April 1997 Newsletter
April 1997
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Dear Family:
Wow! It is hard for us to say that spring is in the air here in
the east, because it seems to have been here for most of the winter. This
was really a mild year, weather wise. Now comes all the warnings that we
must pay for the mildness with some changes in nature, due to not following
the normal script. I saw a warning on television for all you pet owners to
take your dogs and cats to the VET, and have them treated for fleas. Yes,
that pesky little critter is supposed to drive you crazy this year because
the mildness of the weather failed to kill off most of the population. Now
what do you think we should do, import some exotic beetle that eats fleas?
Then, as the population of this new beetle, with its massive food supply
gets out of control, we will need some bird to eat the beetle..... Hmmmm.
Then we will need some cats to control the birds...Hmmmm. Then we will need
wolves to control the cats.....Hmmmm - Just kidding. Maybe we can just use
flea powder.
I trust that you all made it to April relatively (no pun intended)
unscathed. I must admit that the past few months have flown by too quickly.
I am still very much involved in the cataloging of our family. At the date
of this writing I have entered 10,450 names, and expect to be over 11,000
before publication. Now what that means is that I have to rethink how to
present the information at our family picnic. As those who attended know, I
would have descendant charts to hand out and a poster board chart of the
lines of descent. That was when we had perhaps 2,500 names in our database.
By the picnic, I hope to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 13,000 names
- all confirmed family. Sure is amazing! I may rent a Macintosh laptop for
the month and load the information into that so it will be available for
anyone wishing to research the information, but I am kind of partial to the
chart that we have had the past two years, so I want to complete the data
entry, and then give thought to how we can best view the information.
Hopefully the weather is going to cooperate and give us a nice day.
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On the home front, in our September Newsletter we reported that
Chuck Koval, the husband of Judith Yarnall Koval was a victim of Corporate
downsizing. As reported in September, Chuck was the manager of a
maintenance crew for Drexel University, and is a Stationary Engineer who
has kept up with his trade through the various educational opportunities
offered by Drexel. Chuck and his family are located in the Roxborough area
of Philadelphia. It would be such a shame to have to pull up roots after a
lifetime of living in the same area, but I guess in some respects, these
are desperate times. If anyone has knowledge of an opening that Chuck could
submit his application for employment, it would be much appreciated. You
can reach him at Phone Number 1-215-483-6174, or contact me at
215-844-6264. It sure would be nice if we could come together and help one
of our own.
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We have some news of passing this month. Goodbye's were said to:
Marie J. Yarnell Bierly and John Martin McDonald.
Marie J. Yarnell, 69, of Rural Loganton died Wednesday, March 12,
1997 at Lock Haven Hospital Emergency Room. She was born June 13, 1927, in
Hublersburg, a daughter of the late Margaret I. Yarnell Carner. On July 29,
1949, in the Lutheran Parsonage in Loganton, she married Glenn E. Bierly,
who died March 23,1977. Marie was a 1944 graduate of Walker Township High
School. She was a cook for the Sugar Valley School District and at various
restaurants including The Nook and The Locks. She worked at the former
Sylvania plant in Mill and Armstrong Company in Beech Creek. In 1964, she
and her husband purchased a farm which they operated for many years. She
retired in 1995 from K & C Market in Booneville. She was a member of the
Church of Christ of Nittany. She was a member and past president of
Tylersville Community Club. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, cooking and
being outdoors. She is survived by two daughters, Helen B. Tetanich of Lock
Haven and Glenda S. Mark of rural Loganton; two sons, James E. of
Albuquerque, N.M., and David S. of rural Loganton; two stepsisters, Barbara
Brown of Zion and Phyllis Potts of Hublersburg, and nine grandchildren.
