The Winchell Family

Reuben Winchell in Nelsonville

Caroline Lazarus Winchell wife of Reuben

daughter of Hyman and Frances Secord Lazarus

Charles Winchell

Son of Reuben and Caroline

Father of Ethel and Callie Winchell

Callie and Ethel MayWinchell

From a Jobs, Ohio school group photo

Frances Parmelia Secord was born February 12, 1802, Townsend Twp., County Norfolk, Upper Canada. Her father, Peter Secord, Jr., moved to Morgan County, Ohio at the end of the War of 1812. Her mother, Sarah (Millard) Secord, is believed to have died around that same time. Frances married Hyman Lazarus there on January 11, 1826. They operated a store and saloon in Malta. Hyman died about February 25, 1851, in Malta, Ohio.

Caroline. born August 26, 1826, in Morgan County. Died Nov 12, 1899, in East Des Moines Township, Mahaska County, Iowa. Married Reuben Winchell, March 22, 1845, and lived for many years in Nelsonville.

Mary Aurilla, born May 16, 1832, in Morgan County, died March 10, 1895, in Nelsonville. She married Solomon Kontner, March 15, 1845, in Morgan County.

David William, born May 6, 1836, Morgan County, died June 20, 1917, South Zanesville, Ohio. He married Mary Magdalena Swingle, October 26, 1854, in Morgan County.

Peter Hyman, born Winter of 1839/1840, per Cadwell family Bible, or 1835/36 per guardianship document.

James E. Brannon, Jr., born August 25, 1840, Muskingum County; died March 1, 1904, Stockport, Ohio. He married Jane McKibben, March 12, 1857, Knox Twp., Vinton Co., Ohio

Robert Emmett Brannon, born March 25, 1843, in Muskingum County, died Dec 17, 1928, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Married Adeline E. Piickering, December 1, 1864, in Athens, Ohio. He was superintendent of the Chickamauga National Battlefield for many years.

Hyman Lazarus left Germany (possibly Bavaria) at the end of the Napoleonic era, as did many other young Jewish men. Hyman, however, was unique in that he was almost 50 years old when he emigrated. There is a family tradition from David William Lazarus, as related by Dorine White, that “Hyman came from Germany. The boat sank and many died. Another boat picked up the survivors. Hyman was slung over a barrel and the rocking revived him. They then called him Lazarus because they thought he’d come back from the dead. Hyman’s brother came looking for him later to find out what happened to him. He stayed a while and then sailed back home.” There is no documentation for this story.

Hyman became a peddler upon arrival in America, eventually settling in the new town of Malta, Morgan County, Ohio, where he purchased Lot 6 from Simion Pool for $30 (Deed Book A, page 18, June 2, 1819). He lived in Malta for the rest of his life:

“The first store [in Malta Township] was started in 1818 by Hyman Lazarus, a Jew, who had previously tramped about the country as a peddler. He had a small stock, but sold whiskey, bought ginseng, and made some show of business. He first had his goods in a room in the end of Young’s house, but afterward built a story and a half log house where A. W. Walker’s residence now [1886] is, where he continued in business for many years.”

Highman [sic] Lazarus obtained his first Morgan County license to vend goods in Malta during the 1821 term of the Common Pleas Court (Minute Book A, page 87, July 12, 1821).

There are numerous references to Hyman Lazarus in the history of Morgan County. Most are very condescending:

“The first mill in Malta was built by Isaac Baker on two flatboats [on the Muskingum River]... it is related that the first time Hyman Lazarus, the Jew, saw a steamboat on the river, he came to Baker on the run, his eyes wide with Astonishment, and shouted, ‘Mr. Baker! Mr. Baker! Your mill haf got loose, und he is coomin oop the river a-grindin’ like the Devil!”’

There are other references in the county history to the “Saloon of Lazarus, the Jew,” which was probably his primary source of income. There are numerous other references to Hyman Lazarus in the Morgan County court and land records:

June 8, 1822, he purchased 4 acres of land for $200 along the river in Malta from George and Lois Miller, Book A, page 164.

March 1, 1825, Peter Secord, Jr., Fanny’s father, married Margaret DeVore in Morgan County, Marriage Book A.

