Winfield Post Office, 1870

On May 2, 1870, Winfield was selected, by county wide election, as the county seat of Cowley County, Kansas.

On May 3, 1870 Col. E. C. Manning was appointed the first postmaster of Winfield. The Winfield Town company voted to build a two story building on the north west corner of Ninth and Main street (where the State Bank is now). The first story was used as a store (operated by E. C. Manning) and the post office. The second floor was for general community use.

The mail was first brought from Emporia by freighters, or immigrant wagon, to Winfield.

Parker and Tisdale established a regular stage coach route from Emporia thru Eldorado, Augusta, Douglass, to Winfield and then to the end of the line at Arkansas City. They then became the regular deliverer of mail.

All mail had to be sent from the post office and there was no delivery. All mail had to be picked up at the post office.

The ( ? ) Santa Fe railroad first extended its line from Emporia, thru Newton, to Wichita. When the Santa Fe extended its line to Winfield, the mail then started being delivered by the railroad. As other railroads came in from other directions, they also had contracts to carry the mail.

The order in which the postmasters served Uncle Sam and Winfield is as follows:

Name Appointed

Col. Edwin C. Manning 05/03/1870

Alvin W. Tousey 10/14/1870

Thomas K. Johnston 09/08/1871

The postal money order system was inaugurated in 1872.

James Kelly 03/19/1875

Daniel A. Millington 01/14/1879

George C. Rembaugh 07/24/1885

On July 1, 1887,an order of the post office department put free delivery carrier system into effect. This order increased the working postal force by five men. The preliminaries had been taken earlier in the year by the numbering of the houses on all the streets inside the city limits.

Letter boxes were erected in all parts of the city, and within 48 hours from the time the order went into effect the free delivery system wasworking almost perfectly, the carriers making three deliveries during the day, the time being arranged for the immediate delivery of mail arriving on the three principal mail trains. There were seven mail trains arriving and departing in Winfield every 24 hours at that time.

Edwin P. Greer 08/17/1889

Simon P. Gary 03/15/1894

Edwin P. Greer 07/01/1898

Leonard A. Millspaugh 06/30/1902

Rural Free Delivery was started on November 1, 1902.

John W. Skinner 06/15/1906

Postal Savings and Parcel Post were started in 1911.

Edwin L. Hepler 10/21/1913

Col. John H. O'Connor 07/20/1922

The new postmaster at Winfield, Col. John H. O'Connor, took charge of the office August 23, 1922. He will in the future devote his entire time to the job, but in case of an emergency will be on the staff of the Daily courier, as he has been the city editor of that paper for a number of years past.

Thomas E. Van Meter 04/25/1936

Roy T. Henderson 09/01/1944

David M. Howell 06/16/1948

David Howell had been a successful auto salesman for the Jack Lane Chevrolet agency.

Kenneth B. Becker 10/12/1968

Kenneth Becker was the first postmaster promoted from within the postoffice. The rules had changed, The postmaster had changed from a political patronage job to a competetive job.

Merle L. Daggett 11/10/1973John P. Harden 02/09/1980

Judy L. Raney 08/24/1991