My Genealogy Hound

CAPT. AMAZIAH WINGER is the efficient Superintendent of the Superior Drill Company, of Springfield, and to his wise management and careful supervision of his employers’ interests it is greatly indebted for its continued prosperity. He is a veteran of the late war, a fine type of the citizen-soldiers of our Republic who went forth from pleasant homes to do battle for their country’s honor, and he in so doing won a noble military record that reflects credit on his county and State, and is one of which he and his may well be proud.

The Captain comes of a long line of honorable ancestry, and from a history of the Winger family, compiled by the Hon. B. F. Winger, of Greencastle, Pa., we extract the following: “The founder of the family in America was Karl Michael Wenger, who emigrated from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1736, and settled on Groff’s Run, north of Bareville, now Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa. He bought a tract of land from the original proprietor, the title of which still remains in the hands of a lineal descendant of the same name as himself, and the chain of title from William Penn down shows no break in the Winger blood. His son, Jacob Wenger, grandfather of our subject, was born in 1783, and he changed the family name from Wenger to Winger, and his descendants adhere to that spelling. As far as known, he spent his entire life in his native county. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Weaver, and it is also supposed that she spent her entire life in Pennsylvania.

Jacob Winger, the father of our subject, was born in Lancaster County, Pa., August 6, 1810. He learned the trade of a carpenter and followed it in that county until the year 1837, when, accompanied by his wife and two children, he emigrated to the State of Ohio, making the journey with a team. He located in Springfield, among its early settlers, and as his means were limited at that time, he rented a house, but not long after was enabled to buy a home. He was a man of much enterprise and a great worker, and made money sufficient to buy a farm in 1843, located one mile east of Springfield on the National pike, he resided there and carried on his trade and superintended its improvement until 1850, when he sold that place and retired to the city, and in 1852, in company with William Whitely and others, he erected a shop on the corner of Washington and Limestone Streets, and engaged in car building, and then conducted the manufacture of agricultural implements, the firm manufacturing the first reapers ever made here. Mr. Winger finally resumed house building, and was thus actively engaged until 1869, when failing health compelled him to retire from business. He died in the home of his son-in-law, in May, 1886, and thus passed away another pioneer who had ever been prominent in advancing the industrial interests of city and county for a period of nearly fifty years. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Trout. She was born in Lancaster County, Pa., and now makes her home with our subject. Of her ten children, six are now living, namely: Amaziah; Kate A., wife of Charles S. Ramsey, of Cheboygan, Mich.; Hannah, wife of John Sites, of Columbus, this State; George W., living in Springfield; John M., a resident of Springfield; Mary, wife of Theodore Troupe, of Springfield. Three of her children died in infancy. Her son, Hezekiah, sacrificed his life on the altar of his country, having been an officer in the army during the late war. He was born in 1839 and was reared in Springfield, and early learned the trade of a carpenter. On the first call for troops, when the Rebellion broke out he was among the first to spring to arms, enlisted in Company F, Second Ohio Regiment, going out in the first company that went from Springfield, and took part in the first battle of Bull Run. He was honorably discharged with his regiment after the expiration of his term of enlistment. He soon after assisted in raising Company I, Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant, served three years, then veteranized in the Eighth Cavalry and was promoted to the captaincy of his company. He was wounded while fighting bravely at the battle of Lynchburg, Va., and from the effects of that wound never recovered, his death occurring in February, 1866. Thus died one whose gallant heart had beaten with true patriotism, and had led him to sacrifice even life itself for the old flag. The poet says: “he who for country dies, dies not, but lives forevermore.”

The subject of this biographical sketch was born in Lancaster County., Pa., September 13, 1835, and was two years of age when he was brought to this State. He attended the public schools in Springfield quite steadily until he was eighteen years of age, and being studious, he gained a sound education. At that age he commenced to work in a lumber yard, and was thus employed until 1860, and then engaged in the lumber business for himself, and continued in it until 1862. He had been watching the course of the war with intense interest, and he determined to take part in it, and setting up his business affairs, he enlisted in June, 1862, in Company A, Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry, commanded by Gen. Todd, and he did gallant service throughout the remainder of the Rebellion. The most important battles in which he took an active part were those at Perryville, Stone River, Chicamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, and in the battles along the way when he accompanied Sherman on his march to Atlanta, and the siege and capture of that city. From there he went, with his command, to Savannah, and thence through the Carolinas and Virginia to Washington, where he and his gallant men took part in the Grand Review. Throughout his whole career in the army he displayed marked talent for military affairs, and his promotion from the ranks through the various official grades to be Lieutenant and then to be Captain of his company was due entirely to his bravery and ability displayed on every occasion that called for action on his part. The Captain was honorably discharged with his regiment, in June, 1865, and returning home, quietly resumed his old business as a lumber merchant. He carried it on until 1885, building up a paying trade, and then became connected with the Superior Drill Company, and for the past three years has been Superintendent of the works. He is a man of tact, discrimination and shrewdness, and is well endowed with activity and firmness, and mechanical ingenuity and skill, and is in every way fitted to occupy the responsible position that he holds in the over-seeing the work of one of the leading industries of the city.

Capt. Wing has been twice married. In 1867 he was wedded to Mary A., daughter of William and Susannah (Barnett) Crothers, a native of Springfield. Two children were born of their marriage — Fanny C. and Laura. After a union of five years Mrs. Winger departed this life, leaving a pleasant memory of what she had been as a daughter, wife, mother, and friend. The marriage of our subject to his present wife took place in 1876, and the cozy comfort of their home and its delightful hospitality is due in a great part to her thoughtful care. Her maiden name was Mary Barr, and she was a daughter of Amos Barr, and at the time of her marriage with the Captain was the widow of James Torbert.

In this brief review of the life of our subject it will be seen that as a man and a citizen his record is a high one, and that he is a valued member of the community with whose interests, materially, socially and religiously, he has been so long and honorably associated. He and his wife are active members of the First Presbyterian Church. He is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Mitchell Post, No. 45; and he is also identified with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons as a member of Clark Lodge, No. 101.