Yockey Family

• 1st Installment
• 2nd Installment

YOCKEY-LANG FAMILY - 1st Installment

YOCKEY-LANG families; My grandmother was Catharine Louise Lang Burkhart, and she was the daughter of Michael Lang and Elizabeth Yockey. He was a brewer and also one of the early members of St. Paul's Evangelical Church on south Main St. According to Hardesty's HISTORICAL HAND ATLAS OF MONROE CO. he was a leading farmer in Centre township and an extensive raiser of stock, beside[s] his brewing activities. He was born in Alsace, Germany April 11, 1818 and married in Pittsburgh, PA. Oct. 18, 1841 to Elizabeth Yockey, a native of Rumbach, Germany, who was born April 5, 1821. Their children were Margaret E. (married to a man named Rose) who was born in Pittsburgh April 25, 1842, and resided in 1882 in Riverside, Iowa; John H. born Pitts. PA. Sept. 6, 1843 - he married Martha Okey; Anna M. (Schumacher) born Fayette, Allegheny Co., PA. July 13, 1847; William b. July 10, 1849 - married Margaret Henthorne; Louis P. b. Oct. 26, 1851 - married Clara; Charlotte Fredericka Elizabetha Sophia born Aug. 26, 1855 who never married and was always called Aunt Lot by all her relatives and friends; and my grandmother, Catharine Louis[e], born May 10, 1859. John M. Lang served in the Civil War, including the battle of Vicksburg, and later moved to Roseville, Illinois.

Michael Lang was the son of Michael Lang, Sr. and Margaret Paul Lang. I imagine they are buried someplace in or near Pittsburgh, but I have never done any research on them. They had a daughter Catharine who married a Helfrich and a daughter Elizabeth who married a Straub. That family also engaged in brewing in Pittsburgh prior to the 20th century. There was supposed to have been a son, Henry, who went to California in the gold rush of 1849 and was never heard from again.

According to the sketch in Hardesty History, Elizabeth Yockey Lang was the daughter of Laurence and Elizabeth Brumbach Yockey. According to stories told me by my grandmother and Aunt Lot, Elizabeth Yockey lived near Miltonsburgh, and wanting a change of scene from rural to urban (probably she became tired of mil[k]ing cows all the time,) she walked to the river and took a boat for Pittsburgh, probably to visit some friends or relatives. It was there she met Michael Lang and married him. After living in that vicinity for a few years, she must have prevailed on him to move with her back to Monroe Co. They are both buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Woodsfield. The stone for Michael shows that he was born in Canton Neterbron, France, April 11, 1818, and died Mar. 21, 1896, and the stone for Elizabeth shows she was born Apr. 5, 1821, and died July 5, 1896. Their son, William is also buried there, b. July 10, 1849, died Feb. 26, 1890, and his wife, Margaret, born April 28, 1842, died May 20, 1925. He was a builder, and I seem to remember that he fell off the roof of a house he was repairing.

Elizabeth Yockey Lang met an untimely end too, as the horse she was driving down reservoir hill became frightened at something, and upset the carriage and she died of a broken neck.

Now if one is wondering at the apparent discrepancy between the birthplace on Michael's stone as Canton Neterbron, France, and the information in Hardesty's History as Alsace, Germany, one must again back-track to history. Alsace was a province that was the subject of much controversy between France and Germany, going back and forth between them much like a yo-yo. He was really a German but born in that province while it was under the domination of the French. I suspect that Canton Neterbron is part of the province of Alsace, although I have never checked this out either. The Michael Lang family lived in Woodsfield on the lot formerly the site of the Lucetta Keegan house, now owned by Supt. Devore, and later across the road from the Riley sub-division, on a farm formerly owned by the Belts and Okeys. There is a cave on that property which Roy Eddy and I once explored, probably used by Michael Lang to keep his beer cool. I have a beer glass that once belonged to him.

I have no idea when Michael Lang's parents came to this country, but tradition indicates he was about 9 years old at the time, or circa 1827. Stories in the Yockey family indicate that they probably came to this country in 1831.

To be continued.

