About

Elisha Cotton Winchell

Winchell Elementary School was named after Elisha Cotton Winchell. Mr. Winchell was born in West Springfield Massachusetts on July 25th, 1826. His father was a merchant and manufacturer. When Elisha was 11 his family moved to Quincy, Illinois following the failure of his father’s business. The family lived in Quincy from August 1837 to January, 1838. At that time they moved to West Springfield, Missouri. West Springfield was a “lonely prairie.” They “built a double log cabin, made rails, fenced land, broke sod with oxen, planted crops, and established a home in the wilderness.”

Elisha became a lawyer at the age of 22. He was admitted to the bar in June of 1848. By November he had opened his own law office in Paris, Missouri.

However, Elisha became fascinated with the tales of California. On April 11, 1850, he set out for Sutter’s Fort. He arrived there on September 1st, 1850. The trip nearly killed him, as it had many others. He arrived in Sacramento, “half-starved but in robust health and high spirits, in tatters and penniless.”

“In January, 1851, the young pioneer opened a law office in Sacramento, and in 1852 was elected justice of the peace with an annual salary of $5,000. In 1855 he was elected City Assessor of Sacramento.”

On July 7th, 1853 he married Laura C. Alsip. They had four children; Lilbourne, Iva, Ledyard, and Anna.

In May of 1859 Mr. Winchell, his wife, and first young son moved from Sacramento to Millerton, just outside of Fresno. At the time, Fresno didn’t exist as a city. Millerton was the seat for the County of Fresno. Here, Mr. Winchell resumed his law practice.

“Governor Downey appointed him notary public about this time. In 1860 he was appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction, the first in the county.” The first classes took place in Mr. and Mrs. Winchell’s dining room because a school didn’t exist. Later, Mrs. Winchell also worked as a teacher.

“In 1861 he was elected District Attorney, and in 1863 county judge.”

When the county seat moved from Millerton to what is now the City of Fresno, Mr. Winchell opened the first law office on the “south side of Tulare Street near H Street.” He later, “erected a large two-story brick building on the corner of J and Fresno Streets; in this he made his headquarters.”

During his years in Fresno he was involved in the creation of a street car line, a large irrigation project, and a lengthy legal battle between the local cattle barons and farmers for water rights. He also erected several business buildings in downtown Fresno.

Due to his wife’s ill health, Mr. Winchell moved to San Francisco in 1897. He remained there until his wife’s death in 1908. He then moved to Berkeley, close to the university. He lived there until his death on July 24, 1913, one day short of his 87th birthday.