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Dempsey's grave, Imel Cemetery

James Dempsey "Demp" Younkin was born in about 1860 in Clay Run, Fayette County, the son of George and Charlotta (Younkin) Younkin, first cousins who had married each other.

He married Phoebe "Ann" Burkholder (1858-1937), daughter of Daniel and Catharine (Cramer) Burkholder of Somerset County.

They produced a family of six known children -- John J. Younkin, Ella Younkin, Daniel Garfield Younkin, Daisy Catharine Fosbrink, James G. "Blaine" Younkin and Bessie Grace Shannon.

The Younkins resided at Draketown, Somerset County. 

James was stricken with a serious case of consumption, known today as tuberculosis, and passed away at the age of 32 years, nine months and 20 days on May 2, 1892. His remains were laid to rest in the Imel Cemetery.

After James' death, the 34-year-old Phoebe was left to raise four underage children and with no source of income. She applied to the County of Somerset for "out-door relief," and received a payment of $8.00, with a notice published in the Somerset Herald. Her brother William Burkholder -- married to Josephine Gorsuch -- was named as the youths' guardian.

She advised the Orphans Court of Somerset County that her husband's property consisted of items worth $130 plus a 90-acre farm adjoining the lands of Eli Conn, George Romesburg, Sarah Colborn, Andrew Moon, Jacob Sterner and W.M. Burkholder. While the farm was worth $300, there was a $150 encumbrance on the tract from an unpaid debt owed to Allen Hyatt. An inventory of the estate was conducted, and the following items were identified -- a cow, pair of harness, shovel, hog, two stoves, table, six chairs, crib, clock, Bible, bedstead, brace and two bits, grindstone, churn, meat stand, half a barrel of salt, a saw and chest.

A Draketown gristmill, said to have been the "last enterprise left in town" as of the 1920s.

On March 5, 1895, Phoebe Ann remarried to her husband's cousin Andrew Jackson Younkin (1847-1916), son of "Devil Jake" Younkin. The couple made its home in Fort Hill, Somerset County, PA. Andrew and Phoebe Ann went on to bear two more daughters of their own, Lydia F. "Edna" Lang Arndt Ostberg and Martha Mefford.

In an interesting twist, Phoebe's sister Ida was married to James Franklin Younkin, brother Daniel McKinley married to Kathryn Miner, and sister Rebecca Jane to Otis "Freed" Minerd.

But the second marriage apparently did not last, and by 1900, the federal census-taker recorded Andrew residing as a single man and boarder in the home of Henry J. Leichliter.

Phoebe Ann lived for many more decades, and dwelled at Draketown, Somerset County, where she was a member of the United Brethren Church.  In 1920, her next-door neighbors were Cyril "Edgar" and Nora (Harbaugh) Ream.

She died at the home of her son James G. "Blaine" Younkin in Confluence, Somerset County at the age of 82 on Nov. 17, 1937. She was laid to rest in the Imel Cemetery. Her obituary in the Daily Courier only noted that she "was the widow of J.B. Younkin" and did not mention Andrew.

But when her obituary was republished in the inaugural edition of the Younkin Family News Bulletin (Christmas 1937) it included Andrew's name as her spouse. Andrew and Phoebe are mentioned in an August 1961 article in the Laurel Messenger newsletter, headlined "Burkholder Family Background." Phoebe's son Garfield resided in Mesa, AZ in 1939, while son Blaine lived in Confluence.

In a December 1937 letter to a cousin, her nephew Charles Arthur Younkin wrote: "I was at the funeral of my father's only brother's widow's funeral she being in her 79th year."

Fort Hill, Somerset County

Imel Cemetery

~ Son Daniel Garfield Younkin ~

Son Daniel Garfield Younkin (1880-1949) was born on May 27, 1880. Reflecting his times, Daniel is believed to have been named in part for James A. Garfield, the President of the United States who was assassinated in office.

Daniel stood 6 feet, 2½ inches tall in manhood and weighed 238 lbs. In 1898-1899, he is known to have taught in the Harbaugh School of the Lower Turkeyfoot Township School District.

He went on to study at Ohio Northern University and received a degree in law. Circa 1911, he practiced law in Republic, OH and by 1913 was in practice in Xenia, Seneca County, OH.

On June 18, 1913, in Seneca County, OH, the 33-year-old Daniel married teacher Fay L. Miller (March 19, 1892-1977), daughter of William H. and Elmina (Toman) Miller. Rev. J.F. Bender officiated. Daniel was a full decade older than his bride.

The Younkins had two children -- Bryce Leroy Younkin and Ruth Lucile Yokela.

