Guyton’s own Winn family visited the small town for a family reunion over the weekend.

“We’re here kinda going back in history,” noted Tricia Winn Swiger, daughter of Ralph Winn.

Fifty-five family members from all over the country attended the three-day event, which began Friday night.
The patriarch of the family was Asa Alexander Winn, a former captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He built the Winn house in Guyton in 1876.

His two remaining grandchildren of son William Swoll Winn and his wife Mable Judson Pursley, Lucy Winn, 94, and her brother Pursley Winn, 90, were the main focus of the gathering.

Lucy Winn came from Atlanta and Pursley Winn traveled to the event all the way from the San Francisco area.

On Saturday the Winns visited Bonaventure and Guyton cemeteries where they have ancestors buried. They also visited the old Winn family home. The evening ended with a banquet and birthday party for Pursley Winn who turned 90 on Sunday.

Like his grandfather, Asa Winn, Pursley served in the military. He was a major in the Army Air Force during World War II, taking part in 51 missions in Europe and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism.

While having lunch on the grounds of the Mossy Oak Park everyone listened attentively as park owner Allen Lanier recounted the uproar over the homestead being uprooted for the Parker’s convenience store and its subsequent move down Central Boulevard to its current location.

“It’s a shame they did that,” said Maria Murkwalter, niece of Lucy and Pursley Winn.

The home was an anchor for the family for many years and served as the site for family gatherings. However, it was sold out of the family in the 1960s.

“We all ate Sunday dinners there for generations,” Swiger noted.

This was the second reunion the family has held in 10 years.