Besides the homes owned by the MUSGROVES, VICKERYS, RAINES, and some other first families, some of the early "Dwellings", according to Newt WHITEHEAD, that sprang up shortly after the railroad included J. B. WHITEHEAD home built between the present street; Bill WEBSTER, who built near the Columbus COUCH home, a log cabin up near the original PERRY place) Dr. Jim Franklin EARNEST, who first built a log shack near where Dr. Rufus SHIREY lived and later built the home that later housed the BROWN Service Funeral Home and was torn down for a new Post Office site across from the last traffic light on Highway 78 heading toward Guin; the home of Jasper TRULL (still standing) near the present residence of E. G. TRULL; two homes, plank houses built on the street where Mrs. Newt WHITEHEAD lived. These two homes were built by John EARNEST and Newt WHITEHEAD. The EARNEST home burned and the property was sold to Emmitt MAYS but the WHITEHEAD house remains today. In 1892, Mr. E. G. TRULL listed the families of Winfield as follows: J. L. McGAHA, J. P. McGAHA, Jim GAMBLE, Lizzie WESTBROOKS, John William WHITE, Miss DOBINS, John SMITH, John WHITE, the MUSGROVES, the MARTINS (of the two hotes(sic) [hotels]), W. J. TRULL, Dr. J. F. EARNEST, Charley GAMBLE, Dr. James MOODY, "Aut" WHITLEY, J. B. WHITEHEAD, Joe DICKINSON, Base McCOLLUM, Lige WADSWORTH, Bill WEBSTER, Dr. CANTERBURY, W R H LODEN, Calvin WETHERLY, R. F. CARNES, Jack WHITE, Sony MARTIN, P M R SPANN, Will SHELTON, J. A. NORCHUTT (sic) [NORTHCUTT], Billy ASTON, Walter ASTON, White LOGAN, T. W. MOSS, Wood WARD, Dr. ciscero WHEELER, Lawson WHITE and the JONES. Another family who catered to travelers in those early 1880s was the Lige (Elisha) VICKERY household, which Ruby HARRIS states was more or less known as "The Wayside Inn". Miss HARRIS said that her mother known as "Aunt Jo" (Now Mrs. M. W. HARRIS) did the cooking for railroad workers of no relation to her husband. Ruby HARRIS says that she is not sure that the family tree of Mr. VICKERY can ever be quite fully mapped out because in those days when illnesses usually brought death, it was a common thing for the survivors to be remarried several times as was the case of Mr. Elisha. In talking with citizens already pased (sic) away at this time, Mr.s R. E. MOORE, Sr. knew of this list as being among the very earliest settlers of the Winfield area: the JONES, McGAHAS, MUSGROVES, WHITELYS, ASTONS, MOSSES, VICKERYS, CURLS, TRULLS, WHEELERS, SMITHS, and WHITEHEADS. Others have added the WARDS, the GREENS, the ADKINS, the HANEYS, the KIRKLANDS and others. Way back before the railroad was built, that the scattered residents of this section had to travel sixty miles to Columbus, Mississippi to buy the staple groceries such as flour, sugar, coffee etc. Old timers say that it took about a week to travel to Columbus and back. Eggs were five cents per dozen then, and hens were ten cents apiece. The Zion Baptist Church was established in 1835 according to A. W. GREENE, who remembers it because her father gave the Bible for the church then, even though he didn't become a member until later. She remembered the McGAHAS and Dr. WHITLEY's family who lived in this area, and also a Dr. WOODS. Many elderly citizens told of how the early families would pack lunches and go down to where the railroad was being built over areas requiring trestles. Mrs. A. W. GREENE remembered that they stayed all day and watched the workers drive the big logs into the ground over the Luxapallila Creek. It seems generally established that the first train, a freight, came through Winfield, in April of 1887, but Mrs. Lou ASTON TRULL stated that a work tain came to Winfield in 1886. She remembered it and other travellers who stopped over there. From Aunt Jo's beginning of cooking (mostly salt pork and peas in those days) she has become famous to acquaintances who describe her as a person "who can fix a good meal out of almost nothing." Aunt Jo was one of the ten sets of children and step children of Mr. Elisha VICKERY, as was Mr. NEWT and J. B. WHITEHEAD, former postmasters and mayors of early Winfield. In fact Mr. NEWT's wife, (who was a RAINES) was also a stepchild, but was near the time of her grandfather's (E. L. ADKINS) death and it was recorded in the Bible of the ASTON family. Mr. WHITEHEAD remembered the first store as being that of Jonathan JONES. He said that there was a saloon (quite legal in those days) near where the R. W. HARRIS Warehouse is located today. He remembered other stores abut that time being Bill WEBSTER's near where HILL Drug Store now is located; the store of Caly and Base McCOLLUM. HARKINS, SHELTON store where R. W. HARRIS and Son is now located; Elisha VICKERY's store whee the Citizens Bank formerly stood; and a general merchandise store of Bob COUCH where the ODUM Dime store is at the present time. J. L. McGAHA had about the second or third store in Winfield, and became the first postmaster of Winfield. The post office was locate din his store. Mr. M. R. McGAHA stated that J. L. McGAHA was his great-grandfather. He had told the amusing story of how "Mr. Mac," as he was known to many, not only kept the postoffice and store, but also bought opossums and fattended (sic) them (for resale to customers) in the back of his store. One night, a group of mischievous youngsters lost for him all his profit by breaking in the store and letting out the 'possums.' A fellow by the name of HAMM was sent by the Railroad Company to map out the town in 1892, according to M. L. LUCAS. Before Winfield came into being, Jonathan R. JONES had corn fields on the area where the city of Winfield is located today, and the MUSGROVES owned a great part of the town.