William B. Zinn
William B. Zinn was a nineteenth-century farmer, mill-owner, militia leader and politician, who ultimately freed his slaves and became one of the founders of the State of West Virginia.
Early life
Born on December 6, 1795, in what was then called Gladeville, in Preston County, Virginia, William Zinn was born to Jacob Zinn whose father had emigrated from Germany, and his second wife, Sarah "Sallie" Bland, the widow of Thomas Bland. He had three older half-brothers, and two younger brothers: Charles B. Zinn and Peyton Zinn and sisters Clara and Permelia Zinn Brown. He married at least twice. From his first wife ___Franklin, he inherited slaves and about $8000 in gold and other property when her parents died. His second wife was Juliet Caroline Franklin Zinn.Career
Zinn farmed and operated a mill in Preston County, which the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached in the mid-1950s. In the 1850 census Zinn owned 22 slaves. At some time he may have freed most, for in the 1860 census he only owned three slaves, compared to the seven slaves owned by his fellow Unionist, William Gay Brown, Sr.. Preston County voters elected Zinn to represent them, part-time, in the Virginia House of Delegates eight times. He also led the local militia, with the rank of Major.After the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 voted to secede from the Union over the vehement opposition of Preston County's delegates, Brown and James C. McGrew, Zinn became one of the Preston County leaders who attended the first Wheeling Convention in May 1861. Zinn served as the Convention's chairman beginning on May 13. The Secession Convention expelled Brown and McGrew on June 29, and five Preston County men voting in a Confederate camp on October 24, 1861, elected others to replace them. By contrast, Major Zinn also served as one of Preston County's representatives to the Restored Government at Wheeling, alongside Charles Hooten.