Lulu F May

The name VanWinkle was Waligh, Walings, Walingen, Waligsen in Holland, and it became VanWinkle in America, from Winkle, a town 15 miles NW of Hoorn, N. Holland.  Van Winkle means "from Winkle". 

The VanWinkle family Bible told that there were three VanWinkle brothers (James, Abraham and John) that came to America on the Mayflower.  We have found that they were not on the famous voyage of the Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to America.  We also found that there were a number of ships with the name "Mayflower", but we do not know which one carried our ancesters. 

The VanWinkle families lived in Tennessee and Kentucky and were slave holders.  Then James and Sarah Hedges VanWinkle moved to Fairfield, Iowa and later to Kesburg, Illinois.  Some of the VanWinkles lived in Arkansas and owned sawmills, building what was called "knockdowns".  They were structures made in sections and hauled to a site and reassembled into a building.