Horton Howard Younkin
(1860-1950)
Horton
Howard Younkin was born on Feb. 16, 1860 in Athens County, OH, the son of
William and Catherine (Knight) Younkin.
On Sept. 25, 1884, when he was 24, Horton married Dorothy Thrush (1864-1939), a native of Pickaway County, OH. They had eight children -- William "Earl" Younkin, Everett Hobart Younkin, Fred Younkin, Howard Wilson Younkin, Nora May Harris-Crabbe, Edith Edna Mithoff, Clara "Mildred" Hoover and Ora "Bernice" Drake.
Early in their marriage, the Younkins resided in Pherson, Pickaway County, where their daughter Nora was born. Later they settled in Ashville, South Bloomfield Township, Pickaway County, where they were longtime farmers.
Interested in keeping family connections alive, they regularly traveled with their sons to the Younkin National Home-Coming Reunions of the 1930s, held at Kingwood, Somerset County, PA. Their son Fred, a talented left-handed fiddler, entertained at these events. They specifically are mentioned in a 1936 article about the reunion in the Somerset County Leader, among 1,200 relatives and guests who attended. When they went to the reunion in 1940, they stayed at the home of Mollie (Younkin) Lenhart near Kingwood.
The Younkins also
were regular subscribers to, and frequently mentioned in, the Younkin Family News Bulletin, a unique
family newspaper published by cousin Charles
Arthur Younkin in conjunction with the reunions. The March 15, 1940 issue
ran a prominent article about grandson Delano Younkin's marriage to Mildred
Ward. In 1938, when Horton was 78, he showed a copy of the News
Bulletin to newspaper columnist
Clyde Michael of the Pickaway County News, who had stopped by the
Younkin home for a
visit. Visibly impressed with what he had seen, Michael later devoted an
entire "Meanderings..." column to the Younkin reunion and the family newspaper
(seen at right, dated July 28, 1938). In the column, Michael wrote:
[Horton] showed me what I believe to be the only newspaper whose news is devoted entirely to one family and which is written and published as a family newspaper.... [He] told me when he gave me this paper that he attended the reunion in 1935 and 1936 but that in 1937 only his sons, Fred and Howard and their sons of Ashville represented this line of the Younkin family.
The
Younkins were members of the Scioto Chapel United Brethren Church of Robtown, OH.
Seen here is a rare old postcard view of Ashville circa 1913, showing new
telephone poles and suspended street lights but when the roads were still
unpaved.
In the fall of 1931, Horton and Dorothy were among 163 guests at the golden wedding anniversary celebration of Mr. and Mrs. R.A. Dixon of Pleasant Valley. Their son Howard and his wife also attended. The news was reported in the Sept. 15, 1931 issue of The Athens Messenger.
The following year, in 1932, Horton was rocked with the untimely death of his brother Edward Ellsworth Younkin in Mt. Sterling, Madison County, OH. Horton published a Card of Thanks in a local newspaper, saying: "We wish to thank Mr. Snyder and Son for their efficient services, the minister for his consoling words, the singers for the beautiful songs and all others who helped to aid and cheer our brother in his last days."
Sadly, Dorothy died on May 16, 1939 at home in South Bloomfield, at the age of 75. Her newspaper obituary was reprinted in the Younkin Family News Bulletin:
When health permitted, she loved to attend the services of this little chapel, but in her declining years she gained much spiritual strength and comfort listening to the beloved hymns and sermons on the radio by one of her former pastors.... Her life was centered upon her home and children, never too busy to lend a helping hand to one in need.... She was an indulgent and helpful wife and mother and was highly esteemed by her friends and neighbors.
Horton
outlived his wife by 11 years, and made his home at 189 West Main Street. He died at home in Ashville
on June 16, 1950, at the age of 90. He was buried beside his wife at the
South Bloomfield Cemetery.
