52 Ancestors - Week 21 - George O. Yeakley - 1809 - 1883

At last, an ancestor where there is information. How correct it is has yet to be determined but at least it gives me dates and places and a little bit of color. 

The source of the information is from, A 20th-Century History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, by Capt. B. B. Paddock, published 1906, volume II, page 50. Right off the bat, the information on the arrival of the family is in question after finding out Benedict Yuchli  is not correct. Still, by the time George O. Yeakley came along, there is verified documentation. I want to make a trip to the Fort Worth Public Library to see this book. 

George O. Yeakley was born on February 23, 1809 in Greene County, Tennessee. He was the 8th of 13 children. His parents were Henry Yeakley and Susannah McNees. Susannah has her own history that is also documented. One thing said about her was mentioned in the Pictorial and genealogical record of Greene County, Missouri, was she was a “most excellent woman and deeply religious, a Quaker”. The family was affiliated with the New Hope Monthly Meetings in Missouri. 

Faith runs deep in this family. George married Lydia Grubbs on February 23, 1832 at the New Hope Monthly Meeting in Rheatown, Tennessee, on his 23rd birthday. She also came from a Quaker family and the four older children are documented in the Quaker records.  

They lived in Tennessee a long time but in 1870, we find him at 61-yrs-old living in Denton, Texas. There is some speculation that he moved about the time President Lincoln was assassinated which would have been in 1865. The records indicate that he was a teacher, farmer, and blacksmith but went on to become a doctor and the only one in Mountain Springs, Texas. 

He and Lydia raised six children, one of them my great grandfather, James Madison Yeakley.    

George died on April 13, 1883 at the age of 74 in Chico, Texas, and is buried in the cemetery there. Lydia passed away on November 18, 1881 at the age of 65. She is buried at the New Hope Cemetery in Gainesville, Texas. 

T is for Territory

Territory is an interesting concept. It can mean many things but in this post it means where my family settled.

The Yeakley's came from Pennsylvania and settled in Tennessee. Eventually, some of them migrated to Texas where they put down roots.

The Rhea's settled in Tennessee and put down roots.

The Yeakley's lived in Rheatown, Greene County, Tennessee and in Rhea County.

The Rhea's never lived in Rheatown or Greene County or Rhea County but settled in Hancock County.

So how is it my portion of the Rhea family never lived in area apparently settled by John Rhea, who might or might not have been the first Rhea in Tennessee and credited with the founding of Rhea County and Rheatown? We still can't prove our connection to John Rhea either but I know my family just didn't spring out of the soil in Hancock County. 

So now we look at Missouri. My grandmother on the Rhea side, Mellie (Farris) Rhea, was born in Eldon, MO, in Miller County. She married my grandfather in Carthage, MO, in Jasper County and they lived there until they moved to Montana.


http://geology.com/county-map/missouri.shtml

A portion of the Yeakley's landed in Greene County, Missouri, in the Springfield area.

The Rhea's and Yeakley's lived in Tennessee and Missouri. In 1900, there were 45 states. So how is it that the two very separate and distinct families all ended up in the same territory? There were 43 other states to choose from. 

S is for Sweeny, Texas

What do I remember about Sweeny, Texas? The bugs on the front door screen were bigger than I was. I remember a spanking and a pillow fight with my 2nd cousins. David and Donna Ruth were the children of my cousin, Christine, one of Aunt Ruth's four children.

The pillow fight lead directly to the spanking.

I bet you can't imagine how anyone could be angry with these three adorable children but it happened. David and I are the same age and Donna Ruth is a year younger. I must have been almost four when we visited Aunt Ruth in Sweeny. This was taken at her house. Christine and Martin are standing behind us. 

Aunt Ruth had chickens. I remember them. They weren't much bigger than the bugs on the screen. She was very self-sufficient and collected feathers to make pillows. I don't know why the pillows were stored in the shed, maybe for use when family like us came to visit. Nevertheless, we found the pillows in the shed and did what all children do with pillows. We hit each other. It was even more fun when the feathers started flying and I bet we were giggling loudly when we were discovered by our parents and Aunt Ruth. Since it doesn't appear that we have feathers on us when this picture was taken, it must have been before the pillow incident. 

My aunt lived on a farm as a young parent and eventually moved to town as she got older but I loved going to the farm and my memories of Sweeny, Texas are colored by the fun we had there as kids. 

52 Ancestors - Week 16 - Solomon Shearer - 1811-1881

This photo was posted by PaulRutherford20 on Nov. 21, 2010 with a note it is probably a replacement as many of the old stones are tipped over or broken. The Bethel Cemetery in Frisco, Collin County, Texas was under renovation. I have yet to find a death record so this is as close as we come. The month of June is listed on Ancestry but it it's not documented.

