Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Winters, James M 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 1:45 am

Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885

James M. Winters, a retired farmer, resident in the village of Coleta, in 
Genesee Township, was born March 22, 1809, in Leicester Township, Genesee Co., 
N. Y. His father, Timothy Winters, was a farmer by calling and was born in 
Pennsylvania. He was of Irish origin and was married in his native State, to 
Margaret Lemon. He fixed his family residence in Genesee County and lived 
there some years, removing thence to Washington Co., Ind. He engaged in 
farming there until his death in 1841, when he was 56 years of age. The 
maternal grandparents of Mr. Winters came from Germany to the United States, 
and from them descended the families of their name in this country, who are of 
German origin. The mother of Mr. Winters was born in the eastern part of 
Pennsylvania, near the line of the State of New York, where she was brought up 
to womanhood and married. She went with her husband to Indiana in 1817, and 
died in Washington County, in 1822, aged 38 years. She was the mother of six 
children, three sons and three daughters. Mr. Winter's birth was preceded by 
that of one sister, and he was a little less than nine years of age when his 
father removed his family to Indiana. Washington County was in its infancy, 
having been organized only one year previous to their settlement within its 
borders. He was an inmate of his father's household until the years of his 
minority were passed, which were spent in obtaining a common-school education 
and in acquiring a complete understanding of agriculture. His education was 
limited according to the meagre advantages afforded by the pioneer schools, 
but his temperament led him to observe and reflect to an extent that sufficed 
as well for mental training as instruction would have done. He had also good 
judgment and discrimination in the choice of books, of which he was fond. He 
was married Aug. 17, 1831 (the year following that in which he became his "own 
man"), to Susan, daughter of George and Tabitha (Hendricks) Gyger. She was 
born in East Tennessee, and her parents were natives of Scotland. They removed 
from Tennessee to Indiana in the year in which the State was organized. Her 
father died in Washington County in 1831; the mother's death occurred about 
four years later. Mrs. Winters died in Coleta. She was a woman of decided 
Christian character and passed the later years of her life in earnest, devoted 
labor in the cause which was nearer her heart than any other. She died June 
10, 1882. In religious connection she belonged to the United Brethren Church. 
She is sincerely mourned by her numerous acquaintances, and seven children are 
left motherless by her death. Two children had gone before to the other world. 
George Clinton Winters, one of the deceased sons, became a soldier of the 
Union Army, enlisting in Co. A, 34th Regt. Ill. Vol. Inf., commanded by Col. 
E. N. Kirk, of Sterling. He was seized with typhoid fever, from which he died 
in the hospital at Louisville, Ky., soon after his regiment was assigned to 
its position. John M. died in 1856, aged three years. Following is the record 
of the seven children who survive: Catherine, who married Newton Dodd, a 
farmer of Clay Co., Kan.; William J., who married Elizabeth Fowler and now 
resides in the vicinity of Traer, in Tama Co., Iowa; Tabitha H., who married 
Cephas Hurless, late Supervisor of Genesee Township. He died at Coleta in the 
fall of 1884. James P. married Olive Baxter and lives at Marshall, Iowa; 
Matilda C, who married E. M. Olmstead and lives at Coleta; E. C. Winters, who 
married Paulina Scoville and lives at Sterling, Ill.; Melissa is the wife of 
Charles Wallace, a farmer of Riley Co., Kan. Mr. Winters was a second time 
married, at Coleta, Dec. 9, 1884, to Anna Skill, daughter of Timothy and 
Margaret (Carr) Skill. Her parents were natives of Ireland, where their entire 
lives were passed. Her father died at 50 years of age, in 1883. Mrs. Winters 
was born in the north of Ireland, Dec. 25, 1858, and emigrated to the United 
States in 1880, and had been in America four years when married. Mr. Winters 
came from Washington Co., Ind., to Illinois in 1847, and located at first in 
the township of Wysox, Carroll County, where he continued to reside until the 
fall of 1876, the date of his retirement from the life of a farmer, when he 
fixed his residence at Coleta. He is the owner of four dwellings at that 
place, and has 11 acres of land laid out in village lots. Mr. Winters is ah 
active member of the United Brethren Church, in which he has been a Class-
leader and Trustee. While a resident of Carroll County, he was active in the 
administration of local affairs. He was elected Assessor of the township of 
Genesee in 1884, and is now the incumbent of that position, which he has held 
since the date of his first election. He is an earnest and zealous Republican. 
Mr. Winters is of that type of man and citizen as demands, in the estimation 
of the community, a representation among the portraits of this volume; and it 
is accordingly given, on a page opposite the beginning of the foregoing sketch.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-
page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885.

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