William "Lincoln" Miner
(1867-1937)
William
"Lincoln" Miner was born on Aug. 25, 1867 near Kingwood, Somerset
County, PA, the son of Ephraim and Joanna (Younkin)
Minerd. He was named after President Abraham Lincoln.
When Linc was eight, his mother died, and was laid to rest in the Younkin cemetery in Paddytown, Lower Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County. Two years later, when he was 10, his father married a cousin, Rosetta Harbaugh. Linc was said to have been born slightly mentally retarded, but was able to read and write and hold a job, unlike his brother Grant, who had more serious mental disabilities.
Linc is said to have once been married, circa 1910, to Alice Pearl Ohler (1888-1973). They are believed to have had a son Melvin. One cousin has said Pearl "was no good, and one day when she was away from their house (down toward Humbert) Linc packed up all the household furniture onto his wagon and moved out. His wife came home to an empty house." Other sources say that it was Linc who came home to the empty house.
He once resided in Barronville, Somerset County, and often sent penny postcards to his sister Minnie Gary as a way to keep in touch.
In
July 1913, the Meyersdale Republican reported that Linc had just returned
from a three-week trip to Kansas and Colorado. He claimed to have walked to the top
of Pike’s Peak (14,147 feet above sea level) and back again. The Republican reported:
He started the ascent with a companion at 2:25 p.m. … and reached the summit between 11 and 12 o’clock at night and saw the sun rise and also a storm raging at a lower altitude. They left at 6 in the morning and reached the foot hills at 10 the same forenoon. This makes Mr. Miner’s third trip to Colo., and this time he was determined to reach Pike’s Peak or “bust.” A small daily newspaper, called the Pike’s Peak News, is published near the summit, in which the names of tourists climbing the mountain are registered. Lincoln, remembering the fate of Dr. Cook, who claimed to have reached the North Pole but could not prove it, saw to it that his name was registered in the Pike’s Peak News and brought a copy back to show that “he was thar.” He was so impressed with the mountains that he now climbs one of the stupendous mountains surrounding Markleton every morning.
Pikes' Peak, from an old postcard
Old family postcards show that Lincoln
also traveled to Riverside, CA in July 1924, where he stayed at the Hotel St. George.
The purpose of the trip is lost to history.
Later in life, Linc resided with his brother John near Kingwood, but left after a disagreement with John’s wife Susie. In 1920, Linc was living with his brother Harry in Kingwood.
In the early 1930s, Linc and Grant resided
together north of Kingwood. Harry "Tom" Younkin, a young cousin whose
grandmother lived nearby, delivered freshly baked pies to the bachelor brothers.
Tom's father, Otto Roosevelt Younkin, became president of the first Younkin
Home-Coming Reunion in 1934. In fact, Linc's brother Grant
was the first person to arrive at the Younkin clan's first national home-coming
reunion, held at the Kingwood Picnic Grove, in September 1934.
Linc died at the age of 69 on May 19, 1937. His death was noted in local newspapers as well as in a letter from his step-first cousin (and Younkin reunion secretary) Charles Arthur Younkin to reunion president Otto Roosevelt Younkin. (Click here to see the two-page letter, dated May 29, 1937.) Later, a short article about Linc's passing was published in the inaugural issue of the Younkin Family News Bulletin, published at Christmas 1937.
Linc was buried at the Younkin Cemetery near Paddytown, in the same graveyard where his brother Grant and their mother and Younkin grandparents rest for eternity. His rough-hewn grave marker was hand-carved, and erroneously gives his date of death as June 19, 1930 -- off by nearly seven years. Fortunately, Grant's hand-carved stone contains accurate dates. Their cousin, William Rose, who was killed in a railroad accident in 1910, also rests for eternity at the Younkin Cemetery.
Copyright © 2001, 2005,
2007 Mark A. Miner.
Grave photo by the late Olive Duff.