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Biographies
Source:
Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and
Cleveland, Ohio
ILLUSTRATED
Publ. Chicago:
The Lewis Publishing Company
1894
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CHARLES YARHAM
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 537 |
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REUBEN YEAKEL,
Historian, officially appointed by the General Conference and
Board of Publication of the Evangelical Association, was born in
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Aug. 3, 1827. His parents
were Charles and Susanna (Yeakel) Yeakel, natives also of
America. Mr. Yeakel's grandfather, Jacob Yeakel,
was also a native of the Keystone State; and his great
grandfather, Christopher Yeakel, came from Germany in
1734, settling in Montgomery county, mentioned. Charles
Yeakel was an intelligent and thorough farmer, frank and
honest, and deeply religious; and his wife was also a devout
woman, a member of the Evangelical Association. Both died
at the age of eighty-six years, - he in 1874 and she in 1880.
Their children were: Jesse, who entered the gospel
ministry in 1852 and now resides in Philadelphia; Reuben,
the subject of this sketch; Lydia, wife of Nathan
Sterner, a carpenter of Allentown, Pennsylvania; the other
three children are deceased.
Mr. Yeakel, whose name introduces this sketch,
educated himself, mostly, and in 1853 he began his career as a
minister of the gospel, in Pennsylvania; in 1859 he was elected
by the General Conference Corresponding Secretary of the
Missionary Society of the Evangelical Association, which
position he filled for several years; in 1863 the same body
elected him editor of the Sunday-school and tract literature of
the church, and he was re-elected in 1867, and held the position
till 1871. In 1867 he was also appointed biographer of
Jacob Albright and his co-laborers, of which Rev. Mr.
Dreisbach was one. In 1871 the same conference elected
him Bishop, which position he held until 1879, when he declined
a re-election and went to Naperville, Illinois, where he was
principal of the Biblical Institute in the Northwestern College
of the Evangelical Association, teaching systematic theology and
other branches until 1883; and while there he established a
theological quarterly, in the German language, on his own
responsibility, and he still edits and publishes this
periodical, which is now bi-monthly. It has now reached
its fifteenth volume. The title-page translated is,
"Bi-monthly Periodical for Theology and Church; founded by R.
Yeakel, and conducted with the co-operation of prominent
theologians in America and Germany; edited and published by
Rev. R. Yeakel, Rev. M. J. Cramer, D. D., Prof. F. L. Nagler, D.
D., and Rev. C. G. Koch." This periodical is
undenominational, is of great service to the church, prized most
highly, and is the only periodical of the kind in the German
Language in America.
After his service closed at the college he was called
to the Cleveland publishing house as joint editor of the
Christliche Botschafter, which place he held four years.
In 1887 he was given the duty of writing the general history of
the Evangelical Association; and still more recently also the
biography of Bishop Joseph Long, Rev. William W. Orwig
and Rev. Charles Hammer, the last mentioned
of whom was manager of the publishing house for many years.
Mr. Yeakel has attended the General Conference
of this church ever since 1855, being a delegate at almost every
session. In some respects he has been the pioneer collater
of the preliminary history of his church. Rev. W. W.
Orwig was appointed by the West Pennsylvania Annual
Conference to compile the history of the church from 1800 to
1845, and Mr. Yeakel was appointed jointly by the General
Conference and by the Board of Publications to supply the
history from 1750, the decennium of the birth of Jacob
Albright, and to bring the history down to the present time,
and also to revise the history previously made. He is more
conversant with early church history and of the fathers of his
church than any other man living. Since 1855 he has
written a great multitude of articles for the press, both in
German and in English. The amount of work he had done is
evidence not only that he has been very busy, but has a
capacious, well-furnished and ready mind.
He came to Cleveland in1860, as Corresponding Secretary
of the Missionary Society of the Church, and with few
interruptions has been a resident here ever since. He was
first married in 1855 to Miss Sarah Schubert, daughter of
David Schubert of Pennsylvania, and they had two
children, - Charles and Rosa; the latter died at
the age of four years. The mother of these children died
in 1874, aged forty-seven years, a devoted member of the church.
For his second wife Mr. Yeakel married, in 1876, Mrs.
Caroline Klein, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, a member of the
same church.
In hi political sympathies Mr. Yeakel is a
Republican, voting, however, with some care as to the
personnel of the proposed tickets. The following
outline of his personal characteristics is furnished by a
co-laborer who has long been acquainted with him:
In personal appearance Mr. Yeakel inspires
confidence and respect, possessing in splendid physique.
