Bio-Younkin, Charles

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Charles Younkin
(1845-1921)

Charles Younkin was born in 1845 in or near Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, the son of John M. and Laura (Minerd) Younkin. He was a pioneer settler of Washington State. No photographs of him are known, but will be added here when discovered.

While a young man in Somerset County, Charles married Sarah Artest (1851-1906), the daughter of Elijah and Margarette (Dillinger) Artest.

The Younkins resided in nearby Casselman, Somerset County, where Charles worked as a railroad laborer and coal miner.

Seen at left is a picturesque view of the Casselman River in the vicinity of the town of Casselman where they lived.

Charles and Sarah adopted a son, Alfred Arthur Younkin, known as "Alf" or "A.A." In 1880, they also housed their young niece, Annie Moan, daughter of Charles' sister Josephine (Younkin) Moan.

In 1899-1900, Charles served on the Casselman School Board with his niece's husband, James Rhoads. The official list of board members is seen at right, and includes C.A. Youler, J.A. Kiphart, B.W. Witt and J.W. Dwire.

Sadly, on April 25, 1906, Sarah died of stomach cancer at age 55 in Casselman. She is buried at the Mt. Union Cemetery. For almost a century, her grave was unmarked.

The federal census of 1910 shows Charles making his home with his older brother, William Shedrick Younkin, in Black Township, near Rockwood. Charles, age 65, erroneously was marked as being age 56. The census-taker showed him as widowed and as employed as a coal miner. That year, Charles' son Alfred was laboring on a farm in North Dakota, and would push onward to Washington State, where he then sent for Charles to join him there.

In 1914, Charles "retired" from his many years of labor and moved to the lush fruit growing community of Wenatchee, Chelan County, WA. How or why they identified Wenatchee as a destination point is unknown, other than its potential seemed to be very attractive.

The flat, open vista of orchard lands of Wenatchee

Seven years after his move to Washington, Charles died at Birch Flat near Wenatchee on Oct. 12, 1921. He is buried in the Wenatchee Cemetery.

A.A. eventually founded an apple sorting and packing business in Wenatchee with his wife Lillian that remained in family ownership until the late 1970s. They often sent crates of apples as Christmas presents to Younkin relatives back home in Somerset County.

A.A.'s granddaughter Diana (Younkin) Egan, interested in preserving the family's heritage, was the chief organizer of the 1996-97-98 and 2000 Younkin Reunion-West in Turner, OR, drawing scores of people and establishing a committee and fund for future events. Sadly, she passed away in 2006, at the age of 58.

Mt. Union Cemetery, framed by tall pines and rows of corn

In the 2000s, Younkin cousins who also are volunteers with the Mt. Union Church placed a marker in the vicinity of Sarah's grave. The marker is seen here, as photographed in July 2007 during the Younkin Reunion weekend.

This biography is adapted from one that originally appeared in the article, "Whispers of the Silence and the Slow Time," in the April-May-June 1996 edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin.