John Wingler
birth: 5 Mar 1842 in Morgan Co., IN to John Wingler and Eve Knoy
death: 13 Jul 1912, Ashland Twp., Morgan Co., IN
burial: Lingle Cemetery, Ashland Twp., Morgan Co., IN

marriage (1): 2 Nov 1865, Morgan Co., IN
Milcha Ann Costin
birth: 16 Sep 1847 to Lewis Costin and Catherine Smock
death: 20 Mar 1884, Alaska, Morgan Co., IN
burial: Lingle Cemetery, Ashland Twp., Morgan Co., IN

marriage (2): 28 Apr 1894, Morgan Co., IN
Juliett Costin Langley Reed
birth: 10 mar 1849 in Morgan Co., IN to Whitfield G Costin and Mary A Smock
death: 16 Nov 1898, Morgan Co., IN
burial: Lingle Cemetery, Ashland Twp., Morgan Co., IN

Children of John Wingler and Milcha Ann Costin:

• Lewis F Winger, b. 15 Jan 1868, d. 10 Feb 1894
• Ella F Wingler, b. 12 Nov 1869, d. 1947, m. 8 Mar 1890 to John E Pottorff
• Catherine “Katy” Elizabeth Wingler, b. 6 Jul 1872, d. 25 Aug 1936, m. 4 May 1890 to William Henry Hancock
• Jesse E Wingler, b. 27 Dec 1874, d. 6 Jul 1897
• Granville Wingler, b. 23 Feb 1884, d. 5 Mar 1884
• Milcha Ann Wingler, b. 23 Feb 1884, d. 6 Mar 1886

John Wingler Lived In:

John Wingler was a life-long resident of Ashland Township, Morgan County, Indiana, absent only during his Civil War service. He lived near Wakeland, in an area known as Rattsville and Alaska.

Other Information:

At the age of twenty, John Wingler, along with several other young men from Morgan County, including his brother Peter, enlisted in the 79th Indiana Infantry. John served in Company H from August 15, 1862 to September 4, 1863, mustering out as a corporal. The 79th Infantry departed Indianapolis at 2:00 a.m. on August 27, 1862 , and arrived in Jeffersonville at midnight before proceeding on to Louisville, Kentucky. On September 27, the men exchanged their Austrian guns for sword-bayonet Vincennes rifles and trained in and around Louisville. By Thanksgiving, they were in Nashville, Tennessee. John’s commanding officer was a Hungarian, Frederick Knefler. Pursued Bragg’s Confederate army unit, John and the 79th took part in the battles at London and Perryville, Kentucky, and the Battle of Stone River, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The 79th lost 202 men during their engagement with 147 of those to disease. Many returned home ill and never fully recovered. Measles, flu, cholera were common illnesses among the troops.
Once home, John Wingler returned to farming and married Milcha Ann Costin, daughter of Lewis and Catherine Smock Costin. To supplement his farming venture, John made bricks. He also opened a general store in the small community of Rattsville, near Wakeland. The store became the location of the Wakeland Post Office and John was appointed Postmaster on December 29, 1884. When the U.S. postal service began closing small post offices, John didn’t take the news well. The following article appeared in the Elkhart Daily Review on August 18, 1893, “Wingler Must Keep Post Office. (Martinsville) John Wingler whose peculiar resignation as postmaster at Wakeland, this county, was published recently, is about to get into trouble. He resigned by boxing his post office goods and sending them in to Washington, have returned, and with a threat that he had better take the office back or suffer prosecution. He has never sent in his resignation.” John evidently reconsidered because he was appointed Postmaster again on April 26, 1900.

Submitted by:
Patricia Marsh Dow
Email: pdow@aol.com