John Martin McDonald, 58, of Philadelphia, PA died on Wednesday
March 19, 1997 at his home. John, better known to most of us as Jackie, was
born on March 30, 1939. That is easy for me to remember because it is the
same birthday as mine, except two years earlier. Jackie was the son of
John Martin McDonald Sr., and Helen Irene Yarnall McDonald. Jackie was a
railroad man all his life, following in the footsteps of his father. He
enjoyed baseball, fishing, and outdoors in general. While we lived
distances apart in our youth, we managed to spend time together each
summer. Jackie was a veteran of the Army where he spent his time in the
motor pool. He is survived by two daughters Elaine Mary McDonald Clark, and
Holly McDonald Haddy; four grandchildren, Jamie Clark, Dana Marie Clark,
Christine Marie Haddy and David Christopher Haddy; and three sisters Irene
McDonald Pepe, Lorraine McDonald Cutillo, and Linda Anne McDonald Heitzman.
Jackie requested that his final remains be cremated and the ashes taken to
Ireland. Daughters Holly and Elaine are making plans to grant that request
sometime in the near future. May the good Lord watch over us all until we
can meet once again in the great by and by.
On a more positive note, it was really special having the
opportunity to meet some cousins for the first time. I have mentioned it in
previous newsletters, that we can live within a few blocks of each other
and never meet. What a shame that the times keep us in such a fast paced
mode, that we barely have time to stop and say hello. All too frequently we
meet at a wedding or worse, at a funeral. That is how this whole adventure
into Genealogy started for me. I sat at the funeral of my Uncle Benjamin
Franklin Yarnall and realized that unless something was done very quickly,
we would not even see each other at funerals - thus began the
communications and the search. Now we have established a truly amazing
family, one that we are adding newly found members every day. I hope that
Holly, Elaine and their families will join us at the family picnic this
year. In fact, I hope that Jackie's sisters and their families will also be
there, to join in the fun. I guess with that , it is time for my monthly
picnic pitch - it sounds like a game, a picnic pitch.
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Speaking of the picnic, Don't forget the date, Yarnall / Yarnell
Family Picnic is Saturday, July 12, 1997 at the Lower Perkiomen Valley
Park. You are all invited. We have Pavilions Number 1 and Number 2 reserved
for this years event. I will send out directions to the grounds as the date
approaches, but for those with map reading capability it is located off the
Route 422 Bypass, just north of King of Prussia and the Pennsylvania
Turnpike at Oaks, PA.. If you are traveling West on Rt422, you exit to the
right, go down the ramp to the light and make a right hand turn, and
immediately make another right hand turn into the long park drive. This
year we are going to try something different, thanks to Charles Yarnall and
his family, who are planing to make the trip north in their RV, and to stay
in a campground close to the picnic grounds. If there are any other pioneer
types that like the outdoors, it would be kind of neat if you would link up
at a common campground. In order to organize this pre-picnic get together,
Charles has agreed to have his address and phone number listed, so that you
can call or write to him to make the link-up. I think it would be great to
make it a combination picnic, camp out, and visit the local historical
sites. Charles can be reached by Email at cyarnall@miworld.net or by phone
at 1-301-689-1784, and by snail mail address your correspondence to:
Charles F. Yarnall, 16 Mount Pleasant Street, Frostburg, Maryland 21532.
If you are not sure if you will be able to make the trip, contact him any
way, just in case the spirit moves you to attend, you will be prepared, and
Charles will have some hope of company. Speaking of camping, a following
article comes to us, complements of Wayne and Nancy Yarnall who are on an
extended vacation in their RV....but first.......
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ANNOUNCEMENT: You cannot imagine how this pains me but I have a
major faux pas to admit. First however, let me lead into this red faced
tale with an update to our person of the month for March. Timur Yarnall was
selected to the ALL AMERICAN Rugby team last year. For that selection,
there were trials in June of last year on the Ohio State University campus.
Each collegiate territory selected a representative squad to compete in the
territorial playoffs. Timur was selected by the Pacific Northwest territory
for the competition. In Ohio, the territories played a round-robin
tournament and a final Championship match over the course of four days.
