One of my goals for
2012 is to use the Surname Saturday blogging prompt as a way to assure that I
spend some time researching each of my family lines and that I have appropriate
source citations for the genealogical facts related to my ancestors. I’ve
decided to use my ahnentafel report and work back through the generations
starting with my grandparents, writing a summary of each ancestor. If you
discovered this post through a search engine and find one of your ancestors
listed here, please leave a comment to let me know.
My maternal 2nd great-grandfather Andrew Yawman
was born 29 March 1810 in Schmittviller in the Alsace Lorraine region of France. His
parents were Philip and Magdalena (Hoffman) Jamann.[1]
On 24 June 1834, Andrew married Catherine Sitterly in
Schenectady, Albany County, New York.[2]
The couple had eight known children:
- William A. Yawman (1831[3]-1895[4])
- Mary Elizabeth Yawman (1835[5]-1911[6])
- Catherine “Kate” Yawman (1838[7]-1922[8])
- Apalonia “Abbie” Yawman (1840[9]-1919[10])
- Michael H. Yawman (1842[11]-1913[12]) – my great-grandfather
- Deborah Anna Mary Yawman (1845[13]-1927[14])
- George Nicholas Yawman (1847[15]-bef 1860[16])
- Rebecca Mary Yawman (1853[17]-?)
Andrew is my most recent immigrant ancestor having arrived
in New York with his parents and brothers in 1832.[18]
His parents died in the cholera epidemic that year.
Andrew appeared on the 1835 New York state census in Schenectady,
Schenectady County, New York,[19]
but by the 1840 U.S. Census had moved west to Rochester, Monroe County, New York.[20]
In 1842, he became a naturalized citizen of the United
States of America. The Yawman family considered themselves German; but when
Andrew naturalized he had to renounce his allegiance to the King of France.[21]
At the time of his naturalization, Alsace-Lorraine was under French control.
By 1857, Andrew and his family had moved even further west –
to Saint Paul, in Ramsey County, Minnesota.[22]
They were in Minnesota for the 1860 census,[23]
but by 1863 were in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.[24]
Based on information from Chicago city directories, it appears that Andrew’s
residence and business were in the path of the Great Fire.[25] I
wrote about the possible impact of the fire on the Yawman’s in a previous
blog post. It appears the family moved back to Minnesota shortly after the
fire as Andrew is not found in the Chicago city directories after 1871.
Andrew took advantage of the U.S. Homestead Act to acquire 155
acres of land in Pipestone County, Minnesota, the patent on the land being
granted on 31 May 1884.[26]
However, he did not stay long in Minnesota, moving to Denison, Grayson County,
Texas, by 1887.[27]
The census records indicate that Andrew was engaged in
business as a milliner during his time in Rochester and in Saint Paul;
daughters Kate, Apalonia, and Rebecca all worked as milliners as well. During the
time Andrew was in Chicago, he worked as a watchman for a railroad,[28] as
a salesman for his son-in-law Lee M. Phillips,[29]
and as a clerk for daughter Rebecca’s grocery business.[30] The
only time he was enumerated as a farmer was in Pipestone County, Minnesota, in
1880.
Andrew died on 24 December 1891 and is buried at Oakwood
Cemetery in Denison, Grayson County, Texas.[31] A
transcription and image of his obituary from the Dallas Morning News can be found here.
Over the years, I have accumulated quite a lot of
information about Andrew Yawman’s life, but there is more that I would like to
find and learn:
- I need to obtain records for Andrew’s birth or baptism and his marriage to Catherine Sitterly; likely these will be found in church records.
- I have not been able to locate documentation of Andrew’s arrival in the United States with his parents and brothers.
- I’d like to have more information and understanding of why Andrew moved so much, and I’m curious as to why he went to Minnesota, then back to Chicago, and to Minnesota again.
- One of my cousins has done a great deal of research on the Yawman family; perhaps I can get more information from him.
[1] Gary A. Yawman, The Yawman Family and Related
Families PDF, The Yawman Family Home Page (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/y/a/w/Gary-A-Yawman/index.html
: downloaded 30 Mar 2011), 5.
[2] Find A Grave,
online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Andrew Yawman,
Memorial #21374584, created by Gary Yawman, 5 September 2007.
[3] 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Rochester,
Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwelling 128, family 160, household of Andrew Yawman;
digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov 2009);
citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll
M432_530.
[4] Oakwood Cemetery (Grayson County, Texas), Wm. A. Yauman
marker, personally photographed by Denise Spurlock, 2007.
[5] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New
York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.
[6] Missouri State Board of Health, death certificate 27756
(1915), Marrie E. Omeley; digital image, Missouri State Archives, Missouri
Death Certificates, 1910-1961 (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
: accessed 10 Aug 2012).
[7] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New
York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.
[8] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate
28487 (1922), Kate Phillips; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas, Deaths,
1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug 2012).
[9] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New
York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.
[10] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate
2397 (1919), Appolonia Y. Lavallee; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas,
Deaths, 1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug
2012).
[11] Find A Grave,
online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 Oct 2011), Michael Heman Yawman,
Memorial# 21259594, created by Gary A. Yawman, 30 Aug 2007.
[13] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New
York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.
[14] Find A Grave,
online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Deborah Ann Yawman
Tallinger Clay, Memorial #56885995, created by Gary Yawman, 10 August 2010.
[15] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New
York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.
[16] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, population
schedule, St. Paul, p. 95, dwelling 871, family 770, household of A. Yawman;
digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov
2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll
M653_573.
[17] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, pop. sch., St.
Paul, p. 95, dwell. 871, fam. 770, household of A. Yawman.
[18] Monroe County, New York, Naturalization Records, File
5, Petition 1042, Andrew Yauman; FHL microfilm 980,257.
[19] 1835 state census, Schenectady, New York, population
schedule, Schenectady Ward 2, p. 3, line 20, Andrew Yawman; New York Secretary
of State; FHL microfilm 503,206.
[20] 1840 U.S. census, Rochester Ward 2, Monroe County, New
York, p. 281, line 17, Andrew Yeoman; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com
: accessed 10 Aug 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration
microfilm M704, roll 298.
[22] 1857 MN Territorial Census, Ramsey, Minnesota,
population schedule, St. Paul, dwelling 447, family 447, household of J.
Murray; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed
17 Nov 2009).
[23] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, pop. sch., St.
Paul, p. 95, dwell. 871, fam. 770, household of A. Yawman.
[24] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989" online
images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012),
Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1863, page 257, listing for Andrew Yawman.
[25] City Directories for Chicago, Illinois, 1871: 970; digital images, Fold 3 (www.fold3.com
: accessed 8 Oct 2011).
[26] Accession No. MN1380_.390, Homestead Certificate No.
4864, Andrew Yawman, dated 31 May 1884, Natchitoches, Louisiana, General Land
Office; Records of the Bureau of Land Management; digital images, U. S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management General Land Office
Records (www.glorecords.blm.gov : accessed 7 Oct 2011).
[27] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," online
images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012),
Denison, Texas, City Directory, 1887, page 94, listing for Andrew Yawman.
[28] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989" online
images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012),
Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1863, page 257, listing for Andrew Yawman.
[29] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989" online
images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012),
Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1867, page 499, listing for Andrew Yawman.
[30] "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989" online
images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012),
Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1869, page 494, listing for Andrew Yawman.
© 2012 Denise Spurlock
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