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Jacob H. 'Devil Jake' Younkin
(1808-1868?)

Jacob H. "Devil Jake" Younkin was born on April 6, 1808 in Turkeyfoot Township, the son of "Yankee John" and Nancy (Hartzell) Younkin

He married Sarah A. "Sally" Tannehill (1827-1887), daughter of Zachariah and Mary A. (Lanning) Tannehill. Neither could read or write.

They together produced a brood of seven children -- Andrew Jackson Younkin, Messmore Younkin, John T. Younkin, Eli Younkin, Ophelia Younkin, George B. "McClellan" Younkin and Sarah "Sadie" Mitchell.

Jake received his nickname from his erratic style of behavior, which was related in a letter written by Younkin researcher Charles Arthur Younkin in the 1930s:

Now your grandfather Jacob Younkin better known as (Devil) Jake Younkin am told that he derived this name in this way. That he lived near the Jersey Church in Somerset Co. and was in the habit of getting drunk quite frequently, and on these sprees would cut some great capers. On one occasion am told he climbed on top of barn roof and had a great time. Also that there were several Jacob Younkin of his day and each had a distinguishing nickname.

Keystone Courier, 1887. Courtesy Wade Patterson

In the late 1850s, the Younkins moved from Somerset County to near Pennsville, Bullskin Township, Fayette County, north of Connellsville. There, as shown by the United States Census of 1860, they were farmers and resided with Henry and Mary Ober.

Jake is believed to have died in 1868, but the details are not known. 

As a widow, Sarah headed a household in Connellsville Township in 1870 that included six children ranging in age from 21 to 3. In time she married again, to John Metcalf ( ? - ? ), and moved into the city of Connellsville in about 1872. John Metcalf died a few years later. Widowed again, she was known throughout Connellsville as "Johnny Younkin's mother," given his standing in the community as a railroad engineer of "high repute."

Circa 1880, census records give her homeplace as Connellsville, with 29-year-old son Andrew in the household along with sons McClellan and Messmore, daughter-in-law Josephine and daughter Sarah. The census-taker spelled her name that year as "Midcaff."

Tragedy again rocked Sarah's world in January 1887, when she was 60 years of age. At that time, three of her adult sons were railroaders, while the other two sons were stone masons. Son John, who was married and had children, and was employed as an engineer with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was mortally injured in an accident in the yards of Hyndman, Bedford County. He died two weeks later, with burial in Connellsville's Hill Grove Cemetery.

YFNB, 50 years later

Sarah's fortunes ended eight months after her son's accidental death. While on her way to place flowers on her son's grave in August 1887, she decided to take the walking route near Gibson Station, rather than climb a steep hillside near the track. Tragically, she too was struck and killed by a moving locomotive, which was transporting the U.S. Mail to Baltimore and Washington, DC. She was struck near Trimble's store, where the curve of the track kept the train hidden until it was too late. 

Reported the Keystone Courier, "The train left the depot on time. As it neared Gibson station, the quick, jerky 'hoot! hoot! hoot! of the locomotive whistle, as the train flew along, was the signal for every passenger's head to be poked out of a window. A great many people in town heard the signal and knew that some one was on the track. But those on the train and at the station soon knew that an old lady had been struck and killed." A special telegram to the Dispatch newspaper told a story that deeply touched the public's emotions.

That an old woman walking on the track had been struck in the back and killed, was soon the talk of all on the train. Who she was, and how it happened. was what made the fatality particularly noticeable. "It's Johnny Younkin's mother!" exclaimed the engineer after he, with the trainmen, had run back to lift the quivering remains from beside the track. "Who's she?" asked several passengers. "Only an old lady going up the track with a basket of flowers to place on her Johnny's grave," was the reply, as the engineer brushed a tear from his eye. "And who was Johnny Younkin?" asked others. "As brave a boy as ever opened a throttle or reversed a lever on this line," said the engineer "He was killed in a wreck, and now we've killed his mother going to his trave. But we couldn't help it. There was the curve, and she was walking on it, and we couldn't see her far enough ahead to save her. We've made time, but she has entered ahead of us into eternity. I guess those flowers, and more beside them, will bloom above two graves instead of one," and the engineer's eye grew moist again as he got aboard the locomotive of the limited and proceeded once more to make schedule time.

Her broken remains were placed at rest in Hill Grove Cemetery, and a coroner's inquiry pronounced the senseless death as an accident. A search of Hill Grove records shows that while the son may have a stone, she does not, and sleeps anonymously. 

For years afterward, at 10-year-anniversary increments, a short summary of the tragedy was reprinted in the Connellsville Daily Courier and also reprinted in 1937 in the Younkin Family News Bulletin. Many decades later, Jacob and Sarah and their eight children were mentioned by name in the February 1963 edition of the Laurel Messenger newsletter of the Somerset Historical and Genealogical Society.

 

Connellsville's Hill Grove Cemetery

 

~ Son Andrew Jackson Younkin ~

 

Son Andrew Jackson Younkin (1847-1916) was born in September 1847 in Lower Turkeyfoot Township.

He was twice married, perhaps more. Circa 1870, when the federal census enumeration was made, he resided with his widowed mother in Connellsville and earned a living as a domestic servant. A decade later, in 1880, he was marked as "divorced" and once again shared a residence with his mother and younger siblings in Connellsville, working as a laborer.

He and his wife -- name unknown -- divorced in Fayette County under a decree of the September Term of Court 1888.

A daughter, Martha (Younkin) Mefford, was born in August 1889. Who was her mother?

A few months after his 1888 divorce, Andrew was living in Connellsville and obtained a marriage license to wed 23-year-old Sadie J. Spiker ( ? - ? ), daughter of Adam and Mary M. Spiker of Connellsville. There is no record that the the nuptials took place. But a short article in the Connellsville Courier shows that in November 1892, he was charged by Adam Spiker with "assault and battery." 

On March 5, 1895, when he was 47 and she 36, Andrew was joined in matrimony with his second bride, widow Phoebe "Ann" (Burkholder) Younkin (1855-1937). Her first husband, James Dempsey "Demp" Younkin, had died a few years earlier, in 1892. Thus Phoebe Ann brought five stepchildren to her marriage with Andrew -- John J. Younkin, Daniel Garfield Younkin, Daisy Catharine Younkin, James G. "Blaine" Younkin and Bessie "Grace" Shannon. 

The family made its home in Fort Hill, Somerset County, PA. Andrew and Phoebe Ann went on to produce one daughter of their own, Lydia F. "Edna" Lang Arndt Osberg. 

In an interesting twist, Phoebe's niece Ida was married to James Franklin Younkin-- nephew Daniel McKinley to Kathryn Miner -- and niece Rebecca Jane to Otis "Freed" Minerd -- all of whom were Younkin cousins.

 

Above: Fort Hill, Somerset County. Below: Andrew's 2nd wife, Phoebe Ann (Burkholder) Younkin, is buried with her 1st husband James Dempsey Younkin at Imel Cemetery near Clay Run.

 

Younkin Family News Bulletin

The second marriage apparently did not last, and Andrew and Phoebe Ann separated. By 1900, the federal census-taker recorded Andrew residing as a single man and boarder in the home of Henry J. Leichliter. In March 1903, the Connellsville newspaper reported that he had been "in Pittsburg for some time" and was visiting in South Connellsville, "calling on his brother Eli." Family notes show that his daughter Martha "was raised by Jackson Case." In April 1911, at the death of his brother Eli, Andrew was named in the Daily Courier obituary, which said he lived in Connellsville at the time. 

Nothing more about him is known. It's possible, although certainly not proven, that he was the same "Andrew Jackson Younkin" who was a coal miner and died in or near Moundsville, Marshall County, WV on June 9, 1913, of stomach cancer. It's more likely, however, that he was the "Andy Younkin" (born in 1847) who died at the age of 69 in the Fayette County Home in Uniontown on Feb. 12, 1916. Cause of death was emphysema and bronchial pneumonia. Burial was in -- of all places -- Philadelphia, as per the Pennsylvania death certificate signed by county home steward Richard "Dick" Sherrick, whose wife Nora Catherine (Younkin) Sherrick (of the family of Franklin B. Younkin) was a distant cousin of Andrew's.

Daughter Martha Younkin (1889-1928) was born in Jan. 1889 or on Aug. 15, 1889. She was raised by a great-uncle and aunt, Andrew "Jackson" and Matilda (Tannehill) Case of Fort Hill. She is shown in the Case household in 1900 U.S. Census, at age 11, living next door to widow Susan (Faidley) Younkin and her children Ellen and Milton. On Jan. 19, 1913, Martha entered into marriage with coal miner Lee McKnight Mefford (Feb. 1, 1887-1951), the son of Milton McClain and Elizabeth (Cameron) Mefford of Ohiopyle, Fayette County. The ceremony took place in Fort Hill and was reported in the Connellsville Weekly Courier. Lee was tall and slender, with blue eyes and light-colored hair, and claimed no middle name. They bore a family of five children -- among them Gerald Lee Mefford, Mildred Curavo, Jack Mefford, Eugene C. Mefford and Gertrude "Lucille" Leonard. Lee was required to register for the military draft during World War I, and at the time lived in Kantner, Somerset County, working for Quemahoning Coal Company. In 1925, at the death of Lee's mother, the family resided in Indian Head, Fayette County.

Ursina's "Charter Oak" tree on Water Street

The Meffords were plunged into grief when son Eugene, burdened with emphysema at age 13 months, developed bronchial pneumonia and died on May 1, 1926, in Indian Head. The child's tender remains were buried at Ursina. By the late 1920s, they moved to Lincoln Hill, a coal mining patch town built in 1917-1918 by Lincoln Gas Coal Company in Washington County, PA. Sadly, Martha suffered from a toxic thyroid gland and then was stricken with a pulmonary embolism at the age of 39. Death came quickly, in a Washington hospital, just three days before Christmas 1928. Her remains were returned to Ursina for burial in Ursina Cemetery. Her obituary in the Daily Courier reported that she was survived by "her step mother, Mrs. Mary Younkin; one half sister, Mrs. Albert Robinson, both of Connellsville, and one half brother, John Younkin of South Connellsville." In an interesting twist, in signing the official Pennsylvania certificate of death, Lee could only identify his wife's father as "Younkin" and mother as "not known." The federal census enumeration of 1930 shows the widowed Lee and four of the children habitating together in Canton, Washington County, with Lula Stener in the household as a housekeeper. At that time, Lee was employed as a cutter in a coal mine, with his teenage son Gerald also laboring there. Lee eventually moved to rural Colliers near Follansbee, Brooke County, WV, where he remained for two-plus decades and earned a living as a coal miner. For the final year of his life, he was burdened with low blood flow to the heart causing severe chest pain ("angina pectoris") and hardening of the arteries. When he further developed influenza, death came on March 31, 1951. His remains were returned for burial in Ursina Cemetery, with Rev. Dr. Alden J. Allen leading the funeral service, and a brief obituary appearing in the Somerset Daily American. Mrs. Wylie McBride, his landlord, was the informant on his death certificate.

  • Grandson Gerald Lee Mefford (1913-1956) was born on Sept. 5, 1913. At age 16, in 1930, he worked with his father in a local coal mine in Canton, Washington County, PA. Gerald wed Stephanie C ( ? - ? ). They lived in Canton Township at the address of 1942 The Circle, with Gerald employed as an automobile salesman. On the fateful day of Dec. 18, 1956, Gerald at age 43 suffered a heart attack at home and was dead within minutes. Mrs. Anna Fedor of Washington, PA was the informant for the death certificate. Interment of the remains was in Washington Cemetery.
  • Granddaughter Mildred Mefford (1915-1998) was born on Feb. 15, 1915. She entered into marriage with Cecil Curavo (Oct. 16, 19101987). The couple dwelled in Confluence. Cecil died in August 1987. Mildred outlived him by 11 years. She passed away on Sept. 19, 1998. No obituaries are known to have been published for either.
  • Grandson Jack Mefford (1920- ? ) was born in about 1920. He may be the same "Jack Clair Mefford" of Washington, PA who, on Oct. 3, 1941, at age 21, was joined in wedlock with Phyllis Evelyn Weaver ( ? - ? ) of Farmington, PA. The couple's wedding was held in Wellsburg, WV by the hand of Rev. William J. Frayer of the Assembly of God Church. Evidence suggests that the Meffords relocated to Michigan where, in 1959, they lived in Royal Oak. They are known to have returned to Somerset County in September 1959 for the funeral of a maternal uncle, John Jenkins of Perryopolis, who was buried in Ursina. During that trip they visited with the Jacob Leonard family in Ursina and then motored to Washington DC to visit a brother, Milton Mefford.
  • Granddaughter Gertrude "Lucille" Mefford (1928-1983) was born on Jan. 18, 1928 in Lincoln Hill, Washington County, PA. She was united in matrimony with Jacob C. Leonard (Nov. 13, 1916-1970), son of Joseph and Etta Mae (Conn) Leonard. Four offspring born into this union were Patsy Woods, Jacob Lee Leonard, Max Joseph Leonard and Robert Leonard. The Leonards dwelled in Ursina. In a twist, Jacob's sister Virginia was married to Lucille's distant cousin, Chester C. "Smut" Younkin of Confluence of the family of John "Wesley" and Ada Charlotte (King) Younkin. Sadly, at the age of 53, Jacob died at home on Sept. 29, 1970. Leading the funeral was Rev. Arthur Gotjen, with burial in the Jersey Baptist Church Cemetery in Ursina. His obituary was printed in the Meyersdale Republic and the Connellsville Daily Courier. The widowed Lucille married again to Joseph Nicola ( ? - ? ), son of Clarence Nicola and grandson of Joseph and Margaret (Whaley) Nicola. He brought two stepsons to the union, William Joseph Nicola and Bryan Nicola. The pair made a home in Confluence. At the age of 55, when she became ill, Lucille was admitted to Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital where she passed into the arms of the angels on April 2, 1983. Burial was in Silbaugh Cemetery in Fort Hill following a funeral service led by Rev. Raymond Schermerhorn. An obituary in the Somerset Daily American said that she was survived by a brother, Donald Mefford of Oxford, MI, whose connection needs to be confirmed.

    Great-granddaughter Patsy Leonard wed Paul Allen Woods Sr. They have resided for decades in Ursina. She was secretary for Ursina Borough Council in the 1960s and continued her connection with council for many years. She is known to have served as executrix for the estate of her aunt, Mildred (Mefford) Curavo. Their son Paul "Allen" Woods Jr. wed Linda Lou Phillippi, daughter of Robert and Ann Phillippi, in nuptials held at the Old Bethel Church on Aug. 28, 1988.

    Great-grandson Jacob Lee Leonard ( ? - ? ) was born on (?). Circa 1967, he wed Pauline Gary ( ? - ? ), daughter of John and Doris (Carney) Gary of the family of Jacob and Minnie Edna (Miner) Gary of Hexebarger near Kingwood. At least two offspring have been born to this couple -- Rick Lee Leonard and Dawn Renee Morocco. The Leonards lived in Markleton, Somerset County in 1970-2001. Jacob was active for years in local school board politics. By 2002, Pauline had moved to New Stanton, PA while Jacob remained in Markleton. On Sept. 1, 2001, their son Rick married Michele Lenore Ozzimo ( ? - ? ), daughter of Gerald Ozzimo. Then on Oct. 26, 2002, their daughter Dawn Renee Leonard was joined in marriage with Mickey Christopher Morocco ( ? - ? ), son of John and Pamela Morocco of Somerset.

    Great-grandson Max Joseph Leonard grew up in Ursina and was a 1970 graduate of Turkeyfoot Valley Area High School. By 1983, he had relocated to Bridgeport, CT.

    Great-grandson Robert Leonard spent his boyhood in Ursina. As of 1983, he was in Confluence.

    Step-great-grandson William Joseph Nicola lived in Ursina in 1983.

    Step-great-grandson Bryan Nicola made his home in 1983 in Ursina. 

