A historical marker outside of Faith United Methodist Church in Dickinson references Alex Winfield and his contributions to founding a church at the location. He founded Winfield Chapel at the site in 1907.
The Winfield family has deep roots in League City and Galveston County. Several of the family graves dating back to the early 20th century are located in the Historic Magnolia Cemetery in Dickinson.
A historical marker outside of Faith United Methodist Church in Dickinson references Alex Winfield and his contributions to founding a church at the location. He founded Winfield Chapel at the site in 1907.
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News
The Winfield family has deep roots in League City and Galveston County. Several of the family graves dating back to the early 20th century are located in the Historic Magnolia Cemetery in Dickinson.
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News
The Hobbs family shared a connection to the Winfield family through marriage. Today a street in League City bears their name.
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News
Alexander Winfield with his wife, Rose, and children Minnie (standing) and Alma.
The Leagues, the Butlers, the Daros — these names are well-known to residents well-versed in the founding history of Galveston County’s biggest city.
Perhaps less well-known, but no less important is that of Alexander Winfield — a Civil War veteran, a member of the famed Buffalo Soldiers and an influential figure in the history of both League City and Dickinson.
“People have forgotten about the Winfields and Hobbses because of the ills of the 20th century,” League City Mayor Pat Hallisey said. “There’s no reason for that.”
Hallisey in recent years has regaled anyone willing to listen with tales about the Winfield and Hobbs families.
After attending a family reunion in 2019, Hallisey declared July 27 Winfield Family Day, city officials said.
And he has also worked to name a new street, at the end of Hobbs Road, after the Winfield family, to commemorate the Black families’ influence in League City, Hallisey said.
Alexander Winfield was born about May 9, 1847 in Virginia, but spent most of his youth in Ohio, said Deborah Konrad, one of Winfield’s great-grandchildren.
Konrad now lives north of Houston, but has studied her family history and given presentations on the Winfield patriarch, she said.
It is not clear whether Winfield was born in bondage, but if he was, he was quickly manumitted, Konrad said.
As family history has it, Winfield served in the Ohio Colored Troops for more than two years during the Civil War and then joined the regular army once it was opened to Black people, Konrad said.
Winfield enlisted in the 41st Infantry Regiment that was later consolidated into the 24th Regiment and was stationed at several forts in Texas, Konrad said.
Members of those original African-American units of the U.S. Army later became known as Buffalo Soldiers, according to the Buffalo Soldier Museum.
During his time in the military, Winfield was stationed in La Grange and met his wife, Rose Booker, Konrad said. Family legend holds that she was a white woman, which would have been unusual at the time.
“It would have been unfathomable for a Black man to be married to a white woman,” she said. “We doubted the oral history, but it turns out we’re pretty sure she was. There’s some genetic makeup to say she was.”
Winfield married his wife in 1873 and the two remained in La Grange and raised their growing family until 1902, Konrad said.
The Winfield family in 1902 purchased land in League City from the great nephew of Stephen F. Austin and moved there, to a place near what is now Hobbs Road, Konrad said.
“The Butlers and Winfields were always close,” Konrad said. “The Winfields supplied a good portion of the Black workforce for League City.”
The Winfield family worked as farmers and laborers after moving to League City, slowly building wealth during a time in which that was hard for Black people, Konrad said.
The city later named Hobbs Road in memory of a Winfield relative, Obie Hobbs, but residents knew it originally as the Winfield Settlement, Konrad said.
Alexander Winfield was also the steward of a Methodist church in League City that later merged and moved to Dickinson, becoming today’s Faith United Methodist Church.
The land surrounding Faith United Methodist Church bears a historical marker commemorating the role Alexander Winfield played in the church’s founding.
Alexander Winfield died in 1915, but League City and Galveston County are still home to many of his descendants, Konrad said.
“It’s a story with lots of triumphs and lots of pain,” she said. “It was hard being Black then. Of course, it’s hard being Black now.”
Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.
