John G. Winter was a prominent citizen of Columbus, GA who purchased controlling interest of the Bank of St. Mary’s in 1841. It took a national financial crisis to propel John Winter from his role as a shop owner to a bank owner, and then later a mill owner. In 1844, he was elected mayor of Columbus. During the Civil War he remained a Unionist.

By Jack Schley

John G. Winter arrived to Columbus as a leading citizen only to flee the city as a political refugee. He should rightfully be considered a Founding Father of Columbus but a thorough search of the primary texts of Columbus’ history reveals only traces of his impact on this City. His significant contributions to the progress of Columbus are nearly obscured by the history of his political adversaries who, in Winter’s own words, “made my home too uncomfortable and perilous for my protection and enjoyment.” John Winter, the eighth Mayor of Columbus, fled this City as a Unionist in 1861 leaving behind his influences to be muddled by the Cause of Secession that marked Columbus’ history in the years before and after his departure. The time has now arrived to bring him out of obscurity and have his contributions to Columbus recognized here in the city he once served.

John Winter was born in New York City in 1799 as the son of a prominent attorney. His lifelong career in business began in New York in a merchant house that traded with southern businesses. Familiarity with southern merchants and products likely encouraged his relocation to Georgia around 1817; although, family lore amongst his descendants also indicates that John eloped to the South. John married Lucinda Bennett, the girl he loved but whom his parents did not approve of for him to marry, and arrived in Augusta, Georgia with less than a dollar in cash in his pocket. He quickly set about improving his condition as within a few years John owned and was successfully managing a general store in Warrenton, Georgia. This was the modest beginnings of his career as a financier and industrialist.

George Washington Winter (1824-1861), son of John G. Winter who continued his father's business interests in Columbus.

It took a national financial crisis to propel John Winter from his role as a shop owner to a bank owner, and then later a mill owner. His keen mind for economics allowed him to foresee that banks and businesses would be forced to close during what became known as the Financial Panic of 1837. A contributing factor to the panic was an abundance of credit and a shortage of currency, so John Winter prepared for the crisis by selling all of his property for cash before the Panic occurred. Once the economy collapsed, he purchased a controlling interest in a Georgia bank, the Bank of St. Mary’s. In his new role as a banker, John immediately began to operate his bank in a manner that made the failing institution profitable while also stabilizing the local economy. After doing so, John decided to move the bank and his family to Columbus around 1842.

Winter Place, the Winter family home in Montgomery, AL.

Columbus was a growing town in the early 1840s but the remoteness of its location on the western border of Georgia made industrialization difficult. Also, many of the banks in town closed during the Panic of 1837. When John Winter arrived to Columbus, the town government was suffering from debt and many citizens had lost their savings when the local banks failed. If Columbus was to stay on the map, the area needed economic growth and an increase in development of heavy infrastructure. The debt and economic circumstances after the Panic of 1837 prevented both. As his first contribution to the development of Columbus, John Winter made a personal loan with a low interest rate to the city’s government, which decreased the city’s debt by over fifty percent. The Columbus branch of the Bank of St. Mary’s also helped to relieve the local citizens of their own hardships through John Winter's customer oriented bank policies.

Joseph Stilwell Winter (1757-1820) was the father of John Winter and reader of the Declaration of Independence to the people of New York as the British flag lowered.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, there was very little national paper currency issued by the federal government in circulation. Paper money was issued by states and local governments, as well as, local banks and businesses at a ratio set to how much money the government or institution held in gold and silver coin. A lucrative business was created in trading and exchanging these banknotes based on premiums created for the currency when the paper money was favored by consumers. Bank presidents set the rates at which different notes were exchanged or redeemed for coin, which was the more stable and most favored form of money. Fortunes could be made and lost based on these rates, so what John Winter did at the Bank of St. Mary’s was guarantee a low rate and always exchanged currency for coin on demand. Such a guarantee created popularity and once the public’s trust in the Bank was established the Bank of St. Mary’s became profitable. The directors of the other banks in town became frustrated and organized a “run” on the bank.