Imel Cemetery

Daughter Lydia "Edna" Younkin (1895-1960) was born on June 12, 1895 in Draketown, Somerset County. She was married perhaps a total of four times. Her first spouse is believed to have been (?) Lang ( ? - ? ), with whom she tied the knot at age 20. The couple produced a son, Fred Lang. Later, by 1930, she wedded automobile salesman Wilfred Arndt (1888- ? ), a native of Nebraska. The federal census enumeration of 1930 shows Edna and Wilfred as lodgers in the Chicago household of Herman Meyer on Melrose. She made her home under the "Arndt" name in Chicago in 1935 and was mentioned in the Connellsville Daily Courier obituary of her sister Daisy Fosbrink. By 1940, using the name "Edna Eschenburg," she lived on Chicago's Sacramento Avenue and kept a boarder, 38-year-old divorcee Victor H. Ostberg (1902?- ? ), an employee with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Later, by the late 1940s, she had married Ostberg, and they remained in the Windy City. She died in Chicago in July 1960, at the age of 65. A death notice in the Chicago Tribune referred to her as "beloved wife of Victor; fond mother of Fred Lang; grandmother of Carol and Melinda Lang; dear sister of Blaine Younkin and Grace Shannon." Her remains were cremated and transported back to southwestern Pennsylvania, where they were placed into eternal rest in the Imel Cemetery. Victor only survived his wife by two months. He succumbed to the spectre of death in Sept. 1960. His death notice also was published in the Tribune, which named his surviving siblings as Alfrield Collins, John T. Ostberg, Astrid Ostberg and Dorothy Kronenburger. His remains likewise were cremated by Chicago's Graceland.

  • Grandson Fred Lang was married and the father of Carol Lang and Melinda Lang.

 

 ~ Son Messmore Younkin ~

Son Messmore Younkin (1850-1923) was born in February 1850 in Lower Turkeyfoot Township.

As an adult he resided at Gibsonville near Connellsville. 

Messmore married West Virginia native Rebecca Josephine Collins (1856-1921) in about 1873, when he was age 21 and she 17.

All told, they bore an extraordinary count of 17 children over a 27-year span, of whom 13 survived to adulthood -- James Younkin, John Younkin, Myrtle Soisson, Albert Younkin, Daisy Bungard, Ella "Mae" Cropp, Clara Turns, Ernest Younkin Johnson, Ina Brown, Rhoda Greer, Edna F. Parker, Carl Hobert Younkin and Ethel Marie Hartman. Sadly, one of their infant children is known to have died on March 18, 1880, with a short obituary published in the Connellsville Keystone Courier

They are shown together on the 1880 and 1900 censuses of Connellsville Township, residing on Painter Street in South Connellsville. Messmore's occupation in 1880 was railroading, and he is known to have been a longtime employee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

They were members of the South Connellsville Evangelical Church. Sometime in the 1890s, reported the Courier, he was working in and around the B&O railcars and "while making a coupling was knocked down and ran over by a caboose ... and his left side has been partially useless since then, although he is now working on the road again." 

Messmore moved into the position of railroad conductor, a position from which he retired, and was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Later, he became health officer of South Connellsville. In October 1915, when traveling to see A.J. Case in Ursina, Somerset County, and again in October 1918, when visiting Nancy Whipkey in Ursina, the news was printed in the gossip columns of the Meyersdale Republican.

Having suffered a stroke, Josephine passed away in South Connellsville at the age of 65 on Nov. 18, 1921. Her obituary in the Daily Courier said she was survived by 40 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Burial was in Hill Grove Cemetery. 

Messmore only outlived his wife by two years. He died on Sunday, Nov. 13, 1926. He is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave plot in Hill Grove, near the marked grave of his daughter Clara Turns.His name was printed in the final edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin (June 30, 1941).

 

Great-great grandson Ralph Lincoln stands where he believes Messmore and Josephine rest in unmarked graves, Hill Grove Cemetery, 2013

 

Son James M. Younkin (1874-1926) was born on April 14, 1873 or 1874 in South Connellsville. In adulthood he was of medium height and build, with brown eyes and light hair. He may be the same James Younkin who, in late December 1893, nearly died after engaging in an "all-out fight" at the church at White Rock near Fairchance, "at the close of an entertainment." said a news report published throughout the country. "Clubs and knives were used. James Younkin received injuries from which he may not recover, and James Bowen almost bled to death from wounds inflicted by a razor." James worked as a pipefitter in a powerhouse in Connellsville in 1910 and dwelled with his married sister Mary Mae Cropp and her family. By 1911 he had migrated to Birmingham, AL, where he worked as a steamfitter. On May 8, 1911, in Ottumwa, Iowa, the 38-year-old James was united in marriage with 27-year-old Edna Belle Murphy (1883-1940), daughter of Craig and Alice (Simmerman) Murphy of Trenton, MO. She is believed to have been married previously to Roy Albert Mullican (1884-1943) and to have brought a stepdaughter into the union, Lois Irene Mullican. James was required to register for the military draft in 1918 despite his age of 45. At that time, he and Edna lived in North Tonawanda, NY, with him working as a pipefitter for McArthur Bros. Co., based in Woodbury, NJ. Their address at that time was 44 Ransom Street. The federal census enumeration of 1920 places the couple in Lincoln Township, Grundy County, MO, with James continuing his specialty work as a steamfitter. Circa 1921-1922, their home was in Trenton. Sadly, while in Galesburg, Knox County, IL, on Feb. 24, 1926, James died at the age of 49. His remains were transported back to Trenton to sleep for all time in Roselawn Cemetery. Edna marryied again to Charles Lemuel Blanchard (1877-1941). She spent her final time in Oklahoma. She died in Bristow, Creek County, OK on Sept. 7, 1940. She is buried with James at Roselawn.  

Son John Younkin (1875-1898) was born in 1875. He may not have married. At the age of 23, in 1898, John resided at home with his parents at Gibson near Connellsville. He was considered a "well-known B. & O. brakeman." Tragedy on the rails claimed his life as it had with his uncle John Younkin and grandmother Sarah (Tannehill) Younkin. On Oct. 28, 1898, the Connellsville Courier reported under the headline "A Terrible Death" that he was: 

...instantly killed ... as the result of the failure to work of a patent car coupler, a device designed to prevent just such tragedies. Younkin was at work in the upper B. & O. yards, and at switch No. 11, directly in front of the "D" office, he went in between two cars to make a coupling. The patent coupler failed to work and Younkin stepped in front of it to adjust it. At this instant the engineer backed the train up, catching Younkin, it is thought, and killing him instantly. The accident was not known until ten minutes later, when the dead man was found between the cars. His watch had stopped when he was squeezed to death, showing the time when the accident had occurred. There are other theories concerning the death. The ties and rails were slippery and some think that Younkin was not standing in front of the coupler, but accidentally slipped between the bumpers just as the cars came together.

Added the Courier, "Younkin was one of the popular young men on the road and his sad end is much regretted." His mangled remains were laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery, with members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Ladies Auxiliary attending the funeral.

Deadly B&O Railroad yards at Connellsville

 

 

Daughter Myrtle Younkin (1876-1952) was born on Jan. 12, 1876 in South Connellsville. When she was age 22, on June 27, 1898, she wed laborer William Frederick Soisson (1873-1946), son of Leon and Rebecca Soisson. They made their home in South Connellsville. The couple had nine children -- among them William Russell Soisson, George F. Soisson, Helen Cross, Loretta McClintock, Rose Corvin, Ruth Beatty, Paul R. Soisson, James Lawrence Soisson and Fred Soisson. In 1936-1937, they held an annual reunion at Meadowbrook Park, with some 41 individuals attending. Reported the Daily Courier: "After a basket picnic was enjoyed, a short business session was held and the following officers were elected for next year: President, James Soisson; vice-president, George Soisson; secretary, Rose Corbin, and treasurer, Paul Soisson. An amateur show was then presented. Maxine Soisson sang "Plantation Star," Buster Soisson, "Little Old Lady," Maxine Soisson and Dolly Corbin, "Sail Boat in the Moonlight," Bobby Beatty, "Coming Round the Mountain," and Norma Soisson, "Boo Hoo." Little Mendon Corvin gave a baby recitation, Donald Corvin sang "Cherry Blossom Lane," and mouth organ solos were played by William Soisson and his son, George, and Kelly Corvin. The oldest grandchild in attendance was Eleanor McClintock Myers and the youngest was Kathleen Patricia Soisson. Announcement was made that Mr. Soisson's grandson, William Gross, and Evelyn Turney of South Connellsville, were to be married...." William died on Nov. 11, 1946. Myrtle outlived him by six years, enduring the consecutive-year deaths of her adult sons Paul (1949), James (1950) and Fred (1951). She passed away from the effects of organic heart disease on Sept. 19, 1952, with burial in Green Ridge Memorial Park near Connellsville. 

  • Grandson William Russell Soisson (1905-1977) was born on July 25, 1905 in South Connellsville. He married Ella Walk ( ? - ? ). Their offspring were William Russell Soisson Jr., Marlene Joyce DuShaw and Norma Bernard. . As with many in his family, William earned income with Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, retiring in 1968 as a group leader in the upkeep department. He served as president of the local Glass Bottle Blowers Association. The couple were members of the St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church, with William holding a seat on the church council. Their address in 1977 was 1309 Sun Street. Sadly, William passed away in Uniontown Hospital at the age of 71 on Dec. 4, 1977. He left behind 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
  • Grandson George F. Soisson ( ? - ? ) was born on (?). He made a home in South Connellsville at 1813 Second Street. He was employed for four decades with Anchor Hocking Corporation of South Connellsville, retiring on May 1, 1974 as a foreman.
  • Granddaughter Helen Soisson married Willis Cross and made a home in South Connellsville.
  • Granddaughter Loretta Soisson ( ? - ? ) married (?) McClintock. She also worked at Anchor Hocking, for 23 years, in the packaging department.
Loretta McClintock's workplace, the Anchor Hocking Glass plant
  • Ganddaughter Rose Marie Soisson (1904-1999) was born on Sept. 17, 1904 in South Connellsville. On May 14, 1922, the 17-year-old Rose Marie eloped to Cumberland, MD to be joined in wedlock with James Kelley Corvin Sr. (1895-1979), a native of Radford, VA and the son of Ann E. Corvin. Rev. Frank Fields was the officiant. The couple stayed together for 57 years until cleaved apart by death. The family resided in South Connellsville for years at the address of 129 West Painter Street. They were the parents of nine known offspring -- Arlene Corvin, Donald Corvin, William S. Corvin, M. Paul Corvin, Thomas "Tom" Corvin, James K. Corvin Jr., Dolores Malik, Wanda Donner and Priscilla Rae Smiley. James was employed for 50 years by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and retired in 1963. Rose Marie belonged to the Lee Etta Lodge of the Ladies Auxiliary to the United Transportation Union in Connellsville. When the Corvins reached their golden wedding anniversary in May 1972, a special dinner was held at Bratton's Restaurant in Hopwood near Uniontown, PA, followed by a tea the next day for more than 100 guests.  A story about the celebration in the Connellsville Daily Courier reported that the "buffet table was covered with white linen and an overlay of gold lace. The centerpiece was composed of yellow snapdragons, gladioli and carnatinos. A large yellow, gold and white tulip lamp was above the table. On an auxiliary table was a three-tier anniversary cake, flanked by white tapers in flower decorated holders." James died in 1979, with the remains placed into eternal sleep in Green Ridge Memorial Park. Rose Marie outlived him by two decades. She was swept away by the Angel of Death at the age of 94 on Sept. 3, 1999.

Great-granddaughter Arlene Corvin was united in matrmony with Charles P. Ferguson. They established a residence in New Orleans.

Great-grandson Donald E. Corvin lived in Bristol, VA in 1972.

Great-grandson William S. Corvin relocated to Cleveland, OH.

Great-grandson M. Paul Corvin lived in Scottdale, Fayette County.

Great-grandson Thomas "Tom" Corvin (1945-2010) was born on Aug. 11, 1945 in South Connellsville. He was united in the bonds of marriage with Lynne Peterson ( ? - ? ), daughter of Betty Ann Peterson. The couple were the parents of Timothy Corvin and Brittany Shroyer. Thomas spent his working career with the Fayette County Housing Authority. The family were members of Albright United Methodist Church, and he held a membership in the South Connellsville Volunteer Fire Department and the Fayette Fireman's Association. Grief cascaded over the family when Thomas passed away at the age of 64 on July 29, 2010. He reposes in Green Ridge Memorial Park, with Rev. Beverly Gross having presided over the funeral service. An obituary was printed in the Connellsville Daily Courier. Their daughter Brittany is married to Shawn Shroyer, son of Gilbert and Joyce (Workman) Shroyer of the family of Jacob Adam and Laura Belle (Younkin) Shroyer.

Great-grandson James K. Corvin Jr. (1928-2020) was born on Sept. 15, 1928 in Connellsville. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in March 1946 following the end of World War II, and was sent to Okinawa with the 229th Aircraft Control Squadron. He otherwise spent his entire life in the Connellsville. James married Sue Milam (1933-living). The couple's marriage lasted for an extraordinary 69 years. The children born to this union were James K. Corvin III and Sally Kalix. James served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he went to work for Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation in South Connellsville, employed as a maintenance superintendent. He stayed at Anchor Hocking until retirement. He also is believed to have spent many years on Connellsville City Council. The family belonged to the Albright United Methodist Church, and he was a member of the King Solomon's lodge of the Masons, the South Connellsville Volunteer Fire Department and the South Connellsville Rod and Gun Club. In 1967, their son James III received a God and Country Award from the Boy Scouts. The Corvins' address in 1972 was 1922 Pittsburgh Street. At the age of 91, as a resident of Scottdale Manor, in East Huntingtdon Township, he died on Aug. 21, 2020. An obituary in the Connellsville Daily Courier said that his survivors numbered five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. Pastor Steven Lamb preached the funeral sermon, with interment in Green Ridge Memorial Park.

Great-granddaughter Dolores Corvin wedded Melvin Malik. She was in Scottdale, PA in 2010-2020.

Great-granddaughter Wanda Corvin was united in marriage with Kenneth C. Donner. She dwelled in 1972-2020 in the Siesta Key section of Sarasota, FL.

Great-granddaughter Priscilla Rae Corvin was joined in wedlock with Charles "Chuck" Smiley. Their home in 1972-2020 was in South Connellsville.

  • Granddaughter Ruth Soisson married Earl Beatty. She resided in Winchester, IN in 1977.
  • Grandson Paul R. Soisson ( ? - ? ) was born in (?). He was deceased by 1977.
  • Grandson James Lawrence Soisson was deceased by 1977.
  • Grandson Fred Soisson was deceased by 1977.

 

Connellsville Courier

Son Albert Younkin (1877-1903) was born in 1877. He never married. In October 1901, he worked in Cleveland, OH in a polishing company, but left the job and returned home to South Connellsville. Then circa 1903, Albert was employed by the Crescent Manufacturing Company in South Connellsville and boarded a short distance away in the home of Grant Shoemaker on Gibson Avenue. That year, drinking heavily, and appearing to others to be despondent, he decided to end his own life. On the night of May 12, 1903, he swallowed carbolic acid "and suffered intense pain before death relieved him." His body was found under a tree in an open field near his dwelling. Reported the Connellsville Courier, "A note he had written last night was scribbled on a sheet of paper. It said that a wasted life was about to give up, and the writer 'expected to land in hell'." He is believed to be buried in Hill Grove Cemetery, but there is no marker today, if ever one was placed.

Daughter Daisy Younkin (1878-1964) was born in May 2, 1878 or 1879 in South Connellsville, Fayette County. During her life of heartbreak, she outlived her husband and nine of her children, including one sacrificed at war. At the age of 23, on Aug. 14, 1901, she married 22-year-old laborer Milton Bungard (1879-1927), son of J.P. and Mary Bungard of Gibson near Connellsville. News of their marriage license appeared in the Connellsville Daily Courier. They together produced 10 known children, among them James " Donald" Bungard, Harry M. Bungard, Robert "Merle" Bungard, Wade Francis Bungard, Mabel Cox, Wilbur O. Bungard, Eleanor Winifred Bungard, Wayne Emerson Bungard, Gail Bungard and Melvin Clive Bungard. The family was plunged into grief when daughter Dana Gail, age 3 months, 4 days, contracted measles and bronchial pneumonia and died on Feb. 6, 1921. The tender remains were laid to rest in the burying ground of the Baptist Cemetery in Pennsville.