January 11, 1826, Hyman Lazarus and Frances Secord married in Morgan County, Marriage Book A.

December 7, 1826, Nancy Clemens was indicted in Morgan County for assault on Hyman and Frances Lazarus, Common Pleas Minute Book A, page 366.

1830: William Breeze and Lyman [sic] Lazarus traded lot 74 in Malta, (Book C, page 553), and Lot 7 (Book F, page 502).

November, 1831, Hyman and Fanny Lazarus were divorced, but probably continued to live together.

1832, John Pettit sold 80 acres on July 21 (Book D, page 603), and William and Laura Pettit sold Lot 21 and a house in Malta to Hyman Lazarus, Book D, page 604.

1836, Elizabeth Secord (daughter of Frances’ brother Peter S. Secord) married Aaron Kinney on September 1 in Morgan County, Marriage Book A. Aaron and Elizabeth Kinney lived in Columbia Twp., Wapello Co., Iowa, next to Peter S. and Phebe Secord, in 1860.

1842, Frances Parmelia (Secord) Lazarus and James Brannon (of Muskingum County) were married on September 18 in Muskingum County.

December 1843, Hyman Lazarus filed a suit against Alexander McConnel, founder of McConnelsville, Ohio, over a land deal.

1845, Hyman and Fanny’s oldest daughter, Caroline, married Reuben Winchell in Morgan County, Marriage Book B.

1849, Hyman Lazarus sold 83 acres in Section 23 to Milton Seaman, Book S, page 256.

1850, James and Frances Brannon were listed in the Federal census of Clay Township, Muskingum County (page 159) with Frances’ three children: David William, Mary Aurilla, and Peter Hyman Lazarus, and their two children, James and Robert Brannon. David William was also listed in the household of his guardian, Thomas Campbell, in Morgan County. Hyman Lazarus was listed in the Federal census of Malta Township, Morgan County, Ohio. He stated he was then 80 years old, was born in Germany, was occupied as a tailor, and owned real estate valued at $1,000.

1851, Hyman Lazarus died in Malta about February 25. There was no obituary in the Morgan County Herald, the local newspaper.

February 27, 1851, Reuben Winchell declined administering the estate and the court appointed D.B. Linn, an attorney in McConnelsville, as administrator. Thomas Campbell was appointed guardian of David William Lazarus, age 18, on the same date. Common Pleas Minute Book H, page 484, Special Session.

April 15, 1851, Peter Hyman Lazarus, age 15, chose James R. Jones as guardian. Minute Book I, page 228.

1851, April Term, Common Pleas Court, the children of Hyman Lazarus requested that D.B. Linn be removed as administrator, but the court refused.

1851, date unknown, David William and Peter Hyman Lazarus sued for the partition of property, claiming they were the sons of Hyman, and Mary Lazarus and Caroline (Mrs. Reuben) Winchell were also daughters of Hyman. Three men named McClain, Goodline, and Daniels were supposed to have bought Hyman’s land from Caroline and Reuben Winchell. The purchasers claimed that Caroline was the only legitimate heir. The court ordered the three purchasers to withdraw their title deeds filed in the case and to amend their petition. Common Pleas Minute Book D, page 460.

1853, A suit by the guardian of Peter H. Lazarus vs. Mary A. Lazarus, et.al. was filed regarding land sold and purchase money paid. The sheriff was to deliver the deed to the purchasers, then pay cost of the suit and lawyer fee of $15. One quarter of what was left was to go to the guardian of Peter, and one quarter to the guardian of David William. The remainder was to go to Alien Daniels, Jacob Goodline, and John McClain. Common Pleas Minute Book J, page 155, March 14, 1853.

1854, David William Lazarus and Mary Magdalena Swingle married, and Mary Aurilla Lazarus and Solomon Kontner married. Marriage Book C.

1860, James and Frances Brannon resided in Waterloo Township, near the village of Mineral, Athens County, Ohio. This was the same township to which Caroline (Lazarus) Winchell, Frances’ daughter, and her husband had moved in 1852.

