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BIOGRAPHIES
† Source:
Biographical Record of Wayne & Holmes Co.
Publ. Chicago:
J. H. Beers & Co.
1889
(Contributed by Sharon Wick)
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1889
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
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CYRUS YARNELL
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio – Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. – 1889 -
Page 598 |
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MRS. NANCY J. YARNELL
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio – Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. – 1889 -
Page 598 |
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PERRY YARNELL
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio – Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. – 1889 -
Page 423 |
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JOASH
YODER. About the year 1720 Barbara Yoder,
widow, whose husband died at sea on his way from Switzerland to this
country, arrived at Philadelphia, Penn., hers being one of the first
Amish Mennonite families coming to Pennsylvania from the old
country, and located somewhere in the eastern part of the State,
either in Lancaster or Berks County. She was the mother of
eight sons and one daughter. Her daughter was married to
Christian Byler. Seven of her sons were
married and had families. One of her sons, Christian, had
eleven children, namely: Jacob, Anna, Christian, John,
Fannie, Elizabeth, Barbara, Henry, Yost, Joseph and
David.
The latter was the
grandfather of Joash Yoder, our subject. His first
wife was Jacobina Esh, who also came from
Switzerland, a maiden, and arrived at Phiadelphia about 1780, after
a long and perilous passage, being on the ocean over six weeks.
She was a good woman, and did not live to a great age. She
became the mother of three sons and five daughters, as follows:
Daniel, born (it is thought) in the latter part of
1791; Rebecca, born Oct. 18, 1793, and was married
to Jacob Zook; Jonathan, born
Sept. 2, 1795, in Berks Co., Penn., and was married to
Magdalena Wagner, whose father, Zacharias Wagner,
was brought to this country from Hessen (or Hesse), Germany, during
the Revolutionary War (he died at a ripe age, in Berks County,
Penn.); Joseph, born Sept. 13, 1797, and married to
Catherine Lantz, of Mifflin Co., Penn., where he
lived many years and taught English and German schools (about 1838
he removed with his family to Juniata County, Penn., and about 1846
he immigrated to McLean County, Ill., where he went to farming; he
died there in February, 1888); Magdalena was born
Apr. 23, 1799, and was married to John Lantz, lived
in Mifflin Co., Penn., and died there about 1832; Fanny,
born Apr. 11, 1802, was married to Joel
Yoder of Centre Co., Penn.; Maria was born
Apr. 11, 1804, and was married to John Yoder, of
Centre Co., Penn.; Leah was born Dec. 8, 1806, and
was married to Yost Yoder, of Centre Co., Penn.,
about 1832 (she and her family removed to Juniata Co., Penn., about
1849, and from there to McLean Co., Ill., but more recently to
Kansas, where she and her husband now live). David Yoder
(grandfather of Joash Yoder), with his family,
removed from Berks Co. to Mifflin Co., Penn., about 1811, and there
he bought a large farm. He there met with reverses, his wife
died and he became financially involved. His land title not
being good, he lost his farm, and died about 1820, insolvent.
Jonathan Yoder, father of Joash,
and was a man of great physical strength and more than ordinary
intelligence. Although he received only a few months'
schooling, he was able to read and wright both English and German,
and, without having studied any of the rules of the arithmetic
taught in the subscription schools of those days, he could solve
many of the most difficult questions found in the books. He
was of generous and peaceful disposition, yet firm in what he
considered right. His kind and jovial disposition made him
beloved by all with whom he became acquainted. When about
thirty years old he was called to the ministry of the Amish
Mennonite Church, to which he belong, and in this capacity he served
the church until the end of his life, with considerable ability and
without salary or compensation. He reared a large family
(eleven children) with the labor of his hands, when wages for
ordinary laborers was only 50 cents a day. Yet by industry and
the prudent and economical management of his wife they lived
comfortably, and became possessors of a small home, four miles west
of Lewistown, Mifflin Co., Penn. Awhile after he was married
he learned the carpenter's trade, and to some extent followed the
business of framing barns. Abut the year 1828, when
Joash was ten years of age, his father removed to Half-Mon
Township, Centre Co., Penn., and there bought 100 acres of land, a
little south of a village called Stormstown, where he lived eight
years. Then he removed to Tuscarora Township, Juniata Co.
Two children died while he lived in Centre County, and nine were
married and reared children. They were born as follows:
Leah, Mar. 28, 1818; Joash, Dec.
23, 1819; Elias, Oct. 16, 1821; Elizabeth,
Jan. 5, 1825; Sarah, Dec. 23, 1819; Elias,
Oct. 16, 1821; Elizabeth, Jan. 5, 1825;
Sarah, Dec. 7, 1826; Amos, Dec. 17, 1828;
Jonathan, Sept. 21, 1830; Magdalena,
July 13, 1832 (the two last named died in Centre Co.); Asa,
Jan. 24, 18935; Catherine, Sept. 10, 1836;
Annie, Feb. 7, 1840.