A year prior to marriage, in May 1900, Milton made news when he and William Sherrick were badly injured in a horse-and-buggy accident on Pittsburgh Street in Connellsville, "the result of fast driving," said the Connellsville Weekly Courier. "Late Wednesday night they came north along Pittsburg street uring their horses at top speed. Near Peach and Pittsburg streets they ran into a carriage hitched at the pavement. A wheel was torn from the carriage and the whole vehicle carried along as far as Fayette street, where Sherrick and Bungard were thrown out. The horses were caught further out the street. Bungard and Sherrick were unconscious when picked up." They were taken to Cottage State Hospital where they recovered sufficiently to return home. Circa 1902, Milton moved the family to a company house in the coal and coke community owned by Pennsville Coke Co. Circa 1905, now residing in Pennsville, Fayette County, they are known to have hosted a visit from Daisy's sisters Ina Younkin, Mae Cropp and Clara Turns, as chronicled in the gossip columns of the Weekly Courier. Their home in 1921 was the coal mining patch town of Monarch, Fayette County and in 1918 and 1922 was in Leisenring No. 3 in Dunbar Township near Uniontown. Sadly, Milton died in 1927, reputedly in Fayette City on July 26, 1927. His remains were laid to rest in Chalk Hill Lutheran Cemetery. Daisy lived for another three-and-a-half decades. She grieved during World War II when son Melvin Oliver Bungard was killed in military action in eastern France. In about 1946, Daisy resided at Fort Belvoir, VA, and remained in Alexandria, VA for the remaining 18 years of her existence. Her sister Edna also lived in Alexandria during that period. After a fall in which Daisy broke her left femur, a staph infection set in, leading to septicemia She died in Alexandria, VA on Jan. 28, 1964. At her death, reported the Daily Courier, she was survived by 18 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. Burial was in Chalk Hill, with Rev. Ned Maes conducting the funeral service.

  • Grandson James "Donald" Bungard (1901-1967) was born on Nov. 6, 1901 in Connellsville. He was jonied in wedlock with Pauline Fleming ( ? - ? ). Four children of this couple were James Donald Bungard Jr., Joyce Thompson, Harley Bungard and Troy Bungard. The Bungards lived in Ohiopyle Borough in the 1950s and 1960s. Donald earned a living as a highway foreman. On the fateful day of July 7, 1967, at the age of 65, he was stricken with a heart attack and was pronounced dead on arrival at Uniontown Hospital. He sleeps for the ages in Sugar Grove Cemetery, Ohiopyle.

    Great-grandson James Donald Bungard Jr. (1939-2023) was born on Oct. 11, 1939 in Price Hospital, Confluence. He is not known to have reproduced and made his home in Ohiopyle. Said an obituary, "Jim wore many different hats throughout his working year career from Penn line early on and retiring from US Steel’s Homestead Works as a machinist, and for Water and waste water treatment at Nemacolin Woodlands. While all seeming to having a measure of fondness and memories, the one hat that seemed to carry true passion and love for his fellowman was that of a firefighter. His passion for improving fire service whether at his home station of Ohiopyle (Station 31) or throughout neighboring areas, counties, or districts, Jim continued to learn, instruct, and serve along his brethren, brothers and sisters in this endeavor until he responded to that last and glorious call from the almighty calling him home to rest." Sadly, at the age of 83, on July 11, 2023, he died in Monongahela General Hospital in nearby Morgantown, WV. His remains were laid to rest at Sugar Grove Cemetery.

    Great-granddaughter Joyce Bungard wed (?) Thompson. She was deceased by 2023. 

    Great-grandson Harley Bungard resided in Alaska in 2023.

    Great-grandson Troy Bungard married Carolyn. They have dwelled in Ohiopyle.

  • Grandson Harry M. Bungard (1903-1955) was united in matrimony with Oda Conway ( ? - ? ). Together, they produced a brood of five -- Erma Jean Boyer, Sarah Smith, Janet Bungard, Connie Bungard and Albert Bungard. Circa 1955, the family appears to have divided their time between Arizona and Butte, MT. Harry died at home in Butte at the age of 52 on May 30, 1955. An obituary was published in his old hometown newspaper, the Connellsville Daily Courier. Funeral services and burial took place in Montana.
  • Grandson Robert Merle Bungard ( ? - ? ) joined the U.S. Army in about 1924 and made that his life. He lived in Alexandria/Fort Belvoir, VA in 1944-1955.
  • Grandson Francis Wade Bungard (1909-1939) was born on Oct. 8, 1909 in Ohiopyle, Fayette County. At the age of 29, he was unmarried, lived with his mother in Ohiopyle and earned a living a a truck driver. In January 1939, he and 21-year-old co-driver John Kenneth Aumen were on a long trip to deliver sugar between Baltimore and Evans City, PA. En route home, in snowy and brutally cold weather, they decided to park along Route 56, eight miles from Indiana, PA, and take a nap. They wrapped themselves in blankets and sat in their seats, leaving the motor running. Sadly, both died overnight of asphyxiation by carbon monoxide poisoning. Their bodies were discovered the next morning by a farmer taking his children to school, who had noticed the truck parked and the engine still running. He passed away on Jan. 26, 1939 in Centre Township, Indiana County, PA. The horrific story was published statewide. The remains were brought back to Fayette County for burial in Chalk Hill Lutheran Cemetery.
  • Granddaughter Mabel Bungard (1912- ? ) was born in about 1912. She married (?) Cox ( ? - ? ). The Coxes dwelled at Dilliner, Greene County in 1944. Later she migrated to Northern California and dwelled in Mountain View in 1955 and in San Francisco in the early 1960s.
  • Grandson Wilbur O. Bungard (1913-1975) was born in 1913. He was in McKees Rocks, near Pittsburgh, in 1944. He relocated to San Gabriel, CA and lived there as of 1955. He made a home in Los Angeles in 1964. He surrendered to the angel of death in San Gabrial, CA on Dec. 10, 1975.
  • Granddaughter Eleanor Winifred Bungard (1914-1980) was born in 1914. She was unmarried as of 1964 and  made her residence in Alexandria, VA. The angel of death swept her away in Santa Clara, CA on Jan. 14, 1980.
  • Grandson Wayne Emerson Bungard (1915-1955) was born on (?) 1915. He joined the U.S. Armed Forces in about 1935. Wayne was posted at Bushnell General Hospital in Utah circa 1944. In time he moved to Southern California and lived in Lomita, CA. He wed Rose ( ? - ? ) and was the father of Linda Bungard and Louise Forsberg. Sadness cascaded over the family when Wayne died in Long Beach Hospital in April 1955. Word was sent to his brother James Donald Bungard in Ohiopyle, Fayette County, and an obituary printed in the Connellsville Daily Courier.
Tribute to Melvin in The Messenger newspaper
  • Grandson Melvin Clive Bungard (1920-1944) was born in 1920. He married June Thorpe ( ? - ? ). Their only child was Patricia Bungard, born while he was away in the Army. As a young man, Melvin worked for the Western Maryland Railroad. He enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II on Aug. 3, 1943. He trained at Camp Robinson, AR, and at Easter 1944 returned home "for the first sight of his baby daughter," reported The Messenger, a wartime community newspaper for Mill Run and Ohiopyle residents. "His wife, June... had planned to have her christened at the Easter evening service at the Methodist church but the little lady wasn't in the mood." He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry "Alamo" Regiment of the 36th Texas Division, and sent to the European Theatre in June 1944. He received a copy of The Messenger that summer and wrote to the editor, saying he "certainly was glad to hear about all the boys from back home. The Messenger is just as welcome as a letter from home. All the boys in my tent read it and enjoyed it a lot although they didn't know anyone. But some of the places the boys are stationed are close to their homes. I visited Naples since I have been here and I am sure it was a nice place before the war. Am going to try and look up Fred Morrison in the near future and hope I succeed in doing so. There are so many of my friends in Italy I hope I run into some of them soon." He was transferred to France and sent a letter to June in October, saying he "was up close to the big guns." Tragically, he went missing in eastern France on Oct. 25, 1944. Military authorities sent a telegram to June which arrived a few days before Thanksgiving. Lillian McCahan in The Messenger opined in its December 1944 issue that while the war had not ended by April 1944 as some had thought, "and I don't think it will be this one, but I particularly pray that it isn't over for you, Clive, that I may hear your big laugh again, that you may come through somehow and June's small daughteer will not be fatherless her first Christmas." In fact it was later confirmed that he had been killed in action on the date he had gone missing. The May 1946 edition of The Messenger included his name in an honor roll of local soldiers lost, headlined "Lest We Forget."

Daughter Ella "Mae" Younkin (1881-1917) was born in 1881. Circa 1900, at the age of about 19, she married John M. Cropp (1883-1934), a native of Illinois and the son of Orton Cropp of Braddock near Pittsburgh. They were the parents of 11 children, three of whom died young. Daughter Camilla J. Cropp died on April 2, 1908 of acute, congestive pneumonia, at age 4 months. Son Oscar O. Cropp, age 8 months, 13 days, passed away on Oct. 6, 1909 from "marasmus" (undernourishment), with the child interred in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville. They also lost an unnamed, premature, stillborn daughter on Oct, 6, 1912, with burial in Monongahela Cemetery. The surviving eight appear to have been Olive Marie Pipkin, John W. Cropp, Marian E. Hake, Clara B. Hendricks, Harry Franklin Cropp, Ola Mae Heise, Edna F. Herman and Clarence Cropp. The 1910 United States Census shows the Cropps sharing a home with Mae's brother John in Connellsville. John worked in 1910 as a grocery salesman. In time they moved to Braddock, with an address of 4 Charles Way. In May 1917, at the age of 36, Mae was preparing to visit her parents in South Connellsville, but suffered a heart attack at home. Said the Weekly Courier, "While at various times she had suffered weak spells, her condition was not considered serious. Following her attack Saturday night a physician was immediately summoned but despite the best medical attention death resulted." Her remains were returned to Connellsville for a funeral in the First Presbyterian Church. An obituary in the Meyersdale Republican's "Ursina News Notes" section said that she "was a cousin of Miss Elizabeth Case and Miss Cordie Younkin of this place." The widowed John remained in Braddock for several years and became proprietor of his own grocery store. But he eventually made a major decision to return to his home state, and pulled up stakes and moved his family to Chicago. He died in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1934.

  • Granddaughter Olive Marie Cropp (1900-1959) was born in about 1900. She lived in Braddock into her 20s and joined the family in its move to Chicago. She entered into marriage with (?) Pipkin ( ? - ? ). They did not reproduce. Olive's longtime address in Chicago was 4409 North Racine Avenue. She died on March 15, 1959. A notice of her passing was printed in the Chicago Tribune.

  • Grandson John W. Cropp (1902- ? ) was born in about 1902. He wed Jo ( ? - ? ). They dwelled in Chicago in 1979.
  • Granddaughter Marian E. Cropp (1903- ? ) was born in about 1903. She married (?) Hake ( ? - ? ). As of 1979, she was in Chicago.
  • Granddaughter Clara V. Cropp (1904-1982) was born on Nov. 25, 1904. She entered into marriage with (?) Hendricks ( ? - ? ). The couple put down roots at Round Lake, IL. One daughter born into this family were Bette LeVan. Clara died in early December 1982. Her funeral service was held at Calvary Presbyterian Church. The Chicago Tribune ran an obituary. Her remains repose for all eternity in Ascension Catholic Cemetery in Libertyville, IL.

    Great-granddaughter Bette Hendricks ( ? - ? ) married William LeVan ( ? - ? ). Their only daughter was Judi Applegate, married to Robert. 

  • Grandson Harry Franklin Cropp (1907-1979) was born on Aug. 16, 1906. In 1930, Harry and his unmarried sister Ola lived in Chicago, lodging with Margaret Klunk, and with both working in a restaurant. By 1940, he had married Irene (1915- ? ), a Texas native. Their two sons were John Franklin "Jack" Cropp and Wayne Cropp. The 1940 federal census enumeration shows the Cropps in Chicago, with Harry employed as a restaurant cook. He advanced in the field to become a restaurant manager at some point. About 1971 the family migrated to Texas, where son Wayne was residing at Fort Worth. Their address in the late 1970s was 2513 Gould Street. Burdened with hardening of the arteries and heart disease, on June 21, 1979, Harry was stricken and was pronounced dead on arrival at Harris Hospital. Burial was in Oakwood Cemetery, Fort Worth, with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram printing an obituary.

    Great-grandson John Franklin "Jack" Cropp (1938- ? ) was born in 1938 in Illinois. He lived in Chicago in 1979.

    Great-grandson Wayne Cropp ( ? - ? ) established a residence in Fort Worth, TX. 

  • Granddaughter Edna F. Cropp (1910-1980) was born on Jan. 26, 1910 in Connellsville. She wed Robert L. Herman ( ? - ? ). Robert brought two stepchildren into this marriage -- Colleen Aguirre and Michael Herman. The Hermans are known to have planted themselves in McHenry, IL, with an address of 1916 Indian Ridge. Edna died in the emergency room of McHenry Hospital on Jan. 24, 1980, just two days before her 70th birthday. The remains were interred in Memory Lane Cemetery in Schererville, IN, with Rev. Ralph Smith, of the First United Methodist Church, officiating the funeral service. Her obituary appeared in the McHenry Plaindealer and Woodstock (IL) Daily Sentinel.
  • Granddaughter Ola Mae Cropp (1911-1988) was born in about 1911 in Braddock. By 1930, she had relocated to Chicago, where she and her bachelor brother Harry lodged with Margaret Klunk, with both working in a restaurant. Ola Mae wed Harry Heise (1904-1959). The duo of sons born to this union were Harry Heise Jr. and Richard Heise. The 1940 United States Census shows that the couple lived in Chicago in the 1935-1940 timeframe, with Harry earning a living as a chauffeur/driver for a food catering business. Sadly, Harry died in 1959. The widowed Ola made her home in 1979 in Chicago. She died in the Windy City on April 13, 1988.

    Great-grandson Harry Heise Jr. (1931- ? ) was born in about 1931 in Illinois.

    Great-grandson Richard Heise (1940- ? ) was born in about 1940 in Chicago. 

  • Great-grandson Clarence E. Cropp (1915-1991) was born on July 16, 1915 in Braddock. He was only four years of age when his mother died. Clarence relocated to Chicago with his father and siblings. As a motherless teenager in 1930, he resided in the Lawrence Hall Home for Boys in Chicago, a residential and school environment. Clarence married Josephine ( ? - ? ). Their only son was Lawrence Cropp. During World War II, Clarence joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and attained the rank of sergeant. Eventually the Cropps moved to Arkansas and by 1979 lived in Lakeview, AR. In time they relocated to California and were in Cloverdale where their son was making his home. He died at the age of 76 on Sept. 18, 1991. His obituary was published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Interment was in the San Francisco National Cemetery.

Son Ernest Younkin (1882-1952) was born in November 1882 in Connellsville and went by the name "Johnson" as an adult. At the age of 24, he resided at home with his parents in South Connellsville, and was employed as a laborer in a local tin mill. At the age of 28, on June 16, 1911, he married 17-year-old Myrtle May Ringer (1894- ? ), daughter of John M. and Olive Ringer. Because Myrtle was underage, her mother had to provide her legal consent. Justice of the peace P.M. Buttermore officiated at the wedding, held in Connellsville. The marital union did not last, and the couple was divorced in or about 1915. In a story published in the Connellsville Courier, Myrtle testified in court that Ernest was "out tramping around" and that "he frequently went tramping." He made his home in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH in 1921. He returned to South Connellsville and was there in the early 1950s, earning a living as a common laborer. Suffering from hardening of the arteries and heart disease, he was admitted in 1948 to the Torrance State Hospital in Derry, Westmoreland County. He remained there for four years as his health worsened. He died in the hospital at the age of 68 on July 26, 1952. His remains were donated to the State Anatomical Board in Philadelphia for medical study.