During World War I, he served as a captain with the 148th Infantry (3rd Ohio Regiment). The 1920 United States census shows the family in Xenia, Greene County, OH, with him engaged as a lawyer. Their address in Xenia was 854 North King Street. Then during the 1920s, they pulled up stakes and relocated to Arizona, where Fay earned a bachelor's degree from Arizona State Teachers College. Circa 1930, they relocated to Palo Alto, Santa Clara, CA. 

In about 1930, Fay began teaching mathematics at Palo Alto High School. She was known for allowing students to "do drawings to interest them in math," reported the Peninsula Times Tribune. She also was active with the school's Tennis Club and World Service Drives. At her retirement in 1957, her fellow teachers donated a cup in her name to be awarded annually to a student who had "done the most for tennis" that year.

The couple eventually divorced by 1940.

He "practiced law for a while, lost his health, and is now principal of schools at Phoenix, Arizona, or near there," recalled Connellsville attorney Frederick E. Younkin.

He later was an educator and, in cooperation with the University of Arizona in 1924, published School Administration Under the City Manager Form of Government. He "has been in various states... for the past several years," reported the Younkin Family News Bulletin in 1938, but was "now located on a ranch at Mesa, Ariz."

In poor health, he returned to Confluence in June 1938 for an extended visit with his brother Blaine. His condition apparently improved and he returned to Tucson. He wrote a letter in 1941, as World War II loomed, and published in the Younkin news bulletin, reading, in part: "We are certain to be called upon to sacrifice much, to work hard and long with no thought of the dividends which might accrue or the wages which could result but I'm sure our Younkin group will do that very thing." 

When required to register for the military draft during World War II, he disclosed that he lived in Mesa, AZ and was retired.

In May 1949, he returned to Confluence to spend the summer at the home of his brother Blaine.

He suffered a severe stroke on Aug. 23, 1949, and was sent for medical care to Deshon Veterans Hospital in Butler, Butler County, PA. He hung on for four days, and passed on Aug. 27, 1949, age 69. His remains were returned to Connellsville to be laid to rest in the Imel Cemetery. His daughter Ruth, in California, served as administrator of his estate. A standard issue military marker was placed on his grave, ordered by his brother Blaine, and was photographed by the founder of this website in August 2013.

Former wife Fay made a home in Palo Alto, CA in 1940, teaching high school to earn a living.. She died in San Mateo, CA on Jan. 28, 1977.

Son Bryce Leroy Younkin (1914-1989) was born on Valentine's Day 1914 in Xenia, OH. He moved to California with his parents and in 1940 shared a residence with his divorced mother in Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, OH. He stood 5 feet, 10½ inches tall and weighed 220 lbs. Bryce competed in scholastic tennis at Palo Alto High School in the 1930s and also played the flute. He studied advanced engineering and joined the U.S. Army during World War II. As a member of the Army Specialized Training Program, he was stationed in Pullman, WA. On July 31, 1943, in Pullman, WA, the 29-year-old was joined in marriage with 19-year-old telephone operator Geraldine C. Flynn (1924- ? ), daughter of James L. and Alice (Johnson) Flynn. Geraldine was a 1914 graduate of Sequoia Union High School. The four children they produced together were James Younkin, Jack Younkin, Susan Younkin and Faye Younkin. Circa 1951, the Younkins settled in Menlo Park, CA. Said the Peninsula (CA) Times Tribune, Bryce "was a switchman for Pacific Bell for 36 years. After his retirement in 1979 he was the owner of the Ralston Flower Shop in Belmont until 1988. He was a member of the Telephone Pioneers." Death enveloped him in San Mateo, CA on July 11, 1989.

• Grandson James Younkin ( ? - ? ) was an alumnus of Menlo Atherton High School and earned a degree at the College of San Mateo. He went on to secure a position as production control order clerk for the Eimac Division of Varian Associates. Circa May 1966, he tied the marital cord with Christine Andersen ( ? - ? ), daughter of Carl H. Andersen of Palo Alto. The nuptials were held in the local First Presbyterian Church and the couple was pictured in the Palo Alto Times, which said that the bride "chose a wedding dress of floor length linen, styled with an A-line skirt, three back tiers and elbow length sleeves trimmed in lace." Christine was an alumna of Cubberley High School and attended Foothill College. At the time of marriage she worked in sales for Macy's department store in Stanford and was active with the Order of Rainbow Girls. He dwelled in Palo Alto, CA in 1989. 

• Grandson Jack Younkin in 1989 lived in Fremont, CA. 

• Granddaughter Susan Younkin made her home in the 1980s in Santa Cruz, CA. 

