Bio-Younkin, EllaHauger

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Ella (Younkin) Hauger
(1878-1938)

Ellen Linda "Ella" (Younkin) Hauger was born on New Year’s Day 1878 near Rockwood, in Black Township, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of William "Shedrick" and Caroline (Cupp) Younkin.

On Oct. 23, 1898, at the home of her parents, Ella married Jonathan E. Hauger (1869-1954), the son of Simon and Elizabeth Hauger, also of Black Township. She was 20 years old at the time, and he was 29. Because she legally was underage, her parents both had to sign a certificate of consent in the Orphans Court of Somerset County.

The Haugers had three daughters – Olive Caroline Younkin, Grace Ruby Eagle and Edna Elizabeth Sembower.

The Haugers settled on her parents' farm (seen here) in Black Township. He worked as a saw miller and a day laborer. They also operated a grocery store in Rockwood for many years near the Western Maryland Railroad depot. She was a member of the Rockwood Church of the Brethren.

In 1913, some of the family attended the first annual Minerd Reunion at nearby Ohiopyle, Fayette County, PA. A rare group photograph taken that day has been found in the collection of a descendant, and Ella’s parents and daughter Olive are visible in the image. Click here to view the image in high resolution, with each face numbered for identification purposes.

In the early 1930s, the Haugers were devastated when their barn was hit by lightning, and burned to the ground.

In October 1934, Ella may have been interviewed for an extensive genealogy research effort undertaken by distant cousins Otto Roosevelt Younkin and Charles Arthur Younkin. The men were gathering data in connection with the Younkin clan's new national home-coming reunion, held in nearby Kingwood, which drew more than 1,000 people a year during the heart of the Great Depression.. Click here to see Otto Younkin's actual handwritten notes from the alleged conversation with Ella.

Sadly, Ella died at home at age 60 of an “extended illness” on Feb. 8, 1938. The news was reported in the Younkin Family News Bulletin (April 30, 1938). She was buried at the Rockwood IOOF Cemetery.

The Haugers' graves in Rockwood's Odd Fellows Cemetery

Jonathan passed away in 1954, at the age of 85, having outlived his wife by 16 years. He was laid to rest beside Ella at Rockwood IOOF Cemetery.

~ Daughter Olive (Hauger) Younkin ~

Daughter Olive Hauger (seen here) married a distant cousin, Clark Melvin Younkin ( ? - ? ), son of Henry and Rachel (McClintock) Younkin. Clark was a coal miner at the No. 10 and 11 mines near Rockwood. He also was a school director of Black Township for 30 years, and spent 28 years working for the Rockwood Water Company.

Olive was a charter member of the Rockwood Volunteer Fireman’s Auxiliary. A photograph of Olive, Clark and their daughter Ellouise was printed in the January 1993 edition of the modern version of the Younkin Family News Bulletin.

Their daughter Ellouise Younkin (1921-2009) was married and had two children. Said the Somerset Daily American, she "worked as a secretary/bookkeeper for Rockwood Insurance for 10 years and later for the Somerset County Recorder of Deeds where she retired in 1980." She attended the national Junghen-Younkin Reunion in Kingwood, Somerset County in 1992, she she met the founder of this website, and provided much information about this branch of the family. Ellouise passed away at the age of 87 on March 15, 2009, at Memorial Medical Center in nearby Johnstown, Cambria County, PA. She was laid to rest near generations of ancestors at the Rockwood IOOF Cemetery.

~ Daughter Olive (Hauger) Eagle ~

Daughter Grace Hauger (1904-1983) is pictured in the book, Down the Road of Our Past, Book II, published by the Rockwood Area Historical & Genealogical Society.

Her husband, William Franklin Eagle (1900-1997), was a coal miner in Rockwood. He was featured in a Somerset Daily American article, “Bill’s a Working Man,” on his 80th birthday.

Over the years, Bill worked in the coal mines, drove a bread truck, and in a local printing shop. He was Sunday School superintendent at the Rockwood Church of the Brethren for 12 years, trustee for 20 years and a deacon for 35-plus years. Said the Daily American, "He rarely does anything but work, reflecting a lifetime of steady employment that began when he was a motorman in the coal mines for 18 years." Among their possessions was an original photograph taken at the first Minerd Reunion at Ohiopyle in 1913.

Grace passed away in 1983.

Bill outlived her by 14 years. He died in 1997.

~ Daughter Edna (Hauger) Sembower ~

Daughter Edna Hauger (1908-1992) married Maynard Sembower (1908-2009), the son of William Francis and Grace (Boyer) Sembower of Markleton, Somerset County. In 1983, they were featured in the Daily American on their 50th wedding anniversary.

A registered nurse, Edna graduated from Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital in 1932, and was a private duty nurse at Somerset Community Hospital for many years.

Maynard was employed at the Snyder Bakery in Rockwood for many years, and later worked for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, from which he retired in 1973. Active in the community, he was a fireman with the Rockwood Fire Department and a member of the Central Pennsylvania Police Officials Association of Johnstown. He also was a member of the Black Township School Board for many years in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Sadly, Edna died in 1992 at the age of 84.

Maynard outlived her by a remarkable 17 years. Said the Daily American, "He spent much of his time doing volunteer work no the Great Allegheny Passage trail since its opening in 1993... He enjoyed spending his winters at Sugar Creek Estates in Bradenton, Fla., with his daughter and son-in-law." Maynard passed away at the age of 100 at Somerset's Hospice House on Sept. 16, 2009. He was laid to rest beside his wife at the Rockwood Odd Fellows Cemetery.