 

Hill Grove Cemetery

Daughter Clara Younkin (1885-1922) was born on June 4, 1885. On July 7, 1904, when both were age 19, she was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Roy George Turns (1885-1950), son of Matthew and Catherine "Kate" (Trego) Turns of Rockville, Dauphin County, PA. They produced a family of nine children -- Roy George Turns Jr., Esther O. Turns, Josephine Collins Darby, Robert Turns, James Turns, Ralph Turns, C. June Darby and Dorothy "Jean" Trump. The family moved frequently in the early years of marriage. They are known to have been in Washington, DC in 1905, with Clara returning to Connellsville for a visit with family in August 1905. Then in 1906, at the birth of their daughter Esther, the family made a home in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County. The family grieved at the death of two-year-old daughter Esther in Susquehanna, from the effects of scarlet fever, on Feb. 28, 1909. The child's remains were lowered into eternal sleep in River View Cemetery. Later, by 1917, they returned to Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County. The spectre of early death visited again on Sept. 23, 1917, when son Ralph, age 19 months, died of bronchitis and acute laryngitis. Burial was in Heckton Cemetery.

Heartache once more rocked the young family in mid-January 1922, when Clara, age 36, suffered a heart attack and "died within the hour," said the Weekly Courier. "She had previously been in apparently good health." A physician arrived just five minutes too late to help. She was laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery. Roy survived his wife by 28 years. He married again to Tessie Hull (May 5, 1889-1965), a native of New Florence, PA and the daughter of George W. and Mary E. (Mickey) Hull. At one point he worked for West Penn Power Company and in 1943 was employed in Rivesville, WV. Then in about 1944 he was hired as an electrician at the South Connellsville plant of Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation. There, he joined the local union of the electricians. They belonged to the Assembly of God Church in Scottdale, where he served as superintendent of the Sunday School. On the fateful day of June 1, 1950, while at work, Roy died without warning at the age of 65. His funeral service was conducted by Rev. Fritz of the family church, followed by interment at Hill Grove. Tessie lived for another 15 years in nearby Moyer as a widow. Her final years were spent in the home of a niece, Mrs. James Rowe. Death enveloped her at age 76 on May 13, 1965. Burial was in Green Ridge Memorial Park, following funeral services conducted by Rev. J.L. Dunlap.   

  • Grandson Roy George Turns Jr. ( ? - ? ) was deceased by 1965.
  • Josephine Collins Darby
    Courtesy Betty Gentry
    Granddaughter Josephine Catherine Turns (1907-2004) was born on or about Sept. 16, 1907 in Rockville, Dauphin County, PA. She was twice-wed. On May 19, 1931, at age 23, she was united in wedlock with her first husband, Ralph Collins ( ? - ? ). Together they bore five children -- Betty Virginia Didlake Colvard Soika Trubic, Angeline Collins, Frances Kathryn Collins, Clara Mae Lincoln and Ralph Collins. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1940, the Collinses lived in Franklin Township, Fayette County, with Ralph working as a driver in a coal mine. Claiming that he "beat and threatened her," she filed for divorce, which was granted in Fayette County court in September 1946. News of the case was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier. In time after 1950, she married again to (?) Darby ( ? - ? ). At the end, she lived in Cypress, Harris County, TX. The angel of death swept her away on Oct. 1, 2004.

    Great-granddaughter Betty Virginia Collins (1924- ? ) was born in about 1924. During World War II, she joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and served for 20 months, until discharge in January 1946. She re-enlisted on Aug. 19, 1946, and was stationed at Arlington Hall Station in Arlington, VA. She was married four different times -- to James Didlake ( ? - ? ), George Colvard ( ? - ? ), Nicholas Soika ( ? - ? ) and Paul Tribuc. Betty and Nicholas bore a child, (?) Soika, and Betty and Paul were the parents of Betty Virginia Byles Gentry. Tragically, Betty is believed to have been killed in an automobile accident on April 9,  1970, in a collision with a vehicle owned by Newman Brothers Truckline Company. Burial was in San Jacinto Memorial Park in Houston, TX. Daughter Betty (1952-2022) was twice wed, first to John Alford Byles and second to Jackie DeWayne Gentry.

    Great-granddaughter Frances Collins (1928- ? ) was born in about 1928. She was deceased by 2012.

    Great-granddaughter Clara May Collins (1932-2012) was born on Oct. 30, 1932 in Juniata, Fayette County, PA. She grew up in Connellsville, PA and was a member of the 1950 graduating class of Connellsville High School. Clara wed Carl Clifford Lincoln Jr. (Sept. 23, 1928-1999). They dwelled in Berlin, PA and produced a family of eight offspring -- Patty Lincoln, Ralph Lincoln, Charles Lincoln, James Lincoln, John Lincoln, Doug Lincoln., William Edward Rose Lincoln II and Carl Clifford Lincoln III. Clara held a membership in the Order of Eastern Star in Meyersdale. Carl surrendered to the angel of death at age 70 on June 14, 1999. Clara lived for another baker's dozen years. Sadly, as her health failed, she was admitted to Somerset Hospital, and died there at age 79 on Oct. 15, 2012. Pastor Rene Kinard led the funeral service, with burial following in Jacobs Lutheran Cemetery in Masontown, Fayette County, PA. Their son Ralph has been active with the Younkin Reunion East in the 2010s.

  • Grandson James Turns ( ? - ? ) was a graduate of Point Marion High School. He dwelled in Bobtown, Greene County, PA in young manhood, working for Pittsburgh Mercantile Company. On June 12, 1940, he entered into marriage with Louise Mulnix ( ? - ? ), daughter of J.L. Mulnix of Mapletown, PA. In announcing the wedding, the Connellsville Daily Courier said that she "chose for her wedding a navy blue suit with matching accessories, and a corsage of Joanna Hill roses." The couple first lived in Greensboro, PA. They relocated to Akron, OH and were there in 1950. By 1965, he had migrated to Cleveland. He was deceased by 2010.
  • Grandddaughter Catherine June Turns (1917-2010) was born on June 18, 2017 in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA. She married Frank C. Darby (1910-1979). They produced four offspring -- Ralph Darby, Judy Hughes, Richard Darby and Roy Darby. They were members of the Calvary Assembly of God Church in Connellsville. Later, they relocated to Indiana. There, they lived in Farmland and were members of Farmland Friends Church. June also was known locally as "The Picture Lady." Sadly, they outlived their son Ralph. She died at Park Health Care in Parker City, IN at the age of 92 on June 1, 2010. Her remains were returned to Fayette County to rest in Normalville Cemetery. An obituary in the Connellsville Daily Courier reported that her survivors included nine grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
  • Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville  
    Granddaughter Dorothy "Jean" Turns (1918-1990) was born in 1918. In 1942, she married Ronald D. "Pete" Trump (March 16, 1914-2008), son of James and Violet (Snyder) Trump of South Connellsville. Th eonly known daughter born to their union was Susan Kay Murray. Ronald made news at the age of 24, in December 1937, when deeply lacerating his right wrist in what he claimed was a freak accident. Said the Connellsville Daily Courier, "He was reported to have thrown his arm through a window as he turned over in his sleep in his bed." Then in late August 1941, he again was treated for a puncture wound in his right arm which he alleged had been suffered in a fight. Their address in 1941 was on Gibson Avenue, Connellsville. During World War II, Ronald served in the U.S. Army and rose to become a sergeant. While he was away in training at Camp Wheeler, GA, she went to live her father in Rivesville near Fairmont, WV and thence to Macon, GA and San Antonio, TX. He eventually was deployed to the Pacific Theatre and served in the campaigns of Guadalcanal and the Northern Solomon Islands. In recognition of his service, he received a Good Conduct Medal, Philippine Ribbon and Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, with two Bronze Stars. Upon his return home, Ronald became employed by Koppers Company Inc. at Adelaide, Fayette County.  The Trumps made a residence in Connellsville in 1955 on Reidmore Road in Connellsville. Jean passed away in 1990. Ronald outlived her by 18 years. He succumbed to the spectre of death on Nov. 15, 2008 at the age of 94. They also are interred in Hill Grove.
  • Grandson Robert Turns wedded (?). They produced at least one daughter, Jois Joan Malone Dingle Humbert. Circa 1943-1950, he dwelled in Bobtown, Greene County, PA. He was deceased by 2010.

Great-granddaughter Lois Joan Turns ( ? -2017) was born in (?). She was married three times to David C. Malone Sr, (?) Dingle and (?) Humbert. Over the years, she resided in Carmichaels, Greene County, PA and died on Oct. 8, 2017. The Malones produced two sons -- Douglas E. Malone and David C. Malone Jr. Lois Joan also produced a son in her second marriage, Lee Dingle. Douglas E. Malone (July 15, 1960-2017) made his home in Dilliner and over the years worked for East Dunkard Water, Monongahela Township, Bruno's Service Station and as a self-employed scrap metal dealer. Doug died at age 56 on July 3, 2017.

McKees Rocks Bridge over the Ohio River

Daughter Ina Younkin (1888-1974) was born in May 1888. On Feb. 21, 1909, when she was age 20, Ina wed railroad brakeman Edward G. Brown ( ? - ? ) of Dawson, Fayette County. He was the son of Edward Brown Sr. Rev. W.E. Bassett performed the ceremony. The couple bore a family of five children -- Edward E. Brown, Eva DiMaggio, Thelma ("Capodanno") Cappy, Carl Brown and Glenn Brown. In 1921, their home was in McKees Rocks in Pittsburgh, and they remained in McKees Rocks for the balance of their lives. Following Edward's death, Ina relocated in 1969 to live with her son Carl in Coudersport, PA. She died following a lengthy illness, in Cole Memorial Hospital, on Dec. 12, 1974. An obituary was published in the Potter Enterprise, and a shorter death notice was printed in the Pittsburgh Press.

  • Granddaughter Thelma F. Brown ( ? -1994) was born on (?). On July 29, 1938, in Pittsburgh, she married Anthony A. Capodanno ( ? -1974), with their name shortened to "Cappy". Two daughters in this family were Diane Stahoviak and Lynn Cappy. Anthony spent his 25-year working career as a Pittsburgh city police officer and was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Musicians' Local No. 60 and the Teamsters Local 249. Anthony retired in 1971. They made their residence in 1972 in the Brookline neighborhood of Pittsburgh and in 1974 at 400 Camelot Court in Greentree. Sadly, at the age of 63, he passed away in Presbyterian University Hospital on June 22, 1974. Funeral services were conducted in the St. Simon and Jude Church in Greentree, with interment following in Calvary Cemetery, Hazelwood. Anthony received a headlined obituary in the Pittsburgh Press, which named his surviving siblings as Joseph R. Cappy, Angela Sacco, Minni Marino and Margaret Dato. It's believed that the Cappys' nephew, the Hon. Ralph J. Cappy, was chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and chairman of the board of the trustees of the University of Pittsburgh prior to his death in 2009. Thelma outlived her spouse by 20 years. Death cleaved her away at the age of 81 on Nov. 19, 1994.

    Great-granddaughter Diane Cappy ( ? - ? ) married (?) Stahoviak. 

    Great-granddaughter Lynn Cappy ( ? - ? )

  • Grandson Edward E. Brown (1910-1966) was born in 1910. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (today's Carnegie Mellon University) and was a chemist with Vanadium Corporation of America in Pittsburgh and Cambridge, Ohio. Later, he was chief chemist for Interstate Steel Corporation of Beverly, OH. Edward was joined in wedlock with Blanche Slavinsky ( ? - ? ). The couple did not reproduce. He died at their residence in Marietta, OH at the age of 56 on Jan. 9, 1966. Funeral services were held in Marietta and in McKees Rocks' St. Vincent Church.  His obituary was printed in the Pittsburgh Press.
  • Granddaughter Eva Brown ( ? -1972) was born on (?). She was twice-wed. Her first spouse was (?) Baylor ( ? - ? ). Their one daughter was Mrs. Paul Riggs. In time she entered into marriage with Martin DiMaggio ( ? - ? ). Circa 1956, the DiMaggios moved to Ross Township, in Pittsburgh's North Hills, with an address of 5 Tussey Circle, a split entry brick veneer house. Martin was employed as used car manager for Baierl Chevrolet. Sadly, Eva died at the age of 62, on Oct. 4, 1972, in North Hills Passavant Hospital. An obituary was published in the North Hills News Record. She was survived by five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The widowed Martin retired and sold his house in August 1979. He relocated to Texas, where he dwelled in El Paso as of 1997.

    Great-granddaughter Charlene E. Baylor ( ? -1997) was born on (?). She married Paul Riggs ( ? - ? ). Five offspring born into this union were Paul W. Riggs, Mark M. Riggs, Cheryl E. Lewetag, Dana L. Riggs and Dawn Craft. Their home in 1972 was in Dorseyville, PA and in 1997 in West Deer Township. Charlene died on July 11, 1997. A death notice appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her funeral mass was sung at St. Victor Roman Catholic Church in Bairdford, PA, with burial following in Lakewood Memorial Gardens in Indiana Township.

  • Grandson Carl Brown ( ? - ? ) migrated to Coudersport, PA where he dwelled in 1972.
  • Grandson Glenn "Hooker" Brown ( ? -1983) was born on (?). He wed Helen Kozak ( ? - ? ). The pair did not reproduce. They lived in McKees Rocks near Pittsburgh in the 1970s and early 1980s. Glenn died on Sept. 16, 1983. The Pittsburgh Press printed a death notice.

Daughter Rhoda Fern Younkin (1889-1927) was born in November 1889 or on Jan. 12, 1890 in Connellsville. She first married Elmer N. Greer ( ? - ? ), son of Isaac N. and Ida A. Greer, on Jan. 11, 1908 in Connellsville. Elmer was a railroader and based at the time in Youngwood, Westmoreland County, PA. Her second spouse was William Smith ( ? - ? ). The Smiths made their dwelling in South Greensburg, Westmoreland County. Burdened with acute kidney disease at the age of 37, Rhoda suffered for two months before dying on June 24, 1927. On her official Pennsylvania death certificate, her father's name was spelled as "Meason Younkin." Her remains were lowered under the sod of Fairchance Cemetery.

Daughter Edna F. Younkin (1892- ? ) was born in March 1892. She was seriously injured in January 1912, at the age of 18, when trying to nurse a cough. In the dark she reached for a bottle of cough syrup and took a drink, not knowing she accidentally had swallowed carbolic acid. Fortunately she recovered and lived for many more decades. She resided with her parents in 1921 on Painter Street in South Connellsville and worked as a sales lady in a local candy factory. By 1952, she had married (?) Parker ( ? - ? ) and migrated to Alexandria, VA, where her widowed sister Daisy Bungard also lived. She remained in Alexandria for years and was still alive in 1974 when named in the Pittsburgh Press death notice of her sister Ina Brown.

