Historic Hood River
“Doc” Winchell Family
Notes
This fine portrait of “Doc” Winchell’s family is well-documented. Notes list “Geo. W., Edith, Arline (Moore), Joe (small boy), Grace (Hansen), Maude(Webber), Margaret (baby) Husbands.
I think it was taken just a year or so before this image of their farmhouse, based on the ages of the children.
Here was Charlott’s take on the farmhouse image:
The first family of Virgil “Doc” Winchell at their home in Pine Grove on what I grew up knowing as “Winchell Butte.” The Winchell land butted up on the west to my grandfather’s orchard. His parents were Jerome Winchell and Julia Ann Neal (of the old Neal family for which Neal Creek is named.)
Doc homesteaded there with his mother in 1882 and put in 55 acres of fruit and the rest was hay for the livestock. He married Margaret “Maggie” Knapp and their children were:
Arline married Max Moore
Edith married Samuel Dietrich
George married Jessie Stockwell
Grace married Arthur Hansen
Josephena
Maud married Richard Weber
Lena
Margaret married Ivan Husbands
In 1906 little Lena got sick and Maggie (Mrs. Winchell) was not feeling well. Doc decided to take Lena to Portland to a doctor. While he was there he received notification that Maggie had died. He left Lena in the hospital and raced home, only to soon be notified that little Lena had also died. Doc was born in Hood River on 30 August 1865 and died on 30 September 1932. He is buried, as are many of the Winchell family in the old part of Pine Grove Cemetery.
“Doc” would marry again to Helen Powell. She was born in 1887 in Pennsylvania and died in Washington D. C. in 1967. She is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery They would have two children Ruthanna and Virgil.
Charlott thought he might have been called “Doc” because he was good with animals.
nels
So much of a story in the looks of each family member.
ArthurB
Well said, nels. I did a double take when I first saw this. It’s so much more alive than most group portraits.
L.E.
I don’t have time today to check all of this out, but something doesn’t seem to be right with dates. Baby Margaret was born April 14, 1904. Mother, Margaret, died February 26, 1906. Lena is listed as death date January 28, 1905.
kmb
@L.E. – it does look like a bit of a mystery on the reported dates of the deaths of both Margaret (mother) and Lena (daughter). The story about them dying days apart also appears in Find-A-Grave, and that information was provided by Charlott. I also checked the HR Glacier for any mention of their passings but could not find any corroborating information. Since neither Margaret (mother) or Lena (daughter) are in these family pictures, we have to assume the pictures were taken after they passed. Based on the apparent age of baby Margaret in the above picture, it would be more likely that both Margaret and Lena died in 1905.
L.E.
Thanks kmb for taking an interest in the dates. Like you, I narrowed it down to 1905. On Feb. 02, 1905 Glacier says, George Knapp of Moro visited his daughter Mrs. V. Winchell. So she was alive then. The March 09, 1905 Glacier, says Mrs. Sorenson of Underwood, was called to the deathbed of her sister Mrs. Winchell of Hood River.
On page 3 of the March 02, 1905 Glacier is a quiet little headline: "Both Placed in the Same Grave."
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1905-03-02/ed-1/seq-3.pdf
March 02, was a Thursday. On Monday afternoon, Mr Winchell took 3 year old Lena to Portland. She was suffering from peritonitis. Mrs. Winchell had been ill with the grip and pneumonia. She got up out of bed Monday afternoon, but died at 2:00 Tuesday morning. Apparently from heart problems. Mr. Winchell returned on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday morning he received word that Lena had passed.
In May of 1906, George suffered from peritonitis and measles. Luckily he recovered.