He is probably more than six feet two inches in height, his
rugged frame and broad shoulders being surmounted by a massive
head, covered with a heavy stock of hair, worn somewhat long.
His form is bent, as if weighed down with care. Beneath
his expansive forehead and jutting eyebrows, which frown like
buttresses, there gleam a pair of calm, keen eyes from deep,
cavernous sockets. His face wears an expression of
benignity, thoughtfulness and gravity. Deep convergent
lines about the region of the eyes indicate the close thinker
and constant reader, while the steady gaze of those eyes give
but a hint of the steadier and more penetrating gaze of an
intellect of extraordinary power of concentration. He is a
profound student who delights to "lose himself in thought."
He revels in the mastery of abstruse problems, which practice
enables him to gain unusual insight into the inner meaning of
the Scriptures. His analytical powers are such that he is
acknowledged as one of the most discriminating of exegetes.
In recognition of this the degree of Doctor of Divinity was
tendered him by a high authority, which however he firmly
declined, with characteristic modesty, not to say indifference
to such titular distinctions.
He is also a historian and biographer of much
experience. His habit of investigation, his patient
research, his mastery of details, his remarkable ability to
apprehend the historical value of apparently trifling minatiae,
have made him an authority on the subjects to which he has
devoted himself; and his opinion is eagerly sought and readily
accepted. He has rendered his church invaluable service by
his historical labors. Few men have the unwearying
patience, the indomitable perseverance, which he manifests to
search through time worn documents and musty records for obscure
connecting links in a chain of evidence necessary to establish
an historical fact.
Mr. Yeakel is also an ecclesiastical legislator
of recognized ability. For years the Discipline of the
Evangelical Association has received marks from his molding
hand. It owes much of its symmetry and consistency to his
skill. In the important litigations through which the
church has recently passed he was the chief expert witness for
the church, to whose interpretations of the laws of this
ecclesiastical body attorney and courts alike deferred without
question of dissent.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 97 |
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CAPTAIN H. B. YORK,
builder and contractor of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was born at
Burlington, Vermont, Dec. 5, 1833, a son of D. H. York,
born of Scottish ancestry. Our subject's mother was
Laura Banres York, born near St. Albans, Vermont, daughter
of Stephen Barnes, a soldier in the war of 1812.
The subject of this sketch was a babe when the family
came to Bedford, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. Ten years later
the family removed to Geauga county, to the township of Munson,
where they remained till 1866, the father then moved to Tuscola
county, Michigan, where he died at the age of seventy-two.
The mother lived to be seventy five years of age. They
reared five children, four of whom are now living, viz.:
H. G., N. E., M. D., Mrs. S. M. Spencer of Ionia,
Michigan. N. E. and M. D. reside in Tuscola
county, Michigan. The father was a mechanic, a bricklayer
by trade. Politically he was a Republican, and in religion
a member of the Disciple Church.
H. B. York spent his early boyhood in Bedford,
Ohio, and after the family removed to Munson attended the
schools of that place, and also Chester Seminary. He
taught three or four terms and then returned to Bedford.
Mr. York enlisted for service as a private in
the Civil war, in the Ninth Battery, Light Artillery, and served
three years and ten months. He was promoted first to be
Second Lieutenant, later to the rank of Captain of the Battery,
Dec. 12, 1862. The battery took an active part in the
battle of Cumberland Gap, and later was under General
Schofield's command, Twentieth Army Corps First Division.
Later, under General H. W. Slocum, Captain York
was promoted to the rank of Chief of Artillery. He passed
a thorough examination before a military officer and passed rank
as Major of Heavy Artillery. At triune, Tennessee, June
11, 1863, Major York was severely injured. On
account of this injury he received a pension.
After the war he located in Tuscola county, Michigan,
where he remained for four years. He then returned to
Ohio, and after spending one year in Munson, came to Chagrin
Falls, where he has since made his home, except some time spent
in Cleveland at his business. He is a man of intelligence
and good principles.
Mr. York has been married three times - first in
Chardon, Ohio, July 1 1853, to Ann E. Sherman a daughter
of Jacob and Mary Sherman. By that marriage there
were three sons, two of whom are living: R. E.
of Eat Saginaw, Michigan, who has one son, Noble E.; and
Clarence H., of Chicago, Illinois. Ed E.,
the first born, died at Willoughby, Ohio, at the age of
twenty-three. Mrs. York died in 1862, and
for his second wife Mr. York married Huldah Sherman,
sister of his first. Mrs. Huldah York had two
children: P. H., of Chicago, who has a son, William;
and Mary E., wife of M. J. Hubbell, of Chagrin
Falls; they have one daughter, Mildred E. Mrs. Huldah
York died Aug. 1, 1884. Mr. York's present wife
was Mrs. Jane B. Holcomb, nee Snedeker,
widow of Thomas J. Holcomb, a soldier of the late war, a
member of Company B, Light Artillery, serving three years.
She was a daughter of C. M. and Amelial (Leach) Snedeker,
both of whom are deceased.
Mr. York is identified with the
Republican party. He is a member of the N. L. Norris Post,
G. A. R., and has been Commander and Adjutant of the post.
He is also a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 290, and of
Encampment No. 113. In his religious relations he is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he serves as
an officer.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 293 |
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REV.
WILLIAM YOST, treasurer of the Missionary Society of the
Evangelical Association, Cleveland, Ohio, date his birth in
Womelsdorf, Berks county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 25, 1830.
His parents, John and Margaret (Lauer) Yost,
were natives of Germany. John Yost was a cooper and
farmer by occupation; lived to the advanced age of ninety-two
years, and died in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1887.
His wife died in 1850, at the age of fifty years. Both
were members of the Evangelical Association. They came to
America in 1823 nd settled in Pennsylvania, where they spent the
rest of their lives, honored and respected by all who knew them.
William was the fourth born in their family of six
children, four of whom are living. One son, Fred, went
out to California in 1848, and is now a well-to-do citizen of
Stockton.
William Yost was educated in Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; but on account of failing
health was compelled to leave the college before he completed
his course. He was then employed for a short time as
bookkeeper in Reading. At the age of twenty-two he entered
the ministry of the Evangelical Association, and for eleven
years was a circuit preacher, spending two years at each
appointment, all the time the regulations of the church would
allow. For the past thirty years he has been one of the
officials of the church. He was elected corresponding
secretary of the Missionary Society of the Evangelical
Association in 1863, which position he held for sixteen years.
Then for eight years he was one of the managers of the
Publishing House of the Association. He was elected to his
present position in 1887. For four years, in addition to
his other duties, he served as one of the editors of the
Missionary Messenger, and at present is also general statistical
secretary of the Evangelical Association.
Mr. Yost was married, Mar. 9, 1855, to Miss
Maria H. Gish, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Gish,
of Northampton county, Pennsylvania. They have five
children, namely: Ella, Howard, Emma, William B.,
and Bessie. Ella is the wife of Robert O. Preyer,
a lumber dealer of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. They
have four children, Anna, Willie, Allen and Helen.
Howard, bookkeeper for the Society for Savings, resides in
Cleveland. He married Miss Kate Wyant, of this
city, and they have three children, Malcomb, Ransom and
Harold. Emma is the wife of Dr. M. J. Blien,
of San Antonio, Texas, and their children are Marion and
Howard. William B. married Miss Florence Yost,
of Twinsburg, Ohio. He is a traveling salesman for a
wholesale hardware company of Cleveland. Bessie,
the youngest, is attending the Cleveland high school. The
family are all members of the Evangelical Association.
Rev. Yost is favored with a goodly portion of
sound practical sense, which is enlivened with a very ready and
almost inexhaustible amount of mother wit. His temperament
being rather lively, the result is that he is nearly always in
good humor and is a kind and pleasant companion. His
perceptive powers are acute and always on the alert. His
slender form is well proportioned and is wiry and tough, and,
being quick and supple in his actions, he is able to do a great
deal of work with comparatively little exertion.
In the discharge of his official duties he is punctual
and reliable. In finances he is "quite at home" and hence
makes a first-class treasurer of the Missionary Society and the
Orphans' Home of the Evangelical Association. Indeed, in
every position to which he has been called, he has discharged
his duty with the strictest fidelity.
As a preacher of the gospel, Mr. Yost has met
with eminent success. He studies his texts well, presents
the truths contained therein earnestly, gracefully and
effectively. While he served as preacher on circuits and
stations he was everywhere successful in leading souls to Christ
and building up the church. Besides the various official
positions which he has filled, he has been a member of the
number of General Conferences, and assisted materially in
shaping legislation for the children by that body.
Mr. Yost is without doubt one of hte most useful
men in church, an honor to its ministry, and as a member of hte
church leading a blameless and exemplary Christian life.
Source: Memorial Record of the County of Cuyahoga and City of
Cleveland, Ohio - Publ. Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Company - 1894
- Page 177 |
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