Cyrus B. Winters, Ohio Legislator

According to an early twentieth century issue of Ohio Legislative History, Cyrus B. Winters was one of the oldest members in 80th General Assembly of Ohio (convened 1913). He was elected four times to represent Erie County in the Ohio House of Representatives as a Democrat. 

Cyrus Bertrand Winters was born in Townsend Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and he lived on the family farm for several years. He attended the Milan Normal School, and after reaching adulthood he became a deputy clerk in the Clerk of Courts office. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1874. From 1882 to 1888, Mr. Winters served as the Erie County Prosecutor. The listing for C.B. Winters in the 1884-1885 Sandusky City Directory stated that C.B. Winters was an attorney at law, and Erie County Prosecuting Attorney, with his office in the Erie County Courthouse. He also served for a time on the Sandusky Board of Education.

While in the General Assembly of Ohio, Mr. Winters served as chairman of the Committee of Cities, Ways and Means. He was considered an authority of matters pertaining to legal affairs, and is well known as the author of the Public Utility Law. 

In 1874, Cyrus B. Winters married Helen E. Clason, a native of Logan County, Ohio, and had six children. On June 9, 1916, he died in Castalia, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Howard Brown, at the age of 68. Funeral services for Mr. Winter were held at the Brown residence in Castalia, with the Reverends Ross W. Sanderson and J. W. Overmyer officiating. Burial was in the Castalia Cemetery. Mr. Winters was survived by his wife, two sons, three daughters, a sister and a brother. To read more about this former Ohio legislator, see Elected to Serve, by Patty Pascoe (Sandusky, Ohio, 2003) and A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, by Hewson L. Peeke (Lewis Publishing Company, 1916.)