Jacob
M. Younkin
(1840-1863)
It
seemed to be a typical Civil War tragedy. Jacob
M. Younkin, a farmer boy from the mountains, got married and went off to fight
for his country, and was killed in action.
The government agreed to pay a pension to his grieving widow to
compensate her for the devastating loss. In
short, it was a cut-and-dried case, with all the facts in order, however sad.
Except for one key complication. Two women stepped forward after his death, each claiming to have been his wife, each having proof that they had been united in marriage with him in a ceremony performed by a minister of the gospel. This is the story of the effort to untangle the matrimonial mess, involving "Widow Sarah" Younkin and "Widow Mary Jane" Younkin, one of them legitimate, the other bogus.
The soldier, Jacob M. Younkin, was born on a farm near Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, in about 1840, the son of John M. and Laura (Minerd) Younkin. It is not known if he attended school, or what he did for fun, though he probably stayed close to home. It was later stated that he had "lived in what is known as the Mountain, and was probably never in Uniontown twice in his life" before the war.
In about 1860, Jacob moved to nearby Normalville, Fayette County, PA. A year later, when the Civil War had been underway only a few months, he left home to enlist in the 85th PA Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered into the regiment on Nov. 7, 1861 at Uniontown. The 85th trained there at Camp Fayette for a short time before marching toward the battle lines in Virginia.
Among the regiment's early activities were siege operations in front of Yorktown and an engagement near Williamsburg. In May 1862, the regiment marched to Fair Oaks Station and began to fortify the area. The men were busy constructing a redoubt on May 31 when the enemy attacked. The 85th took a position in rifle pits on the right side of the main work.
The Battle of Fair Oaks -- from an old Currier & Ives
print
During seven days of extended fighting, Union and Confederate losses totaled 11,000 men. The 85th PA Infantry itself had 87 casualties. One of the dead was Jacob M. Younkin. How he was killed is unknown.
The burial of the dead and burning of horses at Fair Oaks Station
after the battle
The news quickly reached home, and Jacob's name was printed in a casualty list in the June 12, 1862 edition of the Uniontown Genius of Liberty. A copy of that clipping is seen here.
On
Oct. 1, 1862, four months after Jacob's death, 26-year-old Sarah
Floyd (Miller) Younkin ('Widow Sarah') appeared before a Fayette County
official. She said she was the
widow of Jacob Younkin of the 85th PA Infantry.
As per the provisions of a recent Act of Congress, she claimed to be
entitled to a widow's pension. She
had documents to prove she was married to the soldier in Uniontown on Nov. 16,
1861, shortly before the regiment left town, but had no offspring.
Her friends Amanda Miller and Ann Floyd swore oaths confirming her
claims.
The paperwork was in order. On April 4, 1863, the government approved Widow Sarah's pension, at a rate of $8 a month, retroactive to May 31, 1862, the date the soldier died.
The monthly payments suddenly stopped five months later. Something, or someone, was amiss. It turned out that officials had discovered something that Widow Sarah may never have been told -- that her husband was also married to a woman named Mary Jane ('Widow Mary Jane') and had a young son named Harvey Younkin living back home in the mountain.
Confusion ensued. Investigations were launched. The dust did not settle for years.
Documents and witnesses were furnished to show that the soldier had married a cousin, Mary Jane Christner (1841- ? ), the daughter of Levi and Catherine (Younkin) Christner. The marriage had taken place near Kingwood on June 26, 1859, about two years before the war began. Soonafter, the couple moved to near Normalville and "lived together as man and wife, and were so reputed in the Neighborhood." Witnesses testified about the birth of the couple's one and only child, Harvey, in July 1860. Although Widow Mary Jane had since remarried, to one Daniel K. Grim, and died within a few years, her son Harvey had a legitimate claim to his late father's pension.
Harvey's guardian, postmaster John W. Sherbondy of Normalville, wrote a rather blunt summary:
Jacob Younkin was in camp at Uniontown twenty odd miles from home. He is reputed to have married Sarah Floyd of Uniontown, at which place was located Camp Fayette, the Rendevouz of said Regt, and just four days before the Regt marched to the front. This Sarah Floyd was a reputed [prostitute], taking all the circumstances. I am satisfied that Younkin was drunk when he married this Sarah Floyd, who was well known as a [prostitute], and that he did not care, as he would not then be detected as the Regt was then under marching orders. The witnesses who testified that he left no child surviving him, could only have known him while in camp at Uniontown....
With all the new facts in hand, the government recognized Widow Mary Jane as the soldier's true wife, and it granted young Harvey Younkin's pension in August 1869, over seven years after his father's death. It is doubtful that Harvey even remembered his father. Under the terms, the payments were retroactive to the date of death, and thus Harvey would have received a lump sum of about $688 in back payments, a huge amount at the time. He then was to receive monthly payments of $8 until his 16th birthday, to occur in July 1876.
After his mother's death, Harvey "was educated at the Uniontown Soldiers Orphans School at Jumonville being a student there ... until 16 years of age," said his obituary.
How Widow Sarah reacted, or whether she ever refunded the money erroneously paid to her, remains a mystery.
The battle area markers circa 2006
As
for Jacob Younkin, it is not known precisely where he is buried.
Soldiers killed at the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines are interred at
the Richmond National Cemetery and the
Seven Pines National
Cemetery, which together contain the graves of approximately 6,950 unidentified soldiers. Most likely he is one of these unknowns.
A rare old photographic postcard, seen at left, shows the Seven Pines
Cemetery as it looked circa 1907, when the card was postmarked.
Click here for more information on the many "Kissin' Cousin" marriages between the Minerd and Younkin families of the 19th century.
This biography is adapted from the article, "The Soldier Who Had Two Widows" in the July 1993 edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin.
Copyright © 1993, 2000, 2002, 2004-2007 Mark A. Miner