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Audubon County
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THOMAS WINTERS, who may be numbered among the pioneer settlers of Audubon County, Iowa, was born in Yorkshire,
England, November 5, 1833. He is a son of John and Mary Winters, who emigrated to America when Thomas was one year
old; they landed on Long Island, where they were shipwrecked, having intended to land in New York City. They crossed
the Eastern States to Upper Canada, and stopped in Brantford, where they settled permanently and lived the remainder
of their days. The father was a shoemaker by trade. At the age of fifteen years Thomas left home to learn the carpenter's
trade, and served an apprenticeship of five years. After this period of time he worked as a journeyman on the tailroad
through Canada, building bridges on the Great Western. He then left the British dominion and caine to the United
States, spending two years in Michigan and one in Missouri; from Missouri he went to work on a farm in Mercer County,
Illinois, and remained there one year. In the year 1862, when there was a call for men to defend this country's
flag, he entered the army, enlisting in Company G, One Hundred and second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He remained
in Illinois some time; was then ordered south through Kentucky and Tennessee, and joined Sherman's army, participating
in the campaign from Nashville through to Savannah; then hack through the Carolinas on to Washington, D. C., where
he took part in the grand review. After being honorably discharged and receiving his pay he returned to his home
and engaged in agricultural pursuits for the three years following. In the fall of 1868 he removed with his family
to Audubon County, settling on what was known as the swamp land. The following spring he bought of the American
Swamp Land Company eighty acres of land on the Nishnabotna River, in what is now Viola Township; the county had
not been divided into townships at that time. Mr. Winters broke out his land and built a shanty, into which he
moved his family. He had no neighbors, and his nearest market-place was Glidden, Carroll County, Iowa, at a distance
requiring two days to make the trip. All the hardships met by pioneers were endured by Mr. Winters and his family.
The second winter they spent in Exira, returning to the farm in the spring. The farm is rich bottom land, finely
located, and well stocked with hogs and cattle of high grades. Being a carpenter by trade, Mr. Winters. built his
own home. the lumber for which was sawed at the mill of Nathaniel Hamlin, the first settler of the county. In 1861
Mr. Winters was married to Susanna Wheeler, a daughter of Caleb Wheeler; she was born in Ohio, but was a resident
of Mercer County, Illinois, at the time of her marriage. Eight children have been born to this union - Eva, Blanche,
Nora, Laura, Minnie, Mary, Lois and George. Little Eva died at the age of four years. Death again came into the
happy home and called away Lois, the youngest girl, a bright child of ten years. She died May 14, 1888. Mr. Winters
has represented his township as treasurer, and as school director. He is a member of the G. A. R. Politically he
affiliates with the Democratic party.
FROM:
Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties Iowa
W. S. Dunbar & Co., Publishers.
Chiago, 1889.
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