We do know that he was born on June 8, 1811 in Wayne County, Kentucky and married Mary Price in 1840. They had seven children, one of them Margaret Ann Shearer, my great grandmother.

There is a little know about Solomon Shearer. In 1918, Edmond Franklin Bates wrote a book called History and reminiscences of Denton County. On page 44, he writes: 

"The standard of morality was high, resulting in a high order of citizenship to the honor of this Kentucky colony whose roll call will never grow old to the writer." 

He goes on to to mention Solomon Shearer, and his brothers, Will Shearer, Walter Shearer, and Rev. Worth Shearer. 

The Hawkins Settlement was founded by Rev, William Bates in 1854 by his sons and sons-in-law. It was called the Kentucky Settlement because most of the residents had migrated from Kentucky. They were Methodists and built a church in 1857, called Zion after the church they left behind. The people of the Settlement we "fervent" in their worship. In the Yeakley and Jones families, religion was a very important part of their lives. I know that their religious beliefs were passed down as my mom was a person who lived her beliefs. 

According to the records, Solomon Shearer and Mary Price were born and married in Kentucky and by 1870, were living in Denton. We don't have a census for 1860 but the book mentions them as part of the Settlement which means that they were there prior to the 1870 census. Their youngest child was born in 1854 in Kentucky so we know they were not there when the Settlement was founded. The Settlement eventually became Denton.

Solomon and Mary lived there until they died, Solomon in 1881 and Mary in 1900.  

G is for Natalie Gorin

Natalie Gorin was my mom's boss at the library at Wichita Falls High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. She was also her friend and mentor and deserves a mention in the Yeakley family history.

She was born in  Port Arthur, Texas on August 1, 1911 to Charles Gorin and Minnie Coufal. They moved to Wichita Falls in 1930 where she completed her education and became the high school librarian. She dedicated her entire career to the high school. She is pictured in the high school yearbooks from 1941 to 1964. 

In 1948, she made a trip to California to visit my newly married parents. They were seen at Knott's Berry Farm, the Huntington Library, and the NBC studios. This photo was taken at the Huntington Library. My mom is on the left and Natalie to the right.

This is the photo taken in front of NBC Radio City in Los Angeles, California

Natalie never married so I am hoping that she still has family who want to know about her. I have lots of pictures to share. I am posting these pictures because she was important to my mother and made a difference in her life. No one lives without leaving a footprint.

She died on September 6, 1966 of breast cancer and is buried at Crestview Memorial Park in Wichita Falls, Texas. 

D is for Don Carl Yeakley - Uncle Don

Of all the Yeakley boys, I think Uncle Don was the best looking. He had sort of the James Dean look.

He was born in Olney, Texas on June 12, 1915 and died at the age of 79 on April 18, 1995.

He married Vivian Mae Crawford when they were both 19 and had a long, successful marriage. They had two children. My cousin Don and I used to get together when he came to California on business.

My best memory of Uncle Don was when he decided to be our getaway driver after my first marriage. I still remember him speeding through the streets of Covina, California while our friend tried to keep up with him. They were no match for him.

Aunt Vivian outlived him only four years.

52 Ancestors - Week 6 - Mary B "Polly" Morris

Mary B "Polly" Morris, my 3rd great grandmother. This is uncharted territory and I don't know much about her.

She was born in 1798 in Craven, South Carolina. She married William B. Fussell in September of 1821 in Louisiana. She moved around a lot because in 1840, they were living in Rankin, Mississippi.

The first five children were born in Louisiana and the other eight were born in Mississippi. They lived in Mississippi until at least the 1850 census but in 1876, when she died at the age of 78, they were living in Woodville, Texas.

There is a write up in a book about the family that mentions that she was the wife of William B. Fussell. That's an encouraging tidbit because it verifies the marriage record.

Even more exciting, while I was writing this, I got my DNA results back from Ancestry.com. I find several 3rd and 4th cousins with a DNA match who are also related to Mary Morris and they have some sources I have not seen. Tells me I am on the right track.

With that, I am moving to Charlotte "Lottie" Warner, the next in line to the Mayflower.

52 Ancestors - Week 5 - Martha Mary Fussell

I keep hoping that as I travel back in time, someone else will be related to me. This time frame is murky and I am not really sure how accurate my facts are.

Martha Mary Fussell was born in 1825 in Washington Par, Louisiana. The year is based on 1850 census and she was living in Mississippi. That fact seems to be correct as the family went from Mississippi to Texas. I haven't found any birth records so am taking the date from the 1850 census although the 1880 census shows it as 1830. That's a five year difference. I do have a marriage record with John Finley (again without the "D" in Findley) to Martha Fussell in 1845 in Mississippi. On the 1880 census, it shows another child that I had not seen before. On the census, it says the child was adopted and has a different last name. Something else to research.

