Jeneverah M. Winton
"A Woman of the Century"
Born	Jeneverah(?)/Jenevehah(?)/Geneverah(?) Maria Pray May 11, 1837 Orrville, New York, U.S.
Died	April 12, 1904 Rochester, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Montrepose Cemetery, Kingston, New York, U.S.
Pen name	Mrs. J. M. Winton several, unknown
Occupation	author, poet, lyricist
Language	English
Nationality	American
Spouse	Eli Peelor (m. ?) William H. Winton ​ (m. 1874)​
Children	3

Jeneverah M. Winton (née, Pray; pen name, Mrs. J. M. Winton; May 11, 1837 – April 12, 1904) was an American poet and author. Many of her poems were set to music by Hart Pease Danks, Thomas Westendorf, and others.^[1] In addition to signing her works as "Geneverah M. Winton", "Jeneverah M. Winton" and "Mrs. J. M. Winton", she used several unknown pen names.^[2]

Jeneverah (alternately, "Jenevehah" or "Geneverah")^[3][4][5] Maria Pray was born in Orrville, New York, May 11, 1837.^[3][4][a]

She was the daughter of George Wesley and Elizabeth Burton Pray.^[6][5] She belonged to a family with many branches throughout the United States. Three brothers of her father's ancestry came from France with Lafayette and joined the American forces. One of these gave his means and ships, another became an officer in the Continental Army, and the third gave his life for the American cause. Her father, a native of Rhode Island, was educated in Oxford University, England, and became a preacher. Her mother, the daughter of an English earl and otherwise related to some of England's nobility, was very highly educated and wrote considerable prose and poetry, some of which was published in book form, under a pen name.^[3][7] Her siblings were: Mary (b. ca. 1813), Nathan (1815-1860), Orman (b. 1818), Elizabeth (1823-1882), Miles (1824-1892), George (1827-1891), Lydia (1835-1898), and Byron (1837-1837).^[5]

Winton began to write early in life, and while attending Lima Seminary, Lima, New York, wrote much poetry.^[3][7]

Many of Winton's poems were printed and copied extensively, under some pen name or unsigned, in magazines and other periodicals. In her younger years, she wrote much and was paid well. Being then in affluent circumstances, it was her custom to give what she earned to the poor and less fortunate.^[3][7]

While living in Indianapolis, Indiana, and other cities of the West, her productions were identified and copied in various parts of the U.S. Many of her original poems were set to music by Thomas Westendorf and others. For several years, her residence was in Rochester, New York and Kingston, New York, where, up to the time of the death of her daughter, her manuscripts were given to the press. Since that event, which nearly killed Winton, too, few literary productions were sent out.^[3][7]

She married, firstly, Eli Peelor (1832-?). They had three children: Emma Peelor (1855-?), Estella Peelor (1859-?), and Mary Peelor (1862-1882).^[5] On May 23, 1874, she married, secondly, William H. Winton (?-1923).^[6][8]

For nearly two years, to escape the hardship associated with a northern climate, she resided in southern New Jersey, among the rustic surroundings of her farm on Landis avenue, East Vineland. Later, she resided in New Haven, Connecticut.^[3][7]

In 1899, she was involved in a land transfer by John H. Bailey to her, involving property on Melville park in Rochester, New York.^[9]

For years, Winton was president of the Women's Missionary Society of the East Side Presbyterian Church, and she was an active member of the Presbyterian church nearly all her life.^[1] Earlier in life, she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.^[3][7]

Jeneverah Winton died at the family home in Rochester, New York, April 12, 1904.^[1] She was survived by her husband,^[10] and was buried Kingston, New York, in the Montrepose Cemetery.^[11]

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Arthur, T. S., ed. (1878). "Contents". Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine. 46. Philadelphia: T. S. Arthur & Son.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Garrett, P., ed. (1890). "One Hundred Choice Selections in Poetry and Prose". P. Garrett & Company. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Garrett, P., ed. (1891). "One Hundred Choice Selections in Poetry and Prose". P. Garrett & Company. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Garrett, P., ed. (1910). "One Hundred Choice Selections". P. Garrett. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1894). "Jeneverah Maria Winton, by Henry A. Van Fredenberg". The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review. 6. C.W. Moulton.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Thompson, Nathan David (1886). The Royal Gallery of Poetry and Art: An Illustrated Book of the Favorite Poetic Gems of the English Language ... N.D. Thompson Publishing Company. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "Jenevehah Maria Winton". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton.

• Marshall, Alice Kahler (1985). Pen Names of Women Writers: From 1600 to the Present : a Compendium of the Literary Identities of 2650 Women Novelists, Playwrights, Poets, Diarists, Journalists and Miscellaneous Writers, Fully Cross-referenced. Copies from Alice Marshall Collection. ISBN 978-0-9616387-0-2.

• Works related to Woman of the Century/Jenevehah Maria Winton at Wikisource
• Works by or about Jeneverah M. Winton at the Internet Archive