Soon after
the last child was born, the oldest of the children began to marry,
and the family became gradually larger. About 1846
Elias, the third born, removed to McLean Co., Ill., near
Bloomington, the county seat of McLean Co., now a thriving city and
railroad center; had then only a few houses and no railroad at all.
Soon after some other members of the family moved to McLean County,
and about 1850 Jonathan and his wife followed,
taking the remainder of the family with them. There these
parents lived until their deaths, and are buried in a cemetery on a
farm belonging to Simon Lantz, about two miles east of Carlock
Station, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad.
As before stated, Magdalena Yoder was the daughter
of Zacharias Wagner, who came from Hesse, Germany,
and located in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. She was born
in 1798. When yet quite small she was bound to
Christian Schmucker, of Lancaster Co., Penn. When she
was about fourteen years of age Mr. Schmucker
removed to Mifflin Co., Penn., and took her with him. She
served with him until she was eighteen years of age. She, too,
became a member of the Amish Mennonite Church, and lived and died in
the faith of that communion. She was a kind and benevolent
woman, and , and her chief aim was to rear her children in the love
and fear of God. She was very industrious and frugal, and a
good helpmate to her husband, and always managed to make things in
and around the house look neat and comfortable. She spun all
the cloth the family wore, from shirts to overcoats, and made nearly
all the clothes with her own hands. Sewing machines were not
then in use, but the children were always clean and well dressed.
She was a mother in the true sense of the word.
Joash Yoder was born Dec. 23, 1819, in Derry
Township, Mifflin Co., Penn., and remained with his parents until he
was twenty-one years of age, and assisted them in their struggle to
rear their family. He did all kinds of work on the farm.
Farming then was quite different from what it is now. There
were then no machines to mow the grass or cut the wheat or to do the
threshing. Grass was mowed with a scythe, and wheat, rye and
oats were cut with a sickle or cradle, and grain threshed with a
flail or or tramped off the straw with horses. So Mr.
Yoder was kept busy summer and winter, and found but little
time, after he was big enough to be of any service at home, to
attend school in the log schoolhouses, which in those localities
were few and far between. But, as he was industrious at school
and studied hard when out of school, he managed to learn to road and
write both English and German, and acquainted himself with some of
the higher branches, which he mostly learned without a teacher.
When nineteen years of age he commenced teaching school in the
winter and worked on the farm in this summer; this he followed for
nine or ten years.
In 1841 he was
married to Barbara Kaufman, an estimable lady, the
daughter of Christian Kaufman, of Bratton Township,
Mifflin Co., Penn. He then left Juniata County and lived in a
small log house, 14x15 feet, belonging to his father-in-law, and
supported his family as best he could by doing all kinds of work he
could find, much of it being wood-chopping and clearing land, for
which he generally received 50 cents a day. By this marriage
he had one son, Eli L. Yoder, who now lives in
Nebraska and has a family of seven children. Mrs.
Yoder died Oct. 12, 1851. In the fall of 1853
Mr. Yoder went to McLean County, Ill., where his family
relatives all lived. On his way home he stopped in Wayne Co.,
Ohio, and on the 17th day of November, 1853, he was joined in
marriage with a widow, Catherine Zook, daughter of
Christian Schmucker. She had three sons, the
oldest being about thirteen years of age. Of this marriage
there were born one daughter, Veronica, and one
son, Amos; the latter died when he was four years old. The
daughter was married to M. P. Yoder, and is living
on the homestead farm. Catherine Yoder, when married to
Mr. Yoder, was living on the farm where she and
Mr. Yoder now reside. The farm belonged to
her three boys, she having a dower in it considered worth $1,000.
After renting the farm for a few years from the guardian of the
boys, Mr. Yoder sold a little property in Mifflin
County, Penn., which he had gained mostly by days' work at 50
centers a day, for $1,100, and with that sum as hand money he bought
from the heirs' guardian the farm on which they yet live. He
gave his attention to farming, in which he has so far been
successful, his wife being industrious and economical, and doing her
part in paying for the farm. They are now growing old, but can
still, with ordinary health enjoy the sweets of life.
Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are highly respected by all who know
them.
Source: Biographical Record of Wayne & Holmes Co. -
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889
~ Page 106 |
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REV. JOHN K.
