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Who Was Silas W. Younkin? |
Silas W. Younkin was born in 1838 to unknown parents in an unknown place.
Courtesy the late Charline Herring Ryan
Silas' paper trail only begins in the year 1859, when he would have been 21 years of age. What his life story was before that is shrouded by the misty haze of the distant past. In the summer of 1859, he was arrested in Cairo on charges of embezzling $3,000 from his employer Wetmore & Company of Memphis. Said the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal, he was "subsequently released by writ of habeas corpus, [and] has voluntarily returned to Memphis to have the matter investigated." The two men resolved their differences and published a public notice of their reconciliation in the Memphis Daily Appeal.
He is one of a handful of Younkins known to have served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. On May 16, 1861, just a month after the war’s outbreak, he joined Capt. T.H. Logwood’s Company of Cavalry Battalion of Tennessee Volunteers. This unit otherwise was considered as Company A of the 7th “Duckworth’s” Tennessee Cavalry. He also was a 2nd lieutenant with Company K of Harman's Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, and with Company E of the 154th Senior Regiment, Tennessee Infantry (1st Tennessee Volunteers).
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Silas' military record Courtesy National Archives |
The conscript officers appointed by the rebel authorities possess almost despotic sway over the lives and liberties of the people, and the greatest injustice and oppression are practiced toward all who do not conduct themselves in accordance with their wishes and requirements. One of the most notorious of these "conscript fathers," as they are called, is one Lieut. S.W. Younkin, enrolling officer for Brookhaven. Through the influence of his father-in-law, "Old Ed. Bowen," – a bitter old rebel – he was appointed to the present position, and has made himself generally feared and hated. He is neither true to the rebel cause nor any thing else, but his own interests, by close attention to which he has become, -- temporarily, however, -- one of the wealthiest men in the state.
His latest dodge for turning an honest penny, is to give passes to persons who desire to escape conscription by coming within the lines of some of the Union armies. His power is such as enables him to force into the army nearly every one he pleases, and as those who are not in the army are either secretly opposed to the war, or look upon it as a hopeless struggle for the South, they are willing to make any sacrifice to escape. This Younkin, after frightening them by threats of immediate conscription until they are in a proper frame of mind, offers them a pass through to Natchez or some other point, on condition of their giving him deeds for their property, which large numbers have already done. Our informant asserts that he holds these transfers for nearly half the houses in Brookhaven, besides having accumulated a large amount of “portable property,” the kind so highly prized by "Wimmick."
Of course when this district of country falls under the rule of the national authorities, the justice which can always be obtained beneath the folds of the stars and stripes will be extended these suffering people, and Younkin’s titles to valuable property, given illegally and under compulsion, will be annulled, but still this petty representative of a greater tyrant will no doubt have managed to “feather his nest” most effectually. The worst feature of this outrageous system of plunder is, that numbers of men give Younkin titles to their houses and lands, on condition that their wives and children should be permitted to occupy them until a home could be provided elsewhere. As soon as the fathers and husbands were safely out of the way, and no danger was apprehended from his breach of faith, Younkin forcibly expelled many of these destitute families, and left them without a shelter of any kind, save that charitably afforded by less heartless persons in the neighborhood.
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Rose Haven Cemetery, Brookhaven, MS Courtesy the late Charline Herring Ryan |
The year after the war ended, in July or August 1866, Silas reputedly shot and killed A.B. Mullins in Brookhaven. The Natchez Weekly Democrat reported that Silas “was tried and acquitted” of the crime.
Then on Jan. 28, 1867, Silas entered into marriage with 21-year-old Mary Frances Bean (Dec. 11, 1845-1908), daughter of banker Horace Bean of New Orleans.
They produced one daughter together, Mamie Davis.
His life of chaos all came to a crashing, deadly halt in Brookhaven in 1868 at a time when he was in a business partnership with a man named Swan. This "created some misunderstanding between them," said the New Orleans Republican. One morning, "Captain Younkin collared Mr. Swan, shook and threatened to kill him; the latter drew his pistol and fired three shots, with the result" in Silas’ death.
Burial was in Brookhaven’s Rose Hill Cemetery.
Mary outlived her spouse by four decades. Two days before Christmas 1869, she married again to Maj. Reuben Webster Millsaps (1833-1916), said to have been a "leading merchant of Brookhaven." They remained in town for many years until a move to St. Louis followed by another migration to Jackson, MS circa 1888.
She died at the age of 62 on April 21, 1908. Her obituary in the Vicksburg Post said that "Another good and pure Christian woman, honored and beloved by all who knew her, respected and esteemed by every one, passed to the great beyond when the spirit of Mrs. R.W. Millsaps left its tenement of clay…
[She] went to its Father’s home, as husband and loved ones, who had kept sleepless vigil for many hours, mourned beside the silent form, whose lips were sealed forever, in death’s cold embrace. Mrs. Millsaps was one of the best known ladies of Jackson, where she had lived for more than twenty years… She had been a patient sufferer for many weeks, but until the last few days had not been considered critically ill… Mrs. Millsaps was one of the most lovable women of her day and time, was deeply pious, and a consistent and faithful member of the Methodist church, in which she was an active member and to which she was a liberal contributor, being possessed of large means in her own right. She also gave freely to charity, and as a member of the King’s Daughters worked unceasingly for the poor and afflicted. But the tenth of her charities will never be known, for she was a quiet woman and rarely spoke of her charitable acts. Only a few days ago she gave $1,000 to the Old Ladies’ Home, having been one of the prime promoters of that worthy institution. In her earlier days Mrs. Millsaps had been prominent in social matters, having been a beautiful and brilliant woman, but of later years she paid little attention to social functions, living quietly in her palatial home on State street, devoting the last remain [sic] days of her life almost entirely to works of charity.
She sleeps for all time in the Millsaps mausoleum in Jackson, MS.
~ Daughter Mamie (Younkin) Davis ~
Daughter Mamie Younkin (1866-1904) was born on April 10, 1866 in Brookhaven, MS. She was but two years of age when her father was killed.
At the age of 20, on June 12, 1884, she tied the marital cord with Z.D. Davis ( ? - ? ). Z.D. was a banker for years in Brookhaven.
Then in about 1900, he was named vice president of Capital National Bank, and they pulled up stakes and relocated to Jackson. Their home together was on North State Street.
When Mamie became ill at the end of her life, said the Jackson Daily News, she was "given every treatment that science could suggest, having been placed under the care of the most skilled physicians." But after several months, "the end could not be warded off and it came this morning after the midnight hour. The news of this good lady’s death will be sad intelligence to the people of this community and to her neighbors, by whom she was loved and to whom she had endeared herself by many acts of kindness. In the broad field of charity she was an earnest worker, in all church enterprises her presence was an inspiration, and in the tender relations of home, as wife and mother, she attained the ideal." Funeral obsequies were held in the First Baptist Church, jointly led by Rev. W.F. Yarborough, Rev. Dr. W.B. Murrah, president of Millsaps College, and Dr. Venerable of Meridian, MS.
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Copyright © 2025 Mark A. Miner |
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Minerd.com extends its thanks to the National Archives and FindAGrave.com for providing content for this biography. |