Biographical Sketch of Judge J. C. Wingfield, Johnson County, Missouri, >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** Judge J. C. Wingfield, ex-judge of the county court of Johnson county, Missouri, is a son of one of the old pioneers and a member of one of the first families of Johnson county. He was born in a little log cabin, having one room below, 18x18 feet in dimensions, and a "loft" above, which his father had built in 1848. Judge Wingfield was born in 1858, the son of J. C. and Mary R. Wingfield. J. C. Wingfield was a son of William Wingfield, a native Virginian, who came to Missouri in 1835 and entered a large tract of land from the government. J. C. Wingfield engaged almost entirely in farming, for in the early days stock raising was not profitable, there being no good markets, as there are at the present time. He was a capable, industrious, intell- igent agriculturist and his efforts were rewarded with a fine degree of success, for he was the owner at one time of more than 550 acres of the choicest farm land in the state. In the latter part of life, he engaged more and more in the stock business. His death occurred in 1870. After the death of his father in 1870, J. C. Wingfield, with his brother, Newton, assumed charge of the farm in Johnson county. When Judge Wingfield was a lad, one might travel miles in Johnson county and never see a settlement. Those were the haleyon days of the cattlemen, for stock had unlimited range over the wide, unfenced prairie. He attended a "subscription school," which was held in the old Highpoint log church, where "Uncle Billy" Caldwell used to preach, and where Miss Sally Coleman taught school. He recalls seeing hun- dreds of wild turkeys, as he looked out the church window, when at school. Families came to church in wagons, drawn by oxen. The first buggy, which was ever seen in this section of the country, was brought here in 1875 and was regarded as a curiosity. There was little that one would call cozy or comfortable about the log cabin, in which Judge Wingfield was born and reared. When it snowed, one could track the family as they had moved about the room. There was one beautiful feature about the home and that was the open fire. The fireplace was immense and great logs could be burned in it, which would crackle and snap during the long winter evenings and fill the rude, unfinished room with bright, rosy heat. By the fireside the mother would sit with her knitting, spinning, or quilting while the father read his bible or smoked his pipe and sometimes as the fire blazed, story tell- ing helped to while away the evening hours. The fireplace would accommodate a backlog five or six feet long and was large enough for roasting an entire sheep. Of course, all food was cooked at this open fire. Over it swung a great iron crane, on which kettles could be swung. The mother had a large iron skillet with legs and heavy lid in which she baked bread by placing coals on the lid and under the skillet. Sometimes she made "Johnny Cake," which was corn bread baked on a board, set up close to the fire until one side was done and then turned to let the other side bake. No one ever ate food which seemed so good as that cooked before the fire. The fire was not permitted to go out, but at night the coals would be covered with ashes, for it was no easy matter to start a fire, which had to be done with flint. Matches were not to be had, when Judge Wingfield was a lad. All the clothing was made in the Wingfield home by the mother, who carded the wool, spun, wove, colored, and fashioned it into clothing for the entire family. Mr. Wingfield took a wagon load of bacon to Warsaw, Missouri, and sold the bacon for two and a half cents a pound in order to buy a cookstove, for which he paid twenty-eight dollars. In 1883, J. C. Wingfield was united in marriage with Viola Herndon, the daugh- ter of James and Sarah Herndon, pioneer settlers of Missouri. To J. C. and Viola (Herndon) Wingfield have been born three sons: Newton, who resides at Baker City, Oregon; Stanley and Clinton. Judge Wing- field is the owner of 500 acres of splendid land in Johnson county, and some valuable farm land in Oklahoma. He is engaged in both farm- ing and stock raising, having adopted the policy of planting corn each alternate year, devoting the land to pasture during the intervals, so that he is constantly building up the fertility of his soil and the Wingfield farm is growing better every year. He has learned from ex- perience that wheat and oats crops have not paid and he is of the opinion held by all the best informed agriculturists, that it is foolish in Missouri to attempt to compete with other states in the growing of these crops, when there are other products as valuable, which can better be raised in this section of the country. J. C. Wingfield was elected judge of the county court in Johnson county in 1894. His name is carved on the tablet stone in the Warrensburg court house as one of the builders and as a member of the court at that time. He is and has always been one of Johnson county's most highly valued citizens. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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