Geo. M. Winkler one of Council's prominent business men, died Monday afternoon at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Will Donoho. The deceased was 63 years of age and had spent the winter in California and had stopped here to visit his daughter when taken worse with Brights Disease which was the cause of his death. The body was shipped to Council Monday evening for interment. (Payette Enterprise, Thursday, March 11, 1920)

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George M. Winkler

As the head of one of the most complete and extensive hardware establishments in Adams county, Idaho, George M. Winkler, of Council, is one of the prominent figures in the business world of this section. He began in a modest way, but he had a practical knowledge of just the kind of a stock that would prove most salable, for he had himself been engaged in farming and ranching for many years, and he also had the advantage of a wide acquaintance among the ranchers of Adams county, therefore with the growth of the county came the growth of his own business and it is now one of the leading concerns of its kind in the southern part of Idaho.

George M. Winkler was born in Jackson county, West Virginia, on the 25th of September, 1856. He is the son of George A. Winkler, who was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and was one of the earliest pioneers in Idaho, coming into the state in 1878. He made the journey across the plains with his teams and wagon and small stock of household goods, with little idea of what kind of a place he would find at his journey's end. He settled in Adams county, and in that same winter this county was divided and the section in which Mr. Winkler had settled became Washington county. Mr. Winkler and his family were the fourth white family to settle in this valley. He took up land and began its cultivation, eventually developing it into a fine farm, upon which he reared a large family. He died in November, 1902, and is buried in Council. He married Letitia Summerville, who was born in the state of West Virginia, and who died in Council, in 1892, at the age of sixty-five years. Of the five children born to Mr. Winkler and his wife, George M. was the eldest in the family. The others are Mark A.; William, who is the present sheriff of Adams county; Louis and James. George M. Winkler first attended school in West Virginia and then was at school in Arkansas for a time, finally completing his education in Missouri. After finishing his schooling he took up agriculture, working for his father for a time. When his father decided to remove to Idaho, he went also, being at that time twenty-two years old. Upon reaching the western state he followed his

father's example and took up land in the valley near the present site of the town of Council. This land he cultivated and improved until he had the reputation of owning one of the finest pieces of property in the valley and certainly one of the heaviest producers. He continued as an agriculturist, well known and highly respected throughout the county, not only for his success, but also for his character and personality. In 1909 he sold his property and moved into Council, where he established the hardware store now known as G. M. Winkler & Company. In a statement made in the Weiser Semi-Weekly Signal reference is made to the fact that the sales of hardware concerns may be taken as the true barometers of the prosperity of an essentially farming region, and that judging by the business transacted by G. M. Winkler & Company the growth and development of the surrounding country is indeed flourishing. G. M. Winkler and C. T. Doughty are the members of the firm, and they carry an extensive stock, embracing everything in the line of shelf and heavy hardware, building material, paints, oils and glass, agricultural implements, harness and saddles, in fact, everything that the farmer or rancher could desire in this line. They have a trade that is far-reaching and their reputation for honesty and fair dealing is prevalent all over the county.

Mr. Winkler is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a charter member of the Council lodge. In politics he is a member of the Democratic party.

On the 18th of April, 1878, Mr. Winkler was married to Miss Elisabeth Harp, at Barry county, Missouri. Eight children have been born of this union. The eldest, Alice, is now the wife of T. L. Hunt, having been born in Council, on September 29, 1879, and now living in San Francisco. She has two children. Agnes is now Mrs. Poynor, and lives in Council, one son, James, having been born to her in 1901. Artie married Mr. Donahue and has two children. Mary is Mrs. Anderson of Council and has one child, George, who was born in 1909. Ernest W. Winkler lives in Council. George A. Winkler, Jr., is attending school in Council, as are the other two sons, Charles and Henry. [History of Idaho: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People And Its Principal Interests, Volume 2, 1914 - Transcribed by Therman Kellar]