Frances (or Fanny as she was called) did not have a happy marriage with James Brannon. James Brannon, Jr. was a lawyer and teacher, as well as an exceptional poet. A book of his poetry, Garnered Treasures, published after the Civil War, describes an unpleasant childhood experience in “The Drunkard’s Dying Child.” The poem speaks about his father, James E. Brannon, who was at a tavern getting drunk when James, Jr’s sister, Besse, was dying. It speaks of Fanny sitting at a window watching for James’ return and about “Baby Robert” crying.

The last known record of Frances is the 1870 census of Waterloo Township. It's not known when she died or where she is buried. This portrait of Frances is a Carte de Visite copy of a daguerreotype.

History of Morgan County, Charles Robertson, Chicago: W.H. Watkins & Co., 1886, pp. 343-45.

Land and tax records; probate court records; Common Pleas Court Minute Books, Morgan County, McConnelsville.

Index of the Records of the Supreme Court, Docket A 28, Record A 184, Hyman Lazarus vs.Fanny Lazarus. The actual divorce record no longer exists.

Welch, Richard Warren. The Assimilation of an Ethnic Group: The German-Jewish Peddlers in the Upper Ohio Valley, 1790-1840: A Study in Historical Geography. East Lansing: Master’s Thesis, Michigan State University, 1973.

                   Charles Winchell was the son of Reuben and Caroline Lazarus Winchell and was born December 28, 1862 in Waterloo Township, Athens county, Ohio. He married May 30, 1883 probably in Athens county. His wife was Kathryn "Kate" Saylor who was born August 17, 1886 in Nelsonville, Athens county (daughter of James and Hester Ann Kittsmiller Saylor), and died June 15, 1943 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. Kate was buried in Sunset Cemeter in Alton, Franklin County, Ohio. Charles died at the age of 40, September 30, 1903 in the Black Diamond Mine of Oskaloosa, Iowa. He is buried in the Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa.

Charles was a Coal miner/Shoeworker. He lived in Happy Hollow near Nelsonville, Ohio and in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa. Kate lived in Nelsonville from 1903 to 1914 and in Columbus, Ohio from 1914 to 1943. His religion was Methodist-Episcopal.

CHILDREN

George Edward was born March 18, 1885 in Nelsonville, Ohio and died August 16, 1960 in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He married Ella Ankeney. His nickname was "Ed" or "Curly".

Ethel May was born September 4, 1888 in Nelsonville and died October 5, 1909 in Bay City, Michigan. She married Willie Harden in Nelsonville July 25, 1906..

Callie Gay was born November 4, 1892 in Nelsonville, Ohio and died October 1, 1962 in Columbus, Ohio. She never married.

HISTORY

Charles Winchell and his brother, Reuben, hauled coal at the mines in Jobs
to help support the family after their father died in 1868. Charles was ten
years old when he began working in the mines where he was known by the
nickname Pinch. After their marriage in 1883, Charles and Kate lived in
Happy Hollow near Nelsonville. They were still living there on January 3,
1887, when Kate's mother filed a pension application which contains the only
known record of Charles and Kate's marriage. The family moved to Oskaloosa,
Iowa, about 1899 or 1900 where Charles went to work in the coal mines. He
was killed in an accident in the Black Diamond Mine at Oskaloosa on the
afternoon of Wednesday, September 30, 1903. He was a member of the
Methodist-Episcopal church and the Forester's Lodge in Oskaloosa.

