George Winters

One of the oldest and most prominent men of our county, namely, George Winters, was born on July 17, 1850 at Warsaw, Kentucky, to William Harvey and Elizabeth Winters who were of English and Welsh descent.  He has survived five brothers and three sisters, also his wife and two of his children.  He married Judith Long in 1870 and this union was blessed with five children; three of whom are now living.

He united with the Warsaw Christian Church in 1864 and has attended that church ever since.

His entire life has been spent in Warsaw.  At the age of 88 he is still interested in ball games and enjoys working with his flowers.

He recalled for the interview many incidents of the Civil War, the most interesting of these was the account of the barracks built in front of the Court House in which the soldiers were stationed.  The women and children of the town brought food to the soldiers,  Mr. Winters, although a small boy, came with some food, peeped through an opening, and one of the soldiers tossed a piece of wood at him and hit him in the nose, leaving splinters imbedded.  Recently a man who was traveling through Warsaw contacted Mr. Winters, recognized him as the soldier who threw the wood that hit Mr. Winters.

He also recalled the military wedding he attended about the close of the war, of Major Long and Anna Groves, which was performed in what is now the home of Mr. George Sisson.  After the war Mr. and MRs. Long moved to Michigan where they established schools for the Indians.

Mr. Winters remembers when Warsaw was but a village made up of several log cabins, one of which he called particular attention to was the house where Claude Bogardus now lives.  In this two story log house was born a Yates boy who later became Governor of Illinois.

His grandfather and father having been carpenters, he decided on carpentry as a trade at the early age of 13. His work was of good quality as everyone knows by the many buildings he built that still exist.  Examples are: the two old school buildings, post office, Mr. Mountjoy and Prior Perry's residences, the Morris Department Store, the Old Opera House.  Also he helped construct the Court House and many others in Warsaw now.

His daughter, Margaret, was a graduate of the first class of the old school building that her father built.

He can recall when the mail was carried between Warsaw and Frankfort on horseback by Mr. Bill White which took one week to deliver.

Mr. Winters was also a prominent undertaker for twenty-five years.  He happened s to have been the one who officiated at the funerals of both the grandmothers if the interviewer.

He had just returned home from an extended visit to Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York, which he enjoyed very much.

from the Gallatin County School News, October 10, 1938