Josiah
Younkin
(1848-1876?)
Josiah Younkin was born in 1848 in Casselman, Somerset County, PA, the son of John M. and Laura (Minerd) Younkin. Unlike most of his brothers and sisters, Josiah is nearly silent in the historical record.
His
wife Rachel's story is much better known and colorful -- married at age 19; a
Civil War widow and single mother at 21; ultimately to have six children by
three husbands and one significant other. She
was the daughter of John Phillippi, whose farm, it's said, was subdivided to
become the village of Casselman.
Her full name was Rachel (Phillippi) Gearhard Younkin Wilkins, and by today's standards she would be called a survivor. Her first husband, Samuel Gearhard, of the 142nd Pennsylvania Infantry, was captured at the Battle of the Wilderness and died at the notorious Andersonville Prison. The government awarded Rachel a pension of $8 per month as compensation for her loss.
Rachel remained a widow until 1869, when she married our Josiah Younkin. The remarriage caused her to forfeit the pension but it became solely payable to her daughter Alice. Rachel and Josiah lived near Casselman, Somerset County, and had two daughters of their own -- Mary Agnes Crabtree, born in 1870, and Minnie Elizabeth Rhoads, born in 1871.
Virtually nothing is known of the Younkins' lives together.
Sometime before July 3, 1876, Josiah died of causes not known.
The loss left Rachel a 2-time widow at age 33. His passing also left her with a large unpaid bill for goods purchased
from the firm of Weimer & Walter, and she was sued to recover the debt.
She lost the case and had to pay $21.28 plus court costs. That same year, Rachel signed a note promising to pay daughter Alice
the sum of $400, perhaps as accrued federal pension payments. The signature of "Rachel Younkin" on the note, filed at
the Somerset County courthouse, and seen above and below, is a rare example of her handwriting and name as
a Younkin.
Rachel's rare signature on an IOU dated 1876
By 1880, she had become a live-in companion of Jack Hobson ( ? - ? ). They are not known to have had any children.
Remarrying again by 1885, her third husband was widower John Wilkins ( ? -1916). He also was a veteran of the Civil War. His first wife had been "a daughter of the late David Weimer of Rockwood," said an article in the Somerset County Leader, and the first Wilkins marriage is believed to have produced four children -- Mrs. Foster Walter of Rockwood, Mrs. C.B. Lane of Pittsburgh, Walter Wilkins of Morrison, WA, and Mrs. Charles Weisel of Scottdale.
John
and Rachel went on to have at least one son of their own, William Wilkins.
Unfortunately, the Wilkinses separated at some point in time. "For many years,"
said the Leader, "Mr. Wilkins lived alone in a small building on the
outskirts of [Casselman]. His only duties consisted of carrying the mail between
the B. & O. depot and the postoffice."
After their separation, Rachel moved to the home of daughter Minnie in Deerfield, OH. She endured the death of daughter Mary Agnes in 1910,
Rachel died in Deerfield on July 5, 1915 at age 72. Her remains were brought back to Casselman for burial at Mt. Union Cemetery.
The
entrance to the cemetery is seen at right, in July 2007, during the
Younkin Reunion weekend.
Wilkins only outlived Rachel by a year. Tragedy struck on Oct. 15, 1916, when he failed to report to work. Friends visited his home, only to find to their horror that he had died in a housefire. A newspaper article reported that:
...smoke was seen issuing from the cracks in the door and windows of the building. Hurriedly breaking down the door the body of the man, burned to a crisp, was found lying on the bed which was also burned and still smoldering. It is the opinion of those more familiarly acquainted with the situation that Mr. Wilkins had arisen Wednesday morning, lighted his lantern with the intention of getting ready for his work, and probably not feeling well had set the lantern at the side of the bed and again laid down. Bedclothing falling near the lantern became ignored and in the small and stuffy compartment the smoke soon overcame the unfortunate victim.
Wilkins' charred remains were laid to rest in the
Laurel Church Cemetery.
In October 1934, long after the Younkins had died, Josiah and Rachel were named in extensive genealogy manuscript records compiled by distant cousins Otto Roosevelt Younkin and Charles Arthur Younkin. The researchers were gathering data in connection with the Younkin clan's new national home-coming reunion. Click here to see Otto's handwritten and typed notes about Josiah (whom he names as "Joseph" or "Joe"), based on an interview conducted with Josiah's elderly and last-surviving brother, Daniel Martin Younkin.
The Rhodes' daughter Lillian married a cousin, A.A. Younkin, and migrated to Washington State with her in-laws. They labored as apple packers and sorters in the family business for some 60 years. Lillian and A.A.'s granddaughter, the late 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 cousins from the West Coast.
This biography is adapted from the article, "Whispers of the Silence and the Slow Time," in the April, May, June 1996 edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin, published by Donna Younkin Logan.
Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2006-2007 Mark A. Miner