Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-George Winsworth
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
GEORGE WINSWORTH. By a happy dispensation
of Providence, one portion of a
community is interested in its moral, educational
and religious welfare and another portion
looks after its business and industrial resources, all
of equal importance, and none of which can be
neglected in order to the good of the whole. The
subject of this notice, a man possessed largely of a
kind and benevolent disposition, is one of those
men naturally looking after the schools, churches
and other enterprises tending to elevate society.
He has been a member in good standing of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, together with his estimable
wife, for a period of more than fifty years
during which time he has labored actively as Class-Leader,
Steward and Superintendent of the Sunday school.
He has uniformly been the friend of education,
being most of the time a member of the
School Board and always taking an interest in the
mental and moral progress of the young. Since
becoming a resident of Goshen Township he has
held the office of Justice of the Peace and was the
first Road Overseer in his district. There are few
worthy enterprises which have not received hi
cordial endorsement and his more substantial aid.
His career in fact has been that of an honest man
and a good citizen who enjoys in a marked degree
the esteem and confidence of those around him.
He also bears the distinction of being one of the
earliest pioneers of Clay County.
A native of Northamptonshire, England, our
subject was born Jan. 18, 1821, and when a boy of
nine years crossed the Atlantic with his parents,
George and Rhoda (Heighton) Winsworth. For
two years thereafter they lived in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, Pa., and then removed to Columbiana
County, Ohio, where the school days of their son
George were chiefly spent. The family was in
limited circumstances, living upon rented land, and
sometimes the father would work out by the day
as a farm laborer. George assisted his father in
summer and attended the district school in winter,
and when of suitable years began learning the carpenter's
trade at which he worked until 1864.
The father spent his last days in Ohio, the mother
died in Wisconsin.
In 1864 Mr. Winsworth met with an accident by
the falling of a scaffold, which resulted in the loss
of his right leg and he was then obliged to abandon
his business of carpenter and builder. Before
leaving Ohio he was married in September, 1848,
to Miss Anna E., daughter of John and Ann
Grimesey. This lady was born in Ireland and
came to America with her parents when a child.
The year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Winsworth
removed to Grant County, Wis., where our
subject followed his trade until 1864 and occupied
his farm there until the fall of 1869. His next
removal was to Clay County, Kan., when he homesteaded
160 acres of land comprising his present
farm.
When taking possession of his property Mr.
Winsworth beheld around him an open prairie on
which there was not a tree or a shrub, merely long,
prairie grass through which Indians were occasionally
seen threading their way on hunting tours,
while deer, wild turkeys and antelope were plentiful.
The nearest mill was at Clay Center where he did
most of his trading. He went to Manhattan for
his lumber and farm implements. His first dwelling was
a hewed log house. When he took up his
homestead he had less than $15 in money, but was
owner of a team and plow. The outlook was anything
hut cheerful, but he was not a man to give
way to discouragement, and set about the task
before him with characteristic energy. The result
is that he now has a finely cultivated farm, enclosed
with good fencing and embellished with comfortable
buildings. He has an orchard of about 250
apple trees and six acres of timber from which he
gathers his fuel and obtains his building lumber.
The following children were born to our subject,
and his estimable wife, the eldest being Mary,
now the wife of James Horesfall and whose eldest
daughter, Mattie, was married Oct. 9, 1889.
John lives in Clay Center, George lives in Texas.
William C. is at home with his parents. Rhoda,
the third child, is the wife of Wakefield Newton
and they live in Goshen Township. At the second
birth there were triplets who died in infancy.
While a resident of Wisconsin Mr. Winsworth held
the office of Justice of the Peace several years and
Township Treasurer four years. He is a man who
has always enjoyed the esteem and confidence of
those who knew him, and is of that kindly and
genial disposition which draws around him warm
friends wherever he goes.
As a representative of the homes of Clay County,
we present a lithographic view of the residence of
our subject, who is justly proud of his cozy home.