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JOSEPH H. YEAGER.
––A representative agriculturist of Morrow county, Joseph H.
Yeager is a well-known resident of North Bloomfield
township, where his finely cultivated and well appointed farm
gives substantial evidence of the excellent care and skill with
which it is managed. He was born October 12, 1844, in
Lancaster, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, coming from sturdy
German ancestry, his paternal grandparents having been born,
reared and educated in Germany.
William Yeager, his father, spent his earlier life
in Pennsylvania. In 1850 he came with his family to Ohio,
making the journey through the forests with teams, bringing with
him, all of his worldly possessions. Locating in Troy township,
Morrow county, he there rounded out a long life, passing away in
the ninetieth year of his age. To him and his wife, whose
maiden name was Harriet Dase, seven children were born,
five of whom grew to years of maturity and four are now, in the
spring of 1911, living, as follows: Amanda, wife of
Levi Texter; Belinda, wife of Wesley Texter;
Mary, widow of Alonzo Carpenter; and Joseph H.
Joseph H. Yeager, a lad of six years when he came
with his parents to Morrow county, well remembers the long ride
in the covered wagon and the camping and cooking by the
wayside. He obtained a practical education in the district
schools, and soon after the breaking out of the Civil war ran
away from home to join the army. His father realized that he
was not old enough or strong enough to endure the hardships of a
soldier’s life and refused to allow him to enlist. Beginning
life then as a wage-earner, he worked by the day or month until
twenty-five years old, when, having been wise in his savings and
prudent in his expenditures, he found himself with a bank
account amounting to eight hundred dollars. Then, in
partnership with his brother-in-law he bought eighty acres of
land in North Bloomfield township, and was busily employed in
its management for four years, when he sold his interest in the
place. He subsequently bought forty acres in the same township,
and has since added to his landed possessions and now owns
eighty acres of well tilled land, and has a half interest,
besides, in ninety-one acres. In his agricultural operations
Mr. Yeager has met with uniform prosperity and is one of the
leading men of his community. Enterprising and active, he
invested in a threshing outfit many years ago, being one of the
first men in this part of the county to own a threshing machine,
and each harvest season finds him one of the busiest of men, his
services being in demand throughout the neighborhood.
Mr. Yeager has been twice married. He married first
Mary E. Klinefelter, a daughter of Jacob and Catharine
(Kiefer) Klinefelter. She passed to the life beyond May 1,
1890, leaving six children, as follows: May, wife of
Grant Haldeman, of Marion, Ohio; Daisy D., wife of
Edwin Croft, of Mansfield, Ohio; Edith, wife of
Charles Garverick, of Troy township; Clara, wife of
Ira Garverick; Carlson J., living at home; and
Bertha, living at home. Mr. Yeager married for his
second wife, January 26, 1893, Jennie F. Stull, who was
born April 28, 1868, in Morrow county, a daughter of George
Stull. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Yeager, namely: Cloyd, born November 2, 1896;
Glenn, born May 3, 1899; Kenneth, born July 8, 1906;
and Jennie M., born September 1, 1908.
In his political affiliations Mr. Yeager is a
Democrat, and has filled various local offices, having been
township trustee, assessor for eight years and land appraiser
for North Bloomfield township. He is a member and one of the
directors of the Morrow County Agricultural Society, and both he
and his wife belong to the Johnsville Grange, of which he has
been master, while she is now lecturer for the local grange.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Yeager are members of the United
Evangelical church of Troy township, and liberal contributors
towards its support. Fraternally Mr. Yeager belongs to
Johnsville Lodge, No. 469, I. O. O. F., of which he is past
noble grand. The pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Yeager
is known as “The Maple Grove Farm.”
Source: History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol.
II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
667-668
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
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ALBAN YOEMANS.—One
of the best known and most influential of the citizens of
Cardington and Morrow county is Alban Yoemans,
agriculturist, lumberman, dealer in horses, in short one of the
most active men of affairs in the locality. His various
vocations have been such as to give him an unusually wide
acquaintance; in his early days he was a sawyer, then an
engineer; he has shipped horses for years, which has brought him
into contact with many men; and he has that geniality and
magnetism which makes a man not easily forgotten. His strenuous
life has agreed with him remarkably well and to-day he has the
appearance of a man of not over forty-five years of age, when in
reality he can lay claim to nearly twenty more.
This gentleman who has spent so many years within the
borders of Morrow county is a native of Chester county,
Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred not far from the city of
Philadelphia, June 17, 1847, and he was the third in order of
birth in a family of ten children, equally divided as to sons
and daughters. Of this number only three are living at the
present day, and all are Morrow county residents. Hannah
Jane is the widow of Paul C. Wheeler, and Margaret
is the wife of A. E. Criswell, an agriculturist. The
parents of Alban Yoemans were Thomas and Nancy
(Goodman) Yoemans. The former was born in Lincolnshire,
England, about the year 1818 and died in 1900, at a very
advanced age. He sailed with his parents from Liverpool when he
was but a child and the little party of immigrants to the
freedom and opportunity of the new world were three weeks
crossing the ocean. They arrived at Baltimore, Maryland, and
went thence to Chester county, Pennsylvania. The head of the
household was a stone mason by trade and soon found work to do.
