General Joseph Winlock

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Historical Marker #1409 in Shelby County commemorates soldier and statesman General Joseph Winlock.

During the Revolutionary War, Winlock joined the American army at age eighteen. Although he enlisted as a private, he quickly moved through the ranks, ultimately serving as captain. He fought at Germantown, Brandywine, and Monmouth, and was with General George Washington at Valley Forge.

In 1787, Winlock married and moved to Kentucky, where he was a land surveyor. A member of Kentucky's first state constitutional convention, he was also a state senator from 1800 to 1810. During the War of 1812, Winlock was made a brigadier general of Kentucky militia and fought in the Northwest Territory. He is buried in a family cemetery in Shelby County.

Winlock's grandson, also named Joseph Winlock, was a noted astronomer from Shelby County.