• Granddaughter Fay Younkin ( ? - ? ) was a 1975 graduate of Menlo Atherton High School. As a teen, she and her American Staffordshire terrier performed in a local dog show and were pictured in the Peninsula Times Tribune. Fay relocated to Ohio and was there in 1989.

Daughter Ruth Younkin (1918-1982) was born on Dec. 8, 1918 in Ohio. She learned the seamstress skill. As a young woman she attended the University of California and excelled in tennis. Ruth wed Harold Edward "Hal" Yokela ( ? - ? ) on July 18, 1939, in Reno, NV, an event announced in the August 1939 edition of the Younkin news bulletin. Reported the Daily Palo Alto Times, "Although the couple slipped away quietly to avoil the fuss of a larger wedding, their marriage was not a surprise to their families, for their engagement had been announced earlier" Harold was a resident of Oakland and the son of John S. Yokela. At the time of marriage, he was a 1935 University of California graduate and employed as a radio engineer with the National Broadcasting Company on Treasure Island. Ruth went on to compete in a host of women's tennis competitions in 1946-1948. In 1946, when losing to England's Jean Bostock, newspapers misspelled her name as "Hokela." In 1971, Harold was pictured in the Times Tribune when trimming a tree at the home of his brother-in-law Bryce Younkin in Menlo Park. She succumbed to the spectre of death in Santa Clara, CA on Aug. 9, 1982.

~ Daughter Daisy Catherine (Younkin) Gower Fosbrink ~

Daughter Daisy Catherine Younkin (1882-1935) was born on Sept. 29, 1882 at Clay Run, Fayette County. 

She  joined the Baptist Church in her youth.

Daisy married in young womanhood to Stanley Gower (Oct. 12, 1879-1911), son of James F. and Amanda (McClintock) Gower. 

Their only daughter was Velma Nicholson Bobbs. 

Circa May 1904, when their young daughter became seriously ill, warranting a gossip column mention in the Meyersdale Republican, their homeplace was at Fort Hill. By 1911, their address was in Draketown.

Tragedy upended the young family in the fall of 1911. Stanley contracted typhoid fever and his bowels began to hemorrhage. He died just a few weeks before his 32nd birthday on Sept. 25, 1911. Burial was in the Younkin Cemetery in Paddytown.

Daisy as a widow moved to McKeesport, Allegheny County, PA, where she resided in 1914. In January 1915, she is believed to have entered into marriage with Thomas H. South ( ? - ? ) of Buena Vista, near Pittsburgh. The news was published in the Pittsburgh Press.

She went on to wed Robert J. Fosbrink (1881-1932), son of John and Laura (Cramer) Fosbrink/Forespring of Moyer near Connellsville. He had been married previously to Nora Wilson ( ? - ? ). As such he brought at least three stepchildren into the second union, Sarah "Lillian" Peterson, Edward Alexander "Teddy" Fosbrink and Grant V. Fosbrink.

Daisy and Robert resided in Confluence, and he earned a living as a laborer, including as a brickyard fireman and as a coal miner for the W.J. Rainey Company. 

Their only known son together was Kenneth Fosbrink. Sadly, he died in infancy. 

They provided a home for Daisy's granddaughter Margaret Nicholson in 1930.

Anxiety shook the family when Robert was diagnosed in about 1929 with heart and kidney disease. He endured his ailments for three years until passing away on March 22, 1932. An obituary in the Uniontown Morning Herald named his surviving children as Lillian, Edward and Teddy.

In about 1934, Daisy was stricken with cancer, and in February 1935 became bedfast. She was admitted to Frantz Hospital in Confluence on May 1, 1935, but was unable to recover. She died at the age of 53 on Aug. 28, 1935. Rev. A.V. Jeffers presided over the funeral rites, with an obituary appearing in the Meyersdale Republican. Burial was next to her husband in the Jersey Baptist Church in Confluence.

Daughter Velma Gower (1903-1955) was born on June 20, 1903. On Feb. 15, 1921, she tied the marital cord with Scott E. Nicholson of Confluence. The couple traveled to Cumberland, MD, where there was no waiting period for couples to marry. News of their marriage license was printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They lived in Rockwood and produced an only daughter, Margaret Lewellyn Musser Ryan Rowe. A little more than two years later, Velma filed for divorce, claiming desertion. The news of the legal filing appeared in the Meyersdale Republican. The daughter resided in the home of Velma's parents in 1930. Velma eventually married John Bobbs (Sept. 13, 1906-1976), son of John and Mary Jane (Love) Bobbs. They made a home in Confluence. In September 1936, Velma sued her second husband for desertion and non-support. At the age of 51, Velma was spirited away by the angel of death on March 22, 1955. Her remains were laid to rest in the Jersey Baptist Church Cemetery, and an obituary was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier. The widowed John continued on for another two-plus decades and wed again to Mary Payne, producing a daughter of their own, Gloria Van Nosveon. He died in Meyersdale Community Hospital on March 13, 1976, with interment also in the Jersey cemetery. 