George Washington Winter, Joseph Samuel Prince Winter, James Felix Winter, sons of John and Lucinda Winter.

The Bank of St. Mary’s currency was hoarded for weeks so that in one day it could all be taken to the Bank to deplete its stores of coin. Once the Bank could no longer exchange currency for coin, the trust would be lost and the Bank would lose customers. However, John Winter suspected this and arranged for multiple kegs of coins to be shipped across the state to Columbus overnight. When the run began one morning, every banknote was exchanged for coin without a problem. Rumors were spread through town that the Bank of St. Mary’s must be dried up, so John Winter invited local leaders to the Bank the next morning. When the safe was opened, bags of coins were emptied onto a table for all to see. The run had failed, trust in the Bank was stronger than ever, and the economy in Columbus prospered while other cities in Georgia continued to suffer after the Panic of 1837. John Winter’s personal popularity grew with the Bank’s as he was twice elected Mayor of Columbus in 1845 and 1846. As his prominence grew so did his business activities in Columbus. John moved from banking to manufacturing and by 1850 he was operating Palace Mills as a flour mill grinding wheat into flour, Rock Island Paper Mill which converted waste from the cotton factories into paper, and Merchants Mills which made products out of wood and wool. A local newspaper in Columbus later recognized John Winter as “the very soul and life of the commercial and manufacturing enterprise of Columbus.” John’s sons eventually joined him in business and the Winter family’s interests expanded to Montgomery, Alabama, where an iron works was operated. The family also improved the architecture of downtown Columbus by building many once admired buildings along Broad Street (now Broadway). Railroads reached Columbus under John Winter’s leadership, as well. John served as president of the Muscogee Railroad Company in 1848, after many other railroad companies had failed. The Muscogee Railroad connected Columbus to a railway in Macon that ran to Savannah. Thus, by 1853, Columbus was connected to the Atlantic coast across land and the transportation of people and goods was much improved.

A 1846 $10 bank note from The Bank of St. Mary's with John Winter signature.

Despite all of these contributions by John Winter to improving the quality of life in Columbus, his popularity ended in the late 1850s. As calls for the South to secede from the United States grew louder, John Winter spoke out against secession and declared himself to be a Unionist. When Georgia left the Union in 1861, John fled Columbus out of fear that he would be arrested. Nor was he welcomed in his home state of New York, as the Unionists there viewed John as a sympathizer of the South. Unwelcomed in his home state and his adopted state, John Winter departed for England while the Civil War raged in the United States. From Europe, he kept himself current on the news of the war and regularly wrote to leading officials of the U.S. government of his opinions on how to restore the Union.

Joseph Samuel Winter, son of John G. Winter

John Winter never returned to Columbus while he was alive. He spent nearly two decades here as a political and economic leader only to depart out of concern for his own safety. He died in New York in 1865 but his body was returned to Columbus in 1877 to be buried alongside his wife in Linwood Cemetery. A local newspaper documented this final journey and reveals the sentiment towards John Winter that outlived the defeated cause he was outspokenly opposed to. The newspaper article recognizes John’s economic contributions to Columbus and his importance in the years before the Civil War; however, the article concludes: “But of his later years we will not speak; they were spent elsewhere, and were devoted to enterprises that did not concern us.” Many of the businesses that John Winter built in Columbus were burned by the Union army during the Battle of Columbus. When new mills were built, John Winter’s story was largely forgotten.

Winter Building on Dexter Ave, Montgomery, AL.

Today, Columbus is the hometown to many prominent financial services institutions and enjoys a legacy of once being a prominent manufacturing center; but our local history reveals a prior prominence in both of these industries that was established by John Winter in Columbus’ early years. If this man, once a local leader who became known as an enemy to local sentiment, could be restored to his first reputation in Columbus as a pioneer in customer-first financial services and progressive manufacturing, his portrait would certainly hang in a place of prominence in our community as one of many “Founding Fathers” of the City of Columbus.

JOHN G. WINTER