Timur's squad won the territorial championships. After the final match a
group of Coaches representing USA Rugby announced 30 players from among the
250 present who had made the All-American team, and Timur was selected,
which Timur states was "definitely a thrill and the biggest individual
recognition ever received. Four teammates from Stanford were also selected
as All Americans. The 30 collegiate's that made the squad stayed in Ohio
for another week for an intense, week long training camp with the US
national coach, culminating in a match on the last day of the camp", that
Timur states " was a great experience all around. For those of you not
familiar with Rugby, it is the English version of our Football, at any
rate, it is a very physically demanding sport, and to have been named to
the All American Team a major accomplishment. Now what does that have to do
with my red faced admission? Perhaps it would be best to show you part of
the communication that I received from Timur shortly after the newsletter
was sent.
Hey Cousin,
Thanks for sending me the newsletter! It was great to hear the news
from all over........... I have some news, though, that you might find a
bit amusing....I am a man. Always have been. I see that you might have that
confused based on the introduction you gave me in the newsletter (I am
referred to as 'she' and 'her' several times). This is understandable,
since I am sure that you are not familiar with Turkish names, so 'Timur'
would not automatically occur to you as a man's name.
But, I did play baseball at Stanford, not softball. There is no
women's baseball team. And I play men's rugby, not women's (I was named to
the Men's 1996 All-American team). Also, there are going to be a lot of
Yarnall's out there who are thinking they have a very strange woman cousin
who plays baseball, rugby, surfs, snow boards, and weight lifts..........
Thanks, Cousin Fred
Timur (aka Tim)
Needless to say, my first reaction was one of laughter because of
my stupidity - No, I don't mean that I was laughing for my stupidity, but I
was laughing for my stupidity (?) - Oh never mind! I do find that laughing
at yourself sometimes can be good therapy. God I do that a lot! Let me just
close this segment with a congratulations to Timur for his wonderful
accomplishment, and for his patience with me.
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Closer to home for Lillian and I, is a wedding announcement. On
Friday, May 16, 1997, our daughter Cathy Lynn Yarnall is to become the
bride of Alan Flade. Cathy is presently attending Burlington County
College / N.J. Institute of Technology where she is pursuing a BS in
Electrical Engineering. Cathy is attending college while working full time
for Factory Mutual Engineering Co. as a Fire and Extended Coverage
Secretary. Alan has his Masters Degree from Tulane University in Electrical
Engineering and is currently employed by Lockheed Martin of NJ as an
Electrical Engineer. Before deciding on where to purchase a home, the
couple are planning on making their home in an apartment in New Jersey. For
their honeymoon its off to the sun and fun of the British Virgin Islands.
Our love and prayers accompany the couple on this next step in life's
journey: They can take this step with the full knowledge of a family that
loves them and will stand by and support them as they face life's
struggles.
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Wayne and Nancy's Excellent Adventure to Arizona
We left Corvallis January 15, 1997, Nancy driving the motor home
and Wayne the Ford van. We drove south to Eugene, then before heading east
over the mountains, Wayne drove into Eugene and picked up Charlie and
Jeanne Kimball who would accompany us. There was a little ice on the road
on the western side of the pass, otherwise the road was bare and clear. Our
first stop was Klamath Falls; Charlie and Jeanne got a motel room and we
parked the motor home in a nearby RV park. The four of us ate dinner
together in the motor home as we did for the rest of the trip together. The
next day the road took us to Nevada. We hit rush hour in Reno and
continued on to Fernly for our next night's stop. There was snow on the
ground there. We headed south through Nevada, passing through desolate, yet
beautiful country, sparse mountain range after mountain range with very few
signs of human habitation. The few towns clung to the mountainside below
the passes. We spent two nights in Beatty, Nevada, so that we could go on
a side trip to Death Valley. Appropriate signs helped us to realize that we
had gone from over 4,000 feet to 300 feet below sea level. We enjoyed the
display of the borax operation and the 20-mule team wagons, the little pond
called Bad Water, and the salt flats. My overall impression of Death Valley
is that it isn't as ominous and dangerous with today's modern conveniences
as it once was. With a car, we could zip across the valley in less than an
hour and never really experience where we were.
