Today I"m adding and article written by Audrey Patrie for the Twin Valley News October 3, 1968. As before, I'm going to edit and correct as I go along.

   Married Mary McGregor on June 4, 1911 in the parsonage of the Eaton Christian Church. George E. Winkelman, Sr., born in New Lexington in the first house south of the Township House on Rt. 503, north.
"Part of the house was log, and Elmer Hoffman lived in that part; but we lived in the other half of the house", he began as we chatted in the back yard of the Winkelman residence at 72 South Main St., West Alexandria. George, seated on an overturned five gallon can; me atop a square metal box...on a delightful early autumn afternoon.
   Summers found young George herding cows along Twin Creek on his father's thirty acre farm, which, to the west, joined the old Markey farm. The Winkelman farm and sawmill stood just south of Steiner's Gravel Washer.
   When I asked George how long it took to saw through one of those huge logs, he answered: "Well, you know that it was all done by hand...there were not even chain saws then...and it depended upon the kind of wood. If it was soft wood, like sycamore, or cottonwood (which was used for framework) it would take about 20 minutes to saw through a 2 ft. log."
   This feat sounded incredible to me, and when I mentioned that, George added, "But if it was hard wood, like oak, ash, birch or hickory, it would take a time longer."
   An amusing (though frightening) incident George enjoyed telling me was that he remembered a time when he was about 17 or 18 years old. He was bending down on his hands and knees, head flush with a log being sawed. His father, who always sawed the knots off the logs to make them even, almost scalped him...but not quite.
   Learned that elm wood was used for making cornerstrips for tobacco boxes. City slicker that I am, I wondered what a tobacco box was (?) There happened to be one right there in the yard near where we were were seated, so he pointed to it and explained "Chester Bickle and father made those boxes in New Lexington, and they were used to press tobacco in. And do you know that sometimes they pressed as much as 300 lbs. of tobacco in one box!" It was George's job to saw off the strip corners for the boxes.
   This astute man with the perceptive mind remembered the time when a huge tree was cut down on his father's farm. "Because it was hollow inside, it was cut down with a hand saw... and a 6'7" man could stand in the base of it...that's how broad it was at its base."
   Hills of potatoes were grown in this old stump, and he recalled that this particular variety of potato--Queen of the Valley, "--grew so big that you carried them on the crook of your arm, and that three potatoes, set up on end, filled a gallon bucket."
   "Now George, you're putting me on," I ventured to say, but he assured me that this was the truth.
   "The ashes left from fires burned to make steam at the sawmill provided fertilizer for the common clay soil which lay under the bridges on the Lexington Road. Father called that 'new' ground; and it produced 400 bu. of potatoes on an acre and a half of this ground, back then when I was about 10 or 11 years old," he said.
   When the sawmill was operated by steam power, there had to be a licensed engineer to operate the mill. "The head sawyer was a better engineer, but was not too good at figuring, so father got a temporary license. Then, when I was 21 years old, I got my license; then brother John got one," he recalled. And George has carried his license for 52 years!
   This is how Mr. Winkelman became associated with the Water Works...because he was a licensed steam engineer. The Water Works was operated by steam until as late as 1948, at the same location where it now is; only that the pumps were then in the building...now they're in wells.
   Speaking of the Water Works, George fondly remembers when and why it was built and hopes someday that we can sit down together to write the complete history of its founding.
   "There was a tobacco warehouse east of the elevator near the tracks which burned to the ground because of a lack of sufficient water supply. Three enterprising men formed a committee (board of trustees) and did something about it, by working to get a Water Works Plant. They were: George Ehler, C. I. Stoner, and Dave Wampler. "There's a plaque in the building now, with their names inscribed upon it as being the founders," George said.
   At about this point in our conversation, Roy Hoops, present Waterworks Supt., drove up in his truck to ask George if he could help him the next day with a non-functioning meter at Dale Unger's. Roy stayed but a few moments, which was just as well, or perhaps here and now I would be writing all about the operation of the waterworks and its history; having these two dedicated citizens relating all the details...
   Although semi-retired, George still helps Mr. Hoops when needed, and always manages to keep busy with the many handyman jobs required in and around his own home, and for others.