Young Thomas was reared to manhood’s estate in Chester
county and he followed the example set by so many of the
easterners and came to Ohio, where he looked about him and
finally located in Morrow, here purchasing a farm upon which he
spent many years and reared his large family. The family lived
in a log cabin at first and although they came about the Civil
war period, many conditions, compared with those of the present,
were still rather primitive. Politically Thomas Yoemans
was an old line Whig. He voted for the first Republican
presidential candidate, General Fremont, and until his
demise he continued to give unswerving allegiance to those
principles. He was everywhere known for his strictest integrity
and honesty, these virtues being the keynote to his life. He
made a firm stand for right principles and he was of benevolent
nature, with ever a kind word and a kinder deed for the poor and
unfortunate. He did the state the greatest service within his
power by teaching his children to lead useful and honorable
lives. In the matter of religious conviction he was a devout
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a member for over
fifty years and for a long period holding the office of deacon
in the church. It is indeed gratifying that so fine a citizen
should have been granted so long a life. His wife was born May
8, 1820, and died July 24, 1896. She was a native of the
Keystone state.
Mr. Yoemans was a lad about fifteen years of age
when the family located in Morrow county. For such educational
advantages as it was given to him to enjoy he is indebted to the
public schools. He is, however, to a great extent,
self-educated and self-made and his success is owing to his
extreme honesty and never-tiring energy. As suggested in
preceding paragraphs he has had varied experience in the world
of affairs. He began his struggle to gain foothold in the
business world when about twenty years of age and he was empty
handed, without a ten dollar bill to his name. His first
experience was in the lumber business. Then the walnut trees
stood thick upon the broad acres of Morrow county and he
prepared for commerce hundreds of thousands of feet of beautiful
walnut lumber, selling it for a pittance, compared to modern
prices for this prized commodity. He erected a saw-mill east of
Cardington and for fifteen years was engaged in conducting
that. He has sold first-class walnut lumber for forty dollars
per thousand, where the same commodity will now sell for one
hundred and thirty dollars per thousand.
It was about the year 1878, that Mr. Yoemans first
engaged in the shipping of horses in which he has since
conducted extensive operations. He dealt in horses––driving,
draft and streetcar––and his first large shipment was to
Cincinnati. His operations in this line steadily increased and
he eventually became known as one of the most extensive, if not,
indeed, entitled to the superlative term, of the shippers of the
state of Ohio. For fifteen years, his dealings with the people
of Morrow and adjoining counties amounted annually to one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. He shipped extensively
to Boston, New York City, Newark (New Jersey), Buffalo, and St.
Louis. He has had a wide experience and is rightfully accounted
as one of the most successful men of his township. He is and
always has been an extensive property owner, having owned three
farms in Morrow county, and to-day he owns one of the most
beautiful and well improved agricultural properties hereabout,
the same being situated not far from the corporate limits of
Cardington. Having so much to do with the equine species, he
erected one of the finest and best equipped barns in all Morrow
county. It is a wonder in the excellence of its fittings and
well repays inspection, for Mr. Yoemans is one of those
who believe that “Order is Heaven’s first law,” and here
everything has a place and is found in its place.
Alban Yoemans, although very young when the first
guns were fired at Sumter, was nevertheless one of the brave
boys who went to the front at the time of his country’s danger.
He enlisted from Mt. Gilead, in May, 1863, in Company G, of the
One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his
captain being John Baxter. The regiment was sent to Fort
Williams, south of Washington, D. C., to guard the forts and
there a large portion of his term of service passed. He
received his honorable discharge August, 1864, and at once
returned home to don civilian’s garb.
In September, 1869, Mr. Yoemans was united in
marriage to Miss Margaret Sipe and their union has been
blessed by the birth of four children. Ella is the wife
of Ralph Shockley and resides in California; Cora,
widow of Henry Hutchinson, makes her home with her
father. Edson Leroy died at the age of twenty-one years
and in the fullness of his promise. Ida, the youngest
daughter is at home. Mrs. Yoemans was a daughter of
Jobe and Hannah Sipe, a native of Morrow county, educated in
the public schools and reared upon her father’s farm. She was a
member of the United Brethren church and devout in her religious
belief. The demise of this worthy lady occurred in May, 1879.
Mr. Yoemans chose for his second wife, Huldah Ann
Barge, daughter of Lewis and Susan Barge, and a
native of Morrow county, Ohio, and their union, solemnized in
the year 1882, resulted in the birth of three children, only one
of whom is living at the present. This is Lewis B., a
blacksmith by trade. The second Mrs. Yoemans was removed
from those scenes in which she had passed a life of usefulness
and honor, March 5, 1907. The subject is a stanch adherent of
the Republican party and cast his first vote for General
Grant. He has ever stood firmly for the cause of the Grand
Old Party, but has never aspired to any official position. He
was once, however, prevailed upon to accept the duties of
sheriff and his energy and diligence in carrying out its various
duties was admirable, and his cleverness as a detective of wrong
doing was widely heralded.
Although so long in the horse business, Mr. Yoemans
was free from any of the habits which frequently accompany the
vocation. He never smoked a cigar, has never used tobacco in
any form; has eschewed gambling and betting and was never
intoxicated in all his life. His influence is admirable and
this is particularly well for Morrow county, that one so widely
known and one so widely admired, especially by the young, should
be of such exemplary life.
The beautiful farm upon which the Yoemans home is
made has changed hands but once since it was entered from the
government so many years ago. It is adorned with a commodious
and modern home and is a favorite gathering place in Morrow
county.
Source: History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol.
II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
925-928
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
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CHARLES C. YOUNG.
––The estimable citizen whose name forms the caption for this
article is most successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Perry township, Morrow county, Ohio. Mr. Young has been
identified with various lines of enterprise during his eventful
career and in all of them has proved his mettle as a man of
worth and ability. From his thrifty German ancestors he
inherits that stern sense of duty and conscientious industry
which have ever characterized natives of the old Fatherland.
Charles C. Young was born in Johnsville, Morrow
county, Ohio, the date of his nativity being the 30th of
January, 1864, and he is a son of Caspar and Louisa(Lieb)
Young, both of whom were born and reared in the great Empire
of Germany, whence they immigrated to America about the year
1857. They made the uneventful but wearying trip across the
Atlantic in the same sailboat, and during the eighty-two days
consumed by the journey their friendship waxed strong and
gradually grew into love. After disembarking at New York city
they proceeded to Findley, Hancock county, Ohio, where was
solemnized their marriage and where they maintained their home
for a number of years. He served as deputy sheriff of Hancock
county, but he was a harness maker by trade and was engaged in
that line of work during practically his entire lifetime.
Subsequently removal was made to Morrow county, where Casper
Young became a man of influence in public affairs. In 1861
the family home was established in Johnsville, Ohio, where he
passed the remainder of his life. At the time of the inception
of the Civil war he gave evidence of his intrinsic loyalty and
patriotism to the cause of his adopted country by tendering his
services as a soldier in the Union army. He enlisted in Company
A, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, in which he won renown as a faithful and gallant
soldier. After serving for some time with his company and
regiment he joined Company F, One Hundred and Seventy-ninth
Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he remained one
year. To Mr. and Mrs. Casper Young were born thirteen
children, eight of whom are living in 1911, namely: August E.
and George, both of Mount Gilead; Sophia, who is
the wife of James Pinyard, of Mount Gilead; Charles C.,
the immediate subject of this review; Anna, who is the
wife of George Fullhart, of Geneva, Ohio; Frank,
who resides at Montpelier, Indiana; Sarah, who married
Fred Renshaw and who now maintains her home in California;
and William, of Los Angeles, California. The children
who are deceased are: Joseph, Eliza, Mary, Maggie and
Elmore. The father of the above children was summoned to
the life eternal November 1, 1890, and the mother is a resident
of Los Angeles, California, aged seventy-five years.
After completing the curriculum of the common schools of
Johnsville Charles C. Young entered upon an
apprenticeship at the harness maker’s trade under the able
preceptorship of his father, and for nineteen years he devoted
his entire time and attention to the work of that line of
enterprise. Subsequently he worked at his trade in Galion,
Ohio, for a period of two years, at the expiration of which he
directed his energies to the transfer business at Galion. In
1906 he returned to Johnsville, where he was employed on a farm
for some three years. In 1909 he rented the Jesse Stilwell
farm in Perry township, Morrow county, on which he has continued
to reside to the present time. He has proved eminently
successful as a farmer and his finely equipped estate, with its
splendid buildings and well cultivated fields, show that he
possesses considerable ability as an agriculturist and
stock-raiser.
On the 20th of June, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Young to Miss Laura B. Walters, who was reared
and educated in Richland county, Ohio, the date of her birth
being the 22nd of September, 1870. To this union have been born
four daughters: Ima, who was graduated in the Johnsville
High School and who is now the wife of Edward Shier, of
Morrow county; and Mary, Bertha and Maggie, all of
whom remain at the parental home. In their religious adherency
the Young family are devout and zealous members of the
United Brethren church, in the various departments of whose work
they have long been active factors. They are popular and
prominent in connection with the best social activities of the
community and their home is widely renowned as a center of
genial and most gracious hospitality.
In his political convictions Mr. Young is aligned as
a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and
while he has never been ambitious for the honors or emoluments
of public office he was at one time prevailed upon to serve as
justice of the peace of Morrow county, in discharging the duties
of which important office he acquitted himself most creditably.
He is a man of decided worth and undoubted integrity and as such
commands the unalloyed confidence and high regard of his fellow
citizens. In the various enterprises with which he has been
connected his conduct has ever been faultless and he is
recognized as a true friend and strictly reliable business man.
Source: History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol.
II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
818-819
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