Son
Fred Younkin, the left-handed fiddler, married Alna E. Dudleson (1892-1992). They
resided in Ashville, and had seven children -- Ruth Thelma Younkin, William
Horton Younkin, Delano Donald Younkin, Clarence "Robert" Younkin,
Ermalee May Bowers Shumate, Carole Ann Younkin and Rachel Maxine Younkin. Sadly,
children Ruth, William and Carole Ann all died in infancy.
Fred kept in close contact with the Younkin reunion planners in Pennsylvania. In a letter dated Sept. 27, 1936, Younkin newspaper publisher Charles A. Younkin wrote the following to reunion president Otto Roosevelt Younkin:
Say, how would you like to make a visit to Ohio to see our good friends Fred, his dad Horton, and his brother at Ashville. If you think we owe them this courtesy, and if in the next few weeks, while the weather is fairly good, I am on, say the latter part of Oct. Start Friday after noon, so we can spend Saturday and up to Sunday noon. Let me know what you think of it."
In another letter dated July 27, 1937, Charles wrote to Otto: "Have received letters from ... Fred Younkin of Ashville O. and several others in the past few days." Fred wrote his own letter to Otto Younkin sometime after Otto moved from Masontown, PA to Wooster, OH, circa 1945-1950. The letter is lost, but the envelope survives. In 1976, he received the Ashville Community Club Distinguished Service Award. Fred died on May 23, 1983, at the age of 92. In the years just before his death, Fred was interviewed on tape by his grandson, Ronald Melvyn Younkin, providing memories of his family from the early days. Alna lived to the age of 100. Said the Circleville Herald, she "was a 55-year member of the Ashville Church of Christ in Christian Union, where she served as Sunday school teacher for many years."
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Envelope of Fred's now-lost letter to reunion president Otto Younkin |
Daughter
Nora Maud Younkin (1887-1941) was twice-married, first to Snode Harris ( ? - ? ) in August 1907 and
later to Guy Crabbe (
? - ? ) in March 1920. Her children, all from the first marriage, were Richard
Harris, Russell "Pete" Harris, Dorothy Buckley Nagle, Ethel Waneta
Heskett and Basil Harris. Sadly, Nora outlived her daughter Ethel Hesket (who
died 1925). Nora and Guy resided in Columbus, Franklin County, OH, at 632
Linwood Avenue. In about 1930, Nora joined the First Baptist Church of Columbus. She
suffered from cancer of the cervix, and passed away at the age of 54 on May 27, 1941, at home
in Columbus. At her death, the Pickaway County News eulogized that:
Of a cheerful nature, she made many friends and those who loved her will miss her kindly deeds. About two years ago she was stricken with diseases suffering intensely until death brought relief. Only those who so tenderly cared for her during the long weeks of her illness could realize her suffering yet through all she trusted in God that not her will but his be done. She requested her children not to grieve or wish her back in this world of suffering and longed for that home where sorrow and pain are no more.
Son
Earl William Younkin (1889-1956) married Florence Burkhead (1891-1983). Their
five children were Hazel M. Younkin, Edgar Younkin, Warren Charles Younkin, Omer
Younkin and William Earl Younkin Jr. Earl died on Sept. 4, 1956. In
his obituary, the Pickaway County News said "Born and raised in
Pickaway County, his many friends in South Bloomfield will miss his usual
friendly greeting. Earl like people and they, in turn, liked him." He was
laid to rest in the Harrison Township Cemetery.
Son Howard Younkin (1894-1964) married Tessa Green (1892-1963). They had six children -- Gladys M. West, Floyd Edwin Younkin, Carl F. Younkin, Marjorie Wilson, Lola Faye Mumaw and Russell W. Younkin. Tessa was a member of the Scioto Evangelical United Brethren Church Chapel Ladies' Aid and the Commercial Point chapter of the Womens Christian Temperance Union. She passed away at age 71 on April 20, 1963. At the time of their deaths, they had produced 16 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Son Hobart Younkin (1897-1972) was married first to Gladys (?) and then to Gertrude M. Boord (1902-1971). They had no children.
Daughter Clara (1899-1964) married James Hoover (1900-1977). They had seven children -- Rowland Hoover, Geraldine Hoover, Cleo Furr, Willard "Rudy" Hoover, Christina Naegele, Imogene Hoover and Paul Hoover.