YODER, bishop of the Amish Mennonite Church, lives on Section
22, in Green Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, his postoffice address being
Orrville, Ohio. He comes of a family who have been residents
of this country since before the Revolutionary War. His
grandfather, who was brought to this country by his parents when
quite young, was the oldest of the family, and to help his parents
and pay for his passage he was bound out to a farmer in Berks
County, Penn, serving until he was twenty-one years of age. He
married Magdalena Yoder, who, although of the same name, was not a
relative, and afterward removed to Mifflin County, Penn., where he
died. His wife survived him many years, reaching an advanced
age, and her descendants at the time of her death numbered nearly
200. Their children were three sons and five daughters, none
of whom are now living.
The father of
John K. Yoder, also named John, the eldest of the
family, was born in Mifflin Co., Penn., in 1786, and died in the
house of our subject in 1855, in his seventieth year. He was a
farmer in Pennsylvania, but retired from active life a few years
before coming to Ohio, to spend the remaining years of his life with
his son. He was married to Mary King, a
native of Berks, but reared in Mifflin County, Penn. She was
born in 1790 and died in 1866, in her seventy-seventh year, having
survived her husband eleven years. John Yoder
had always borne the character of an upright and honest man, a
useful member of the Amish Mennonite Church, and of the community in
which he lived. He and his wife were the parents of four
children: Jacob, who was married to
Annie Yoder, removed from Pennsylvania to Mahoning Co.,
Ohio, and from there to Michigan, where he died, his wife dying in
Missouri; Magdalena is the widow of John
Plank, who removed first to Logan Co., Ohio, and
thence to Michigan, where he died, and where his widow yet lives;
Christian K. is married to Catherine Plank,
and is a farmer and a minister of the Amish Mennonite Church of
Logan County, Ohio; John K., who was the third in
order of birth, was born in Mifflin Co., Penn., Jan. 21, 1824.
He was brought up on the farm, and lived with his parents until
after his marriage, when he removed to another farm in this same
county. There he lived for ten years, until 1855, when he
removed to Ohio, buying the farm which has ever since been his home.
May 5, 1850, while still in Pennsylvania, Mr. Yoder
was selected by lot as a minister of his church. He discharged
his duties with such zeal and fidelity that in October, 1859, he was
elected by ballot by the congregation to the high and holy office of
bishop of the church, having oversight of the churches of the
district, and also preaching regularly. In Mifflin County,
Penn., on Jan. 9, 1845, Mr. Yoder was married to
Lydia Zook, who was born there Mar. 18, 1827, and
died at their Ohio home Sept. 20, 1887, after a long and serious
illness, which she bore with the patience and resignation of a
Christian, hoping for immortality. She was a faithful wife and
devoted mother, and discharged with fidelity her duties in all the
relations of life. She passed from this life to the reward
which awaits those who faithfully believe in Him "who doeth all
things well." Mr. and Mrs. Yoder were the
parents of three children who lived beyond infancy. They are
Christian Z. of whom further mention is made below;
Mary Z., deceased, who was the wife of
Jacob N. Yoder, of Green Township, and David Z.,
married to Mary Ann Smiley, a farmer in the same
township. The Oak Grove Amish Mennonite Church, for which
Mr. Yoder has preached so long, is the first of the
denomination organized in this part of the country. At first
services were held in private houses, the present church edifice
being built in 1862. It has now a membership of between 400
and 500, which is about the seating capacity of the audience room,
which is 43x55, with two rooms attached which can be used as an
addition. Sunday school services are held every other Sunday,
the alternate Sundays being devoted to the Sunday-school of Pleasant
Hill Church, in the adjoining town of Milton. The service of
Mr. Yoder have been very acceptable and of great
benefit to the people under his spiritual charge. We are
pleased to record this tribute to the worth of one whose life for
many years has been spent in the service of the Master, and whose
walk and conversation have ever been blameless and worthy of praise.
Christian Z. Yoder, the eldest son, was born in
Mifflin County, Penn., Nov. 28, 1845, and was therefore in his tenth
year when his parents came to Ohio. He has followed farming
all his lifetime. He was married in October, 1868, to
Lydia, daughter of John and Mary Smiley.
She was born in Elkhart Co., Ind., Dec. 5, 1846, and came with her
parents to Wayne Co. in 1867. They settled on a farm adjoining
Mrs. Smiley's home, and there her father died, and
there her mother yet lives. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder
are the parents of eight children, all yet under the parental roof.
They are named John Smiley, David Amasa, Rufus Melvin, Menno
Simon, Ora Christian, Mary Emma, Joseph Daniel, and
an infant yet unnamed. Since the organization of the
Sunday-school attached to the Oak Grove Church Mr. Yoder
has been, with the exception of one term, its superintendent, and
has taken a very warm interest in its affairs, and has been
unceasing in his efforts for its advancement and for the religious
growth of its attendants. To him much credit is due for the
flourishing condition of the school. Its attendance at times
is as high as 300, averaging about 250, and never, recently, has
fallen as low as 200, a truly gratifying reward to all who have
labored in the cause.
