George Washington Winkler was one of my third great grandfathers.  He was born March 21, 1843 in Indiana, possibly in Greene County.  The identity of his parents is currently unconfirmed.  There are a few researchers who have linked him to Henry Winkler and Lucy Whitton, but I haven’t yet seen documentation confirming this and have doubts these are his parents.  In 1880, Harriet Murray, 15, is listed in his household as his half-sister.  Backtracking to 1870, Harriet is found with her parents Samuel and Sophia Murray, leading me to believe George’s mother’s name was Sophia.  Unfortunately, a maiden name has not been determined.  George’s whereabouts are unknown prior to his marriage to Josephine Lankford.  He did serve in the War Between the States in the 80th Regiment of the Indiana Infantry, Company C, along with many others scattered about the family tree.

Josephine and George were married in Wheatland in 1861.  They were blessed with the following children:

• Elisabeth Jane (1862-1926)
• Sarah Frances (1866-1936)
• Sophia (1868-1940)
• George (1871-?)
• Samuel (1872-1873)
• William (1874-1948)
• Charles (1877-1877)
• Clara Mae (1878-1969)
• Thomas (1880-1947)
• Bertha (1884-1961)
• Maude Nellie (1886-1956)

Sarah, who is my 2nd great grandmother, went on to marry Samuel T. DeMoss who became a prominent businessman in the Edwardsport area.

George lived most of his life in Edwardsport (Vigo Township).  After Josephine died in 1890, he married Katie Bean in Greene County on December 4, 1892.  That marriage didn’t last very long, although how it ended is not readily known since I cannot locate Katie anywhere else.  George then married Mary Emma (Watkins) Bartlett on June 26, 1894 in Knox County. Emma was born in Illinois, possibly Fayette County, about 1849.  She married Milton Bartlett in the late 1860’s and they moved to the Edwardsport area in the mid-1870’s.  He died sometime between 1885 and 1894.

George and Emma, along with several of his children and her youngest daughter Carrie, were residing in the Freelandville area (Widner Township) in 1900. George passed away on December 12, 1909 in Freelandville where he is supposed to be buried.  Mary Emma is listed in subsequent census rolls: 1910 in Widner Township, 1920 in Busseron Township, and 1930 in Oaktown on Hickory Street.  Since she is missing from the 1940 lists, it’s assumed that she died sometime during the 1930’s.

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Fayette County Illinois is west of Effingham.

Busseron Township is south of Oaktown, IN.