   As a matter of fact, when I arrived at the Winkelman residence, George was out back sawing some boards that were going to be placed at the foundation of his house (where a porch has been removed). A cement patio was near completion, also. "Most of the wood there was rotten anyway, so I'm fixing it up...and we poured that cement just last evening...it's right over where the cistern used to be," he told me.
   When I asked George about some of his fondest childhood memories, he quickly answered: "Oh, we swam in, and went boating on Old Twin Creek. There were three of four boats there all summer long, belonging to the Chester Bickle family and our family. In the winter we skated on the ice of Old Twin. But, in those days, there was an ice house at that spot, owned first by Henry Fadler; later by Levi Baker (The saloon keeper) and Jack Findlay. From the frozen waters of this bayou they cut their ice."
   George attended school in New Lexington through the 8th grade.
   "After graduating, I had to go to Eaton at the courthouse for an examination to prove that I was smart enough to attend high school," he mused. "Martha Beneke's father, Frank Rinehart gave me that exam. It was either the Boxwell or Patterson exam, I recall; and I failed that darned exam three times before passing...so that I could attend the High School" he jokingly added.
   Most of his childhood was spent taking care of the cows; feeding and bedding them, and occasionally helping to milk them. "But there was fun, too, like when my brothers and I used to coast on our sleds in the wintertime, hooking on to buggies...then later hooking on to autos...until we were warned that this practice was too dangerous."
   His brother, John, now living in Middletown, was responsible for the hogs and horses at the Winkelman farm, and taking care of the stable; while Leonard drove the team part of the time. "Leonard didn't finish high school, but later went to Miami-Jacobs Business College," George added with pride.
Pride also reflected in his voice when he related that his father, John, was president of the Preble County Lumber Co., and was also one of the stockholders. Others included: Win Brubaker, Will Windle, John Farenholz, Sr., and Sherman Mills. George's mother's name was Sarah Hoops before her marriage to John Winkelman.
   Although George will be busy supervising the nail drivers and sawyers at the Oktoberfest this weekend, he might just mosey over to the spot where Sue Kinney will be tallying up the scores for the horseshoe ringing contest, because pitching horseshoes is one of his favorite pastimes.
   "When we were kids, we had a horseshoe court at the northwest corner of the school yard and we even had lights!" Then added, "...there was a bunch of other kids not in our 'club' who used to come at night and pull up the stakes...but we laid in wait for them a couple nights...guess they knew it...and they never returned." "So there were vandals in the good old days, too?" I questioned.
   "Oh, sure...but we took care of them," he answered.
   When asked about additional hobbies, George replied: "If I wasn't so nervous, I'd love to be doing woodworking." But he does enjoy bowling and is in the church league. "And I've been working Crowell's truck patch now for four years, because I really enjoy gardening, and although it seems as though I don't know a weed from a plant anymore," he said, smiling with that infectious grin.
   His love for gardening was evident as soon as I joined him in his back yard for our chat. For there were dozens of rosy tomatoes ripening on a long wooden table nearby. He said that he had also put out two rows each of peas, beans, and corn...so they had all they could eat. "But I was a little disappointed in the potatoes this year. I planted them early...the last week in June, and the first week in July..but they're still green!"
   Our conversation about garden produce reminded him of the "lean" years around 1919. He was employed at the Water Works, and money was hard to come by. With a wife and ten children to feed, he was grateful to Scott Wetzel (who lived in the house later owned by Arline Vogue) because the Wetzels had cherry trees, and George picked cherries on shares. Along with the cherries, George was also able to pick bushels and bushels of apples from the trees in the fields just north of Wetzel's, along Rt. 503 (which was then a dirt road).
   "Mary used a 12 qt. kettle for cooking those apples right here in this house where we now live, and all that fruit was good food to keep our family fed. There must have been at least 700 quarts of fruit to eat about that time," he reflected. Then added, "But when the road was widened and the highway built, the apple trees had to come down." That's progress...I guess.
   The Winkelman's have always been grateful to all the friends and neighbors who have helped them in so many ways over the years. Like when they used up 3 qt. cases of milk a week and wondered how they could afford it!
   This reminded him of how his mother, Sarah, sold milk for 4 cents a quart. "Oh boy, how we could have used the cows when Mary and I were raising our family," he said.
   "Mother saved milk from one certain Jersey cow for two ailing babies, because their doctor said that the milk must not be mixed," recalled George. "And do you know...those two babies grew up so strong and healthy, and are still living!"
   Realizing that with such a large family it must have been difficult to ever get away for any vacations, I wondered if they ever did much traveling away from Preble County. "When Mary and I were younger, and most of the children were grown, and our health was better, we used to enjoy taking short trips to southern Indiana and around southern Ohio; and sometimes visited Charles, when he lived in Wapakoneta."
   Mary and George have worked hard; had a full life raising their children to adulthood, and now have 35 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. The proud great-grandfather beamed as he boasted that his oldest great-grandchild is 9 years old.
   The names of their children, and the towns where they reside in Ohio are as follows: Charles, Columbus; Wilbur, West Alexandria; Cora Carico, Ingomar; Nina Keltner, Hamilton; Donald, Dadsville; Sarah Brock, Miamisburg; Mary Crauder, Dayton; Versae Moore, West Alexandria; Harry, Kettering; George,Moraine City. Mary and George also lost two boys in infancy.
   Working for the Water Works, George became interested in pipe-cutting and fitting, so he took a correspondence course in Sanitary Engineering. "Never finished the course, but I gained a lot of knowledge and experience by getting into the plumbing business; working at that for many years," he said.
   George would like to help Roy Hoops more than he does, but doesn't trust his driving anymore, and declared: "I'm not going to get my driver's license renewed when it expires, because of my health." Then added, "but then I was told back in the days of the first World War that I had a heart condition. I tried to enlist in the army, but was denied that privilege...and they wouldn't even accept me when I was one of the first 100 called on draft! We had our examinations over in Eaton in the building just east of the courthouse (now Moysey Bros.) and Dr. Hunter said I wasn't fit for service." Then he chuckled when he recalled that the floors were so dirty when they were examined that there was no problem detecting flat feet!
   When George's father, John, died in 1918, the Wineklman farm in New Lexington was sold. It was then that George and his brother John kept the Water Works going; despite the fact that John also taught school and at one time was the superintendent. George himself was on the school board for years, and he clearly remembers the time when he made a motion to add Twin Township to the school district.. "Charles Storer seconded the motion...and that was it! No debate, no discussion...and the motion passed," he exclaimed.
During these days, when the traction served West Alex, George said that a half a carload of students from Johnsville and New Lebanon came here to attend school.
   George, too, had entertained the thought of becoming a teacher. "But on the day I was supposed to complete the teacher's exam, I had to take care of my brood sows instead," he said.
   As it happened, George had a runt pig which he sold to buy three others. These three were the brood sows that he cared for more than he cared about taking the exam. "It paid off at the time, however, because I ended up with 35 head hogs!"
   When I arrived for our chat, George had several pictures of the sawmill and the sawyers ready to show me. I discovered that many of these pictures were taken by Mr. Diefenbach, who had a photography shop in a building at the northwest corner of the community park where the 1968 Oktoberfest is to be held this Sunday, October 6th. I also learned that this building was torn down, replaced by the little building which now stands on that spot. This was a monument shop, owned by Foutz and Sons. Mr. Diefenbach, the photographer, by that time had moved his business across the street above the Railroad Grocery. George said that the photographer was quite modern for the times-having big lights in the ceiling for his photographic work.
   I called on George a few days later, so that he could identify the persons in some pictures. He showed me two maps of Preble County. One was dated 1858, the other, 1897. The oldest one, though tattered and torn, shows all the correct names of landowners in the county; while the 1897 map (in perfect condition) lists a multitude of misspelled surnames. This upset me, because it is my belief that the correct spelling of Preble County settlers' names should be sustained and proudly used by their descendants. It would behoove some dedicated citizens to work on this 1858 map and restore it before framing it under glass, to help preserve the history of Preble County and its first settlers.