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William
B. Winne
 William Bancker Winne was born in 1769, the son of Albany tanner Daniel K. Winne and his second wife, Schenectady native Jannetje Bancker. By that time, his father had secured some tanning lots along Foxes Creek. Over the next two decades, Willie Winne and his brothers would learn the process that transformed animal skins into leather.
By
the 1790s, the young man began to purchase lots on
the North Side of Foxes Creek. At that time he probably
lived with his brother Killian D. Winne on the outskirts
of Albany's second ward. By 1800, he was established
in his own second ward household and was the owner
of several lots near the then northern boundary of
Albany. By 1804, he was identified as a cordwainer
and was a member of the Albany Mechanics Society.
From
his home at 57 Orange Street, Willie Winne expanded
his activities in a transition away from leather
work. He became a letter carrier - the "three penny post" who would deliver mail anywhere in the city for 3 cents. According to his obituary, he served in that capacity for 48 years. That occupation made him an everyday fixture on Albany streets. By 1816, he also was the "front door-keeper" at the Albany Theater and was toasted in the newspaper for "his long and meritorious services - having punctually fulfilled the duties of his station through wind and rain, fair weather and foul." At the same time, he maintained a connection to leathermaking and held a municipal post with the title "Inspector of Leather."
William
B. Winne continued to buy and sell real estate in
the Arbor Hill section of the city through the remainder
of his life. As the years passed, he watched the
Foxes Creek ravine change from a marginal area dotted
with tanning pits to a working-class, residential
neighborhood. His wife, Rebecca, died in 1845. Willie
Winne then was left alone in the wooden house on
Orange Street four doors up from Chapel until his
death at age 90 in January 1848.
Billy
Winne was a legendary character in early Albany history
as he was identified in a number of descriptive sources.
In August 1831, the "penny postman" had a seat amid the dignitaries in the first car on the first train ride between Albany and Schenectady.
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Notes: "The
Three-Penny Post." Variations
of this silhouette image of William B. Winne (1769-1848)
were printed widely during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. Copy in the Graphics Archive
of the Colonial Albany Social History Project.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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