Winkler County was named in honor of Clinton McKamy Winkler a distinguished statesman, Confederate soldier and jurist of Texas. Created from Tom Green County February 26, 1887. Kermit is the county seat.

Clinton McKamy Winkler, who was a lawyer of Corsicana, Navarro county, and Judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Burke county, North Carolina, October 19, 1820. His father, David Täte Winkler, was a North Carolina farmer who emigrated to Robertson county, Texas, in 1844 and died in 1849. Conrad Winkler, the progenitor of the family in America, was the grandfather of Judge Winkler, and came from Germany at an early date, settling in North Carolina, where he followed agricultural pursuits until his death.

The mother of Judge Winkler was Lavinia Gates Owen, a lady of many accomplishments and possessed of much common sense, a native of North Carolina. She was a daughter of Harrison Owen/an educator of great merit, celebrated in Carolina. Their ancestors came from England and settled in Virginia and took standing with the first families in that state, were loyal to the colonies, and during the Revolutionary War assisted in the prosecution of the war for independence.

Judge Winkler, with his father, moved to Indiana in 1835, but the youth remained there only until 1840, when he came to Texas to join his uncle, Harrison Owen, who resided at old Franklin, in Robertson county. This was a frontier settlement at that time, and he soon became identified with all that interested the people. A few days after his arrival he went with a company of minute men organized for defense against the Indians, and reached a place where the Indians had massacred the family, and had danced around their victims, leaving moccasin tracks in blood on the floor of the cabin. He was thrilled with horror at the spectacle, and ever afterward felt that an Indian was the white man 's worst enemy. While belonging to this company of minute men, under command of Captain Eli Chandler, he participated in several Indian fights, that of Chandler 's first expedition in May, 1841, when they met the savages in the forks of Chambers and School creeks, where, after a gallant fight, the enemy was driven into the bottom and their horses, saddles, baggage, lead and powder were captured, being a type. The Indians acknowledged they numbered eighty-four, besides women and children, and lost eight killed and ten or twelve wounded.

In June, 1841, Captain Chandler made another expedition in search of the hostiles, going up on the east side of the cross-timbers between the head waters of Aquilla creek of the Brazos and Mountain creek of the Trinity. Here another reconnoiter occurred, in which several Indians were killed and wounded. They afterward learned 'there were three large Indian villages near Village creek, and the Indians were to have started more free to manage their affairs in their own way, according to the primary principles of Democracy.

"In national politics you need not expect that Democratic ideas will be understood or appreciated so long as there is a majority interested in keeping alive the prejudices and animosities engendered by the past, or a powerful political organization fails to restore the property of non-combatants.

"Our principles, however, will survive the prejudices of the hour. The sober second thought must give reason her sway, or the work of centralization will go on to completion. Let us wait and hope for the best; meanwhile, let us all, unmindful of past political differences, and inviting the co-operation of all good citizens, whether native or foreign born, unite as one man m building up our material interests, and securely guarding them by sound and wholesome laws, administered by honest and upright officials, in the interest of the people with due regard for the protection of life, reputation and property, avoiding all unnecessary burdens and restraints in individual freedom consistent with public safety ''

During this year he had yielded to his friends that the State required wise legislators, and was elected, along with other most prominent leaders, to a seat in the Legislature, the 13th, which is famous for abolishing so many of the abuses which had grown up during reconstruction.

In 1876 he was elected Judge of the original Court of Appeals, together with Judges M. D. Ector and John P White. As a judge the ten volumes of the published opinions of the Court of Appeals tell the story of his industry and devotion to duty.

Judge Winkler was one of the charter members of the Masonic lodge of Corsicana and Chapter 41, and he organized Bertrand du Gueslin Commandery of Knight Templars. He was made a Sir Knight at Wheelock when the lodge there was organized. ,,,,,«

He was made Grand Master of Grand State Masonic Lodge in 1870, and held that position until 1871; was Grand Captain General of Grand Commandery, and took the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry in April 1882, He  was "for many years a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Corsicana, his purse ever open to the calls of the work of Christianity, and his home the preacher's home. His life was pure and above reproach. .