On the way to Las Vegas we had a short period of worship in the
motor home. In Las Vegas we reluctantly said goodbye to Charlie and Jeanne
and then had a short visit with friends from Florida who just happened to
be there at the same time. We didn't leave the Las Vegas area until late
the next day so we only made it as far as Needles, California, where we
spent the night in a wide spot along the road. We spent the next week in
Lake Havasu City at the State Park that is right along the shores of the
lake. We did lots of walking, drove across the London Bridge, took an
excursion ride on a sternwheeler out on the lake, and watched the Super
Bowl. We then moved further south along the Colorado River to another state
park. This was a more isolated setting. We met some wonderful people here.
Our trip to Alamo Lake State Park was interrupted by a blowout on a
rear tire in the motor home. Luckily, it was a rear tire and luckily there
was a wide spot beside the road to pull over and wait for emergency help.
Unfortunately, we needed further help with the exhaust system, so spent an
unscheduled two days in a small town. We enjoyed Alamo Lake; it is an
isolated lake surrounded by desert, probably 100 miles from any
reasonable-sized town. We saw wild burros, eagles, and a coyote. Hiking in
the desert I discovered my walking shoes have soft soles; cactus barbs go
right through. Our next major stop was the BLM land west of Gila Bend. My
cousin and her husband spend February there with other snowbirds from
northern states. They form a small community with said and unsaid
regulations (don't litter) and customs (morning hike and evening communal
campfire). Many of this small group come back year after year.
We then went to Phoenix. We left the motor home in a shopping
center and went together in Wayne's car to look for a place to stay. The RV
parks were all full. We probably should have called local Friends, but we
didn't. And it was Saturday night so we couldn't stay at a meeting house.
So we left. We headed south. We ended up in a Wal-Mart shopping center in
Casa Grande and went out for pizza. Finding a place to stay didn't look
much better in Casa Grande. Then we found a Coast-to-Coast place. For about
$30, plus the obligation to listen to a sales talk, we could stay for 5
nights. We did it. That afternoon we went to the Casa Grande ruins; the
next day we went to the Gila River Indian museum, both fascinating places.
Wednesday we drove back to Phoenix, had lunch with Mary Lou Coppock and got
our mail. That evening we attended a worship-sharing gathering with
Friends from Tempe Meeting. It was a good session; our first worship of any
sort since we left Corvallis.
On Tuesday we had our "sales opportunity" at the RV park. I
wouldn't have minded so much if the salesman hadn't used such scare
tactics. He didn't understand our concern that there weren't any
handicapped-access standards. He tried to intimidate us by convincing us
that public parks and parking in shopping centers was dangerous. I do
believe he really felt that way and was frightened. We made a reservation
for a large (1200 unit) RV park in Tucson. We spent two whole days in
Tucson looking around at RV parks trying to find a place to stay for the
month of March. We finally settled on one in the north end of town, even
though Wayne couldn't get into their bathrooms. It was just the best we
could find. The next day we went to Pima Meeting. It was wonderful to
worship with Friends again after about a month and one-half in the desert.
Pima Meeting is about twice the size of Corvalllis Meeting. Their Meeting
House is a large house near the university. After worship and potluck
(which we enjoyed) we went to Betsy Hennessey's house. She is a Friend from
Pullman-Moscow Meeting who winters in Tucson. She wanted us to bring the
motor home and stay there, but there wasn't room. However, she owns another
house out in the desert suburbs northeast of town. We decided to try it. We
were apprehensive about the steep driveway leading to the more or less
level spot beside the house, but the motor home did fine.
We've now been here over a week. The first few days were difficult
because the weather turned cold and rainy. We about froze in the motor
home. One evening we went to a Mall to warm up. Malls are great places for
people in wheel chairs. We've spent a lot of time just existing-running
errands and doing chores. One major project was to be able to "dump" the
sewage system of the motor home without having to move it. We bought a
small portable tank for that purpose and it worked well. We're
enjoying the meeting contacts-we've been to both First Day and Mid-week
worship. We've reacquainted with old friends and met new ones. We've done
some "touristing" and will do more. We drove through the eastern part of
the Saguaro National Park, went to an art museum, and walked through the
historic district of downtown Tucson. We're enjoying our location. There
are many places to walk and I'm walking for one-half hour to an hour almost
every day. The different kinds of cactus and other desert plants are such a
change from home. The saguaros cover the mountainside just behind us. We
share this piece of property with rabbits, squirrels and many, many birds
which I am trying to identify. We put up a bird feeder beside the motor
home and have seen cardinals, cactus wrens, sparrows, doves, and other
birds.
