WILLIAM WININGS
THE subject of the following sketch is one of the oldest settlers and prominent men of Moultrie county. The ancestry of the family is German on the paternal side, and Welsh on the maternal. There were three brothers who left Germany and came to Ame
rica prior to the Revolutionary war. From them the Winings have sprung. The name in the course of time became slightly changed. Ross Winans, of Baltimore, the millionaire inventor of the steamship, and builder of the great Russian railroads, was a direct
decendant from one of these three German emigrants. John, the grandfather of William Winings, was the youngest of these three brothers, and was but six years of age when he came to America. He grew to manhood here, took part in the Revolutionary war, and
hauled supplies and provisions for the patriot forces. He was a man of large frame, possessed of great strength and powers of endurance, and lived to the great age of one hundred and one years. He drifted into Western Pennsylvania, and there made his home
until 1818, when he removed to Dearborn county, Indiana, and remained there until his death. He married Elizabeth Ryder, who was of German parentage, and a native of Maryland. She died in Indiana, at the great age of one hundred and three years. Her fath
er and two sons were soldiers of the Revolution, and the latter lost their lives in defense of their country. By this union was Abraham, the father of the subject of this biography. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1804, and was in his fourteenth year when
his father moved to Indiana. He followed farming in the summer, and in the winter the flat boating and coasting trade down the Ohio river. In 1852, he came to Illinois, and the first year stopped in
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Sangamon county, then removed to Macon county, where he died in 1870. He married Sarah Ricketts. She died in Macon county, in 1862, in her fifty-fourth year. She was descended from a Welsh family. Her father, Robert Ricketts, was also a soldier of the Rev
olution, first a substitute, and afterwards enlisted and served until the close of the struggle. By this latter marriage there were four children, two sons and two daughters. William is the eldest of the children. He was born in Ohio county, Indiana, July
24, 1825. He received but a limited education in the schools of his native state. This has, however, been much improved in later years by self-culture, and he is now well posted upon current events and transacts all kinds of business in a businesslike ma
nner. He remained in Indiana at work upon the farm and in farming until the fall of 1852, when he moved to Macon county, Illinois, and remained there until 1857, when he purchased a quarter section of land in Section 11, T. 15, R. 4 E., upon a part of whi
ch the town of Lake City is now built. It was raw, unimproved land, and all the improvements have been made by him. He may be regarded as the first settler of the town, as the first house erected was upon his land. On the 25th of December, 1846, he marrie
d Miss Nancy Jane Chamberlin, a native of Ohio county, Indiana. Her father was a Virginian. Her mother's maiden name was Lucretia Cheek, daughter of Page Cheek, who died in 1832, from cholera. There have been born to William and Nancy J. Winings three chi
ldren, two sons and one daughter. Their names in the order of their birth are: Secreta J., Wilson W. and Scott Winings. Mr. Winings is not a member of any religious denomination, but in belief is liberal, with a strong tendency to Universalism. Politicall
y he has been a democrat since 1848. In 1872, he espoused the cause of the Grangers, which developed into the National Greenback party, and if their principles could gain control and shape the laws he would gladly vote that ticket. In his township he has
been frequently elected to offices of trust. He was for two terms elected justice of the peace, and served out a part of another term caused by a vacancy, holding the office for nearly ten years. He was also school treasurer for ten years, and at present
is town treasurer and clerk of tbe board of commissioners. While these offices do not carry with them large trusts, they serve to show in what estimation he is held by his friends and neighbors, with whom he has lived and associated for nearly a quarter o
f a century. In 1880, he engaged in the grain trade, and at the present time is one of the largest shippers in Lake City. He has a large elevator, and handles large quantities of grain annually.
GEORGE MORROW (DECEASED)
WAS born in Ireland in 1829. He came to America, when he was in his fifteenth year. He settled in Pickaway county, Ohio, and remained there until 1861, when he came to Illinois, and settled in Lovington township, in Moultrie county. In 1866, he pur
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Dora township. He improved it and remained on it until his death, Aug. 15th, 1879. He died from that dreaded disease, consumption, after an illness of nearly four years. He married Anna J. Whitman of Pickaway
county. He died November 25th, 1867. By this marriage there are four children living, named Eliza Jane, Mary, Ellen, Melinda and Anna Belle Morrow. On the 8th of November, 1868, he married Mrs. Anna E. Vent, widow of William Vent, who died November 4th,
1867. Her maiden name was Michaels. She was born in Ross county, Ohio, April 6th, 1834. Her parents were Hamleton and Martha Michaels; her father a native of Delaware, and her mother, whose maiden name was Braggs, was of Virginia. Mrs. Morrow married Will
iam Vent April 2d, 1857, by whom there was one child, a daughter, named Ida D., now the wife of Martin L. Wheeler. By the latter marriage of Mr. Morrow, there were two children, named Robert H., and George W. Morrow. Mr. Morrow was in his life a believer
in Universalism. His parents were Cumberland Presbyterians. He was a kind husband and an affectionate father, and was much respected in the community, where he lived for many years.