He was twice married, first to Mrs. Louisa Smith, in 1848 She died in November, 1861. During the war, while a soldier of flood's Texas Brigade, he met Miss Angelina V. Smith at the house of a mutual friend. A correspondence was proposed by the soldier so far away from relatives and friends, which was entirely friendly for a year, when it ripened into a warmer attachment after the wound received at Gettysburg, and resulted in their marriage January 7, 1864. Three children by the first marriage and six by the last (one of whom died in infancy) blessed these unions, which in both cases were singularly happy and congenial.

Judge Winkler died at Austin, Texas, May 13, 1882, after an illness of only five days, while engaged in his official duties. The people were shocked at his sudden death in the vigor of life, in the midst of a busy career, the whole state uniting in lamenting one who had proved a true son of Texas in so many and tried positions. The Central Railroad tendered a special tram from Hearne to convey the remains of this distinguished child of his state back to his home for interment, while judges, lawyers, Masons and Knight Templars came from different portions of the state to pay the last sad tribute to a life which had been nobly lived.

Immediately upon the assembling of the court, Attorney-General J. II. McLeary addressed that body as follows:

"May it please the court: A sorrowful task has ' fallen to my lot. In the name of the bar of Texas, it is my duty to offer for the consideration of this honorable court a tribute of respect to the Hon. Clinton M. Winkler, late Judge of the Court of Appeals of this State.

'' On the 13th inst. he was summoned to appear before a tribunal from which there can be no appeal, and to hear from the Judge of all the earth the merited plaudit of, ' Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' "

At a meeting of the bar, held on the day of his death, these resolutions were adopted:

"Whereas, The Hon. C. M. Winkler, Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of Texas, has departed this life, in the midst of his usefulness, and while engaged in the faithful discharge of the responsible duties entrusted to him by the people of the State; be it

"Resolved, 1. That the bar now in attendance not only give utterance to their own sentiments, but echo those of their brethren throughout the State of Texas, in deploring the death of the deceased judge as a public calamity of no ordinary moment.

"2. That so long as unselfish patriotism, unsullied integrity and fidelity to every trust and duty, whether public or private, shall be held in esteem, that long will the name and memory of C. M. Winkler be enshrined in the annals of Texas and in the hearts of her people.

"3. That we tender the family of the lamented deceased our most heartfelt sympathy in their bereavement and sorrow, and the secretary of this meeting is instructed to communicate to them these resolutions.''

Over his remains, resting in the Corsicana cemetery, the marble letters say: "Living with faith in an overruling Providence, dying in the strength of manhood, in the discharge of his official duties, ever ready for the Master's call, he was true to himself, true to his people, and true to his God.''

Mrs. Angelina V. Winkler. In this history of a state that she dearly loved and in which she was widely known and held in affectionate regard, there is all of consistency in according a tribute to this noble woman who came to Texas in the pioneer days and who impressed herself definitely upon the history of this commonwealth. Of most gentle and gracious personality and high intellectual attainments, she was a representative of patrician southern lineage, on both the agnatic and distaff sides, and in her long and prolific life she stood exponent of the highest ideals and of that abiding human sympathy which transcends mere sentimental emotion to become an actuating motive for helpfulness. The memoir here entered cannot fail to be read with deep interest by those who came within the immediate sphere of her gentle influence and by all who have appreciation of those elements which make for strong and noble womanhood.

Mrs. Angelina Virginia (Smith) Winkler was born in the historic and beautiful old city of Richmond, the capital city of Virginia, and one that, like Rome of old, forms a gracious diadem of its seven hills. The date of her nativity was June 2, 1842, and she was summoned to the life eternal, at her home in the city of El Paso, Texas, on the 4th of May, 1911. She was a daughter of John Walton Smith and Elizabeth (Tate) Smith, her father having been for fully half a century a prominent merchant and an honored and influential citizen of the capital city of the Old Dominion commonwealth, in which the family was founded in the colonial epoch of our national history. John Walton Smith was a descendant of Lady Mary Hamilton and was one of the heirs to the English estate of that gentlewoman. Mrs. Elizabeth (Tate) Smith was a member of another of the old and distinguished families of Virginia and inherited a large estate, including many slaves. Both she and her husband continued to reside in Virginia, that cradle of much of our national history, until they passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors.

Mrs. Winkler was educated at Richmond Female Institute, of which at that time the president was Rev. Basil Manly, one of the finest educators of the South. During the progress of the war between the states she contributed spirited articles to the Southern Literary News, a paper published in Richmond and sustained by Confederate talent. Her services in this line continued during the entire period of the blockade of her home city, the capital of the Confederacy. Much of her time was given to relief work among the wounded soldiers brought to Richmond, and the scenes and incidents of suffering and heroism so impressed her that her whole subsequent life was inspired with the desire that posterity should recognize what the gallant soldiers in gray endured, that there might be enduring appreciation of their loyalty and sacrifice.

