Warren
Dempsey Younkin, Sr.
(1893-1969)
Warren
Dempsey Younkin, Sr. was born on Dec. 3, 1893 in Clay Run, Fayette County, PA, the son of
William 'Dayton' and Lucinda
(Harbaugh) Younkin. He was wounded during World War I
and though living another 50-plus years, never fully recovered. Adding to his
lifetime of suffering, in less than one week in 1939, he lost his mother, wife
and baby daughter to the Shadow of Death.
In
childhood and as a young man, Warren was close with his first cousin, Oliver
Shaw Stoner, even though Stoner lived in
Sistersville, WV, and later in Robinson, IL. Both men served in the US Army
during World War I. The
photo at right shows the two proud cousins together, with Warren on the
right.
Warren served in Company D of the 110th Infantry during the war. He regularly wrote letters home to his mother, assuring her that all was well. In one letter, he complained, "The way it seems by the newspapers, that unless we hurry and get to France we won't get a chance to do any or much fighting. They will have all the Germans killed off." Lucinda replied regularly, and once sent him a sweater. He also received letters over time from his sister Lena and brother David as well as J.W. White and Edna Younkin (precise identity unknown). Warren was promoted to corporal in March 1918, while in training in Camp Hancock in Augusta, GA.
Warren finally was sent overseas in May 1918, arriving in Liverpool, England, and soon after was sent to the front. In a letter to his mother, he wrote: "Where we are now we can hear very plainly the noise of the guns on the battle front a few miles away, and at nights the sky is some times lit up by the flare of the bursting shells and the flash of the guns."
Ironically,
both he and his brother Gus were
stationed about a mile apart -- and both were wounded in action by enemy poison
gas. The Sept. 19, 1918 issue of the Connellsville Daily Courier reported
that Warren had sent a letter home, stating "he is in a hospital in France
gassed and burned, but not seriously. He expected to be out again by the time
the letter arrived, he said."
One of Warren's letters is seen at left.
In a letter dated Oct. 20, 1918, he told his mother that "It is now just two months since I came to the hospital and am only too glad that I am ready to leave again ... So far I haven't gathered many souvenirs from the battlefield, and can't say that I want any for anyone who has been there could find more than he could carry, all sorts of them too -- from helmets and pistols to gold watches and pictures of German women."
After the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, Warren remained in France, near the town of Metz, bunking in billets formerly occupied by enemy forces. His letters home were always reassuring, telling his mother she had no reason to worry. In April 1919, he was promoted to supply sergeant for his platoon, and saw his brother Gus regularly. Soon after, they were shipped home to begin their civilian lives.
Warren married Prudence Albright (1897-1940), a native of Ursina, Somerset County, PA, and the daughter of William D. and Lucy (Kelley) Albright, "all well known people of the lower end of Somerset County," said the Meyersdale (PA) Republican.
The Younkins had seven children -- Betty June Swartzwelder, Elmer Ralph Younkin, Warren Dempsey "Bud" Younkin Jr., Prudence "Ruth" Nicklow, Fern Louise Younkin, Shirley Ann Cornell Bruening and Lucy Lucinda Younkin. Sadly, in 1933, Fern died at one year of age, of spinal meningitis.
The
family resided in Connellsville, Fayette County. At right is a rare old
postcard showing Main Street looking east. In about 1931, Warren and Prudence
moved to a home at Murphy Siding in Bullskin Twp. near Connellsville.
The Younkins enjoyed the annual Harbaugh Reunions. They are known to have attended the first event in 1926, when Warren was elected president. He also is recorded to have gone to reunions from 1947 to 1968, including 1949-50 when he was vice president, and in 1968 when he was acknowledged as the "Oldest Man Present." Warren also was a contributor to his brother Charles' genealogy newspaper, The Younkin Family News Bulletin, circa 1939.
Double
tragedy struck in March 1939, just after Warren's elderly mother passed away.
Prudence, who was suffering from a bad cold, which later turned into double
pneumonia, gave birth to their youngest daughter, Lucy Lucinda. The baby was
named after her grandmothers, but right away it was clear that she was very sick
too. Warren called for help, and two nurses came to the house. They sat up all
night with the family and brought the child back from death twice. The nurse
would fill pans of water, one hot, the other cold, and would dip the baby into
one and then into the other, then pinch its nose and breathe into its mouth.
When the baby stopped breathing a third time, the doctor advised the nurse,
"The good Lord has called that baby three times. Now let her go."
Later that day, on March 7, Prudence gave up her battle with pneumonia, and passed away at the age of 41. She and her baby were buried together, with the baby in her mother's arms, and laid to rest in the Younkin plot at Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville. There was a huge outpouring of grief by friends and family.
As a young widower with five children, Warren did his best to keep the family together. He often would take his children to his Aunt Susie Conn's farm near Cranberry Glade. They picked cranberries and pine cones for Prudence's grave. One of the daughters was taken in by an aunt and uncle, Elmer Ellsworth and Bessie (Albright) Hindes.
He later bought a home on Englishman Hill, where he remained the rest of his life. During the 1940s, Warren's cousin Harry David Miner often came to visit, including at Christmas 1942 and Thanksgiving 1946. Warren worked as a salesman for the produce company owned by his brother David, but otherwise was "hopelessly crippled," according to his brother Charles. He attended the Millertown Community Church at Indian Head.
Warren passed away at age 75 on April 28, 1969, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Aspinwall, near Pittsburgh. He was buried beside his wife at Hill Grove Cemetery.
Son
Bud served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Later, he worked as "a
sandblaster for the Triple R. Furniture Company," said the Daily Courier.
He moved to Hollywood, FL in the late 1950s or early '60s, where he was a
professional waiter. Sadly, he passed away on Aug. 20, 1980.
Daughter Ruth worked for many years as office manager for Connellsville Sportswear. She and her husband Donald enjoyed attending the Harbaugh Reunions, and she served as Secretary-Treasurer in 1949 and won the award for "Latest Married" in 1952. Her son Doug received the award for "Youngest Baby" in 1954.
Son Elmer Ralph Younkin (1927-2007) was a veteran of World War II. He was employed by Fruehauf Corporation as a welder, and was a life member of the Dawson Volunteer Fire Department. Elmer married Evelyn Burke ( ? -1992), and they had four children -- Carol Younkin, Rodney Younkin, Edward Younkin and Randy Younkin.
Grandson Rodney Younkin received the "Lion of the Year Award" from the Lions Club of Dawson, Fayette County, in 1994.
Grandson Douglas Arthur Nicklow, an Internet pioneer who helped advise on the structure and format of Minerd.com, is interested in family history and the Civil War. He has his own website, Nicklow.com, where much of his research is published.
Copyright © 2001-2002, 2005 Mark A. Miner