Kate and her children returned to Nelsonville after Charles' death. Kate was
forced to take in laundry to support herself and her two daughters, Ethel
and Callie, and son, Ed. Ethel left the home in 1906 when she married Will
Harden. Ed would not work in coal mines, so he was unable to find a job in
Nelsonville. He returned to Oskaloosa to work for the railroad and never
returned to Ohio. He had two daughters: Shirley Ann and Eleanor. He later
won national horticultural awards for his peonies. It is not known when Kate
and Callie moved from Nelsonville to Columbus, but they were first listed in
the Columbus City Directory in 1914, living at 35 South Belle Street,
between West Broad Street and Rush Alley, on the west side and adjacent to
the Scioto River. Kate is listed as "Mrs. Cath" and Callie is listed as
"Caroline". The 1920 directory lists both Kate (widow of Chas.) and Callie
as shoeworkers. The 1923 directory shows that they had moved to 341 Rush
Alley, and Callie is listed as "Allie". They were not listed in the
directory again until 1928 when they are shown as living at 337 Rush Alley,
but it is probable that the house number had been changed rather than they
moved to a new house. Kate probably retired between 1930 and 1935, and in
1939 Callie is listed as being an employee of the Walker T. Dickerson Shoe
Company, 324-328 S. Front Street, Columbus, "manufacturers of women's fine
shoes". Some time between 1935 and 1939 Kate and Callie moved from Rush
Alley to a house behind them at 326 W. State Street and Kate probably died
at that house. Callie Winchell, of 326 W. State Street, gave permission on
November 4, 1945, for her friend, John Aughe, to be buried on her lot in
Sunset Cemetery. He and Callie were living at 187 E. Long Street, Columbus,
in 1951 when he died. He is buried on Kate's and Callie's cemetery lot.
Callie continued to live at 187 E. Long Street until her death in 1962. The
houses mentioned are no longer in existence and the block bounded by Belle
Street, Rush Alley, Starling Street, and State Street is now (1997) a vacant
lot inhabited by derelicts.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Obituary of Charles Winchell, Oskaloosa Daily Herald, Friday, October 2, 1903, and article about the coroner's inquest into the death of Charles Winchell, Oskaloosa Daily Herald, Thursday, October 1, 1903.

Obituaries of George Edward "Curly" Winchell, Oskaloosa Daily Herald, August
17/18, 1960.

Personal knowledge of John Williams, Nelsonville, Ohio, who worked in the
mines at Jobs with Charles Winchell, and of

Mrs. Myrtie (Saylor) Hanna.

Hester Ann Saylor's pension application, National Archives, WC393119.

Winchell, Newton H. and Alexander N., The Winchell Genealogy, 2nd Edition,
Minneapolis: Horace V. Winchell, 1917.

Polk's Directory, Columbus, Ohio, various editions.

Father of Charles Winchell: Reuben Winchell was born ca. 1818/1819, probably in what is now Waldo County, Maine. He married Caroline Lazarus March 22, 1845 in Morgan county, Ohio and died May 15, 1868 in Nelsonville, Athens county, Ohio where he is buried in the Nelsonville Fort Street Cemetery. Reuben was the son of William Winchell.

Mother of Charles Winchell: Caroline Lazarus was born August 26, 1826, in Malta Township, Morgan county, Ohio and she died at 8 pm, Sunday, November 12, 1899, EAst Des Moines Twp., Mahaska County, Iowa. She is buried in the "Old Cemetery" of the Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa (from funeral record). Caroline was the daughter of Hyman Lazarus and Frances Parmelia Secord. Her husband Reuben was a famer and he was "killed in the pursuit of his daily labor" per resolution of the F & AM Lodge at Nelsonville. Residences were Rokeby Lock, Morgan County, Ohio, 1850 Bloom Township, Morgan County 1845-1852; Waterloo Township, Athens county, Ohio 1852-1864; Nelsonville, Athens county after 1864. Caroline moved to East Des Moines Twp., Mahaska Co., Iowa prior to 1899.

They appear in the census records of 1850, 1860. 1870, 1880.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS of Charles Winchell:

Mary P. Winchell was born in Bloom twp., Morgan county, Feb 14, 1848, and she died January 22, 1849.

James William Henry was born Dec 12, 1848 in Bloom township. He married Jennie Spencer Sept. 9, 1887 in Jobs, Ward township, Hocking county, Ohio.

Samuel was born about 1852 in Morgan or Athens county, Ohio. He married Anna, and unknown. He died about 1903 in Columbus, Ohio.

Sophronia was born February 1, 1853 probably in Waterloo twp. Athens county, and died May 14, 1921. She was married to George Caldwell.