Source: Biographical Record of Wayne &
Holmes Co. - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889
~ Page 56 |
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JOHN M. YODER - See
ROBERT B. THOMPSON
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of
Wayne County, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.- 1889
-
Page 392 |
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JONATHAN S.
YODER, farmer and dealer in fine horses, lives on Section 30,
in Green Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. He is a grandson of
Jacob Yoder, a former resident of Mifflin Co.,
Penn., who removed to Wayne County in 1818, being one of its
earliest settlers. When he came here this was a wilderness,
and on the site of the present city of Wooster, were but two logs
cabins. He and his family endured the hardships and severe
labors incidental to a pioneer' s life, but by steady industry and
thrifty habits overcame its difficulties, and made a comfortable
home for himself and his descendants. The farm he bought was
in Wayne Township, and there the honored pioneer lived until his
death. It comprised 160 acres, and before his death he had it
well cleared and fenced and under cultivation. In this labor
he was assisted by his sons, and the family were then are still
counted among the best of the pioneer settlers. Illustrative
of the obstacles against which the early settlers had to contend, it
is recorded that the wheat raised on the farm had to be hauled to
Cleveland, a trip of four or five days, and was there sold for forty
cents per bushel. Even that market was not opened for some
time after Mr. Yoder came to Ohio. At first
their wheat had to be bartered for other produce, for goods, or for
labor. Jacob Yoder was married in Pennsylvania to
Barbara Hooley, and had a family of six sons and four
daughters, all of whom are now deceased. Their names were
Jacob, Michael, Peter, John, David, Samuel, Martin, Rachel, Lydia
and Maria.
The youngest son,
Samuel, was father of the subject of this sketch. He
was born in Mifflin County, Penn., in 1808, and died on the farm
where J. S. now lives, on March, 31, 1878, aged
seventy years. He was ten years old when his father immigrated
to Wayne County, and witnessed its development from a wilderness to
one of the best counties in the State. His father bought a
quarter section of land for each of his children, and that given to
Samuel was uncleared except ten acres from which the brush
had been removed and the large trees deadened. On this tract
Samuel labored as long as he was able to work, and it is now
thoroughly cleared and all under a fine state of cultivation.
Some of the land was sold and the farm now comprises 140 acres,
through which the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railway now runs,
its depot being on the road bounding it. Samuel Yoder was an
upright man, and was a consistent member of the Amish Mennonite
Church. He had the respect of his fellowmen, and left to his
children the priceless heritage of a good name. He was married
to Catherine Naftziger, who was born in Germany,
April 8, 1817. Her parents came to America when she was seven
years old, settling in Canaan Township, Wayne County, where the
father died. A few years before her death the mother removed
to green Township, where she died. Mrs. Catherine
Yoder is now living with our subject. She and her
husband were the parents of eleven children.
Jacobina is the wife of Samuel Plank;
Jonathan comes next; Barbara is
the wife of Rev. David Hostetler; and Jacob,
a farmer, all living in Greene Township. A. K. Kurtz;
and Martha is the wife of Amos Smoker,
all of Greene Township; John is a resident of
Johnson County, Mo.; Menno P. lives in Wayne
Township, this county; Samuel died at the age of
twenty-one, and David V. when one year old.
J. S. Yoder, subject of this sketch, was born in a
log cabin on the farm where he now lives, on January 3, 1840.
He lived with his parents until his marriage, which took place in
Lancaster County, Penn., where he lived the succeeding eight years,
then returning to the place of his birth, which he has since made
his home. He was married Mar. 10, 1864, to Leah
Stoltzfus, born in Lancaster County, Penn., Feb. 28, 1841,
her ancestors being old residents of that county. She died
Sept. 13, 1881, leaving seven children: Catherine
Ellen, Sylvanus S., Sarah Melinda, Rachel Lucinda, Ephraim S., Leah
and Jonathan Stoltzfus, the two latter being twins.
Mrs. Yoder was a faithful and devoted wife and
mother, a woman of deep religious feeling, and an active member of
the Amish Mennonite Church. In October, 1883, Mr.
Yoder was again married, Miss Mary L. Zook
becoming his wife. She was born in Mifflin County, Penn., in
November, 1840, of parents who were old residents of that county.
Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are both members of the Oak
Grove Amish Mennonite Church, and both are teachers in its Sunday
School. Mr. Yoder bears the reputation of a
thoroughly honest and trustworthy man, and as such is justly held in
esteem by all who know him.
Source: Biographical Record of
Wayne & Holmes Co. - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889
~ Page 529 |
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WENDELL YOUNG Source: Biographical Record of
Wayne & Holmes Co. - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889
~ Page 303 |
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