On the 7th of January, 1864, in the very height of the clamor and arms of war, was solemnized the marriage of Miss Angelina Virginia Smith to Lieutenant Colonel Clinton M. Winkler, who was at that time in command of the Fourth Texas Regiment, in Hood s Brigade, and with her husband she thereafter shared a great deal of camp life on the lines below Richmond. One of her most highly prized souvenirs in later years was a certificate of membership in Hood's Brigade Association, a tribute paid to her by reason of the fact that she was at one time actually under fire with the com

The four years of fratricidal warfare brought to Mrs. Winkler great loss, both of kinsfolk and property. Her loved father and mother died within the first years of the great conflict between the states of the North and the South, and a favorite brother was mortally wounded in battle. It was also her portion to see several other kinsfolk and a host of friends give up their lives, their all, to the cause of the fair and devasted southland. Can it be wondered that she loved with enduring ardor the South after she had seen it receive such a pitiable but precious baptism! Within the period of the evacuation of Richmond the explosion of a powder magazine shattered her childhood home. With its destruction were lost the papers which proved her claim to the previously mentioned estate in England. And, after all this, General Lee was compelled to surrender. For two weeks Mrs. Winkler did not know whether or not her husband were alive. He was arranging the discharge of his men and could not leave immediately. As soon as possible, however, he sent a messenger to relieve the suspense and anxiety of his devoted wife. In the following July, of the year 1865, a little son was born to them, and later in the same year they came to Texas and established their home at Corsicana, where they experienced the trials of the so-called period of reconstruction in the South. With characteristic and undaunted courage, Mrs. Winkler met with imperturbed spirit the grievous situation From the refined comforts and social life of the city of Richmond, she came to a village of about five hundred inhabitants, then remote from the railroad, and if she noticed the difference in conditions and associations none ever heard her say so. She often spoke m later years of these early days in Corsicana and said that what local society lacked in numbers was made up in quality. The friendships formed at that time endured -to the last—friendships cemented by common danger and Common joys and sorrows. If what Mrs. Winkler represented to the stricken and helpless could be written it would fill a book. She was the incarnation of sympathy and pity she remembered those who were forgotten; and well may it be said that throughout the course of her long and beautiful life she trailed the beatitudes in her train Not only did she extend sympathy, but also cheer wherever she went. Always interested and influential in whatever made for the intellectual, social and Christian strengthening and safe-guarding of Corsicana, she was a loved and important factor in the history of that cultured little city.

During the time that her honored husband, Colonel Winkler, was presiding on the bench of the Texas Court of Appeals, she would spend a part of each term with him at Austin, Tyler and Galveston. Her acquaintance thus became state-wide and her friends were in number as her acquaintances. After the death of Colonel Winkler, in 1882, his widow, who had continued her literary work, through the medium of newspaper and magazine articles, found herself confronted with the problem of rearing, alone, a family of five children, and under these conditions Mrs. Winkler began the publication of the "Prairie Flower," a monthly magazine devoted to the pure, the true and the beautiful. For three years she continued this enterprise and the magazine was a welcome visitor in the best homes of Texas. She personally sought and gained subscriptions to the periodical; the proof sheets were read by her; and every number contained articles from her pen. Her energy and ability have always remained a source of wonder and admiration on the part of all who knew her, for she developed distinctive executive and business acumen in addition to marked literary talent.

Mrs. Winkler was .appointed honorary commissioner from Texas to the World's Exposition in the city of New Orleans, and through an excellent system of organization she effected the collection of the splendid women's exhibit in the Texas department of that exposition. In a book, entitled "Gems from a Texas Quarry," and compiled as a "Texas Contribution to the New Orleans Exposition," there is an article by Mrs. Winkler. In 1894 she published a volume, entitled "The Confederate Capital and Hood's Brigade," a book in the compilation of which she spared herself no amount of effort and research. Of this work the members of the historical committee of the United Confederate Veterans have expressed the highest appreciation. Judge Reagan, the "grand old man of Texas," said that the edition filled a gap in history. Many hitherto disputed facts are established, and particularly interesting are those concerning the sword question at the surrender of General Lee. When Yoakum's History of Texas was revised, in 1898, and a reference work of two large volumes was evolved there from, the matter concerning Hood's Brigade was contributed by Mrs. Winkler.

