Amador
County
Biographies
PAUL JOHN WINTER
Paul
John Winter, who has followed ranching for many years on the old Winter homestead near Ione, belongs to one of Amador
County’s old pioneer families, the members of which have done their full part
in the development of this section of the valley. Mr. Winter was born on the ranch which he now
occupies, September 26, 1882, and is a son of Andrew and Elesa (Mahnke) Winter. The paternal
grandparents, with their five sons and three daughters, crossed the Atlantic
from Germany, and continued their way westward, by way of the Isthmus of
Panama, to California. After looking
over the country, the grandfather came to Ione and bought five parcels of land,
known as the Dorst place, which he developed into a
well improved and productive farm, and living there on until his death. Andrew, one of his five sons, lived on the
old place, which he operated until he retired from active business, when he
went to Sacramento, and there died in 1920, at the age of seventy-six
years. His wife, who was a native of
Hamburg, Germany, died in 1925. Of their
six children, five are living.
Paul
J. Winter received his early education in the local public schools, and after
completing the high school course he entered Stanford University, but completed
his education in the University of Illinois, from which he was graduated with
the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1910.
He then returned to the home ranch, of which he took active charge, his
father retiring at that time. He has
since carried on general farming, dairying and fruit raising
with marked success. He is methodical
and enterprising in his methods, thereby achieving very gratifying results, and
is numbered among the substantial farmers and public-spirited citizen of this
locality. Mr. Winter was united in
marriage to Miss Nina Cook, of Illinois, and they are the parents of a son,
Myron, who is a student in high school and assists his father during his spare
time. The Democratic Party receives Mr.
Winter’s support and he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Native Sons of the Golden West. He has ably sustained the prestige of the
family, which located in this section of the country before the coming of the
railroads—in fact, the Winter’s home became the
boarding house for the railroad construction crew of the first line that
entered the county. He is widely
acquainted and is highly respected by all who know him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 441-442. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies