Cherished Memories: The Winston Family of Ottumwa

By Joe Nolte

When you think of Iowa, you think of the farm. There is no doubt that agriculture defines who we are, that basic Iowa economics and culture—even in cities and towns—owes its identity to the values and ideal of the family farm. The farm raises crops and livestock, but its real contribution is the “family”. The memories, the experiences, and the values gleaned from farm life are rich and powerful.

This was especially true in 1906, when Julian Oscar Winston (known as “J.O.”), his wife Lucy, and two sons moved to a small farm in Wapello County, just south of Ottumwa. J.O. had learned about Iowa from his father, William James Winston, a former slave in Virginia who rode the train until it stopped. In the 1890’s, it stopped at Ottumwa. William James Winston worked for Fisk Hide Cellar in Ottumwa. He had invested his earnings into five acres of land, where he raised hogs.

J.O., Lucy, and their children This life sounded appealing to J.O. He married Lucy Viola Duvall in Virginia in 1902, and moved his new family to New York City. There, he worked on tunnel construction crews. Life was very difficult (Lucy’s granddaughter Deborah remembers hearing her say that she never wanted to return to New York City), and in 1906, he moved to Iowa, buying 120 acres near Bear Creek, currently off of Route 6 south of Ottumwa. The family opened the Willow Spring Dairy (“named for the willow trees that grew on the creek,” according to Johnny Winston, J.O.’s son). The dairy was open for nine years. After it closed, the family raised Black Angus cattle, and Lucy Winston took an interest in raising turkeys.

Livestock wasn’t all that the Winstons raised on their farm. When the Winstons moved to Iowa, they had two sons. In the end, they raised eight sons and one daughter on the farm (William, Cleo, Clyde, twins Roy and Mary Rose, Johnny, Fredrick Douglass, Booker T., and Julian Oscar, Jr.). The Winstons strove to provide their children with a solid grounding. The family attended Second Baptist Church in Ottumwa. Johnny Winston (who, along with Julian Oscar, Jr., are the only surviving children) remembers that every Sunday, the boys would clean out the milk truck, get ready for church, and ride in the back of the truck to Sunday service and Sunday School.

One Sunday morning, after the children were dressed for church, they went outside to play while waiting for the family to depart. Booker T. and Johnny ignored repeated warnings from their mother not to play near the roofless silo, which was empty of corn but filled with water from spring rains. Booker T. fell into the water, which was four feet deep, and Johnny “the hero” pulled him out. After making sure the boys were all right, they were roundly chastised for not listening to their mother. Even into adulthood, Johnny tells the story with a gleam in his eye, his love for his brother evident as he recalls his flirtation with heroism.

The children attended Hubler School, a one-room schoolhouse near the farm which today has been converted to a house. Most of the children didn’t attend the high school, but left school in the eighth grade to work on the farm. Each of the children lived a great life, rooted in the values they learned on the farm and making an impact in their community and beyond.

Fredrick, Roy, Clyde, and Booker worked at the Morrell packing house in Ottumwa. Booker (“he was so smart—he read all the time,” according to Johnny) taught Sunday School at the church. Johnny worked at the John Deere plant for 24 years. Cleo served as a sergeant in charge of the motor pool in Patton’s Army in World War II, traveling to Liverpool, Le Havre, Belgium, and Germany. He went through the Panama Canal on the way to the invasion of Japan when the atomic bomb diverted him to the Philippines. In Ottumwa, he worked as a mechanic for several different automotive dealers and shops. Fredrick had also served in Panama, but was discharged because of his feet.

Julian, who served in Italy, was the first Winston to attend college. He attended William Penn University in Oskaloosa. He served the federal government for many years as a compliance officer for the U.S. Post Office, and still lives in the Washington, DC area. Mary Rose also attended college in Chicago.

Clyde married Ivory Green, the daughter of E.P. Green, the minister at Second Baptist Church. Ivory Winston became known throughout Iowa for her incredible singing voice, and instilled her love of music in her children. Berta Lou, her daughter, was first chair violin in the University of Iowa orchestra in the late fifties.

Byron Winston, Clyde and Ivory’s son, says that the greatest benefit from being a Winston was the reputation of the family name. Everyone knew that a Winston was solid, reliable, and well-rooted since the days of the first Winston family farm. To this day, Winston grandchildren and great-grandchildren excel across the country in their vocations. Even though they faced many trials in Ottumwa, such as in 1963, when Byron was denied housing, or when a neighbor circulated a petition to keep Clyde and his family from moving into a new neighborhood (Deborah Winston recalls that no one signed the petition, and the neighbor who circulated it was very friendly to them after they moved in), the Winston family thrived.