Around 50 members of the Wintle family, including a recently found cousin from England, gathered in mid-June for a reunion in Pittsburg.
They toured local areas of interest to the family, and also had a gathering and dinner at the First Christian Church with music, viewing of memorabilia and the recording of an oral history.
“Pittsburg has been the core of this family for many, many years,” said James Wintle, who grew up in Pittsburg and earned a music degree from Pittsburg State University. A longtime faculty member at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he is now an internationally known composer.
Walter Wintle emigrated from England to the United States at the age of 17, settled in southeast Kansas and married Jennie Stanley.
“In 1907 they built a house at 13th and Rouse in Pittsburg,” Wintle said. “I was raised in that house.”
The couple had seven sons and a daughter, according to Harriett Wintle Neer, who now lives in Arkansas. They were Charles, Tom, Walter, Alfred, Fred, Jack and twins Hazel and Harry. Neer is the daughter of Harry Wintle.
“The family mostly lived in and around the Pittsburg area, and they were a strong, working-class family,” Neer said. “Charles owned and operated a filling station on East Seventh, Walter and his wife Edna had a corner grocery store for many years at Fourth and Fairview, Fred spent most of his working years in mining, while Alfred worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad and lived in Nevada, Mo.”
Her father was a machinist and also worked in the mines, but spent many times with the Kansas City Southern Railroad, as did his brother Jack. Jack Wintle, father of James Wintle, was also a master carpenter who made grandfather clocks and crafted many of the intricately designed furnishings of the First Christian Church sanctuary.
Wintle, her cousin, wasn’t the only musical member of the family.
“Hazel was an accomplished pianist and organist, and her brothers may be remembered for their barbershop singing,” Neer said. “This was not only a staple at the regular Sunday evening gatherings at Grandma’s, but in the 1940s and early 1950s they performed for local talent shows and school functions.”
The family continued to distinguish itself in later generations. Charles Wintle’s son, Jack Wintle, attended Pittsburg schools and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.
“A decorated war hero, he was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal,” Neer said. “He was featured some years ago in ‘The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal,’ a National Geographic special on PBS.”
Other family members include Barbara Pistole, Pittsburg, now retired after teaching at George Nettels Elementary School for many years; Bill Wintle, Pittsburg, retired educator and administrator in Erie and Iola; and Mary Wintle, lifetime Pittsburg area resident who was a longtime medical assistant for Dr. Paul Leffler and Dr. Clarence Erickson and also served the First Christian Church as an elder, board member and 50-year Sunday school teacher.
Neer, who majored in journalism in college, worked a couple of summers and part-time at the Pittsburg Headlight-Sun. She was mainly a proofreader, but also did a few photo assignments for the late Harold O. Taylor, known to his readers as the “Horse Editor.”
“As you might imagine, I was duly respectful of Mr. Fred Brinkerhoff,” Neer added, referring to the longtime, legendary newspaper publisher.
Special guests for the reunion were Anne Turner and her husband, Russ, Sheffield, England. An avid genealogist, she and James Wintle recently got in touch online.
In a telephone interview, Turner said that she started researching her family roots in 1997.
“It took me 10 years to track down my grandfather,” she said. “The name had been put down as ‘Winkle’ instead of Wintle.”
Turner had never visited in Kansas before, but has been in New York and Florida.
“I went to Battery Park and I stood on the spot where the Wintles would have arrived in America in 1882,” she said.
She has enjoyed meeting her American cousins.
“My husband says we’ve been treated like royalty,” Turner said.
The new family ties will continue, James Wintle said.
“In July my daughter and I are going to the United Kingdom, and we’ll meet Anne and her husband again,” he said.
|
|
|
Around 50 members of the Wintle family, including a recently found cousin from England, gathered in mid-June for a reunion in Pittsburg.
They toured local areas of interest to the family, and also had a gathering and dinner at the First Christian Church with music, viewing of memorabilia and the recording of an oral history.
“Pittsburg has been the core of this family for many, many years,” said James Wintle, who grew up in Pittsburg and earned a music degree from Pittsburg State University. A longtime faculty member at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he is now an internationally known composer.
Walter Wintle emigrated from England to the United States at the age of 17, settled in southeast Kansas and married Jennie Stanley.
“In 1907 they built a house at 13th and Rouse in Pittsburg,” Wintle said. “I was raised in that house.”
The couple had seven sons and a daughter, according to Harriett Wintle Neer, who now lives in Arkansas. They were Charles, Tom, Walter, Alfred, Fred, Jack and twins Hazel and Harry. Neer is the daughter of Harry Wintle.
“The family mostly lived in and around the Pittsburg area, and they were a strong, working-class family,” Neer said. “Charles owned and operated a filling station on East Seventh, Walter and his wife Edna had a corner grocery store for many years at Fourth and Fairview, Fred spent most of his working years in mining, while Alfred worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad and lived in Nevada, Mo.”
Her father was a machinist and also worked in the mines, but spent many times with the Kansas City Southern Railroad, as did his brother Jack. Jack Wintle, father of James Wintle, was also a master carpenter who made grandfather clocks and crafted many of the intricately designed furnishings of the First Christian Church sanctuary.
Wintle, her cousin, wasn’t the only musical member of the family.
“Hazel was an accomplished pianist and organist, and her brothers may be remembered for their barbershop singing,” Neer said. “This was not only a staple at the regular Sunday evening gatherings at Grandma’s, but in the 1940s and early 1950s they performed for local talent shows and school functions.”
The family continued to distinguish itself in later generations. Charles Wintle’s son, Jack Wintle, attended Pittsburg schools and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.
“A decorated war hero, he was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal,” Neer said. “He was featured some years ago in ‘The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal,’ a National Geographic special on PBS.”
Other family members include Barbara Pistole, Pittsburg, now retired after teaching at George Nettels Elementary School for many years; Bill Wintle, Pittsburg, retired educator and administrator in Erie and Iola; and Mary Wintle, lifetime Pittsburg area resident who was a longtime medical assistant for Dr. Paul Leffler and Dr. Clarence Erickson and also served the First Christian Church as an elder, board member and 50-year Sunday school teacher.
Neer, who majored in journalism in college, worked a couple of summers and part-time at the Pittsburg Headlight-Sun. She was mainly a proofreader, but also did a few photo assignments for the late Harold O. Taylor, known to his readers as the “Horse Editor.”
“As you might imagine, I was duly respectful of Mr. Fred Brinkerhoff,” Neer added, referring to the longtime, legendary newspaper publisher.
Special guests for the reunion were Anne Turner and her husband, Russ, Sheffield, England. An avid genealogist, she and James Wintle recently got in touch online.
In a telephone interview, Turner said that she started researching her family roots in 1997.
“It took me 10 years to track down my grandfather,” she said. “The name had been put down as ‘Winkle’ instead of Wintle.”
Turner had never visited in Kansas before, but has been in New York and Florida.
“I went to Battery Park and I stood on the spot where the Wintles would have arrived in America in 1882,” she said.
She has enjoyed meeting her American cousins.
“My husband says we’ve been treated like royalty,” Turner said.
The new family ties will continue, James Wintle said.
“In July my daughter and I are going to the United Kingdom, and we’ll meet Anne and her husband again,” he said.