Margaret C. (Maggie)   was born ca. 1855, in Feb 17, 1874, Waterloo Twp., Athens Co., Ohio she married John W. Mitchell see webpage http://www.ohgen.net/ohathens/GideonDMitchell.htm Maggie died before 1900 in Jobs, Ohio because John is listed as a widow living in Jobs with their children, Edward Mitchell, Rosa L. Mitchell and Golda Mae Mitchell. In the early 1900's Rosa married John W. Davis of Glouster, Ohio. Edward married Cassie Loper. Golda died young.

Postcard to Mrs. Annettie Nutter from her brother John Mitchell , March 6, 1888: "Well brother and sister, I will inform you of my bad luck. I got my hand mashed December 1 and never worked until March 1. And on the first day of February my wife had a stroke of paralysis in her right side and she lays here yet helpless and can't talk. I tell you I playced in a bad fix but didn't know where to direct until Mr. Nutter's brother came to work on Jobs New Hopper and gave me the number. Bill and me work together at Job's mine. Bill's folks is all well. I guess Amos lives in Nelsonville. So goodbye and write soon. Yours respectfully John W. Mitchell, Brashears, Ohio Hocking county." (Postcard in possession of Nutter descendant 2001)

Sarah "Sadie" Brooks  was born    August 10, 1856 and died November 1, 1902 in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa. . She was married May 5, 1874 to David Sullivan in Nelsonville, Ohio.

Reuben was born August 12, 1860, married April 9, 1882 in Athens county, Ohio to Nancy Jane McKibben
and he died August 11, 1924   in Oskaloosa, Mahaska county, Iowa.

HISTORY

Reuben Winchell moved from Maine to Randolph Township, Portage County, Ohio
before 1845 with his uncles Hiram and Azariah Winchell. Reuben's brother,
Hiram, also moved to Ohio and was raised by his uncle Hiram. Hiram, Azariah
and Reuben later moved to Bloom Township, Morgan County, Ohio. It was
here that Reuben met and married Caroline Lazarus. Reuben and Caroline lived
in Bloom Township near the village of Rokeby from the time of their marriage
in 1845, until June 22, 1852, when they bought 180 acres in section 33 of
Waterloo Township, Athens County, near the village of Mineral. They sold the
farm in April 1854 and moved to Nelsonville where they bought parts of lots
13 and 28. Reuben' s nephew, John G. Farrington, son of Mary
(Winchell) Farrington, lived with Reuben and Caroline in 1860. John G. was
then 9 years old and was born in Massachusetts. Reuben and Caroline sold
lots 13 and 28 in November 1866 to Solomon Kontner, Caroline's
brother-in-law, in exchange for lot 77 in Nelsonville.

Reuben Winchell was a member of both the Odd Fellows and the Masons in
Nelsonville. He was initiated in the Entered Apprentice degree of the
Philodorian Lodge 157, F&AM on April 15, 1867. He passed to the degree of
Fellowcraft on April 29, 1867, and was raised to the degree of MasterMason
on May 15,1867. At the regular meeting on November 14, 1867, he was elected
to the office of tyler for the coming year and served in that office until
his death on Friday, May 15, 1868. The following is an excerpt from the
minutes of the May 17, 1868 meeting of the Masons:

"The chair announces the death of brother Reuben Winchell, Tyler of this
lodge, which occurred on Friday evening, May 15th, instant, from injuries
received accidentally on the 14th while pursuing his daily labor..."

Caroline sold lot 77 on March 16, 1883, to Frank Allen in exchange for an
acre on the road from Happy Hollow to Buchtel to the east of Nelsonville in
section 5 of York Township. She moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa a few years later
to live with her daughters. She died at the home of her daughter, Sadie
Sullivan, in East Des Moines Township, Mahaska County in 1899 and was buried
in the "Old Cemetery" in Oskaloosa according to her death certificate.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Caroline Winchell's obituary in the Daily Evening Herald, Wednesday,
November 15, 1899.

Minutes/records of Philodorian Lodge 157, F&AM, Nelsonville, Ohio.

Land records, Athens County Recorder, Athens.

Census returns from Athens, Morgan, and Portage Counties, Ohio.

Gravestone inscriptions in Fort Street Cemetery, Nelsonville.

Winchell, Newton H. and Alexander N. The Winchell Genealogy, 2nd Edition,
Minneapolis: Horace V. Winchell, 1917.