wynkoop, also served in the Confederate army in Co. E of the 8th Regiment. You'll find his card(s) here:

George W. Wynkoop

    The information on these cards comes from captured Confederate States records, including military service records, which were taken to Washington in 1865 and deposited in the National Archives. In 1904 the General Assembly passed an act creating a Secretary of Virginia Military Records. This office was charged with gathering material for the federal project authorized by Congress in 1903 for the assembling of muster rolls for all the Confederate States.

    The collection consists of the loose materials assembled as part of this project as well as 21 volumes which were transcribed from the originals and bound. The cards, themselves, contain the name of the soldier, his rank, branch of service, company, battalion, troop, battery, etc. WDC noted on some of the cards refers to the "War Department Confederate" material which is in the National Archives. References to volume numbers and page numbers are to the bound volumes which have been microfilmed.

  

    I would like to thank Eileen Beales Johnson, [email protected], of Lexington, NC for sending me a copy of this article. She wrote, "This obituary was forwarded to me by a kind soul that found me via the internet. It is from the Confederate Veteran which I'm guessing is a magazine. That's all the information I have on the publication."

    After a little research, Eileen, I think we've properly placed it. Thanks so much for thinking of me!

    All my best,

    Chris

Created May 12, 2002; Revised March 25, 2007
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wynkoop/index.htm
Comments to [email protected]

Copyright © 2002-2007 by Christopher H. Wynkoop, All Rights Reserved

This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without my written consent.

Site map

The Wynkoop Family Research Library
Home