 

Above: old landmark in Belle Vernon, where Carl and Henrietta Younkin resided. Below: Carl's name, South Connellsville war memorial. Leslie (Fuoss) Younkin

 

Son Carl Hobert Younkin (1894-1980) was born on May 28, 1894. He reputedly was married 10 or 12 times, but this needs to be confirmed. In young manhood, Carl dwelled on Hymand Street in South Connellsville. He stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 137 lbs., with blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. He joined the U.S. Army at the age of 20, traveling to Fort Slocum, NY to begin basic training. He served from Nov. 1, 1914 to June 11, 1920, covering the period before, during and after World War I. At the age of 22, in 1916, he is believed to have wed his first wife. Her name is not known. Then he married again to Nelle Maxwell (1902- ? ), and they lived in South Connellsville. Carl allegedly deserted her, and they divorced on Nov. 12, 1919. News of Carl's and Nelle's divorce was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier. Within a few months, Nell gave birth in Ohio to their son, Carl Edward Hobert Younkin. Two years later, in 1921, he dwelled at home and made a living with his brother Ernest as a laborer in a tin mill. On Dec. 30, 1922, he married again to Henrietta June Hendrickson (1905- ? ), daughter of Edward and Susan Hendrickson. That year, they resided in Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, where Carl earned a living as a cutter in a steel mill. By 1934, Carl and Henrietta made their home in North Belle Vernon, Westmoreland County, with Carl continuing to provide labor for Pittsburgh Steel. Their address at that time was 312 Graham Street. In February 1936, Carl was named in a letter by Younkin Family News Bulletin publisher Charles Arthur Younkin who was active with the Younkin National Home-coming Reunion. The 1940 census shows this couple in Belle Vernon, and they remained there at least into 1942, at which time their home was at 382 Fell Street. His work at Pittsburgh Steel in 1942 was as a hoist operator. Circa 1964, his residence was St. Petersburg, FL, with his home located in Causeway Isles. Evidence suggests that his final years were spent in Plant City, Hillsborough County, FL and that he succumbed on Aug. 15, 1980 at the age of 86. Former wife Nell married again to (?) Plumb.

  • Grandson Carl Edward Hobert Younkin (1920-2003) was born on Sept. 5, 1920 in Connellsville, after his parents had divorced. He relocated to Columbus, Franklin County, OH, where he was a machinist. Carl was thrice married. His first marriage was on April 26, 1941, when he wedded Doris Irene Price ( ? - ? ). On Jan. 26, 1948, at the age of 27, he was joined in wedlock with his second wife, Marguerite Shirley (Pendergast) Hughes (Jan. 23, 1923- ? ), daughter of John and Lurena (Orders) Pendergast of Columbus. Their marriage did not last long. Circa 1951, he lived in the Columbus area and earned a living as an engineering aid. On July 4, 1951, at the age of 30, he wedded his third bride, Ruth "Irene" (Hazelbaker) Irvine ( ? - ? ), daughter of Elvin and Pearl (Koch) Hazelbaker of McDermott, OH. The Younkins lived in or around Grove City, OH. Their offspring were Carl Robert "Bob" Younkin, Edward Younkin, Timothy Younkin and Carla Boring. Carl served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He spent 20 years working for the Ohio Department of Transportation prior to retirement. He was a member of the Elks Club in Delaware. In 1996, he married again to Sadie Elizabeth (Holbein) Bittner Scott (1938-2001), daughter of Frederick S. and Beatrice Holbein. Sadie passed into eternity on Oct. 1, 2001. Carl only outlived his second bride by two years. As his health declined, he went to live in Columbus Colony in Columbus, Franklin County, OH. He died there at the age of 83 on Oct. 1, 2003. Rev. David Meredith officiated at the funeral service, followed by interment in Galena Cemetery. Their son Carl Robert Younkin (1942-2018) married Ann Irwin -- produced children Heather Younkin and Heath Younkin-- and died in Grove City, OH on Aug. 27, 2018.

Daughter Ethel Marie Younkin (1896-1917) was born in March 1896. On Aug. 29, 1915, she married John Albert Hartman ( ? - ? ), son of R.C. and Ellen (Hall) Hartman, in South Connellsville. A native of Franklin, VA, John was a glass worker at the time of marriage. They resided on First Street in South Connellsville. Tragedy struck this family twice in January 1917. Ethel, age 20, gave birth to a baby daughter, but the delivery was perilous, and the infant died shortly afterward. Then, just a few days later, afflicted with an infection of her birth canal, Ethel herself passed away at home. Rev. W.J. Everhart of the United Presbyterian Church officiated at the funeral held in the Hartman home, followed by burial in Hill Grove Cemetery. The Daily Courier reported that the funeral was "largely attended" including "a number of handsome floral tributes."

One of the daughters married W.O. Smith and lived in Kingmont, WV.

~ Son John T. Younkin ~

Son John T. Younkin (1851-1887) was born in about 1851.

He was joined in wedlock with Nancy Carothers (July 1854- ? ), who also went by the names "Nannie" - "Mamie" - and "Anna." Her maiden name has been misspelled as "Crothers."

Their four offspring were Elizabeth "Bessie" Murphy, Harry Murphy Younkin, John T. Younkin Jr. and Lula "Pearl" Page.

The Younkins were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pastored by Rev. Dr. Mansell, with John considered a "strong and earnest Christian worker." He also belonged to the King Solomon Lodge of the Masons.

Obituary, 1887. Courtesy Wade Patterson 

John was one of three brothers employed on the rails, he as a passenger engineer with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and a member of the Connellsville Division, No. 50, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The federal census enumeration of 1880 shows the young family in Connellsville, with 17-year-old Rosa Hetzel living under their roof as a servant.

Tragedy arose on the fateful day in Feb. 18, 1887 when, at the age of about 35, John was badly injured in an accident in the yards of Hyndman, Bedford County. He was brought home with the hope of recovery. One newspaper said he "was a brother-in-law of the gentlemently and cautious engineers, Fred and Joseph Carothers..." The Connellsville Keystone Courier reported that John had had: 

... several hairbreadth escapes on the Connellsville division, but his usual luck deserted this time. A westbound freight, due at Hyndman at 2 o'clock last Friday morning, arrived behind time, expecting to run into the siding there and clear the track for the eastbound Baltimore express. But the east end of the siding was blocked with cars and the freight train was compelled to run on and back in at the other end. This consumed all its margin of time. The train had barely gotten into the siding when the express came thundering down the mountain at the rate of thirty miles per hour. In the hurry and excitement the flagman either neglected to close the switch or did not have time to do so, and the flying passenger train ran into the siding and collided with the freight. The occupants of the freight engine jumped and escaped. Those on the passenger locomotive were not so lucky.... Younkin, the engineer, attempted to get off his engine, and had swung himself to the steps, but he was too late. Before he could jump, the engines came together with a tremendous crash, throwing him violently between his engine and the tender. While in that position, the rebound of the cars crushed his hip and injured him internally. 

An account in the Pittsburgh Daily Post said that while his hip was dislocated, and several bones were broken, "His wounds, though painful, are not serious." But another news story gave particulars that the leg was so badly crushed that doctors considered amputation. Among the physicians consulted were Dr. G.W. Newcomer, Dr. E. Phillips and Dr. T.H. White. But "an examinaion showed his vitality to be so low that an operation was useless. It was evident to those about him that he could not live long, and about two o'clock he called his friends to his bedside, and bidding them each 'good-bye,' he looked heavenward and softly murmuring, 'The angels are waiting,' he closed his eyes and passed peacefully away." 

Said an obituary, "Mr. Younkin was highly respected, as was shown on Monday by the immense concourse of people who attended his funeral. The floral offerings from the railroad employes were many and of rich designs. His funeral was the largest ever seen in that place. His life was insured for $7,500." Dr. Mansell's eulogy focused on John's "brave" life, and one tribute said "His virtues were many and none knew him but to honor and respect him." The remains were laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery.

Now widowed, Nancy may have used the proceeds from her husband's insurance policy to buy property. As of 1900, living in Connellsville Borough, she supported herself as a landlord. By 1910, with her daughter Bessie having migrated to Oklahoma, she resided in the household of her married daughter Lula Page in Connellsville. She then accompanied the Pages on a relocation during the 1910s to Baltimore, MD. At times she returned to Connellsville on visits. 

Nancy died in the Page residence in Baltimore on Feb. 23, 1922. The remains were transported back to Connellsville for burial at Hill Grove. No stone is known to mark the grave.

Above and below, aerial sketch of Dawson, PA, 1902, with "J.F. Murphy" listed in the legend as owner of a jewelry business. Library of Congress

    
Bessie and Frank Murphy
Courtesy Wade Patterson
Daughter Elizabeth "Bessie" Younkin (1876-1945), nicknamed "Dandoo," was born on Dec. 1, 1876. She grew up in Bullskin Township north of Connellsville, PA and was only 10 years of age when her father died so senselessly. A local physician was appointed as her legal guardian. On Thanksgiving Day 1895, when she was age 18, Bessie slipped away to Cumberland, MD to be united in marriage with John Franklin "Frank" Murphy (1874- ? ), where there was no waiting time for couples to tie the knot after receiving their licenses. In announcing the wedding, the Connellsville Weekly Courier published this humorous story: "Love has no unsurmountable barriers and is blind to the exigencies of age and clime. So thought Frank Murphy and Miss Bessie Younkin. They had been lovers for some time previous to Thanksgiving and on that day they were married at Cumberland. The history of their wedding is interesting. Murphy is employed in the jewelry store owned by Bert Neville of Dawson and his bride lived here with her mother on Pittsburg street. Miss Younkin left on Monday of last week and went to Ursina, Pa., to visit friends. According to arrangements Murphy left Dawson on Thursday going to Ursina also where he met his sweetheart. The two then journeyed on to the city of elopements where they were married. They returned here on Sunday evening and received a double blessing, that of the parent and that of Dr. G.W. Newcomer who is Miss Younkin's guardian." Five children born into this union were Jane/Jean E. Murphy, Donald V. Murphy, Katherine Murphy, Alford/Alfred Murphy and Dayne Murphy.

The couple resided in Dawson, Fayette County in the 1890s and early 1900s, where Frank was an up-and-coming jeweler. In 1895, he worked for Bert Neville in Dawson and then in 1897 launched his own jewelry sales and repair business in the same town. He is known to have relocated his business to the Gallatin Building in Dawson, as reported in the gossip columns of the Weekly Courier of April 29, 1898. In newspaper advertisements, he offered a portfolio of watches, clocks and diamonds, and his business trips took him to the big city of Pittsburgh and the tiny logging town of Humbert in Somerset County. He held memberships in the Masons and the James Cochran Lodge, with some of his fellow members including Dr. H.J. Beil, Biddle Hornbeck, hardware man C.O. Schroyer and contractor Hillary Ober. As of 1900, Frank's cousin Mame Woodward lived in their residence. Bessie often shopped in the larger city of Connellsville, which gave her an opportunity to stop in and see her widowed mother. The family was plunged into mourning when their eldest child, Jean, died after a short illness of pneumonia on Aug. 15, 1904, at the age of seven. Her tender remains were laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery, and a brief notice of her passing was printed in the Connellsville Daily Courier. The Murphys often entertained visits from Bessie's sisters. In the heat of August 1905, in company with the C.F. Critchfield and W.H. Parkhill families, they rented a camp for two weeks near the Youghiogheny River Bridge in Confluence, taking a cook along and dubbing the place "Camp Dane" after their newborn daughteer. While there, they entertained guests who took pleasure in the cool mountain air. Circa 1906, the Murphys were active with the Royal Neighbors Society of Dawson and, while attending at a lawn party near the Hulltown School, Frank gave away a prize of a fine brooch. Again in August 1906, with the M.E. Porters, they returned to Camp Dane in Confluence for a three-week camping vacation.

Bessie Murphy. Courtesy Wade Patterson 
All the while building his Dawson business, Frank had his eye on a potential move to the midwest. He is known to have traveled to St. Louis in May 1904, with a swing through Oklahoma, and upon his return told a local news reporter that he was "well pleased with his trip and thinks it is the coming place." In 1908, the Murphys made the major decision to uproot their lives and relocate to Oklahoma where they stayed for good. Frank operated a jewelry store under the name "Murphy the Jeweler." When the federal census enumeration was made in 1910, the family dwelled in Durant, Bryan County, OK. For reasons not yet known, back in Pennsylvania, the Fayette County Sheriff in 1910 sold property in Dawson under terms of a lawsuit Frank had filed for Bessie's use. As of 1922, when Bessie and Dayne returned to Fayette County to see relatives, their home was in Coldgate, OK. Then circa 1925, their address was 525 East Main in Ada, Pontotoc  County, OK. Once more in February 1928 Bessie traveled to her old home to visit her brother. She developed an enlarged thyroid, known as a goiter, and in April 1928 underwent surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She was accompanied by daughter Katherine on her return trip to Ada. Sadly, Bessie died in their Ada residence at the age of 68 on Jan. 22, 1945. Her remains were lowered into eternal repose in the city's Rose Hill Memorial Park. An obituary in the Tulsa Tribune said she was the "mother of two Tulsans." Frank outlived his bride by eight years. At the end of his career, he was employed in the jewelry department of a Tulsa department store. In 1951, he received word of the tragic hit-and-run death of his brother Ernest back in Dawson. Frank's address in the early 1950s was 1151 North Osage Drive. John passed away on July 9, 1953, at the age of 79. A brief funeral notice was published in the Tribune.

  • Grandson Donald V. Murphy (1898- ? ) was born on Feb. 7, 1898. He resided in 1945 in Ada, OK. Donald died in Nov. 1980 at the age of 82. He sleeps for the ages in Tulsa's Rose Hill Memorial Park.
  • Granddaughter Katherine Murphy (1899- ? ) was born in Feb. 1899. She was single and resided in Ada, OK in 1928. In time she wed (?) Wilkinson ( ? - ? ). She lived at 214 South Cheyenne Avenue in Tulsa in the mid-1940s.
  • Grandson Alford/Alfred Murphy (1902- ? ) was born in about 1902. His residence in 1945 was in Ada, OK.
Skyline of Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Granddaughter Dayne Murphy (1905-1994) was born in about 1905. She was enrolled in Tulsa University as of 1926 and in December of that year is known to have taught school at Sperry, near Tulsa. Dayne made news as a young woman when she was elected inaugural secretary of the Rainbow Assembly organization. In nuptials held in Curacao, Dutch West Indies, she was united in wedlock in 1926 with fellow Tulsa student Carl E. Patterson ( ? - ? ). Their only known son was Dr. Donald F. Patterson. Carl was employed by Roxana Petroleum Corporation, and by 1928 the pair had relocated to a worksite in Venezuela. They remained there in 1931, in the town of Maracaibo. They were transferred back to Tulsa as of 1932 and remained for the balance of their lives. In 1960, Dayne, Carl and their son traveled to Smithfield, PA for a visit with her uncle and aunt, John W. and Etta Younkin. Sadly, Dayne died at the age of 90, in Tulsa, on May 1, 1994. Her obituary appeared in the Tulsa World.

    Great-grandson Dr. Donald F. Patterson ( ? - ? ) was the father of Dr. Russell H. Patterson and Wade D. Patterson. As of 1994, Donald resided in Wallingford, PA, while his son Russell was in Takoma Park, MD and son Wade in Austin, TX.  

Son Harry Murphy Younkin (1878-1907) was born on July 28, 1878. He grew up in Connellsville and appears to have been interested in the railroads at a young age. He lost two toes at the age of 14 in August 1892 when, said the Connellsville Weekly Courier, in "attempting to board a moving freight train on the Southwest road he slipped and fell with his foot on the rail... He was taken to the Cottage State Hospital, where the injured toes were amputated." He never married. At age 21, in 1900, he earned a living as a laborer. then in 1907, he was employed by the railroad and worked as a "hostler," ferrying locomotives and equipment for maintenance. Harry contracted an incurable case of tuberculosis in or about July 1907. He was admitted to the Fayette County Home in Uniontown. There, he succumbed to the spectre of death at the age of 28 years, 3 months and 29 days on Nov. 27, 1907. Burial was in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville. Signing the official Pennsylvania certificate of death was his brother-in-law, John Franklin Murphy of Dawson.

Son John W. Younkin (1880-1962) was born on July 9, 1880 in Connellsville. He served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He was assigned to Company C, 41st Regular U.S. Volunteer Infantry, and attained the rank of master sergeant. John was joined in matrimony with Etta B. Lowe (1885-1972). Two known children born to the couple were Katherine Jean Younkin and Harold F. Younkin. Sadness cascaded over the family when daughter Katherine died at the age of 22 days on Nov. 28, 1906, from acute indigestion and inflammation of the bowels. The Younkins resided for decades in the Borough of Smithfield, near Uniontown, PA. John earned a living as a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad engineer on the "Old 4140" and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. While on a run between Point Marion, PA and Canyon, WV in March 1935, on a bank of the West Penn Dam four miles from Lake Lynn, John and four co-workers nearly escaped death when their engine and caboose jumped the track and turned over. Reported the Uniontown Evening Standard, their cars:

...broke loose from the string of 17 loaded coal cars after the track started to sink during a heavy rainfall. The engine rolled over on its side toward the edge of the big dam, taking with it the tank car and caboose on which three other men were riding... The roadbed of the track gave way under the weight of the huge engine. Before yelling at is fireman to jump to safety, Engineer Younkin set the brakes and then leaped to the other side of the track. The three in the caboose were severly shaken up when the car also toppled to the edge of the dam. After ascertaining that none of the men was seriously injured, the five pulled themselves together and walked over four miles to the West Penn dam to notify railroad authorities.

Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates    
John was an avid baseball fan and, starting in about 1912, attended Pittsburgh Pirates opening games at Forbes Field for at least 18 straight years, through 1930. In that first opener, he would have seen the Pirates earn a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, with future hall-of-famers Honus Wagner and Max Carey each getting a hit. The 1930 opener was a 6-1 win over the same Cardinals, with future hall-of-famers Paul Waner rapping out two hits and Chick Hafey belting a home run in a losing cause. The family belonged to the Smithfield Presbyterian Church, where he was a longtime trustee. He also held a seat on Smithfield Borough Council and in 1934, on the Republican ticket, was a candidate for the State Assembly. For 50 years, he was affiliated with the local Elks Club in Uniontown. The family appears to have been family and socially oriented, and in January 1922 spent three weeks visiting John's married sister Bessie Murphy and family in Colgate, OK. Etta was active in the Tuesday Night Bridge Club, and on New Year's 1935 took part in a turkey dinner at the home of a fellow club member. John and Etta, in company with Mr. and Mrs. O.S. Vance, are known to have taken a driving vacation to Florida in January 1942. Their address in the early 1960s was on Railroad Street. The Younkins in April 1960 entertained a visit from his niece and nephew Dayne and Carl Patterson and their son Russell of Tulsa. In his final years, John suffered from hardening of the arteries and heart disease. Sadly, at the age of 82, John was stricken by a heart attack and died suddenly on the next-to-last-day of 1962. With Rev. Harold Kelley and Rev. Fred Sams co-officiating the funeral service, his remains were lowered under the sod of Mount Moriah Baptist Cemetery in Smithfield. Son Harold Younkin, living on Braddock Avenue in Uniontown, signed the official death certificate, and a notice was printed in the Uniontown Evening Standard

  • Grandson Harold F. Younkin (1907-1970) was born in 1907. He was married to Agnes Liebe ( ? - ? ) and was the father of Harold Younkin and Gerald Younkin. He earned a living as a salesman with Tri-State Grug Company. He also owned the Laurel Transmission Service of Uniontown. The Younkins resided on West Berkeley Street in Uniontown in 1960 and on Braddock Avenue in Uniontown in 1962. Harold and his wife traveled to Philadelphia in April 1960 to visit with his cousin Dayne (Murphy) Patterson's son, Dr. Donald Patterson. The couple's final address together was on Crestview Drive, Uniontown. Sadly, Harold died at the age of 62 in 1970. Rev. J. Robert Gray, of the Asbury United Methodist Church, presided at the funeral service. Burial was in Bethel Memorial Park in Farmington, Fayette County. At the time of Harold's death, his son Gerald was away in Germany, serving in the U.S. Army. 

Daughter Lula "Pearl" Younkin (1884-1948) was born in January 1884. At the age of about 18, circa 1902, she entered into matrimony with Joseph C. Page (1877-1939). They became the parents of at least two children -- Edith C. Page and Jay Clark Page. The United States Census of 1910 shows the Pages on Gibson Avenue in Connellsville, with Joseph working as a distributor in the railroad car industry. Pearl's widowed mother lived under their roof that year. In August 1912, working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Joseph was promoted to the company's headquarters in Baltimore. Said the Connellsville Daily Courier, "Announcement was made this morning of Page's promotion, to be car distributor at Baltimore... Page has lived in Connellsville practically all his life, and is one of the best known railroaders here. He will move his family to Baltimore. They returned to Connellsville for visits, including in June 1913 when they spent time with Pearl's brother John on Railroad Street in Smithfield, PA. Census records for 1920 show the family along with Pearl's mother in Baltimore. The family's address in the late 1930s was 3003 North Charles Street, Baltimore, with Joseph now employed as superintendent of the Maryland Coal and Coke Company. Grief cascaded over the family when Joseph died suddenly at home on June 22, 1939. An obituary in the Daily Courier said he was a "former well-known resident of Connellsville" and had "resided in Baltimore for about 30 years." Pearl's brother John, as well as Mamie Shannon and George Woodward, are known to have traveled to Baltimore for the funeral. Pearl outlived her husband by almost nine years. Death swept her away on Feb. 23, 1948. An obituary in the Baltimore Evening Sun said that burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery.  

  • Granddaughter Edith C. Page (1904- ? ) was born in about 1904. She wed Thomas Robinson Evans ( ? - ? ). The couple dwelled at 639 Coleraine Road in Baltimore's Ten Hills neighborhood in 1925 and in Philadelphia in 1939.
  • Grandson Jay Clark Page (1906-1925) was born in about 1906. He made the move to Baltimore with his parents in 1912, at the age of six. On the deadly evening of June 20, 1925, the 19-year-old Jay drowned in Lake Roland, north of the city, during an outing with friends. The Baltimore Sun reported that:

    ..the automobile in which he was riding with three companions suddenly stalled on a hill and drifted back until it plunged over a steep bank into the water... Page's body was recovered by police of Pikesville shortly after they had begun to drag the bottom of Lake Roland near the automobile. The motor car was hauled from the water during the afternoon. The accident occurred shortly before midnight. Andrews [the driver], according to Pikesville police, had turned the automobile into the road near Hollis Station and was driving back toward Baltimore. As the car was going up the hill the engine stalled suddenly and the machine began to roll backward down the grade. Andrews attempted to bring it under control but found he was unable to do so. The automobile gathering speed swung across the road and plunged over the embankment. By a strange quirk of fortune the machine landed in an upright position beneath the water. The four passengers succeeded in extricating themselves from the motor car and rose to the surface. Page, unable to swim, appeared to be paddling toward the shore, according to Miss Catherine Beall, who said she was swimming near him. She told him, she asserted, the direction of the shore. When the two girls and Andrews reached the bank they found Mr. Page was missing. Mr. Andrews then started back in search of him.  

Funeral services were conducted in the home of his married sister, with interment following in Woodlawn Cemetery. A death notice was printed in the Baltimore Evening Sun.

 

Eli Younkin and 2nd wife Mary Ellen

~ Son Eli Younkin ~

Son Eli Younkin (1853-1911) was born on March 11, 1853 (or 1857) in Lower Turkeyfoot Township. 

He was married twice. He first was united in the bonds of holy matrimony with Anna Elizabeth Addis ( ? -1890 ).

Their six children were Fillmore Younkin, Barnett Younkin, George Younkin, Charles Younkin, Nora McElhaney and William B. Younkin. 

Sadly, Ann died at home in Gibson near Connellsville on March 12, 1890, at the age of 32. The Connellsville Courier reported that "She leaves a husband and six children, the youngest being 14 months old." Her remains were laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery. 

Eli's second wife was Mary Ellen Garlitz (1871-1960), also spelled "Garletts." They were wedded three days after Christmas 1892, when Eli was age 39 and Mary Ellen 21. 

The couple went on to produce six more children: Arthur Younkin, John Eli Younkin, Florence M. Robinson, Albert B. Younkin, Louis (or "Lewis") McCormick Younkin and Elly V. Younkin. 

Eli was a house carpenter and "block maker" working in and around South Connellsville. When the federal census of 1900 was taken, Eli, Mary and their nine children of the combined family lived under one roof. Just a few houses away were the families of his married sister and brother in law, William and Myrtle Soisson, and future son in law Charles McElhaney. 

 

Hill Grove Cemetery

In his later life, Eli suffered for two years from a lingering case of heart valve disease added to chronic asthma. He died in Connellsville on April 9, 1911, when he was 58 years of age. His obituary in the Daily Courier erroneously gave his age as 54 and his parents' names as Jacob and Sara Tannehill "Murphy." The Courier also said he had "followed the occupation of a block up until he commenced to fail in health." 

Mary Ellen outlived her husband by almost a half of a century, making her home at 222 Pittsburg Street in South Connellsville. She was a member of the Albright Evangelical United Brethren Church. At the age of 89, Mary Ellen died at home on Aug. 21, 1960, with burial in Hill Grove.

Son Fillmore Younkin (1880-1918) was born in January 1880 or on Feb. 15, 1878. He resided at White Rock, Fayette County in 1898, at the age of 18. He and a number of his relatives and friends were arrested in February 1898 "on a charge of disorderly conduct and disturbing a church festival held at the Methodist Protestant Church in White Rock," reported the Courier. The others involved in the incident were Henry Snyder, William Ream, Samuel Pierce, Clark Trump, James Younkin, John Younkin and Bert Younkin, all residents of White Rock. Then in September 1905, he was accused of stealing $21 from the pocket of Thomas Kelly of Youth Chemical Company in Connellsville. Without sufficient evidence to convict him, he was found innocent. He does not appear to have married. Fillmore made his way to Fremont, Sandusky County, OH, where he worked as a boilermaker in a boiler shop and lived at 1031 Croghan Street. On the fateful day of Jan. 17, 1918, he went to sleep in a small room with a gas stove still burning, and died of asphyxiation, just about a month shy of his 40th birthday. A coroner ruled the death accidental. On his official Ohio death certificate, his father was listed as "Eli Younkin" born in "Germany." Interment of the remains was in Oakwood Cemetery in Fremont, with a short notice appearing in the Clyde (OH) Enterprise.

Son Barnett Younkin (1881- ? ) was born in February 1881. At the age of 19, he made a living as a day laborer and lived at home with his parents. He may have died during the decade between 1900 and 1910, as his name does not seem to appear on the federal census enumeration of 1910. Nothing more is known.

 

Obituary, 1948

Son George Younkin (1882-1948) was born on July 24, 1882 in Connellsville. As an adult, he made his home in the Wayne County Home in rural Ohio. At the age of 61, in the early 1940s, he began suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. George died of the ailment in Wayne County Hospital in Wooster, OH at the age of 66 on Sept. 23, 1948. He was interred in the Wayne County Cemetery. The informant on his death certificate, from the County Home, did not know the names of George's parents. A brief newspaper obituary noted that he had died "after a long illness" and was "survived by one brother" but mentioned no spouses or offspring.

Son Charles Younkin (1884-1975?) was born on Sept. 8, 1884. Little about his life is known, other than that he eventually became estranged from his younger half-brothers. When in his 70s, circa 1960, he lived in Aliquippa, Beaver County, PA and was mentioned in the Connellsville newspaper obituary of his step-mother. In late 1966, at the age of 83, he traveled to the home of Mrs. John Burns in Negley, OH with plans to stay for "a week or two," said the Courier. On his behalf, Mrs. Burns sent a letter to the editor of the Courier, and to the Fremont (OH) News-Messenger, saying he was "very lonely and would like to hear from his brothers or receive news about them." The letter, printed in the newspaper, mentioned Eli and Mary as his parents, and commented that his brothers were "John, Arthur and Lewis Younkin." He is believed to have died in Ohio in 1975, at the age of 91. 

 

    

Paul and June Helen, left, and Paul at age 26

Daughter Nora Younkin (1886-1922) was born in April 1886. On Leap Day 1908, at the age of 22, she married 27-year-old mill worker Charles Roy McElhaney (1881-1926), son of John Daniel and Belle McElhaney. The wedding took place in Fairmont, Marion County, WV, led by Rev. H.G. Stoetzer of the Presbyterian Church. Charles once had worked at the tin plate mill in South Connellsville, and later moved with Nora in about 1911 to Woodlawn, in what is now Aliquippa, Beaver County. They rented a home at 1212 Main Street in Plan 12, a model company housing neighborhood built by Charles' employer, Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. Using his experience, Charles worked as a roller in the plant's tin mill along the Ohio River. They were members of the Free Methodist Church. Their five children were Albert McElhaney, Roy McElhaney, Paul Eli McElhaney, June Helen Bower and Virginia Lappin. Nora was said to have been of large build, and to have baked delicious bread with the aroma spread throughout the house. Sadly, suffering from colon cancer and intestinal obstruction, Nora was admitted to Beaver Valley General Hospital in New Brighton, and in being taken from her home, she was carried down a flight of steps seated in a chair. She died on Nov. 15, 1922, at age 36, at the hospital. Said the Beaver Falls Tribune, the funeral was held in the McElhaney home, with burial in Woodlawn Cemetery in Aliquippa. Tragedy compounded he heartache when Charles only lived  for a few more years. Fate struck him down a age 45 when he was crushed in the rollers at the tin mill, on Feb. 13, 1926. He died of internal bleeding while in an ambulance being rushed to a hospital. The Connellsville Weekly Courier reported that "his clothing was caught in a manner which pulled him into the machinery." Of the five orphaned children, the eldest three were left to fend for themselves but were taken in by a neighbor family, the Coombs.

  • Grandson Albert McElhaney (1902-1961) was born on Jan. 12, 1902 in Connellsville. He moved to Freedom, Beaver County in about 1943. Albert was married and divorced. He resided in a boarding house at 241 Fourth Avenue in Freedom, Beaver County. On the tragic day of May 31, 1961, he was killed in a fire in his residence, suffering third degree burns over the entirety of his body, generating front-page news in the Beaver County Times

  • Grandson Paul E. McElhaney (1912-1972) was born on March 24, 1912 in Connellsville. He relocated to Aliquippa in childhood. Orphaned at age 14, he never spoke about his parents to his own children. Until he legally reached adulthood, he was under the care of foster mother Mrs. J.A. Coombs of Monaca, PA. He thus reached maturity with foster siblings Sam Coombs, John A. Coombs Jr., Mrs. Howard Heckman, Mrs. Paul Elmer and Mrs. W.A. Lyons. Paul married Etta Wedgewood Higgs (1913-1998) , daughter of Ethel Higgs. The couple remained in Aliquippa, raising a family of two sons -- Paul "Keith" McElhaney and Bruce W. McElhaney. The United States Census of 1950 shows Paul working as a fitter in the machine shop of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. He eventually became a machine shop foreman of the plant's north mill. The family resided at 1228 Wade Street. Paul died at age 60 on April 19, 1972, at Aliquippa Hospital. After s funeral led by Rev. Richard Sanford, he was laid to rest beside his parents. An obituary was printed in the Beaver County Times. His remaining adult siblings placed a bronze marker at Nora and Charles' final resting place.

    Keith McElhaney  
    Great-grandson Paul "Keith" McElhaney (1942-2016) was born on Oct. 19, 1942 in Rochester, Beaver County. He was a 1960 graduate of Aliquippa High School and obtained his bachelor's degree in 1964 from Geneva College. Keith was united in matrimony with Barbara Ann Robertson (Nov. 4, 1944-2024), daughter of Merle and Gladys (Cravener) Robertson. Their union endured for a remarkable 53 years until the separation of death. The couple's trio of children were Daniel McElhaney, Susan Chance and Paul Keith McElhaney Jr. Barbara was a 1962 graduate of Aliquippa High School. They made a home in Hopewell Township, Beaver County. From 1964 to 1985, Keith was employed at the Aliquippa works of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. He then went to work for Marmon Keystone in Butler for two years, from 1986 to 1988, and then the newly formed Aliquippa tin mill of LTV Steel Corporation from 1989 to 2000. His final employer, from 2003 to 2014, was Pat Gallagher Trucking. Reported the Beaver County Times, Keith "was an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Aliquippa where he was head usher, Chairmen of the Trustees, President of the United Methodist Men, and Secretary of the Memorial fund, and he faithfully cut the grass each summer. He was a member of the boards of both C.A.S.A. and Contact of Beaver County... Keith's greatest loves were spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, listening to and playing music, and working with his pond and waterfall." Keith was deeply interested in knowing more about his father's family and attended a Younkin Reunion circa 2013, where he met the founder of this website. The two later toured Aliquippa together and visited the McElhaney gravesites. Sadly, Keith died in their residence at the age of 73 on April 28, 2016. His obituary was printed in the Times. His pastor, Rev. Thomas Bonomo, led the funeral service at the family church, followed by burial in Woodlawn. Barbara lived on for another nearly eight years. Said the Times, she "was an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Aliquippa where she cohosted Fellowship hour. Barb has always loved children and volunteered at local churches tutoring after school programs. Barb was a member at the Woodlawn Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star #164 and served as Mother Advisor of the Aliquippa Chapter of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. Barb’s greatest loves were spending time with her husband Keith, children, and grandchildren, and sitting on her yard swing listening to the waterfall." The angel of death swept her away on Jan. 14, 2024. Funeral services were conducted in the family church, jointly officiated by Rev. Jim Sands and Rev. David Wilson. Their son Daniel married Missy, daughter Susan wed (?) Chance and son Keith Jr. tied the knot with Missy.