In 1902, at the earnest solicitation of the board of trustees of the Texas State Orphans' Home, at Corsicana, Mrs. Winkler consented to serve an unexpired term as matron of that institution. The directors felt that she, as no other, could bring order out of the great confusion, and the great thoroughness with which she met their every expectation should be a matter of gratitude on the part of all Texans. In addition to her fine administrative ability displayed in this connection her Christian influence, exercised in behalf of the orphaned wards of the state, can never be estimated, as its angle must ever continue to widen in beneficence through the lives and characters of those touched therewith.

In 1903 Mrs. Winkler and one of her daughters removed to El Paso, to which city other members of the family removed later, and here were passed the remaining years of her beautiful life. From the time of its organization until her death Mrs. Winkler was the regent for Texas of the Confederate Museum in her old home city of Richmond, Virginia, and the work in this connection was to her a great labor of love and of hallowed memories and associations. The Texas room in this museum speaks for itself, as it is pronounced the most beautiful in the building, the while the memorials there gathered remain as enduring evidences of the untiring energy of Mrs. Winkler and her devotion to the cause of the Confederacy in memory as well as in fact. In 1906 she was made a life member of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society at Richmond, Virginia.

At El Paso Mrs. Winkler effected the organization of the Robert E. Lee Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy. She received several honors from the Texas division of this noble organization, which ever gave to her most hearty cooperation, and the most recent of such preferment's was her appointment as a delegate from the Texas division to the general convention of the Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia, in 1911, her death occurring before it was permitted her to make this loving pilgrimage to the city of her birth. By the Daughters of the Confederacy in Texas has been given a fitting and abiding tribute to the memory of Sirs. Winkler by the placing of her portrait in the Confederate room in the state capitol, at Austin.

The death of Mrs. Winkler, on the 4th of May, 1911, came suddenly, after an illness of about an hour, and was a source of great shock and sorrow not only to her immediate loved ones but also to her many friends throughout Texas and Virginia. In the full possession of her powers and in the midst of her usefulness, she was called to the "land of the leal," and the immortal gained when the breath of this noble and gracious woman left its mortal tenement. Richly interested in the best of earthly affairs, yet fully prepared for the life beyond, the lovely spirit of Mrs. Winkler sought a fairer and broader sphere. The telegrams, resolutions of sympathy, and letters that poured in upon the stricken family but testified to the objective appreciation of this daughter of the South who was ever true to its highest ideals. The floral offerings were most beautiful and tendered in great profusion, coming from various chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy throughout the state, as well as from personal friends in different sections of Texas as well as in the home city of El Paso. The most elaborate emblem was a large battle flag of the Confederacy, done in exquisite flowers and nearly covering the casket. This was the offering of the district, county and city officials of El Paso. The funeral was held from the family home and was conducted by Mrs. Winkler's pastor and valued friend, Rev. Casper S. Wright, pastor of the Trinity Methodist church in El Paso. Mr. Wright spoke fully and with deep appreciation of the life and friendship of Mrs. Winkler as he had known her, and his tribute found an echo in the listening hearts. Amid sorrowing loved ones and devoted friends, the precious body was laid to rest in Evergreen cemetery. Of Mrs. Winkler it may consistently be said that hers was a perfect life. She was an ideal Christian, Daughter of the Confederacy and mother, and more than this cannot be said in praise of any woman.

The data for this brief memoir were largely gained through the kindly and effective co-operation of Miss Myra Winkler, whose filial devotion to her mother was ever of the deepest, even as is her devotion to the memory of that gracious gentlewoman—a memory that bears a perennial fruitage of consolation and compensation. Miss Winkler is a prominent and valued factor in educational work in Texas, and is the present efficient incumbent of the office of county superintendent of public schools for El Paso county, the while she has the further distinction of being the first woman ever elected to this office in the county.

Clinton M. and Tom L. Winkler, sons, live at Ennis, Texas, while another son, Walton C., lives in El Paso, as do also the three children of an invalid daughter, Beatrice, who in 1888 married George F. Markgraff and who has been in a Texas hospital for several years. Harry Owen, another son, died in infancy. source: The laws of Texas 1822-1897, The History of Texas

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