An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company,
Spokane, WA. 1905, page 332-333.

VIRGIL WINCHELL has the distinction of having been born in the Hood River
valley. This event occurred on August 31, 1865 on his father's homestead, a part
of which he rents and resides upon at the present time, and which lies a short
distance from the town of Hood River. The father, Jerome W., was a native of
Calais, Maine and came from an old colonial family of prominence. Governor
Winchell of Massachusetts and other leading men were members of this family.
Jerome W. Winchell married Julia Neal, who was born while her parents were
crossing the plains. Her father, Peter Neal, was a prominent settler of the east
side of the Hood River valley. Our subject's father came to Oregon in 1857, via
the isthmus and was married at The Dalles in 1860 and came to the Hood River
valley one year later, where he took up land and resided six years. Owing to his
illness, he returned to The Dalles and there died in 1870. His widow returned to
the farm with her four children and there lived until 1888, the year of her
death. In 1873, she was married to John Divers. Our subject has made his home
here all of the time and on April 2, 1887 at Hood River was married to Maggie
Knapp, a native of California, whose parents, George and (Vealy) Knapp, were
natives of New York and Michigan, respectively. The father was a wealthy
railroad contractor and the mother died when Mrs. Winchell was eleven years of
age. Mr. Winchell had one brother, Markham, who died in 1899; five half
brothers, Divers, James, Perry, John and Newton ; two full sisters, Josephine
Ditmer and Arabella Hoffman; and three half sisters, Dollie English, Mary
Sellinger and Julia Estes. Mrs. Winchell has one brother, Clarence, and one
sister, Minnie Sorenson. Mr. and Mrs. Winchell are the parents of seven
children, Arline, Edith, George, Grace, Joseph W., Maude, and Lena.      

Fraternally, Mr. Winchell is allied with the W.W., the United Artisans and the
Foresters. He is a stanch Democrat and takes a keen interest in the campaign. He
has served for many years on the school board and is a zealous advocate of
better educational facilities. He and his wife are both members of the Union
church and are substantial people.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.