    Great-grandson Bruce W. McElhaney (1947- ? ) was born in about 1947 and grew up in Aliquippa. He joined in wedlock with Carol ( ? - ? ). They dwelled in Monaca in 1972.

  • Grandson Roy McElhaney (1911- ? ) was born in about 1911. He moved to California and died in San Diego.
  • Granddaughter June Helen McElhaney (1915-2022) was born on Sept. 4, 1915. At their father's death in 1926, rendering them as orphans, she and her sister Virginia were sent to New Jersey to live with a maternal aunt, Blanche Epping in Trenton. On Oct. 24, 1936, she entered into marriage with Marvin Henry Bower (Jan. 29, 1912- ? ). Their wedding ceremony was held at the Bethel Lutheran Church of Trenton, NJ. Two daughters of this marriage were Beverly Ann Miller and Bonnie June Grocott. Circa 1972, their residence was in Trenton, NJ. Sadly, Marvin was gathered away by the angel of death, from bladder cancer, on Dec. 22, 1988. June outlived her spouse by nearly 14 years. She was diagnosed with cancer of the breast and liver. She died from their effects, in the Masonic Home of Burlington, NJ, on Aug. 30, 2002. Interment was in Trenton's Greenwood Cemetery. 

    Great-granddaughter Bonnie June Bower ( ? - ? ) was born on (?). Her first husband was Bruce Grocott ( ? - ? ). They together bore two sons -- Bruce Grocott and Brent Joseph Grocott. Bonnie later married Robert Gaspari ( ? - ? ) on Oct. 10, 1993.

    Great-granddaughter Beverly Ann Bower ( ? - ? ) was born on (?). On Dec. 26, 1959, she was joined in marriage with Paul Arnold Miller ( ? - ? ). Their nuptials were held in Trenton at Bethel Lutheran Church. Two offspring born to the pair were Paul Marvin Miller and Brian Arnold Miller. Beverly and Paul were longtime educators in Closter, Bergan County, NJ. Her career ranged from high school English to elementary school grades 4 and 5 to preschool, while he was a social studies teacher and high school administrator. In retirement, they have dwelled in Highland Mills, NY. Beverly contacted the founder of this website in January 2013 and provided valuable content for this biography. 

  • Granddaughter Virginia McElhaney (1920- ? ) was born on (?) 1920. At their father's death in 1926, rendering them as orphans, she and her sister June were sent to New Jersey to live with a maternal aunt, Blanche Epping in Trenton. She wed Michael Lappin ( ? - ? ). The couple did not reproduce. They dwelled in New Jersey in 1972.

Above: the McElhaney house in Plan 12; Nora and Charles' grave; and grandson Paul "Keith" McElhaney. Below: Aliquippa's Jones & Laughlin Steel works. Library of Congress

 

Son William B. Younkin (1891-1903) was born in October 1891, either the youngest son of the first marriage, or the eldest son of the second. He died at the age of 11 on Sept. 7, 1903. The funeral was held at the Evangelical Church in South Connellsville, followed by burial in Hill Grove Cemetery. An obituary was printed in the Courier.

Son Arthur Younkin (1893-1930) was born in 1893. He married Anna Lancaster ( ? - ? ). They had three daughters, Madeline Younkin, Anastasia Panone and Veronica Owens. The family established a home near the furnace in Dunbar, Fayette County, in about 1910. There, Arthur was employed as a shovel operator in a quarry of the Dunbar Corporation sand mill. Sadly, their daughter Madeline died at the tender age of 13 months on April 17, 1917, with burial in New St. Aloysius Cemetery in Dunbar. Tragically, while sitting under a tree at his lunch break, on Nov. 18, 1930, Arthur was mortally injured when hit on the head "by a two-pound stone which had been hurled a distance of about 700 feet by a blast," reported the Courier. He died at Connellsville State Hospital. His remains were placed at rest in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Dunbar, following a funeral led by Rev. William Hamilton. In the initial news report printed in the Courier, his name mistakenly was given as "Albert B. Younkin," his brother. There was not another fatality at the plant for another nine years, until 1939, when an employee was electrocuted. 

  • Granddaughter Veronica Younkin wed Regis Owens of Dunbar on June 3, 1933 in Brooke County, WV.
  • Granddaughter Anastasia Younkin married Joseph Panone of Dunbar, in Brooke County, WV on Dec. 4, 1935.

 

    

Left: John Eli Younkin Sr. and his mother. Right: John Eli and Henrietta with sons Bob and Jack in Brightwood near Pittsburgh

 

 

Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville

Son John Eli Younkin Sr. (1895-1971) was born in September 1895. Unmarried, he lived in Connellsville with his mother in 1930. He wed Henrietta Shelkey (1898-1975), the daughter of J. Franklin and Rebecca (Henry) Shelkey and granddaughter of Melchi and Annie (Johnson) Hartzell. The couple bore two sons, John Eli Younkin Jr. and Dr. Charles Robert Younkin. Circa 1918, their home was in Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV. From 1920 to 1923, he served as a treating plant supervisor for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Later, he joined Koppers Company, Wood Preserving Division, and was named procurement manager at its office in Marietta, OH. In the mid-1930s, Younkin cousin Charles Arthur "Charleroi Charley" Younkin visited their home in Connellsville, sharing his progress but also asking for donations. Teenage son John Eli Jr. was home at the time and later said that Charley "must have been 300 lbs., or close to it, and I asked my father afterwards what he wanted. Dad said he wanted money to help research the Younkin heritage, then he laughed and said, 'I know enough of Devil Jake, Drunken John, etc., I don't see any reason to check them out but I gave him twenty dollars, at least it will give him something to do'." In April 1950, he was promoted to manager of the division and relocated back to Pittsburgh. News of this appointment was published in the Pittsburgh Press. He moved again, to Delaware, and resided there in New Castle in 1960. He died in Wilmington, DE on March 27, 1971. The remains were shipped to Connellsville for burial in Hill Grove Cemetery. Henrietta died almost four years later, in Charleston, SC, on Jan. 26, 1975.

 

   

Left: Charles Robert Younkin and the World War II crew of the Betty Lou. Right: Bob as a physician after the war

 

  • Grandson Dr. Charles Robert Younkin ( ? -1997) practiced as a physician in Bellaire-Southwest Houston, TX for 39 years. He established Hillcroft Medical Clinic Association and helped found Sharpstown General Hospital.
  • Grandson John Eli "Jack" Younkin Jr. (1918-1994) was born in 1918. He married Sara Eloise Husband ( ? - ? ). During World War II, he served as a technician grade 5 with the U.S. Army's Headquarters Platoon, 85th Infantry Division. He received an official commendation for his work from July 12, 1944 to Dec. 24, 1944, when he "contributed materially to the recreation and morale of the officers and enlisted men of the 85th Infantry Division Headquarters," wrote his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Charles F. Mudgett. "Daily this soldier procured films from whatever source possible, often from points far distant and at the cost of missing his evening meal. Then he would personally set up, adjust and test the equipment, and operate a motion picture projector for two complete showings of full length motion pictures. The storage of the equipment for the night in order to protect it from the elements and the maintenance of his equipment would require [him] to work late into the night. The untiring efforts and outstanding devotion to these duties, performed voluntarily for the good of the services, and in addition to his regularly assigned duties with the Finance Department, reflect great credit upon himself and the military service." After the war, he was a longtime chemist for Koppers Company in Pittsburgh. Intrigued with the national Younkin research, publishing and reunion being driven by Donna (Younkin) Logan, Jack and his brother Robert paid her a visit in the summer of 1990. (See her article in the July-August-September 1990 edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin.) Jack died in Charleston, SC on Feb. 18, 1994. Their daughters Barbara Jump Park and Sari "Elaine" Clark have attended Younkin Reunions East and West.

 

John Eli Younkin in Galliano, Italy in 1943 -- and his commendation letter

 

Daughter Florence M. Younkin (1898 -1941) was born in May 1898. She married Albert C. Robinson. She was employed at Trautman's Department Store. Later, they relocated to Harrisburg, Dauphin County, PA. They had one daughter, Eleanor Robinson. Florence passed away on Sept. 2, 1941, in a hospital in Harrisburg. Following a funeral led by Rev. J.E. Rudisill, of the Christ Lutheran Church of Harrisburg, she was interred in East Harrisburg Cemetery.

Son Louis McCormick Younkin (1904-1977) was born in 1904. He made his residence in Hagerstown, MD circa 1930. In April 1941, while in Hagerstown, his son fell out of the back door of their moving automobile on U.S. Route 40, west of Cumberland. Said a newspaper, "The boy's father picked him up, took a small stone out of his head and took him to the State Police Barracks nearby." He married Mabel M. Hammer and had three daughters, Mabel L. Younkin, Phyllis M. Barger and Audrey J. Kline. They also had two foster daughters, Cynthia Younkin and Kathy Ann Rhoades. The Younkins moved around the country over the decades. Their home in 1930, when the federal census was taken, was Galveston, Galveston County, TX, where Louis was employed in a machine shop. In 1960, when his mother died, he was in Richmond, VA. He died in Hagerstown, Washington County, MD in April 1977, at the age of 73. Burial was in Rest Haven Cemetery. All three of the Younkin daughters lived in Hagerstown in 1977.

  • Granddaughter Mabel L. Younkin (1925- ? ) was born in 1925.
  • Granddaughter Phyllis M. Younkin (1927- ? ) was born in 1927. She wed (?) Barger and resided in Hagerstown.
  • Granddaughter Audrey J. Younkin married (?) Kline. Their home was in Hagerstown.

 

~ Son George B. "McClellan" Younkin ~

Son George B. "McClellan" Younkin (1864-1930?) was born in 1864 in Connellsville and was named for the famous Union Army general of the Civil War. 

At the age of 22, on May 12, 1886, McClellan married Lucy Balsley ( ? - ? ), daughter of Christian and Sarah Balsley. At the time, he lived in Connellsville Township, and she in Connellsville Borough.

The couple moved to Pittsburgh. The marriage was troubled, and McClellan left their home sometime in about 1898 or 1899. It's reputed that he joined the army during the Spanish-American War.

Iin October 1899, presumably living as a single woman, the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times reported that Lucy had been elected an officer in the grand lodge of Pythian Sisterhood.

Then in July 1901, the Pittsburgh Daily Post noted that Lucy had sued for divorce in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on grounds of desertion. The court appointed a commissioner to investigate the case, and on Oct. 30, 1902, the Daily Post said that the "commissioner in the divorce case of Lucy A. Younkin against George B. Younkin filed his report. It was alleged the respondent ran away and enlisted in the army under an assumed name, so that if he was killed in Cuba no one would be the wiser.”

George made his home in Dayton, OH circa 1919. He surprised his younger sister Sadie Mitchell in September 1919 with a visit to her home in St. Marys, KS. Said the St. Marys Star, "Mrs. Mitchell had not see Mr. Younkin for nearly fifteen years. Since the beginning of the late World War, he has been employed in the Federal Aviation Department and recently returned to Leavenworth where he will spend the winter at the Old Soldiers Home." 

Their fates after that time are hidden by the misty haze of the past. It's possible that George died in 1930, but more proof is needed as confirmation.

 

~ Daughter Sarah "Sadie" (Younkin) Mitchell ~

Daughter Sarah "Sadie" Younkin (1865-1937) was born on Oct. 25, 1865 (or 1867) in South Connellsville, Fayette County, PA.

Circa 1884, when she would have been about age 19, she married William F. Mitchell (Sept. 1856-1942), a native of New York State.

Together, they bore a brood of six children: George Plewell Mitchell, William Roy Mitchell, Lillie "Grace" Bean, Nola "Noly" Mitchell, Earl R. Mitchell and Evaline "Eva" Bean.

In about 1891, the Mitchells set their sights on the midwest and migrated to Kansas. The 1900 federal census enumeration places the family on a farm in Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, KS. By 1910, they began "occupying a farm northwest of Topeka," reported the Younkin Family News Bulletin (April 30, 1938). The 1910 census gives the family's locale as Auburn, Shawnee County, KS.

Bertrand Avenue in St. Marys, KS, home of the Sadie Mitchell family

Added the YFNB, "It was in 1914 that 'Dad' Mitchell decided to open a grocery store in St. Marys, better known in those days as the Union Tea Store." The actual name of the business was the "Union Pacific Tea Co. Store," located in St. Marys, Pottawatomie County. Among other items, the store advertised that it sold a range of goods, from mason fruit jars and baking powder to pianos and organs.

Sadie was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution as a descendant of the Drake and Tannehill families of Somerset County. When her brother Eli died in April 1911, she was mentioned by name in the obituary published in her own hometown newspaper, the Connellsville Daily Courier.

The Mitchells hosted "a very pretty wedding" in their home in May 1915, said the St. Marys Star, when their daughter Grace married Earl Bean. The article went on to say that "The Mitchell family are well known in the city and vicinity as Mr. Mitchell is proprietor of the Union Pacific Tea Store here and his daughter visited here several times during the past winter and spring and made many warm friends during her visits."

William suffered from chronic rheumatism as he aged. He is known to have traveled to Hot Springs, AR in September 1916 seeking relief in the curing waters. He returned home feeling very much improved, he said.

YFNB, April 30, 1938

Having kept in touch with relatives back in Connellsville, the Mitchells hosted a November 1915 visit from their niece, a "Miss Younkin of Connellsville, Penn.," as recorded by the Star. In September 1919, Sadie's brother George, whom she had not seen in 15 years, traveld from his home in Dayton, OH to pay her a visit and was en route to Leavenworth to take up residence in the Old Soldiers.Home. One of Sadie's brothers from Connellsville came to St. Marys with his wife in November 1919. William and daughter Eva Bean traveled to Connellsville in November 1920 to see loved ones, with their trip also reported in the gossip columns of the Star. Their nephew Ernest Younkin, age 39 and divorced, came from Connellsville for a visit in September 1921.

With the quick thinking of his son Earl, William avoided almost certain death in a freak, tragic accident on Nov. 30, 1922 that electrocuted to death his son-in-law Forrest Bean. Reported the Topeka Daily Capital the next day:

The fatal accident occurred in the alley behind the Mitchell grocery store where Bean had been employed... The strong wind this morning blew down the electric line in the alley. The uninsulated wire lay in a pool of water and caused a sputtering of fire and steam. Someone saw the smoke and called into the store that the coal house was on fire. Mr. Mitchell snatched a bucket of water and started to the rear. Bean took the pail from his father-in-law and ran ahead toward the alley. The wire was concealed under the water and he struck it with both feet. Death was instantaneous and he fell, still in contact with the wire. Mr. Mitchell got close enough to the body to splash the water in the pool and receive a severe shock before he was rescued from probable death by his son [Earl]... who pulled his father away as Mitchell was reaching to pull the burned body of Bean away from contact with the wire... John Zellar, a neighbor, then pried the body away from the wire with a barrel stage and it was carried to the undertaking rooms. 

William ran afoul of an old Kansas law dating to 1869 when keeping his grocery store open on Sundays. He was targeted in May 1924 by the county's attorney not long after another local business, the Princess Theatre, was forced to close after showing motion pictures on the sabbath and attracting what the Star called "capacity crowds." William thus received a letter from the lawyer suggesting that he follow suit. 

