At the time of the Revolutionary War, there was a tavern in Sussex County, New Jersey, that was operated by William Winans, an emigrant from Holland. He married his cousin, Mary Winans.

A son, Ross Winans, was born on October 17, 1796, on a farm in Vernon, N. J., just a year after the township was created. Ross was named after his maternal grandfather. He had a common school education, but acquired a book on mechanical principles, which set the course for his life. His family was involved in farming and milling, and he loved to tinker with machinery. Legend has it he constructed a working model steam locomotive on the third floor of his fathers house, the current “Sea Captain's House” in the Township. Writing as "Jacobus Van Brug” on the history of Vernon township, New Jersey, Dupont says “Two years before the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Winans exhibited this working model of his "rail wagon," which weighed 125 pounds.” He had never seen a railroad or anything associated with it, only descriptions in books. What happened to that model railroad?