After meeting last Sunday a woman asked me, "What do you do when
you're not being a Quaker?" I laughed because what I must do now is to
figure out what it is that I do, now that I am no longer Friends Bulletin
editor. That will happen when I come home. In the meantime, we're both
enjoying this trip. We plan to see a great deal more of Southwestern
Arizona and Tucson this month. Daughter Becky will come to visit us the
last week in March and then, just after Easter, we'll start home.
Wayne Yarnall, W7KRB, Corvallis, OR
Those of you who are on the Internet can reach Wayne and Nancy by their
Email address, yarnall@peak.org
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We have often been taught that the Civil War was a war that pitted
brother against brother; but the fact of that statement has been brought
painfully home to me as I read about the courage and valor of our relatives
on both sides of the blue and grey line. In past newsletters we have read
of our cousins on the blue side of the line, including my Great-Great
Grandfather Griffith Yarnall. Now we are going to look at a family hero on
the grey side of the line....WILLIAM YARNALL SLACK
William Yarnall Slack was born in Kentucky. His father, John Slack
(son of Lydia Yarnall - in the Francis line, and John Slack Sr.) moved his
family to Boone county, Missouri in 1819. Here William received his
education and was admitted to the bar in 1837. In March, 1839, he moved to
Chillicothe, Missouri, joined the Bar Association, married Mary Emily
Woodward in 1842, built his home and raised his family. He served as a
member of the Missouri General Assembly of 1842-43 and the Constitutional
Convention of 1845. His military career began with the Mexican War. At the
outbreak of war he proclaimed his sympathy with the United States,
declaring at a public meeting in Chillicothe: "It is too late now to
discuss the question whether or not the war could have been avoided. It is
enough to know that it is upon us. Our country has declared war and I am
for my country, gentlemen, first, last, and all the time." He helped
organize a company of Livingston County Volunteers, who elected him
Captain. The company was attached to the regiment of Colonel Sterling price
and marched to Santa Fe and Taos. After the Mexican War, Slack expanded his
law practice. In the pre-Cival War years, he aligned himself with the
proslavery cause. As a "Southern Rights" Democrat he opposed Steven
Douglas's popular sovereignty doctrine and in the presidential election of
1860, as elector on the Breckenridge ticket, carried his county for the
Southern Democrats. When conflicts between Unionists and secessionists
plunged Missouri into Civil War, Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, leader of
the secession movement in Missouri, appointed Slack Brigadier General of
the 4th division of the Missouri State Guard, at Lexington, Missouri. He
was never to see his home again. On July 5, 1861, Slack took part in the
Confederate victory at Carthage, in Jasper County, Missouri. During this
battle, Slack, in command of some seven hundred men encountered some 2,300
Federals. The battle lasted all day and resulted in the capture of two
loaded baggage wagons and eight prisoners, along with the rout of the
Federal troops. During the battle at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, August 10,
1861, although the Southern forces comprised troops from Texas, Missouri,
Louisiana, and Arkansas, the brunt of the fighting was borne by Price's
Missourians, who suffered heavy losses. Casualties were high in Slack's
division. Slack, who was commended for "gallant conduct" fell at the head
of his column with a bullet through the body. The wound incapacitated him
for nearly two months, but as soon as he was permitted to travel set out
for Lexington in an ambulance, accompanied by his wife and doctor. On
October 11, he resumed command of his division. When the troops of the
Missouri State Guard were mustered into the confederate Army, he persuaded
most of his men to join. On January 23, 1862, Price placed him in command
of the Second Brigade of Missouri Confederate Volunteers. On April 12,
1862, President Jefferson Davis recommended he be commissioned a Brigadier
General in the Confederate Army and five days later the Senate confirmed
the appointment. All this was done without the knowledge that William
Yarnall Slack had died several weeks previously of a bullet wound received
at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The battle of Pea Ridge, which secured Federal
control of Missouri, was fought in bitterly cold weather on March 6, 7, and
8, 1862. A detailed account of the battle is contained in the official