The Mitchells celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving 1935. Said the News Bulletin, Sadie "was loved by all who knew her intimately. In recent years particularly was she an inspiring figure to her friends. Illness was a cross she had to bear for five or six years, but nobody ever heard a protest from Sadie Mitchell. She accepted her lot with dignity and courage, and the example she set will not soon be forgotten."

Sadie died in St. Mary's, of pneumonia, on Dec. 19, 1937. She was laid to rest in Topeka's Memorial Park Cemetery, escorted to her grave by pallbearers Clarence Youcum, Nels Hammarlund, David Urbansky, Frank Allen, C.P. Aul and Sam Shannon, and a funeral sermon preached by Rev. Fred Johnson. She was survived by 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

William outlived his bride by five years. Death enveloped him on July 24, 1942.

Son George Plewell Mitchell (1885- ? ) was born on Sept. 14, 1885 near Uniontown, Fayette County, PA. He moved to Kansas in young boyhood. At the age of 23, circa 1908, George was joined in marriage with 23-year-old Nelle C. "Nellie" Welch (1885-1978), an Illinois native and the daughter of Irish immigrant Edward Welch. Five known offspring of this marriage were William George P. Mitchell, Harry Mitchell, John E. Mitchell, Charles Mitchell and Daisy Mitchell. The young family is known to have been in Oklahoma in about 1911 at the birth of their elder son. By 1915, they were back in St. Marys, with George now a partner with his father in the firm W.F. Mitchell & Son. One of his cousins, a "Miss Younkin of Connellsville, Penn.," was recorded by the St. Mary's Star as visiting with George and his father in November 1915 before heading to Auburn, KS to see other relatives. George primarily made his contribution to the family firm as a truck driver, and said so in about 1917 when registering for the military draft during World War I. George and his father dissolved their partnership on Jan. 16, 1922, with the father wholly taking over their store in Emmett, KS and George the store in St. Marys. The Mitchells pulled up stakes after the birth of their son John and by 1925 migrated to Missouri, settling in Blue, Jackson County. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1930, George earned a living as an electrician, performing odd jobs, and they provided a dwelling place for Mellie's widowed father. During the Great Depression years of the 1930s, they again made a move to Independence, Jackson County, with George employed in 1940 on a river project. He became a self-employed florist during the 1940s and into 1950. The Mitchells' residence in 1950 was at 604 East Alton in Independence. For the last 15 years of his life, George was burdened with chronic bronchial asthma, and for the last two years with hardening of the arteries. Sadly, after suffering a heart attack, George died at home at the age of 64 on Jan. 30, 1950. Interment of the remains was in Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence. The widowed Nellie remained in Independence and took over the operations of the greenhouse. Nellie outlived her spouse by 28 years. She surrendered to the angel of death in 1978.

  • Grandson William George P. Mitchell (1911- ? ) was born in about 1911 in Oklahoma. As a 19-year-old, living with his parents in Blue, Jackson County, MO, he worked as a jitney/taxi driver.
  • Grandson Harry Mitchell (1918- ? ) was born in about 1918 in or near Emmett, Pottawatomie County, KS.
  • Grandson John E. Mitchell (1922- ? ) was born in about 1922 in Kansas.
  • Grandson Charles Mitchell (1925- ? ) was born in about 1925 in Missouri.
  • Granddaughter Daisy C. Mitchell (1927- ? ) was born in about 1927 in Missouri.
Son William "Roy" Mitchell (1890- ? ) was born in Oct. 16, 1889, 1890 or 1891 in Pennsylvania. He later claimed that his birthplace was Pittsburgh and also Rockdale, PA. He was a young lad when relocating with his parents to Kansas. In adulthoodhood he stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighed 190 lbs. and had grey eyes and light brown hair. William worked on the family farm in Shawnee County circa 1910, at the age of 20. On June 5, 1912, he married Mary Isabella Cole (1893-1958) of Burlingame, KS. News of their marriage license was printed in the Topeka State Journal. They became the parents of at least two daughters -- Gwendolyn "Lucille" Price and Dorothy Gabris, both born in Kansas. By 1917, when Roy registered for the military draft, the Mitchells were in Detroit, MI and he was employed as a machinist there with Dodge Bros. Their addresses at about that time included both 802 Marlborough and 23 Roland Street. The 1920 United States Census shows the family in Detroit with him continuing his machinist's work in an automobile factory. Roy filed for divorce on Aug. 20, 1938, citing "extreme cruelty," and his petition was granted in January 1939. Then in 1941, when again registering for the military draft, he lived at 19414 Binder in Detroit and worked for Anthony Kennen. They endured the untimely death in 1947 of daughter Lucille Price. Former wife Mary lived in Detroit in 1950 with their divorced daughter Dorothy, and supported herself as a billing clerk an an automobile plant. Mary's final address was at 7951 Hathon. She died on Feb. 21, 1958, with an obituary printed in the Detroit Free Press, saying she was survived by a sister Bessie Muck of Tecumseh, MI and two grandchildren.

Above: William "Roy" Mitchell's workplace, the Dodge Bros. plant in Detroit. Below: Raymond and Lucille (Mitchell) Price. Courtesy Michele Schulte
   

    Granddaughter Gwendolyn "Lucille" Mitchell (1914-1947) was born on March 4, 1914 in Auburn, KS. She moved to Detroit as a young girl. As a young woman she dwelled at 22042 Woodward Street in Ferndale, MI. When she was 20 years of age, on June 27, 1934, she entered into marriage with 21-year-old factory worker Raymond Joseph Price (1915- ? ), son of Paul and Helen (Paige) Price, originally spelled "Protosewicz." The nuptials were held at Royal Oak, Oakland County, MI, by the hand of Rev. Frank L. Fitch of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time, Raymond lived at 9344 Vandyke Street in Detroit. The Prices remained in Detroit for good. Two sons of the couple were Duane Raymond Price and Gerald L. Price. The U.S. Census of 1940 shows Raymond employed as an assembler in an automobile factory, with their residence located on Lambert Street. Sadly, at the age of 33, Lucille died in Detroit on Aug. 5, 1947. Raymond married again within a few years to Velma Humphrey (1915- ? ), a Tennessee native. She brought two stepchildren into the union -- Harold Humphrey and Dixie Humphrey. The Prices established their dwelling in Warren, Macomb County, MI, with Raymond working in 1950 as a machine repairman in an auto factory.

    Raymond D. Price
    Courtesy Timothy G. Price
     
    Great-grandson Raymond Duane Price (1936-2011) was born on Aug. 8, 1936 in Detroit. He was fun-loving, liked to tease and give nicknames to those whom he loved. He was united in matrimony with Bernice Wrubel ( ? - ? ). Their union endured for a remarkable 55 years until the separation of death. Their five children were Kim Victory, Timothy Gerard Price, Paul Price, Michele Schulte and Craig Price. The Prices resided in Warren, MI. Said an obituary, his life was " all about the humor & laughter that he so enjoyed bringing to the lives of others,...just his way of sharing the lighter side of life amidst a heavy world. As for his personal enjoyment and favorite pastimes, Raymond found great delight in either exercizing his mind or going a few rounds with Lady Luck. Whether in the quiet times with a challenging crossword puzzle to solve, or the countless hours he enjoyed dabbling on the computer, Raymond's mind was always kept sharp. As for his luck quests, he managed to satisfy those urges through his jaunts to the casino and the ever-familiar scratch-off lottery tickets." After a nine-year battle with cancer, Raymond died at the age of 74 on March 18, 2011. His funeral mass was held at Our Lady Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Frasier, MI.

    Great-grandson Gerald L. "Jerry" Price (1939-living) was born in about 1939 in Detroit. He wed Ruth ( ? -living). Five offspring born to this marriage included Cindy Price, Todd Price, Jeff Price, Matthew Price and one other.

  • Granddaughter Dorothy Mitchell (1916- ? ) was born in about 1916 in Kansas. She and her parents relocated to Detroit when she was very young. She wed (?) Gabris ( ? - ? ). The marriage ended in divorce sometime during the 1940s. Now divorced, Dorothy and her mother shared a residence in Detroit in 1950, with Dorothy earning a living in an automotive parts company as a press operator. Death claimed her in 1983.

Daughter Lillian "Grace" Mitchell (1892-1984) was born on June 22, 1892 in Willard, Shawnee County, KS. When she was 22 years of age, on May 5, 1914, she wed 26-year-old Earl A. Bean (Oct. 28, 1888-1983), son of Edward and Addie (Cantrell) Bean of Auburn, KS. Their nuptials were held by Rev. Roberts of Dover, KS, and were held in the home of Grace's parents in Auburn. The St. Marys Star called the event "a very pretty wedding" and said "We wish them much joy and happiness during their wedded life." The two families were close, and Grace's sister Eva wed Earl's brother Forrest. Three known offspring were Lillian Doris Pyle, Wilbur Earl Bean and Francis E. Bean. The Beans resided in 1920-1930-1940 on a farm owned by Grace's father in Auburn, Shawnee County, KS. By 1950, they had moved into the city of Topeka, where Earl was employed as chief clerk for the Shawnee County Marketing and Production Administration. At that time, their widowed sister in law Eva Bean resided under their roof. At the age of 95, Earl died on Oct. 28, 1983. Grace only survived him by a little more than a year. She passed away at the age of 92, on Nov. 2, 1984, in Overland Park. Burial was in Topeka's Memorial Park Cemetery.

  • Granddaughter Lillian "Doris" Bean (1916-1996) was born in 1916 and grew up in Auburn, KS. Single at the age of 24, in 1940, she lived with her parents in Auburn, Shawnee County, KS. She was joined in wedlock with (?) Pyle.
  • Grandson Wilbur Earl Bean (1917-1981) was born in 1917.
  • Grandson Francis E. Bean (1921-1981) was born in 1921.

Son Nola Norman "Noly" Mitchell (1894-1985) was born in March 1894 in Kansas. He lived in Auburn, KS in young manhood. On Jan. 3, 1917, he entered into marriage with 22-year-old Genevieve P. Dyche (Nov. 12, 1892-1976), also of Auburn, and a native of Wakarusa, KS. News of their marriage license was printed in the Topeka Daily Capital. Because he was so young-looking, he brought his mother into the probate judge's office to help secure the license. Reported the Daily Capital, "'Yes, he's 22,' said the mother, 'and that's the reason I came along. He looks so young that I was quite sure he might have some trouble in convincing the authorities that he was of age.' Armed with such convincing evidence, Mitchell was given a license to wed..." The article went on to say that Genevieve was a nice of the late L.L. Dyche, professor of natural history at the State university as well as having been a state fish and game warden. Their wedding was held in the parsonage of the Presbyterian Church, by the hand of Rev. S.A. Alt. The Shawnee Chief commented that "Their many friends join in wishing them a long happy married life." They became the parents of three -- Lindsay N. Mitchell, Dorothy McConnell and Pauline Davis.  During World War I, he received an exemption from the military draft on the grounds that he had a wife dependent on him for support. The couple spent most of their married lives in Auburn, where they were farmers. Genevieve earned a living in her work for the food service department of Fort Hays State College. Then in about 1968, she moved to Merriam, KS, living with their daughter Pauline at  6307 Robinhood Lane. Noly lived during that time frame in Ellis, KS. As a patient in Shawnee Mission Medical Center, at age 83, Genevieve passed away on Sept. 30, 1976. Her obituary in the Kansas City Star said that she was survived by 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson. Interment was in Auburn Cemetery. Noly outlived his wife by nine years. The angel of death spirited him away at the age of 91 on Aug. 8, 1985. His obituary was published in the Wichita Eagle.

  • Grandson Lindsay N. Mitchell relocated to Phoenix, AZ and lived there in 1976-1985.
  • Granddaughter Dorothy Mitchell wed (?) McConnell. Circa 1976-1985, she dwelled in Hays, KS.
  • Granddaughter Pauline Mitchell married (?) Davis. She made a residence in Merriam, KS, at 6307 Robinhood Lane. Then by 1985, she had migrated to Atlanta, GA.

Son Earl R. Mitchell (1895- ? ) was born in Nov. 1895 in Kansas. He was married and dwelled in Auburn, KS in 1918 and at Silver Lake, KS in 1921.

Daughter Evaline "Eva" Mitchell (1897-1953) was born on Nov. 30, 1897 in Willard, Shawnee County, KS. In 1917 she wed Forrest Bean ( ? -1922), son of Edward and Addie (Cantrell) Bean of Auburn, KS. The two families were close, and Eva's sister Grace married Forrest's brother Earl. Their marriage lasted for six years until his tragic death, and they did not reproduce. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 30, 1922, Eva's birthday, Forrest was electrocuted to death in a freak incident at the age of 32. The shocking incident made news all across the state, with the St. Mary's Star opining that he was "the well known young groceryman" and that it was "one of the saddest and most tragic accidents to ooccur in St. Marys in recent years." Funeral services were held in St. Mary's. Eva was shattered by her loss. The Star said she was "shocked into a temporarily unsettled state of mind. For hours since the tragedy, the effect of the blow has told on her. She is very slowly recovering..." The Star went on to say that "a pall of sadness" covered the community on the holiday and that Edward was "well know, of quiet disposition, altho popular, [and] he had his friends and they were legion." Funeral services were held in the Bean residence, led by Rev. Jenssen, with the body then taken to Auburn for burial. Additional services were conducted in Auburn by local Methodist-Episcopal Church pastor Rev. Fisher of Topeka, with crowds flocking for miles to attend. A poem authored by Scotsman William Knox, often recited by President Abraham Lincoln, was recited by Rev. Fisher, beginning with "O, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud, A Flash of the lightning, a breaker of wave, Man passeth from life to his rest in the grave." As the Beams were members of the Security Benefit Association, the widowed Eva would have received compensation of some sort. She then submitted a bill to the City of St. Marys, asking for more than $10,000, and represented by the Topeka law firm of Hamilton, Lorimer & Kirke. The city rejected the bill saying it "assumed no responsibility for what was declared an elemental act of Providence."  Eva then filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, on the following grounds:

--That Bean was killed while in the pursuit of his lawful business and had no knowledge or notice that the charged wire had fallen down. --That his death was caused by and due to negligence on the part of the City. --That the City permitted the fatal wire to fall down and remain in the public thorofare. --That the City failed to provide the light and power system with suitable and sufficiently strong poles to stand erect and support the wires. --That it failed to maintian and keep in good repair, the system. --That it failed to equip the power plant with proper appliances that would indicate short circuits, or grounded wires. --That it failed to cut off the current after it had knowledge that said wire was grounded. --That it failed to properly inspect, repair or maintain the system referred to. --That the poles became rotten, weak and unsafe, inadequate and insufficient to support and carry the light wires. --That the wire insulation was not as it should be.

The city announced that it would fight the claim. It published its rebuttal in the Star, essentially saying Bean had come to his death through "negligence and carelessness." The case was delayed until September 1923, and then again until Dec. 19, 1923, when the jury trial began in the District Court of Westmoreland. Eva's father and brother both testified on her behalf. After two days of testimony, the jury voted in her favor but only granted $3,500 of her $10,000 claim. Eva then devoted her life to nursing. In 1930, boarding in the home of John and Elizabeth Rennick in Topeka, she was a private duty nurse. She never remarried. At the age of 55, Eva died in Topeka on Sept. 16, 1953. Burial was in the city's Memorial Park Cemetery.

 

Copyright © 2013-2014, 2016-2017, 2020, 2022-2024 Mark A. Miner

Content for this page graciously shared by Tim Price, Michele Pulte, Wade Patterson, Nikki Soika, Barbara (Younkin) Jump Park, Sari Elaine (Younkin) Clark Bloomer, Beverly Ann (Bower) Miller, the late Paul "Keith" McElhaney, the late Olive (Rowan) Duff, Ralph Lincoln, the late Donna (Younkin) Logan, the late Betty Virginia (Trubic) Byles Gentry and Linda Marker.