He worked in several trades as a youth, settling into a position as a shoe and leather man in his twenties in London.

He then traveled via steamboat up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri, where he caught another boat leading up to Keokuk, Iowa.

He was the chief aid to General Daniel H. Wells, and wrote up the expense report submitted to congress at the conclusion of the conflict.

Serving as a delegate to several state constitutional conventions, he was an instrument in Utah Territory achieving statehood.

During this time, the federal government began to put more pressure on the church for its practice of plural marriage.

Winder assisted many people on the run from the federal government, by helping to hide them or to post bail.

In 1890, church president Wilford Woodruff approached Winder, Charles W. Penrose, and George Reynolds to review and edit the manuscript of the Manifesto.

Another significant contribution of Winder during his tenure as Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric was his work on the interior of the Salt Lake Temple.

In 1909, the First Presidency published a proclamation called "The Origin of Man", which clarified the church's position on human evolution and reaffirmed that men are the children of God and were created by him.

A practitioner of plural marriage, Winder married Hannah Thompson in Salt Lake City in 1855, Elizabeth Parker in 1857, and later, Maria Burnham in 1893.