report of Colonel Thomas H. Rosser, successor to General Slack "General
Slack had advanced with the infantry of the brigade to the summit of
Trott's Hill or Sugar Mountain and was deploying his men in battle lines
near the top when suddenly they were thrown into confusion by rifle fire
from concealed Federal troops. Riding among his men, Slack rallied them and
redeployed them in a protective manner which brought about the eventual
rout of the Federals from the ambuscade. But while deploying his men he was
struck in the right hip by a rifle ball, which ranged downward through his
body. His aide-de-camp caught him as he fell from his horse. he was
conveyed from the battlefield in an ambulance and given careful medical
care, but early on the morning of March 20, 1862, he died. The next morning
he was buried eight miles east of the battlefield. On May 27, 1880 his body
was removed to the Confederate cemetery at Fayetteville, Arkansas. On
September 1, 1887, there was unveiled at Pea Ridge, a marble shaft in
memory of the Confederate soldiers who fought and died on that battlefield.
The names of three generals who died there are inscribed - "General James
McIntosh, of Arkansas, General Benjamin McCulloc, of Texas, and General
William Yarnall Slack, of Missouri."
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PART 2 - Last month we started to give you information on,
and the reasons for the "list of poor children to be educated at County
Expense". This list is another Genealogical tool in our search for
ancestors. Last month we learned of the Poor Law Acts, and Public School
Acts, and how in 1718 Pennsylvania passed its "General Settlement Act". We
pick up this month on Pennsylvania's restructuring of the laws for the
poor........In 1771 Pennsylvania conducted a major rearrangement of its
laws for the poor. The new, consolidated law was called "Act for the Relief
of the Poor." This act had profound influence on how such welfare
provisions were implemented within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania but
also was adopted almost verbatim by other areas (e.g., Northwest
Territory). This act still relied on the appointment of overseers of the
poor to carry out the main duties to implement: (a) establish workhouses;
(b) locate dependent children; (c) levy taxes on a annual basis for the
purpose of caring for the poor; (d) provide hemp, flax, and thread for the
workhouses; and (e) provide help for those poor who resided in their own
homes. The township was the unit of administration. For the poor to meet
the settlement provisions, they had to achieve certain levels of length of
residence in the community, occupational attempts and payment of past
taxes. In 1798 a Pennsylvania law encouraged the erection of "houses of
employment." This law fostered the county level of poor relief
administration. Nonetheless, townships and boroughs were still the main
units of administration. In 1836 Pennsylvania again carried out a major
revision of its poor laws. Poor relief had now become specifically defined
so as to be meant for only those who met even stricter settlement
provisions than the 1771 act. While the act did allow a given community to
extend poor relief for a short time to those who could not meet the
settlement provisions, the act made it clear that such "unsettled poor"
were to be transferred back to the last legal settlement. While this law
switched to the poor relief district as a new administrative unit, such
units did not come into being until 1857. The township and borough units
that were in practice at the time of the 1798 law primarily continued to be
the unit of choice. In 1925 another major consolidation of poor relief
legislation was passed. however, this law still was basically the same as
the 1836 act. With the above outline of general poor relief legislation,
how does the topic of educating the poor fit in? The writer has chosen to
keep these provisions separate from the general poor relief statutes so
that the trends will stand out as entities unto themselves.
EDUCATIONAL LAWS
In 1683 the Second Colonial Assembly of Pennsylvania put forward a
governmental structure which (among many other provisions) contained some
basic concepts for educating the poor: "...(1) education for all, rich or poor;"
(2) vocational education ("Some useful skill or trade"); and (3) compulsory school
attendance. In 1790 the Pennsylvania Constitution demanded that children of poor
families must be taught free of charge.; This basic concept was repeated in
follow-up laws of 1802, 1804, and 1809. It was the duty of the local
overseers of the poor to see to it that tuition was paid from public monies
to allow enrollment of such poor children in locally convenient schools.
