SOURCE: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Delaware and Randolph Counties, Ind
Mrs. Rebecca Yingling, the estimable lady for whom this biographical notice is prepared, was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, on January 25, 1820, the daughter of Hamilton and Catherine Harpers, both parents natives of the state of Maryland. Shortly after their marriage
Mr. and Mrs. Harpers moved to Virginia and, after a few years of residence in that state, emigrated to Ohio, where Mr. Harpers’ death occurred at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. Hamilton Harpers was by occupation a farmer, in which useful calling he was very successful, and all who came in contact with him were ready to bear witness to his true worth as man and citizen.
The marriage of Rebecca Harpers and William Yingling was consummated in the year 1837 in Lawrence county, Ohio, where Mr. Yingling was born on October 23, 1811. For the fifteen years following their marriage, this couple remained in Ohio, Mr. Yingling being engaged in farming and the manufacture of charcoal.
About 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Yingling moved to Indiana and purchased a tract of eighty acres of land in Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county, which is still the family’s home, and upon which Mrs. Yingling resided until her death. On moving to this county, the greater part of the township of Mount Pleasant was a comparative wilderness, and the land upon which Mr. Yingling located was an unbroken forest, made doubly forbidding on account of its being nearly covered with water. To redeem this woodland and make it home was a task of no small magnitude. Still, Mr. Yingling, aided and encouraged
by the wise counsel of his excellent wife, labored diligently for a number of years and eventually saw his efforts crowned with success and a home prepared for his family. Mr. Yingling was a most exemplary citizen, took an active interest in the public affairs of his time, and was an earnest believer in the Christian religion, the precepts of which he exemplified in his daily walk and conversation. During the last few years of his life, he was a great sufferer, becoming almost a helpless invalid. During that time, farm management devolved upon his faithful wife, who rightly performed the task.
Mr. Yingling died in 1889, deeply lamented by all who knew him. Mrs. Yingling still resided on the home farm, which, under her management, was brought to a high state of cultivation. She was considered one of the kind neighbors and excellent Christian women in the community in which she lived. She was a devoted member of the Christian church, to which denomination her husband also belonged. Mr. and Mrs. Yingling had a large family consisting of fourteen children, whose names are as follows: Hamilton, who died in the army; Catherine, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; John, married Sarah Preston and is now a blacksmith; Nathaniel, a farmer, and carpenter married Lucinda Wilber; Mary, wife of Nicholas Finegan; Margaret, deceased; Lewis, deceased; Rebecca, deceased; Elias, deceased; Matthias, married Malinda Pugh; Thomas, married Mary Ephart, and George, who married Rose Bonner.
Mrs. Rebecca Yingling passed from earth on February 15, 1893, and most deeply mourned, not only by her own large family but by an extensive circle of friends who appreciated her many good qualities and who now sadly miss her venerable presence from their midst, and more especially will she be missed by the suffering poor, whom she was wont to succor.
0 Comments