Levi "Grant" Younkin
(1868-1954)
Levi "Grant" Younkin was born on Sept. 19, 1868 at South Milford Twp., Somerset County, PA, the son of William 'Shedrick' and Caroline (Cupp) Younkin.
On March 18, 1893, Grant married Alice A. Pritts (1871-1925), the daughter of Washington and Barbara Pritts. She was 22 years of age at the time of marriage.
They had two children -- Dessa R. Younkin, born in 1893, and George Pritts Younkin, born 11 years later, in 1904.
Alice
was employed as a a
school teacher at the time of their wedding, working in Scottdale, Westmoreland
County, PA. It's doubtful she continued working in this profession after
marriage, as married women teachers were frowned upon during this era of public
education.
The Younkins resided in Rockwood, a town set on a hillside in Somerset County (seen here), where Grant was a car inspector for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in addition to part-time farming. The census of 1900 shows that Grant also was a farmer.
Grant and his nephew John Vough Jr. were close, and were near each other in age. In 1913, reported the Connellsville Daily Courier, Grant and Alice went to Kansas to visit the Voughs, who had migrated there from Rockwood. After spending three weeks with other friends and relatives, said the story, "Mr. Younkin reports that Kansas in a dry state in every respect now, as there has not been rain there for about three months."
Alice passed away at the age of 54 in 1925. The cause of her untimely death is unknown.
The Younkins' graves at Rockwood
Grant outlived her for almost three decades. He passed away in 1954, of causes unknown. They rest for eternity in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Rockwood.
Precious little is known of their son
George (1904-1982). He married Helen L. Mitchell 1903 -1982). They had two sons
-- Louis E. Younkin and Paul Younkin. George was a construction worker. Helen
resided in West Virginia at the time her Social Security number and card were
issued. Later in life they resided in North Fort Myers, FL, George passed
away on June 19, 1982, and his obituary was published in the Meyersdale (PA)
Republican in his native Somerset County. Helen died on Feb. 22, 1988. They
are buried in Coral Ridge Cemetery.
Nothing is known about Grant and Alice's daughter, Dessa R. Younkin (1893- ? ), other than that she died sometime before 1982, and possibly at a very young age.
Grandson Louis E. Younkin,
seen at left, was killed in action in World War II. Louis was a 1942
graduate of Rockwood High School, where he was great friends with future
Rockwood postmaster Walter Gardner. A 1941 edition of the school newspaper, The
Rohistat, reported that Louis "has recently had his first date and the lucky
little blonde is from Somerset." After
graduation, he enlisted in the Army Air Force as World War II raged in
Europe. He was promoted to lieutenant, after graduating from bombardier school
in Texas.
In 1944, while on a mission over Germany, Louis's airplane vanished. While his remains were not thought to have been found, he is reported to be buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, and is featured on a special page on the website of the American Battle Monuments Commission. There is a community memorial in his memory in the Rockwood IOOF Cemetery, as well as a monument to war dead at the Somerset County Courthouse. He also is pictured in the book, Down the Road of Our Past, Book II, published by the Rockwood Area Historical and Genealogical Society.
One of several monuments to Louis in Somerset
County -- this one at Rockwood IOOF Cemetery
Copyright
© 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 Mark A. Miner.
Younkin grave marker photographs by the late Olive Duff.