Person:Adam Winkler (4)

Letter from Ralph E. Winkler to Carl F. Lamar, 11-22-1987.

Pastor Arends (1740-1807) was a Lutheran minister who served many German communities in the Rowan County area of North Carolina. He served as pastor of Old St. Paul's Church, near Newton, NC, during 1785-1807, but made excursions into that area earlier.

His register (or diary) is preserved in the archives of the North Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church in Salisbury, as indicated in the lead section of "The Immigrant Thomas Winkler of Burke County, North Carolina and Possible Descendants", July 10, 1987.

This register includes confirmation lists of teenagers. The following list is perhaps such a confirmation list, and is quoted verbatim from the source journal:

"1783 South Fork (Old St. Paul's Catawba County)

Christoph Siegmann George Menegers Elizabetha Winkern John Adam Winkler Philip Steinwe Utill Bosten Henrich Siegmann Catharina Siegmann Anna Maria Kilian Michael Mouser Helena Antonen Maria Margaretha Bosten Philip Kilian Marlena Eslingern Catharina Hepnern Jacob Anton Anna Maria Eslingern Catharina Haussern Phillip Becker Marlena Mengersen Anna Eva Webern Jacob Becker Hanna Suhrmannen Maria Christina Webern Conrad Hahn Marlena Mullern Dorothea Siegmann Conrad Wagoner Gertraub Schellen Catharina Wagnern Christian Hahn Anna Maria Volbrechten Esther Siegmann Christian New Margaretha Volbrechten Anna Louwisa Steinwe Georg Lutz Hanna Siegmann Catharina Antonen Christian Scheufler Christina Teichlern Anna Maria Antonen

The second listed name is "John Adam Winkler." This is proba bly Adam Winkler, 1764-1844 who married Margaret Bost by 1787 and migrated to Kentucky during the approximate period 1797 - 1800. I have no knowledge of Adam using the name "John" in Kentucky. Adam did name his oldest son "John".) "Hans" is a German form of John. It is to be remembered that two of the Winklers of the ship Neptune, in 1753, were listed as Hans Domas (Thomas) Winckler and Hans Jacob Winckler. Was it customary for German males of the same family to use their father's, or ancestor's, first name (such as "Hans") in this manner? Neither Thomas Winkler nor Jacob Winkler of Old Burke County, NC were known to have used the first name "Hans" in that area. It is therefore possible that, in the name anglicization process, the name "Hans" or "John" was dropped from the names of Thomas, Jacob and Adam Winkler. Perhaps Rev. Arends listed Adam as "Hans Adam Winkler" in his journal, since it was probably written in German.

The first name in the third column, "Elizabetha Winkern" could possibly be for a sister of Adam.

The name immediately below her's is probably more correctly written as "Utilla Bost" (1764-1834), a future sister-in-law of Adam and an ancestor of genealogist Louis Barnard of Hickory, NC. Now look at the fourth listed name in the third column. Who do you suppose this is? Drop the "Maria" and the "en" from the surname, and we have Margaretha Bost. Assuming that this list contains our ancestors, Adam and Margaret Winkler, this is the earliest known recording of their acquaintanceship. It also makes it more possible that they may have been married at Old St. Paul's.

In a review of "The Heritage of Catawba County, NC", 1986, possibly identified the following among those listed above:

Christopher Sigmon, born Aug. 20, 1766 Katrina ? Sigmon, born Nov. 28, 1762 (sister of Christopher) Christian Hahn, born Oct. 27, 1765. He was born in a wagon adjacent to Clark's Creek, during his parent's migration to NC from PA.

It would appear that this was possibly an older group of church teenagers. Perhaps several marriages resulted from this and similar get-togethers at Old St. Paul's Church. At that time, Margaret Bost would have had no idea that in the 1790's she would accompany Adam Winkler on a long journey across the Appalachians to a new land known as Kentucky. During the same year of this church affair, the Treaty of Paris (ending the Revolutionary War) extended the boundary of the United States west to the Mississippi River.

Note: Louise Barnard recently informed me of her Bost ancestry. Regardless of what we later discover about Adam Winkler's parentage, Louise's reported Bost connection makes her a cousin of Adam Winkler's descendants. Welcome aboard, Louise!

Around 1812, Adam Winkler and his family settled near Owensboro, KY in what was then Ohio County. This area became Daviess County in 1815, when it was split off from Ohio County. Adam's home was near the Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Winkler-Mt. Zion Road, around three miles northwest of Knottsville. Adam was among the founders of this church, which was originally built on his land. The old home of Adam's Grandson, Hiram (and maybe Adam's son William) stood across Winkler-Mt. Zion Road from the church until the 1970's when it was razed by Hiram's grandson, Rupert Winkler, because of its deteriorated condition. This house had been converted from a log cabin to a frame house. In a letter to the writer, Randolph Meadows, Owensboro, KY, a great grandson of Hiram Winkler, recalled that an old cabin once stood across the road about 200-300 yards from this old Winkler home. This cabin may have been Adams' home. Randolph recalled that there was an old graveyard about 100 yards from this cabin with graves marked by sandstones. He said that the cabin and graves were in an area which has since been cleared, and is now an open field. Randolph further advised that when he was a small boy, his grandfather F. Monroe Winkler (a son of Hiram) showed him shere the cabin stood. There were still some signs of it. He feels that Adam's grave was in the old graveyard, but doesn't recall whether he was told who was buried there. The cabin site and old graveyard would be difficult to pinpoint now. Some of Adam's descendants remain in the general area.

Adam Winkler http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=08ba20f3-b805-4c66-b5c8-405afa92adc5&tid=7870267&pid=-1024170189

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree. (Name: Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;;)
   Database online.; Database online.; Database online.; Database online.

   Record for William W Winkler Record for Adam Winkler Record for Conradt Winkler Record for Margaret Bost

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for William W Winkler

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (2). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Adam Winkler

4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Adam Winkler

5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Conradt Winkler

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Margaret Bost