• Granddaughter Margaret Lewellyn Nickelson (1921-1996) -- sometimes also known as Martha -- was born on May 30, 1921. Circa 1930, at the age of eight, she lived under the roof of her mother's parents in Lower Turkeyfoot Township. Margaret's first husband was Harry Martin Musser ( ? - ? ). They were wed in February 1940, with the marriage license announced in the Somerset Daily American. On Jan. 21, 1947, still making a homeplace in Confluence, the 25-year-old Margaret traveled to Cheyenne, Laramie County, WY to enter into marriage. Her spouse was 35-year-old divorced cook Earl F. Ryan ( ? - ? ), son of Charles J. and Vina (Bennett) Ryan and originally from Elk City, OK. Justice of the peace H.A. Brookhart officiated. The Ryans' marriage ended quickly. Her third spouse was Kansas native Stonewall Jackson Rowe Jr. (April 28, 1905-1976), son of Stonewall Jackson Rowe Sr. He was a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and brought these stepchildren into the union with Margaret -- Scott Edward Rowe, Van Thomas, Voncile Lee, Mary Allen and Stacey Thomas. Stonewall had been pictured in the Santa Ana (CA) Register during World War II during the commissioning of the local U.S. Army Station. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1950, they dwelled in Kern County, CA, with Stonewall working as a warehouse man for a machine company. A five-year old "stepdaughter" Mary A. Youngtane (?) was in the household in 1950. They may have moved to Connellsville in the mid-1950s but later established a homeplace in Fresno, CA. Their marriage crumbled in divorce in Fresno in January 1976, with Stonewall dying some nine months later in a convalescent hospital on Oct. 21, 1976. His obituary appeared in the Fresno Beein which Margaret was not named. Sadly, she died in Fresno on July 15, 1996. Interment of the remains was in Belmont Memorial Park, and a death notice was printed in the Bee.

Confluence Baptist cemetery

~ Son James "Blaine" Younkin ~

Son James "Blaine" Younkin (1889-1961) was born on July 30, 1886. He apparently was named for the famed American statesman James G. Blaine, a native of Fayette County.

Circa 1920-1930, federal census records show that Blaine, unmarried, resided with his mother on a farm near Confluence, Somerset County. He assisted his mother as a farm laborer.

At some point he was united in marriage with Anna B. Cunningham (1882-1955) of Lower Turkeyfoot, the daughter of George E. and Cora (McClellan) Cunningham. Their home in the 1950s was at 383 Laurel Avenue in Confluence.

Blaine was named in the obituaries of his sister Daisy Fosbrink in 1935; his mother in 1937; his brother Daniel Garfield Younkin in 1949; and half-sister Edna Ostberg in 1960. He continued his work as a farm laborer until late in life and lived in Confluence at 533 Oden Street.

Sadly, Anna was stricken with hypertension and hardening of the arteries. She had a heart attack in late February 1955 and at some point was admitted to Somerset Community Hospital. There, after a stay of three weeks, she passed away on April 9, 1955, at the age of 72.

Having suffered for two years from the effects of heart disease, Blaine succumbed in Somerset Community Hospital at the age of 75 on Nov. 23, 1961. Burial was in the cemetery of the Turkeyfoot Valley Baptist Church in Confluence.

~ Daughter Bessie "Grace" Catherine (Younkin) Shannon ~

At the age of 24, she married Connellsville fireman Charles L. Shannon (1891- ? ), son of Aaron and Susan (Wilhelm) Shannon of Ursina. The ceremony was held at Ursina on Oct. 14, 1914, by the hand of Rev. J.C. Cunningham.

They moved to Connellsville, where their home was at 1109 Vine Street. Bessie was a member of the Connellsville United Presbyterian Church and the Dams of Malta, Pythian Sisters.

They had two children -- Charles L. Shannon and Susann June Kinard.

Bessie passed away at age 82, in Connellsville State General Hospital, on July 8, 1971. Interment was in the Jersey Baptist Church near Confluence, with the funeral conducted by Rev. W. Sheldon Blair.

Son Charles L. Shannon ( ? - ? )

Daughter Susann June Shannon ( ? - ? ) married (?) Kinard