Daughter Edith (1903-1980) married Clarence Mithoff (1900-1974). The Mithoffs resided in Columbus, Franklin County, OH and later at Lancaster, Fairfield County, OH. They had three daughters -- Helen Schwartz, Louise Land and Beatrice Ford. She died on March 15, 1980, with her obituary published in the Columbus Dispatch. They are buried at Harrison Township Cemetery.
Daughter Ora Bernice Younkin (1906-1923) married Kenneth Drake ( ? - ? ) at about age 17. Tragedy devastated this young couple on Oct. 8, 1923, when 17-year-old Ora suffered an obstruction of her intestine, which ruptured and caused peritonitis. She died the same day. Ora was laid to rest at Stoutsville, Fairfield County, OH.
Grandson
Floyd Edwin Younkin (1917-1997), seen at left, was president of Greenlawn Realty Company and founder of
Greenlawn Mobile Home Sales and Park, Greenlawn R.V. Center, Scarlett Manor,
Rose Hill Terrace and Enchanted Acres Communities, all of Columbus, OH. He
founded what today is Dycom Industries, Inc., of West Palm Beach, FL. He
was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National R.V. Mobile Home and Park
Developers Association in 1982, and was a member of the Ohio State University
Presidents Club, among other accomplishments. In his honor, his family
donated funds for the Floyd E. Younkin Branch Library of the Pickaway County
District Public Library, dedicated on Dec. 16, 1999, and for the Younkin Success
Center at Ohio State University, dedicated June 6, 2000.
Grandson Delano Younkin (1919-1996) married Mildred "Kathryn" Ward (1919-1989). They had five children, Donald Younkin, Ronald Melvyn Younkin, Rev. Martin Younkin, Marlene Bickel and Marilyn Giese. Delano was a veteran of World War II, and, like his father, the recipient of the Ashville Distinguished Citizen Award, in 1994. Mildred passed away in 1989. Delano began bringing his family to the Younkin Reunions in Somerset County, PA, after they were re-formed in the early 1990s. Delano passed away at the age of 76 in Ashville on June 13, 1996. He was laid to rest beside his wife at the Harrison Township Cemetery.
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Delano Younkin (rear, center) and his family at the 1992 Younkin Reunion in Kingwood, Somerset County, PA |
Grandson Everett H. Younkin (1897-1972) married Gertrude M. (?) (1902-1971), and resided in Dayton, Montgomery County, OH. Said the Columbus Dispatch, he was a "retired truck driver for Commercial Freight [and] currently employed at the Larry Boord Insurance Co. as building manager." Gertrude died at the age of 69 on Nov. 26, 1971. Everett died just a few months later, on Jan. 28, 1972, and they are buried at Harrison Township Cemetery.
Grandson Clarence "Robert" Younkin (1924-1989) married Dora Catherine ( ? - ? ). They lived in Williamsport, Pickaway County, and had two sons, William Younkin and James Younkin. Said the Circleville Herald, Robert "was a World War II Army veteran, was a member of the Fifth Avenue Church of Christ in Lancaster, American Legion Post 618, was the former co-owner of a grocery and dairy shed in South Bloomfield and was owner of a dairy shed in Williamsport." Robert died at age 64 on Feb. 20, 1989, with burial in Harrison Township Cemetery.
Great grandson Ronald Melvyn Younkin (1944-1995) married Barbara Barch. They resided in Lockbourne, near Columbus. Ron was employed by the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, was a veteran of the Vietnam War, financial secretary of the St. Matthew Lutheran Church, vice president of the board of trustees of Fernwood Cemetery and treasurer of Teays Valley Band Boosters. Ron and his father and family attended the Younkin Reunions of the early 1990s, and Ron generously shared his extensive research findings and large family tree charts with the founder of this website. Sadly, Ron passed away suddenly at age 51 on June 12, 1995, in Circleville. This page is devoted in grateful thanks for Ron's many kindnesses.
Copyright © 2000, 2003-2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner