Don't forget John Yoder of Scott AFB files
JOHN SON OF CONRAD
New Conrad Chapters
PART I- origins of
the yoder family and background
PART II- JOHN YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*PART III- JACOB
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
PART IV- DAVID YODER
(2) AND DESCENDANTS (FORMERLY PART III)
*PART V- ELIAS YODER
(2) AND DESCENDANTS
*PART V1- DANIEL
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*PART VII- CATHERINE
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*PART VIII- ADAM
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
PART II- JOHN YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
1. John Yoder (2)
1764-1835 (Con1)
2. John Yoder (3)
1795-1870 (Con11)
3. Daniel M. Yoder (4) 1822-1908
4. Alfred P. Yoder
(5) 1866-1947
5. Andrew R. Yoder
(4) 1836-1895
6.
John A. Yoder (5) 1864-1926
7. Junius Yoder (5)
1867-1948
8. Jacob Yoder (3)
1797-1864
9. Reuben Yoder (4)
1828-1898
10. Oliver Mack Yoder
(5) 1873-1948
11. moses yoder (4)
1830-1917
12. Marcus Yoder (4)
1833-1880
13. Amzi Yoder (4)
1844-1924
14. Michael Yoder (3)
1799-1874
15. Col. George M.
Yoder (4) 1826-1920
16. Francis Alfonzo
Yoder (5) 1851-1913
17. Julius Montfort
Yoder (5) 1853-1925
18. Florence Yoder
Ramseur (5) 1860-1935
19. Colin Monroe
Yoder (5) 1863-1953
20. Enloe Michael
Yoder (5) 1879-1948
21. Cyrus Yoder (4)
1828-1865
22. Michael Andrew
Lee Yoder (5) 1856-1924
23. Peter R. Yoder
(5) 1858-1930
*PART III- JACOB
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*1. Jacob yoder (2) 1767-1843
*2. henry yoder (3)
1804-1871
*3. emmanuel yoder
(3) 1806-1903
*4. jacob yoder (3) c1816-1885
*4. ISRAEL YODER (3) c1812-1865
*5. JOHN YODER (3) c1825-by 1867
PART IV- DAVID YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
(FORMERLY PART III)
1. David Yoder (2)
1770-1864
*2. conrad yoder (3) 1793-
*3. adolphus yoder
(3) 1795-
4. david yoder
(3) 1799-1897
5. solomon yoder (3)
1805-1854 (Con37)
---Daniel a. yoder
(4) 1834-1927
---david yoder (4)
1844-1911
---robert lee yoder
(5) 1875-1949
----william yoder (4)
1851-1900
----luther a. yoder
(5) 1883-1964
----rev. robert
anderson yoder (5) 1853-1911
*6. eli yoder (3)
1810-1891) Con31
7. andrew L. yoder
(3) 1812-1900 Con3a
*PART V- ELIAS YODER
(2) AND DESCENDANTS
*1. JOHN YODER (3) (1805- ) (Con53)
*PART VII- CATHERINE
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*PART VIII- ADAM
YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
*1. David YODER (3)
(c1807- ) (Con81)
*2. george yoder (3)
(c1809- ) (Con82)
*3. edmund (aka adam)
yoder (3) Con83
*4. ephraim yoder (3)
con 84
*5. john d. yoder (3)
con85
*6. jefferson yoder
(3) con86
*7. jason yoder (3)
con87
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
additional
illustrations or text to incorporate
--adolphus yoder
cabin photo (YNL38)
--?Wm. peter yoder
(YNL6)
--YNL7-neal wilfong
article on col. g.m. yoder
--ynl8-photo william
westford yoder
--ynl11- adam yoder
article
--YNL15- zion church
records
---YNL16--Schultze
diary data
---YNL16- Daniel data
begins to unravel
--ynl16- paul v yoder
obit
--ynl17--photo of
jacob yoder stone
--ynl19-anson yoder
photo
--ynl21-search for
yoders in iowa--by hubert yoder
---want to present
photocopies of conrad deed & documents
--ynl22- traverse
yother stone
--YNL27-Eli Yoder
picture & Chair
--YNL33- DC Yoder at
andersonville prison (Con67?)
--YNL36- David Yoder
of NC- with photos
--YNL36-gransddaughter
of Elias yoder
--YNL36-support for
adam yoder-yother link
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
A Yoder sister? > From: "Bob Kastens" <preacherbob@worldnet.att.net>
I have Hans Jacob Hoffman (b. 1716, Germany), m. 1st, 1745, to Catherina Best &
m. 2nd, 1770, to Catherina Yoder. He died in Gaston Co, NC. I don't have any info
on Ms. Yoder. Can you help? Bob
There was a Hoffman family book by Max Hoffman, revised by Frances Wellman Hoffman with details on the Hoffman family. But they have nothing on Catherina Yoder. I am trying to find where I got this info. Hans Jacob Hoffman was born in Palatinate of Germany in 1716. Sailed from
> Rotterdam, Holland, on the British ship Pennsylvania Packet & arrived in Philadelphia on October 3, 1768. Settled in Berks Co, PA. Later moved to the Shenandoah Valley, VA. Settled on land on the South Fork River valley in what is now Gaston Co, NC. Married, 1745, Catherina Best, in Palatinate of Germany. Bob
- - - - - - - - - - - -
PART I- origins of
the yoder family and background
1- Yoders in Europe and Early America
2- Conrad Yoder (1) 17__-1790: Founder of Yoder Family in North Carolina
Con Conrad Yoder b. ca1730 d. Apr. or May 1790 Lincoln Co., NC
settled in NC ca 1755 bur. 8 miles S of Hickory, NC
m1 1763 Christina "Klein" Cline (born 1743 in , Lancaster Co, PA- 1771/2)
(Lexikay1@aol.com) ( Conrad's 3rd wife on the 1790 Morgan District, Lincoln County,
(North Carolina census, not as Catherine Yoder, but as Catharin Goder.---
Dear Chris and Neal,I have long suspected that the Catharin Goder in the published 1790
Lincoln County, NC census was really Catharina Yoder. I just had a
chance to check a scanned image of the handwritten original.
Unequivocally, it is Yoder, not Goder. All the uppercase Gs on the same
page are very different from the upper case Ys.Best Regards,
Ray Yount –Oct 2002)
NEW DATA GIVES CONRAD MARRIAGE DATE
Thanks to Ray Yount for the following Rowan County, NC marriage
record: "Conrad Yutter and Katharina Huffman, June 20, 1775")
+Con1- John (per- Lexikay1@aol.com- John Abel Sr) b. Oct.26, 1764
+Con2- Jacob b. Dec.13, 1767
+Con3- David b. Apr.3, 1770
m2. 1773 Miss Seitz (?- w/i a year of marriage)
m3. 1775 Catherine Huffman (?- ca1810)
(Rowan County, NC marriage- "Conrad Yutter and Katharina Huffman,"
June 20, 1775- infoi found by Roy Yount, Feb. 2001)
Con4- Elizabeth b. Apr. 14, 1776 d. as an infant
born blind.
+Con5- Elias b. Oct. 31, 1777
+Con6- Daniel b. Jun. 18, 1780
Con7- Catherine b. Dec.21, 1782 m. May 8, 1798 Lincoln Co., NC
John Baker d. Aug.3, 1867
+Con8- Adam b. Jun.23, 1785
PART II- JOHN YODER (2) AND DESCENDANTS
1. John Yoder (2)
1764-1835 (Con1)
2. John Yoder (3)
1795-1870 (Con11)
3. Daniel M. Yoder (4) 1822-1908
4. Alfred P. Yoder
(5) 1866-1947
5. Andrew R. Yoder
(4) 1836-1895
6.
John A. Yoder (5) 1864-1926
7. Junius Yoder (5)
1867-1948
8. Jacob Yoder (3)
1797-1864
9. Reuben Yoder (4)
1828-1898
10. Oliver Mack Yoder
(5) 1873-1948
11. moses yoder (4)
1830-1917
12. Marcus Yoder (4)
1833-1880
13. Amzi Yoder (4)
1844-1924
14. Michael Yoder (3)
1799-1874
15. Col. George M.
Yoder (4) 1826-1920
16. Francis Alfonzo
Yoder (5) 1851-1913
17. Julius Montfort
Yoder (5) 1853-1925
18. Florence Yoder
Ramseur (5) 1860-1935
19. Colin Monroe
Yoder (5) 1863-1953
20. Enloe Michael
Yoder (5) 1879-1948
21. Cyrus Yoder (4)
1828-1865
22. Michael Andrew
Lee Yoder (5) 1856-1924
23. Peter R. Yoder
(5) 1858-1930
1. John Yoder (2)
1764-1835 (Con1)
JOHN YODER, ELDEST SON
Con1 John Yoder (John Abel Sr-per lexikay1@aol.com) (10/26/1764 Lincoln Co.,
NC-12/29/1835 Lincoln Co., NC)
m. ca 1790 Mary Barbara Reep (1765-Aug.28,1842 Catawba Co., NC).
both buried Grace Church Cemetery
+Con11- John (John Abel Jr-per LexiKay1@aol.com) b. Mar.19,1795
Con12- Christina b. ca 1796 m. Dec.21, 1823 Lincoln Co., NC
Jacob Weaver d. "age 83" ca 1879
+Con13- Jacob b. Mar.25, 1797
+Con14- Michael b. Mar.17, 1799
+Con15- Peter b.Oct.13, 1805
Con16- Mollie b. m. Caleb Dietz (b. 1/20/1817 Lincoln, Co, NC.
(son of Solomon DEITZ)
Con17- Barbara b. m. 3/20/1828 Lincoln Co, NC
David Reep d. "age 82"
HISTORY OF THE YODER FAMILY
IN NORTH CAROLINA
By
Fred Roy Yoder
A.B.,
A.M., Ph.D., LL.D.
(c)
1970 by Fred Roy Yoder
This History Book, written by Dr. Fred Roy Yoder
printed in 1970
and republished in 1976 is rededicated this the 12th
day of August,
in the year of our Lord 2000.
The original Book was a lifetime “labor of Love” for
Dr. Fred R. Yoder
to document the North Carolina Family of pioneer
founder Conrad
Yoder as relayed to him by many but most by his
personal relation-
ship with his grandfather Col. George M. Yoder.
The only additions to the original History Book are
this rededication
page and the
"first-name-index," provided by the REEP FAMILY
ASSOCIATION.
The credits for this reprint and rededication go to
North Carolina
Yoder Chaplain Dr. J. Larry Yoder for "planting
the seed' with the
1999-2001 Yoder Family Staff and to Elaine Yoder
Zakarison (daugh-
ter of Dr. Fred Roy Yoder) and the Family of Dr. Fred
Roy Yoder.
Lovingly Dedicated
To Memory of My Late Grandfather
Colonel George M. Yoder
Distinguished Family Historian
and
Christian Nobleman
PREFACE
This brief History
of the Yoder Family in North Carolina has been more than a half century in
the making. During summer vacation
months, between 1910 and 1915, the author had many conversations
with his grandfather, Col. George M. Yoder
(1826-1920), noted Yoder family historian, about Conrad Yoder and his early
North Carolina descendants. In the
summer of 1916 parts of several chapters were written and submitted to Col.
Yoder for corrections and suggestions.
In 1917 the
author was called into military service and had to lay the manuscript aside. In
March 1920, Col. Yoder passed away. In the fall of that year the author went to
the state of Washington to teach, where he remained in residence until 1957,
and was back in North Carolina for only brief visits until that time. It was
impossible to gather local family history from a distance of three thousand
miles. The author has taught in Kentucky since 1957, still considerable
distance from the Lincoln-Catawba County area, where most North Carolina Yoders
live, and away from county courthouse and state library and archive records.
Between
1957 and 1967 the author and his wife spent a part of most of their summer
vacations in North Carolina gathering facts for this book. Short articles were inserted in four Lincoln
and Catawba County newspapers, requesting all Yoders to send the Author
information about their families. At
half a dozen Yoder Reunions requests were made for information from all those present,
and blank forms handed out for furnishing family records. These blanks were also mailed to all Yoders
listed in the Lincolnton, Newton, Hickory, Conover, and Maiden telephone
directories, requesting their family records and history. Blanks were sent to some of these Yoders
three times, but no information was ever received by the author from them. Regrettably, a number of past and present
living North Carolina Yoder families are not sketched in this book, because the
author could not obtain any information about them
.
Figures
inserted within parentheses after names indicate the generation to which
persons belong. As an example, the
author gives his own line of descendants for eight generations as follows:
Conrad Yoder (1), John Yoder(2), Michael Yoder(3) George M. Yoder(4), Colin M.
Yoder(5), Fred R. Yoder(6), Thomas W. Yoder(7), Thomas Porter Yoder(8). In a few families the ninth generation has
been reached. The author recognizes that Yoder children and descendants have
been born since he gathered information from their parents, and therefore they
are not recorded in this book. A few
blank pages appear at the end of the book, which the author suggests may be
used top complete the history of families.
Children of
each Yoder family head to whom a chapter is devoted are numbered in numerical
order of birth or age, as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., under the general sectional
heading, Children, Grandchildren, GreatGrand children. Descendants of these numbered children
follow in unnumbered, chronological order.
As the book
contains hundreds of dates of births, marriages, and deaths, and facts of
religious affiliations, occupations, and other personal data, which have been
recorded and copied several times, some mistakes will have undoubtedly occurred.
The author
asks charitable forgiveness for these errors and suggests that they be
corrected by readers who know the correct facts.
The author
invites correspondence for corrections, new items of information, and
suggestions from any and all families and readers.
The author
expresses his thanks to the hundreds of members of the Yoder family who have
furnished him information about their own specific families. He is especially indebted to his wife, Wilma
P. Yoder, competent genealogist, who knows her way through county courthouse
records, state archives, and historical divisions of libraries, for her many
hours of assistance. She has read the
manuscript of the book and made many valuable suggestions.
The author
lovingly dedicates this History to his noble grandfather, Col. George M.
Yoder, learned pioneer-family historian and generous sharer of his remarkable
and almost unlimited knowledge about Conrad Yoder and his descendants in North
Carolina, as well as the history of many other Lincoln and Catawba County
pioneer families.
Fred
Roy Yoder
Campbellsville
College
Campbellsville, Kentucky
November, 1969
Permanent address
Pullman, Washington
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface..................................................................................................vii
PART I. ORIGINS OF YODERS AND BACKGROUND
Chapter
Page
I. Yoders in
Europe and Early America .......................................3
II. Conrad
Yoder(1), 17__-1790: Founder of Yoder
Family in North Carolina .....................................................8
PART II. JOHN YODER(2) AND DESCENDANTS
III. John
Yoder(2), 1764-1835 ......................................................25
IV. John Yoder(3),
1795-1870........................................................31
V. Daniel M. Yoder(4),
1822-1908................................................33
VI. Alfred P.
Yoder(5),1866-1947..................................................35
VII. Andrew R. Yoder(4),
1836-1895..............................................38
VIII. John A. Yoder(5), 1864-1926..................................................40
IX. Junius Yoder(5),
1867-1948....................................................42
X. Jacob Yoder(3),
1797-1864......................................................45
XI. Reuben Yoder(4), 1828-1898..................................................47
XII. Oliver Mack Yoder(5),
1873-1948..........................................49
XIII. Moses Yoder(4),
1830-1917..................................................51
XIV. Marcus Yoder(4),
1833-1880..................................................58
XV. Amzi Yoder(4),
1844-1924.....................................................63
XVI. Michael Yoder(3),
1799-1874................................................67
XVII. Col. George M. Yoder(4),
1826-1920....................................71
XVIII. Francis Alfonzo Yoder(5),
1851-1913...................................79
XIX. Julius Montfort Yoder(5),
1853-1925....................................84
XX. Florence Yoder Ramseur(5),
1860-1935................................90
XXI. Colin Monroe Yoder(5),
1863-1953......................................94
XXII. Enloe Michael
Yoder(5)......................................................106
XXIII. Cyrus Yoder(4),
1828-1865................................................108
XXIV. Michael Andrew Lee
Yoder(5),..........................................109
XXV. Peter R. Yoder(5),
1858-1930............................................115
Chapter
Page
PART III. DAVID YODER(2) AND DESCENDANTS
XXIV. David Yoder(2),
1770-1864...............................................121
XXVII. David Yoder(3),
1799-1897...............................................123
XXVIII. Solomon Yoder(3)
1805-1854............................................126
XXIX. Daniel A. Yoder(4),
1834-1927.........................................129
XXX. David Yoder(4),
1844-1911...............................................137
XXXI. Robert Lee Yoder(5),
1875-1949.......................................141
XXXII. William Yoder(4),
1851-1900...........................................144
XXXIII. Luther A. Yoder(5),
1883=1964........................................145
XXXIV. Rev. Robert Anderson Yoder(4),
1853-1911....................147
XXXV. Andrew L. Yoder(3),
1812-1900.......................................156
ILLUSTRATIONS
Picture
Number
Page
1. Colonel George M.
Yoder(4)........................................................ ii
2. The author, Fred Roy Yoder(6), and his two
grandfathers, Moses
Yoder(4) and George M. Yoder(4)
................................................. vi
3. Part of
Conrad Yoder's(1) original homestead............................... 12
4. Author Fred
Roy Yoder(6) standing on spot where
old Conrad Yoder(1) house
stood................................................. 13
5. Helen Yoder
Hahn(6) and Fred Roy Yoder(6)............................. 15
6. Conrad
Yoder(1) monument, erected in 1958.............................. 17
7. Dedication
ceremonies, Conrad Yoder(1) monument, 1958......... 18
8. Grace Union
Church built in 1856................................................. 28
9. Moses
Yoder(4) and Sarah Yoder ................................................ 52
10. Old Moses
Yoder(4) home, built in 1850 .................................... 53
11. Marcus
Yoder(4) and wife ...........................................................
59
12. Zion Lutheran
Church.................................................................... 60
13. Amzi
Yoder(4)
.............................................................................
64
14. Amzi
Yoder(4), wife and family .................................................. 65
15. Old
Michael Yoder(3) home built in the 1820's .......................... 68
16. Colonel
George M. Yoder(4) age about 60 ................................. 73
17. Colonel
George M. Yoder(4) and Eliza Yoder ............................ 75
18. Colonel
George M. Yoder(4) age 90 ........................................... 76
19. Family
picture of Colonel George M. Yoder(4) and
wife and his six children
.............................................................. 78
20. Colin M.
Yoder(5) and Emma C. Yoder(5), 1906 ....................... 95
21. Colin M.
Yoder(5), wife, and children, 1917 ............................... 96
22. Colin M.
Yoder(5) family reunion, 1930 ................................... 101
23. Cyrus N.
Yoder(6) and son, Earl R. Yoder(7) ........................... 110
24. Cyrus N.
Yoder(6) Family ......................................................... 112
25. Old David
Yoder(3) house and kitchen ..................................... 124
26. Eight
living children of Solomon Yoder(3) ............................... 127
27. David
Yoder(4)
.......................................................................... 138
28. Robert Lee
Yoder(5) .................................................................. 142
29. Rev.
Robert Anderson Yoder(4), President of Lenoir
College
.......................................................................................
148
30. Old Main
Building, Lenoir College ........................................... 149
PART ONE: ORIGINS OF YODERS AND BACKGROUND
CHAPTER I
YODERS IN EUROPE AND EARLY AMERICA
Origins of Yoders in Europe
(The
author is indebted to Doctor Don Yoder, of Devon Pennsyl- vania, foremost
historian of Yoders in Europe and the United States, for many of the historical
facts of the first section of this chapter. taken from his pamphlet,
"Origins of the Pennsylvania Yoders.")
Yoders in the United States are of Swiss origin. The name Yoder (Joder, in Swiss German) is
derived from Saint Theodore, one of the Christian Missionaries, who brought the
Christian message into the Swiss Alps in the Middle Ages. The name Saint Theodore was abbreviated to
Saint Joder. Swiss churches often
portrayed Saint Joder standing on a little devil, showing his triumph over
evil. In the Swiss Reformed Church
Almanac, August 16 is still listed as Saint Joder's Day. In southern Switzerland there is a mountain
peak called Saint Joderhorn in honor of Saint Joder.
Joders
(Yoders) are first mentioned as residing in or near the two Swiss villages of
Steffisburg and Murri, the former village in the highland area of Canton Bern,
and the latter in Canton Aargau. Joders
were in these villages as early as the 1300's and 1400's. Joders still live in these two
villages. Joders have also lived in the
Rheinfelden and Basel areas of northwestern Switzerland, and some of them have
migrated directly to America where they have taken the name Yoder.
Many
Joders in Switzerland became Anabaptists, believers in adult baptism or
"Rebaptism," if baptism had already taken place in infancy. These Anabaptists were severely persecuted
by the Swiss canton government, and the Swiss Reformed Church for their
religious beliefs and practices. Also
these Anabaptist Christians stressed holiness of life based on the Sermon on
the Mount. They refused to fight and
kill in time of war, because Christ had commanded all men to love one another,
even their enemies. They refused to
take state oaths, because Christ had told men "to swear not at
all." Above all, these Anabaptist
people wanted complete religious freedom, uncontrolled by any state laws or
regulations, or by a state church.
Because of their beliefs these people were persecuted, punished, and
often driven out of the Swiss villages and towns, and banished to foreign
lands.
The
Anabaptist religion spread down the Rhine, reached the Netherlands (Holland),
and was shaped to a considerable degree b a priest named Menno Simons. His name was given to the majority of
Anabaptists whose descendants migrated to America and they have come to be
known as Mennonites. Many Yoders are
found today in the different branches of the Mennonite faith in the United
States.
The
most extreme of the Swiss Anabaptists were the followers of a priest named
Jacob Ammon. They stressed plain,
simple living and dress, and other types of nonconformity. After 1740 many of them came to America and
settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where they are known as the Amish, or Plain
Folks. Many Yoders in the states of
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa are found in the Amish sect.
Some
Anabaptists took refuge in the Palatinate, a small state in southwestern
Germany. Joders were included among
these Anabaptists who first took refuge in the Palatinate and the Rhine Valley. The Anabaptists were barely tolerated in the
German villages. Most of them migrated
to America after 1700. Joders are still
found in several Palatinate villages today.
Although
Yoders in the United States today are found in a number of different
denominations, especially among the Lutheran Reformed (now United Church of
Christ) denominations, perhaps a majority of them still adhere to Mennonite and
Amish faiths. But neither Mennonite nor
Amish groups migrated from Pennsylvania to the southern colonies, except a few
Mennonites to Virginia. In North Carolina the early Yoders belonged to the
Reformed and Lutheran Churches.
Great Palatine Migration to America and
Pennsylvania 1700 to 1770
Yoders
were a part of the great Palatine migration to America between 1700 and
1775. The Palatinate, between the years
of 1690 and 1740, was frequently ravaged by war. Louis XIV, French despotic monarch, sent his armies into the
Palatinate time and again to bring it under his domain, to appoint its rulers,
to compel the acceptance of Catholicism, to punish religious dissenters, to tax
the people, to pillage and even to lay waste vast areas as punishment of the
people. He sought to make the Rhine the
eastern boundary of France. The poor,
landless Palatine peasants and workers suffered most from this warfare and
oppression and thousands were left in a state of destitution. Many sought refuge, first in England and
finally in America.
When
the great peace-loving Quaker, William Penn, established the colony of
Pennsylvania, he opened it to all religious faiths, allowing complete religious
freedom and worship. He sent agents
into the Rhine Valley and the Palatinate announcing the opportunities for
settlement in his colony and assuring emigrants they would be allowed freedom
of worship. The Palatines of all faiths
came to the new colony by the thousands after 1700. They found their way down the Rhine to Rotterdam, the great
Holland port, and embarked on slow sailing boats for Philadelphia. Between 1700 and 1775 more than sixty thousand
Palatines came to America.
The
journey across the Atlantic in those days on slow sailing vessels was long and
hard. The journey lasted three to five
months. Accommodations were generally
poor and crowded. Sanitary conditions
were often bad. Food was poor and
sometimes scarce and spoiled. Sickness,
disease, and epidemic many times scourged the passengers. Many died and were buried at sea. But the new world of economic opportunity
and religious and political liberty was a great goal and haven for the poor
Palatines.
After
taking the oath of allegiance to the English Crown, the Palatines spread out
into the area of southeastern Pennsylvania, looking for good land and places to
make their new homes. They settled
first in what are now Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, and Berks
Counties. A good many Yoders were among
these early German pioneers. In
southeastern Pennsylvania these German immigrants developed a dialect which
came to be known as "Pennsylvania Dutch," a mixture of German and
English, and not real Dutch at all.
This dialect and the people who spoke it came to be called
"Pennsylvania Dutch." The
German word for German is Deutsch, but often difficult to speakers of English
to pronounce, and so the word Deutsch
was pronounced Dutch.
Although
Yoders wee soon found in many of the communities in the Pennsylvania counties
named above, there was an unusual concentration of Yoders in what is now Oley
Township, in Berks County. Yoders were
in this township as early as 1710. From
the Oley Valley, Yoders spread westward into many other communities in
Pennsylvania, As we shall see in the next chapter, Conrad Yoder(1), founder of
our North Carolina family of Yoders, may have lived among Yoders in Oley
Township before migrating to North Carolina.
Migration of Germans to North Carolina
According
to any records we now have, only Conrad Yoder (1) journeyed to the far south
land. He became the founder of the
Yoder family in North Carolina. As good
lands were taken up in Pennsylvania, many Germans and Scotch-Irish migrated to
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and later to Tennessee, seeking
cheaper and more spacious homelands.
The Pennsylvania Germans, usually called "Pennsylvania Dutch,"
came by way of the valley of western Virginia, and out through the gaps of the
Blue Ridge, into the upper valleys of the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers. They settled chiefly in what are now the
counties of Forsyth, Davidson, Rowan, Cabarrus, Iredell, Lincoln, and Catawba.
Henry
Weidner (Whitener) was the first of these German settlers from Pennsylvania to
come into the South River section. He
came around 1745. He received a large
grant of land that stretched across both forks of the South Fork River, Henry's Fork and Jacob's Fork. He built his house over a spring at what has
long been known as the Old Robinson Place, not far from Henry's Fork River, on
the east side, and about five miles south of Hickory. Weidner, who seems to have come first as a trapper, journeyed
back to Pennsylvania several times to sell his pelts and purchase articles for
his home and farming operations. On one
of these trips, according to tradition, he brought back with him, Conrad
Yoder(1), to whom he sold 200 acres of land in 1762. During the years 1745-1770 many other settlers, Germans and
Scotch-Irish, came into the South Fork, Henry's Fork, and Jacob's Fork
valleys. Among these early comers and
pioneer settlers were the Wilfongs, Shufords, Anthonies, Coulters, Whiteners,
Clines, Reeps, Mulls, Deitzes, Seitzes, Propsts, Hahns, Lohrs, Canslers,
Kistlers, Mostellers, Ramseurs, Leonards, Hunsuckers, Sigmons, Dellingers,
Lutzes, Frys, Haases, Grosses, Weavers, Schells, Seagles, Millers, Huffmans,
Killians, and others.
Conrad
Yoder(1) and his wives, and children became neighbors and acquaintances of many
of these families.
Indian Frontier Dangers Revolutionary
Conflict
When
Conrad Yoder(1) and his pioneer neighbors arrived n the Catawba and South Fork
River Area, in the 1750's and 1760's, the Indian frontier was only a few miles
to the west. The Powerful and often
warlike Cherokee Indians were still stubbornly resisting the intrusion of white
settlers into their ancient domain, making sallies into the western-most white
settlements, massacring people, burning their homes, and driving away their
livestock. In 1754-1755, the colonial
government of North Carolina had established Ford Dobbs near where Statesville
now stands and stationed a company of rangers there to help protect the
frontier settlers. In 1759 or 1760, a
band of these marauding Indians had swooped down on Abram Mull's place, a
close-by neighbor of Henry Weidner, killed Mull working out in a field, and
scalped an infant, leaving it still alive, and burned all the buildings. His wife escaped only because she was away
driving up the cattle. Henry Weidner,
with his family and Mull's widow fled to South Carolina for safety and remained
away for two years.
According
to tradition, Weidner returned alone on horseback from time to time to
investigate whether the Cherokee Indians were still roaming the territory. It is said he had an agreement with a
friendly Catawba Indian chief in the area that the chief would keep the trunk
of a white oak tree painted red as long as there was danger from the Cherokees,
and that when he found it safe for Weidner to return with his family, he would
paint the trunk white. After two years
Weidner returned with his family, finding all the buildings on his place
destroyed.
