CAN YOU imagine showing up to what is now the Winchester public square only to find rolling hills, trees, and ferocious wild animals? You would have likely walked for months or rode horseback if you were lucky. There was no hotel to freshen up at or a grocery store to grab a quick bite to eat when you arrived. No structure or anything that resembled a building would have been in sight. It was just you and billions of stars shining overhead in the open sky. It’s amusing to think about how different things were hundreds of years ago. Can you further imagine early settlers visiting downtown Winchester today? Eyes wide and full of wonder as flashing lights and towering buildings cloud their view. What is this place? And why is it called Winchester?
General James Winchester would play a significant role in answering that question. Ac- cording to the Tennessee Historical Magazine published in June 1915, Winchester was born on February 6, 1752, in Westminister, Mary- land. In 1776 he enlisted in the Revolutionary Army as a private and was quickly promoted for his bravery and became a lieutenant. At the battle of Long Island in 1776, he was wounded and captured, then held captive. He endured suffering in a British prison ship in the New York harbor for over a year. Finally, after being exchanged and released, Winchester rejoined his regiment in the South, where he was later commissioned as a captain. It was then that he heard of the brave men and women who had founded settlements in modern-day Middle Tennessee. Word of the beauty and fertility of the Cumberland country spread to Winchester, and in 1785 he decided it was his time to head towards what we now know as Tennessee.
Though Winchester did not specifically found Winchester, Tennessee, his impact on our state and city reaches far and wide. He was a soldier of the American Revolution, the first Speaker of the Tennessee legislature, and a Brigadier General in the War of 1812. Winchester served on the state commission to regulate the Tennessee-Missouri boundary. He was also foundational in planning and found- ing Memphis along with Andrew Jackson and John Overton (Tennessee Historical Society, James Winchester by Walter T. Durham, March 2018).
An act passed on November 22, 1809, by the Tennessee General Assembly specified that the county seat in Franklin County should be called Winchester in honor of General James Winchester. This was due to his involvement in politics and in military action within the western territory of North Carolina before it became the state of Tennessee (Tennessee His- torical Magazine Vol. 1, No. 2, June 1915).
As a pioneer, military commander, city planner, entrepreneur, and leader among lead- ers, we can only hope our Winchester would make him and his name proud.