Winter, Peter

Peter Winter was born on August 10, 1862, along the Volga River near Saratov, Russia, to Wilhelm Winter and Marie Miller. Raised on his father’s extensive farm, he served in the Russian artillery before immigrating to the United States in 1898 with his first wife, Katrina Siebert, and three children. After initially renting land near Parlier, California, he settled in Fresno County, where he became a prominent viticulturist and leader among the local Russian-German community.

In Fresno County, Peter developed two successful ranches, including a primary forty-acre home property ten miles east of Fresno and a twenty-acre ranch near Del Rey. Following Katrina’s death in 1909, he married Mrs. Margretha Kinzel Wagonlightner in 1010, ultimately raising a combined family that included his children Katherine E., Henry, August, Katie, Ferdinand, Samuel, Olinda, Henrietta, and Peter. A deeply devoted Christian, he served as a trustee for ten years at the Salem German Congregational Church and contributed generously to its development, cementing his legacy as a progressive farmer and respected community figure.