Surname: Yuncker – iSeeAncestors

Was Grandpa a Northern Secessionist?

May 232017

In a previous essay I explored whether my great great-grandfather, Jacob P. Yuncker (1837-1905), served in the Civil War. Apparently he was drafted in August 1863, but I could find no record of him actually serving. I concluded he was probably granted an exemption to care for his sick wife Rosa. Or perhaps he had already left the area either coincidentally or to avoid the controversial draft. I have since discovered more of his story.

An 1855 plat map of Erie County, New York shows the house where Jacob’s parents lived, and no doubt where Jacob and his siblings grew up.¹ It is a nondescript community half way between Lancaster and Alden, just east of Buffalo, New York. The map indicates it is “Town Line” post office and it does straddle the boundary of both Lancaster and Alden townships.

Continue reading »Footnotes

Geil, Samuel, Robert Pearsall Smith, and Matthews & Co Gillette. “Map of Erie County, New York: from actual surveys.” Philadelphia: Gilette Matthews & Co, Publishers, 1855. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2012593658/ : downloaded May 21, 2017).

A Curtiss JN-4 Jenny

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Aug 082016

Curtiss Jenny My great-granduncle John Yuncker was a piano sales manager in Los Angeles during the early 20th century. Here he participated in aviation history by taking one of the first-ever commercial passenger trips on August 30, 1919. As I describe in a previous post, he flew from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara to close on the sale of a very expensive piano.

Yuncker Legacy

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Feb 152016

In another post I described the accomplishments of my great-granduncle, John E. Yuncker, who owned J. E. Yuncker Music Company in Los Angeles. His wife Bessie (Zander) Yuncker was an accomplished pianist and music teacher. She died in December 1962, a mere month after her husband died.

A couple years later, Bessie is mentioned in connection with a new American Red Cross Service Center. In her will, she donated over $200,000 to the Red Cross for the express purpose of buying land, constructing and furnishing the new center.¹ That was over two-thirds of the project’s cost. Today that would be about $1.5 million dollars.

Continue reading »Footnotes

“Red Cross Will Have New Center,” article, Torrance (California) Press-Herald, 27 December 1964; online archives (http://www.torranceca.gov/libraryarchive/ : downloaded 13 February 2016).

Civil War Draft

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May 172015

Jacob P. Yuncker

An article in the August 12, 1863 edition of the Buffalo Daily Courier lists names selected for conscription in the federal army during the Civil War.¹ Included was the town of Alden, near Buffalo in Erie County, New York. A Jacob Yuncker is listed among the 57 names selected in the previous day’s draft.

Since he was living in Alden, this is very likely my second great-grandfather, Jacob P. Yuncker. In the 1855 New York state census, 17 year old Jacob is listed as living in Alden with his parents Hubert and Barbara Yuncker.² A few years later, several tax assessment rolls³ from the Internal Revenue Service show Jacob P. Yuncker paid taxes on boots and shoes, which were probably part of his shoe making business. These rolls span from September 1862 to June 1863 and they show his business was at Alden, New York. Jacob was a shoemaker like his father Hubert.

Continue reading »Footnotes

“The Draft,” article, Buffalo Daily Courier, 12 August 1863, 19th District, Alden, New York; New York State Military Museum (http://dmna.ny.gov/ : downloaded 17 February 2015), Erie County, New York Civil War Newspapers. Jacob Yuncker is one of 57 names selected for conscription.
1855 New York State Census, Alden, Erie, New York, population, Town of Alden, Page 22, FHL #825680, Image 00016, Digital Folder Number 005207118, Household 186, Hubert Yuncker (indexed as Hurbert Janker); digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K63R-7M8 : downloaded 21 March 2013); Secretary of State.
Ancestry.com, “U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918,” database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (http://Ancestry.com: downloaded 21 March 2010), Roll 202, Division 8, District 30, Alden, New York, Jacob P. Yuncker; citing National Archives (NARA) microfilm series M603.

And My Love To You Shall Never Fail

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May 062015

It’s been one hundred thirty-one years now. Proof enough that death does do us part, but that love lives on and never fails.

This story begins in 1881 when Mr. Jacob Yuncker purchased farm land near Beal City, Michigan. It happened to be across the road from a then 23-year old pioneer farmer named Joseph Voisin. Mr. Yuncker had a daughter, Mary Ann. She lived with her extended family on her grandparent’s farm down in Westphalia, Michigan near St. Johns.

Mary probably visited her father in Beal City and at some point she met Joe Voisin. They probably met a few times more. Joe played music at Indian dances and at square-dances. Mary attended some of these social gatherings, but since Joe was playing, they couldn’t spend much time together. This probably went on for some months.

Tokens of the Past

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Apr 162015

Trade Token Another of my great-granduncles, Louis William Yuncker (1877-1963), was my paternal great-grandmother’s younger brother. He is mentioned in his mother’s 1921 obituary as living in Saginaw, Michigan. A quick search online revealed unique items with a connection to the past.

Two trade tokens bear the name L. W. Yuncker’s.¹ It turns out Louis William Yuncker owned a meat market in Saginaw. He undoubtedly used these very same tokens in the family business.

Continue reading »Footnotes

Richard Greever, Token Catalog (http://tokencatalog.com/index.php : downloaded 19 March 2015), L. W. Yuncker’s trade tokens, TokenCatalog #10252 and #312386.

A Brush with Aviation History

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Mar 132015

John E. Yuncker
circa 1923

One of my great-granduncles, John Ernest Yuncker (1881-1962), was my paternal great-grandmother’s younger brother. He is mentioned in his mother’s 1921 obituary as living in Los Angeles, California. I had found him listed in the California death index years ago, but I never traced him further. I recently did so and I found that he made quite a name for himself and even had a brush with history.