YOCKEY-LANG FAMILY - 2nd Installment

The tombstones for Lawrence (or Lurentz) Yockey and his wife, Elizabeth (Brumbach) Yockey are in the Miltonsburgh town cemetery. They are spelled with a J instead of a Y as there is no Y in the German language. LAWRENCE JOCKEY Geboren Aug. 17, 1795, Gestorben Nov. 13, 1874, alter 79 jahren, 2 monat, 27 tage. ELIZABETH E. JOCKEY - Geboren Jul 2, 1797, Gestorben Oct. 26 1877, Alte 83 jahren, 3 monat, 21 tage. Even if you don't know German, the translation is fairly obvious. The item in Hardesty's History was the only reference I ever found to her maiden name and that sou[r]ce also says their dau. Elizabeth was born in Rumbach, Germany so that also pinpoints their origin. The Church of the Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City has records from all over the world, so even though I may never get to Rumbach myself to check this family, which was Lutheran rather than Catholic, I may get to Salt Lake City to research some day.

I have tintypes of these two ancestors which I got from Aunt Lot, and I think there is also a old German Bible which belonged to this family in Monroe Co. someplace, but the present owner is reluctant to show it to anyone. To my way of thinking this information contained in the Bible should be available to any descendant, rather than run the risk of having it destroyed by someone who places no value on it. I also have a chair which belonged to Lurentz Yockey, in fact was one of the family's parlor chairs. It is a simple wooden straight chair, and has been painted a variety of colors. One time my husband was using it for a saw-horse, when my mother happened to walk in and read him out for using that antique chair for that purpose. He told her that he had looked for the oldest thing around to use, and the chair fit the bill and purpose. At any event, he did not damage it but if it withstood probable rough usage for 125 years, I imagine it will be around a few more years.

Lawrence Yockey's will is on file in the Probate Court at Woodsfield, Book 1, page 272. It was written the 7th of Dec 1872 and witnessed by Frederick Bertram and P. Schumacher, Jr. He left the bulk of his property real and personal to his wife, Elizabeth, and at her death it was to go to his 12 sons and daughters in equal portions, as follows: Catharine Klouse; heirs of Frederick Yockey; heirs of Henry Yockey; Lawrence Yockey, Jr.; Elizabeth Lang; Christian Yockey; Lewis Yockey; Charlotte Gambs - she was born Feb. 15, 1833 and died Apr. 14, 1916; Charles Yockey; John Yockey; John Caper Yockey - he was born in Miltonsburgh in 1838; and Edward Yockey.

His wife, Elizabeth, was to be executrix during her life, and after her death the executors were to be Lewis Yockey and Michael Lang. Receipts in the file indicate that some of the heirs lived in Smithland, Iowa by 1879.

Lawrence Yockey is listed as head of Family No. 11 in Malaga Township in the 1850 census. The records show that on March 18, 1833, Lawrence Yockey and John Jacob Dorr came to court and made oath of their intention to become citizens of the United States (Journal 1, page 291) and Lawrence was officially naturalized at the April term of court in 1837 (Journal 2, page 208). Some of his family moved to Iowa, and Lawrence Yockey, Jr. can be found in the 1880 census of Wayne Co. Illinois in Indian Prairie Township.

According to stories handed down in the family, Lawrence Yockey decided to emigrate to America to avoid conscription in the Prussian Army. His son, Lewis was born March 10, 1831 in Rumbach, and when he was six weeks old, the family embarked for the New World, arriving in America when his child was three months old. Their journey was made in a sailing vessel. While Lawrence avoided German military service 5 of his sons served in the Union Army during the Civil War. They were Charles Yockey, who was married to Belinda Okey; Phillip Yockey, born in Ohio and died on the battlefield - his brother Lewis went to bring the body back to Ohio (neither he nor any of his heirs are listed in his father's will); Henry Yockey, also born in Ohio, died of yellow fever in Florida during the Civil War; John Yockey born May 31, 1839 at Miltonsburgh, served in Co., G. 22nd Reg. Iowa, for 3 years, including the siege of Vicksburgh, and Edward Yockey, born May 13, 1841 at Miltonsburgh. Edward was wounded at the Battle of Antietam and taken prisoner and interred at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. He managed to survive that incarceration somehow, and died Feb. 20, 1919 at Smithland, Iowa. He served in Co. C. 116th Ohio Volunteers. My grandmother remembered this uncle of hers, and told me some of the stories he told about Andersonville Prison and it must have been beyond endurance. I have often wondered how he managed to survive. I sent for his pension application once, but there is no mention of his imprisonment, at least in the file sent to me.

Lawrence Yockey, Sr. and his wife were supposed to have been married when she was quite young, about 16 or 17 years of age. If so, that would place the date of their marriage about the year 1814, but I have never found out the exact date. I do have tintype pictures of them, taken probably in the late 1860's. If you have any old pictures around, it might be a good idea to identify and date them for future generations.

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