Background
Ross Winans was born on October 17, 1796, on a farm in Sussex County, New Jersey, the seventh child of William and Mary Winans, first cousins, and a descendent from Jan Wynants, who came to America from the Netherlands about 1662.
Ross Winans was born on October 17, 1796, on a farm in Sussex County, New Jersey, the seventh child of William and Mary Winans, first cousins, and a descendent from Jan Wynants, who came to America from the Netherlands about 1662.
Winans received a good common-school education and while on a journey to New York City picked up a book which led him to a study of mechanical principles.