Individual Details

in 1861, the Civil War began and Schuyler County, Missouri, was much affected by it. A group called the Putnam County Militia, a renegade band of so-called home guards pillaged the countryside. Putnam was the next county west of Schuyler County. One day in 1861, Henry was using a horse that belonged to his maternal grandmother, Lydia (Asbell) Bennett. He was going to the mill in a place called Ft. Matson/Madison, Missouri, just over the county line south of Schuyler in Adair County. This had been an old fort built to guard against Indians during the Black Hawk Indian Wars. The fort was named for the commandant, Capt. Richard Matson, but the name of this community was later changed to Ft. Madison. In later years, a church and cemetery were erected on this site. Exactly where the mill was located is not known at this time. The only information passed down through family members was that Henry was either on his way to or on his way home from the mill at Ft. Madison when he encountered the Putnam County Militia.

The militia men demanded that Henry turn over his horse in the name of the war effort. Henry refused, and they shot and killed him, and took his horse anyway. Since Henry's exact birthdate is not known, he would have been between 17 and 19 years of age at this time, depended upon which census one believes for his age.

Needless to say, the family was not only saddened but also angered by this senseless killing of a mere boy. Family lore has it that one of Henry's maternal uncles, Ezekiel Bennettt, Jr., son of Lydia (Asbell) Bennett, went to Putnam County, found his mother's horse, retrieved it from the militia man's pasture, and rode off on that horse to join the Confederate Army. That horse survived the war and Ezekiel rode it to see one of his older brothers, Amos Bennett, in Arkansas, after his time served in the war, then rode it back to Missouri.

My great grandmother was, of course, one of those great affected by Henry Harrison Winkler's death. Many years later, I was to find in her trunk, a piece of paper on which she had sewn a lock of Henry's hair. Written on the paper were these words, "Killed in time of Civil War, Henry Harrison Winkler, his hair." Also included was a kind of poem with some spelling errors which read, "O bless the mity [mighty] King of heaven, and all his wonderous works be lore, throughout the day the victory was given, upon the bank of the Ohio."

- Written by Blytha (Dennis) Ellis, distant cousin to Henry.

Birth	1842	Schuyler County, Missouri
Death	1861	Schuyler County, Missouri

Father	Henry Winkler (1819 - 1877)
Mother	Orvella "Arvalee" Asbell (1818 - 1877)
Sibling	Charity A. Winkler (1840 - )
Sibling	James W. Winkler (1844 - 1920)
Sibling	John T. Winkler (1846 - )
Sibling	Louisa Winkler (1850 - 1931)
Sibling	Sarah Winkler (1850 - 1917)
Sibling	Martha J. Winkler (1853 - )
Sibling	Margaret S. Winkler (1856 - )
Sibling	Mary C. "Mollie" Winkler (1858 - )
Sibling	Nancy S. Winkler (1859 - )
Sibling	Lydia Suminna Winkler (1863 - 1948)