The Arizona Wingfields held a gathering in Camp Verde on April 27 to celebrate their family’s long history in Camp Verde and tour historic Wingfield related buildings and sites.
The Wingfield Family Society is an international organization that maintains awareness of the Wingfield family’s history while improving understanding of lineage. The Wingfields trace their ancestry to Suffolk, England, around the year AD 1000, and have their North American roots in early colonial America. Stephen Chanko, a representative of the Wingfield Family Society, helped the Arizona Wingfields create a committee to host their reunion.
The first Wingfields arrived in Camp Verde as pioneers in 1875.
Both Ian Wingfield, chair of the reunion committee, and committee member Judy Wood had grandfathers who were descendants of the two original Wingfield brothers who came to Arizona with their father along the wagon trail from Oregon, W. G. Wingfield and J. H. Wingfield, driving 200 head of cattle and 50 horses with them.
“I marvel at how rugged they must have been to travel all the way from Virginia, sometimes giving birth to children along the way,” Wood said. She added that one of their ancestors was the first governor of Jamestown, Va.
The group spent a history-filled day at Fort Verde State Historic Park, where they saw reenactors in period costumes and were briefed on the history of the fort and its connection to the Wingfields. The Wingfields ran the sutler’s store that provided goods for the troops not supplied by the military. The store also served as a bank and post office. The family owned and operated the mercantile store for nearly 50 years in Wingfield Plaza on Main Street.
The 1899 murder of Clint Wingfield and Mack Rodgers, owners of the store at the time, remains one of Camp Verde’s mysteries. It was speculated that the killer was Black Jack Ketchum, who was tried and hanged for the crime, although controversy over who did it remains.
The group also toured the 1917 Robert Wingfield house, which was the home of the Wingfield who ran the store and presided over the bank. They stopped at the houses of James Henry Wingfield and Boss Head as well as Wingfield Plaza. The Wingfield Bread Company is owned and operated by Rachelle Wingfield, a descendent of the founder of the Wingfield store.
Around 125 people attended the family reunion, some coming from out of state.
“It’s so wonderful to see a renewed interest in the Wingfield family of getting together, sharing these incredible stories of our pioneering past and getting to know each other at a place which is the stomping grounds of our pioneer family,” Ian Wingfield said. “It meant a lot coming back to Camp Verde and seeing what an integral place that is for us. We hope the younger generation continues to take the torch and keep these reunions going.”
Wingfield mentioned that Elva Coor has been the catalyst for these family reunions in the state and started them in the 1980s.
“She’s passed the torch to the younger generation and we’re trying to keep it going with as much gusto and passion that she had,” Wingfield said.
Wingfield’s and Wood’s grandfathers were born in the Verde Valley and participated in the economic development of the area, primarily in the cattle industry as beef suppliers to the military. Wingfield said that his grandfather became a prominent cattle trader in southern Arizona and even supplied cattle for a John Wayne movie, “Red River,” becoming friends with Wayne in the process. He continues the family tradition of cattle ranching in southern Arizona and Wood’s family also ranches in Pine.
Wood said that at the reunion, many Wingfields learned that the family had also tried drilling for oil, albeit unsuccessfully.
“As a mother and grandmother, I think knowing the history of your family gives you a sense of your heritage,” Wood said. “I think that’s very important at a time when many families move around a lot and their children don’t get to grow up in one place and feel that heritage, and through family reunions they can.”