I don't have a death record for Martha either but I know she died in Texas. After spending two years researching the other side of my family, I find this frustrating. What I write today will change as I get more clues but I want the information now. Even the in-depth research on the Rhea side still changes frequently as little tidbits pop up out of nowhere and change what I know.

Still, as of today, this is what I know about my 2nd great grandmother and I think that it's correct with the information I currently have so I am going back another generation to Mary B "Polly" Morris.

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52 Ancestors -Week 4 - Nancy Elizabeth Findley

Nancy Elizabeth Findley was born in January 1849 in Rankin, Mississippi and died on December 27, 1907 when my grandmother was 20. I don’t know anything about this family. My mom talked a lot about her parents but not her grandparents. They were gone before she was born and we don’t know when my great grandfather died. I know the information is out there somewhere but I haven’t been researching this side of the family long enough to have scratched the surface.

My goal now is to track the family back to the Mayflower. There are some gaps in the research which may mean that I have incorrect information and the trail to 1620 will go cold. Still, it is worth the effort. 

The major problem that I see in the near future is to decide what the correct last name is for Nancy Elizabeth Findley. While I’m at it, I also need to track down the correct birth and death dates. Nothing here seems to match.

Is it Findley, Finley, or Finlay? My mom’s research indicates that Findley is correct because she was very careful with her records and some of it comes from documents she collected. However, the census for two separate decades shows it as Finley. For one census, I might buy the difference but the two of them concern me.  I am waiting for someone to find the graveyard and see if there is a headstone. It’s on the request list for Find-A-Grave but it’s been awhile. It may have to wait until next summer when we make our annual trip to visit family in Texas to find the graveyard myself.

Still, I went into Ancestry.com and changed all the names from Finley to Findley and guess what? Little hints started to pop up on all the family members. All the death certificates for the children used the name Findley. Now I believe that the census takers were way off base and guessed at the spelling but didn't ask. All members of the family could read and write so there shouldn't have been an issue. 

Making a judgment call, I am going to call Nancy Elizabeth Findley as correct and move back one generation to Martha Mary Fussell. She was my 2^nd great grandmother and her name is spelled wrong too. 

52 Ancestors - Week 3 - Nancy Ellen (Jones) Yeakley

Nancy Ellen Jones, or Ellen as she was called, was my grandmother. She died in 1938 at the age of 50. That was 11 years before I was born and I feel cheated. She was a loving person who raised eight children who, even as adults, couldn't wait to spend time together. Family gatherings were always fun and there was never any drama.

My mother passed away on May 8, 1998, two days before Mother's Day. It was difficult without her on that Mother's Day as it has been for the past 15 years. However, we celebrate that day because for 60 years my mother missed her mother and I am quite certain that there was a joyous celebration when they were reunited.

Nancy Ellen Jones was born on December 26, 1887. She was a twin and Allen Augustus Jones outlived his sister by 19 years. One of eight children, they lived in Archer City, Texas where many of her sibling remained. On December 29, 1905, she married Ernest Marvin Yeakley, leaving Archer City for Wichita Falls, Texas.

Ellen loved being outside working in her garden. For a family of eight and a husband as a minister, she was frugal. My mom said she never realized they were poor. Later when my grandfather also worked as a printer and photographer, they had a little more money but Ellen always found enough. She didn't make a big mark on the world except to raise the children to be good citizens. All of the children went to school, six of them to college. They were a musical family and all of them played an instrument or the piano. Even as adults, when they were together, singing was a favorite pastime.One of my uncles had a heart attack, at age 80, on his way to sing at the "old folks home". Clearly, he didn't count himself as one.

This was my grandfather's favorite photo of Ellen. It was a picture he took showing that even at rest, she was always busy doing handwork.

Photo was taken by my grandfather. He said that Ellen looked so peaceful and he wanted to keep the image. As a child, I thought the picture was creepy but given the spirit in which it was taken, I understand his need to keep his wife with him.

Ellen passed away on June 28, 1938. She died in my mother's arms in the garden she loved. For 60 years, my mom missed her mother but I believe that Ellen's quiet faith sustained her for those years knowing that they would be together again.

52 Ancestors, Week #1 - Ernest Marvin Yeakley and Nancy Ellen Jones, my grandparents

I have spent years researching my dad's side of the family and while I still have more to learn, it is time to take a different direction and dive into the Yeakley-Jones history. My mom, Ruby Ellen Yeakley, did a lot of the research and it came to me when she passed away. The history goes back to the Mayflower on the Jones side but my grandparents (who were gone long before I was born) have interesting stories to tell.

While I know the Rhea side of my family and the names and faces are familiar, I actually know more about the Yeakley/ Jones family because I grew up knowing my aunts and uncles. However, my grandparents remain in the background waiting to share with me. This is a new adventure.