The 1836 Pennsylvania constitution reiterated these specific provisions. In
1834 the framework was created by Pennsylvania to provide public education
for all ("Common School Law"). Under this law, one has the concepts of
"accepting districts" and "non-accepting districts." The creation of public
(or "common") schools in 1834 and the immediately following years would
have obviated the need for the poor law educational provisions, but in
Montgomery County, a bitter struggle ensued. This county already had
several schools throughout its communities, albeit not all students by any
means were being served. Further, one had the very strong influence of the
heavily Germanic population, especially in the northern and Western reaches
of Montgomery County. These early German families and their descendants had
their own language, values, and attitudes conveyed to their children. In
their eves, the public or common schools would do just the opposite. In
1834, out of 987 possible public school districts that could have come into
existence that first year of the new law, only 502 by local vote became
"accepting districts." In Montgomery County that year, out of 32 districts
that could have formed,l only Lower Merion accepted the call to public
school creation;. The battle would be a long and difficult one indeed in
Montgomery County.
The writer, in doing research several years ago for the history of
the county schools for The Second Hundred Years, examined all years of the
main statistical summaries of public education in Pennsylvania (the annual
report to the legislature by the State Superintendent of Schools). These
volumes apparently had not been touched in many, many years, lying under a
thick coat of dust, deep in the subbasement stacks of the State Library. As
we go through the years of the new Common School Law after the passage in
1834, we see some interesting patterns in Montgomery County, which directly
influenced the way the education of the poor was conducted. Again, by local
vote, in 1836 Norristown became the second accepting district, and a little
later that year, Whitpain Township became the third. By 1842, only half of
the possible 32 public districts had come into existence. In 1845, State
Superintendent of Public Instruction McClure expressed his frustration at
certain areas that had vehemently resisted the creation of public school
districts. He specifically mentioned four counties: Berks, Bucks,
Montgomery, and York.
The accepting districts in that year were: Abington, Cheltenham,
Gwynedd, Marlborough, Lower Merion, Upper Merion, Montgomery, Norristown,
Plymouth, Pottstown, Lower Providence, and Whitemarsh. The Non Accepting
districts for that year were: Douglass, Franconia, Frederick, Hatfield,
Horsham, Limerick, Moreland, New Hanover, Perkiomen & Skippack, Lower
Pottsgrove, Upper Providence, Lower Salford, Upper Salford, Springfield,
Towamensin, Upper Dublin, Upper Hanover, Whitpain, and Worcester.
It was not until 1853 that Montgomery County had all possible
districts listed as "accepting" and establishing public schools. With
regard to the 1832 Common School Act and its relationship to the education
of the poor, such was the force of resistance against this mandate across
the state that a substitute act was attempted in 1835 that would have
gutted the education-for-everybody philosophy; only the education of the
poor would have been covered by the 1835 version, but it went down to
defeat because of the vigorous support of the 1834 Act by Thaddeus Stevens,
a legislator. A special act of 1843 addressed the education of the poor in
the non-accepting districts, thus providing a comprehensive link between
the earlier poor law concepts and the newly emerging common schools. This
brings us up to the point of linking with the detailed information which
the authors of this work (Mrs. Meier et al.) have compiled for you, the
reader. I thank Mrs. Meier and her colleagues for their intensive and
highly useful work, and I wish the readers the best of luck in finding
their ancestors!
LIST OF POOR CHILDREN TO BE EDUCATED AT COUNTY EXPENSE
1810
Jonathan Craft 1 Child
Andrew Fritz 2 Children
Jacob McVaugh 2 Children
1813
William Goodwin George
George Fritz Michael Myers 8
Ann Vanhorn Mary 10
Joseph Williamson Margaret 6
Priscilla 8
Conrad Myers George
Daniel Green William
1814
James Butler Agnes
Ann Vanhorn Mary
Ann Vanhorn lizabeth
......................The
End
?
Now we come to one of my favorite parts of this Newsletter, this is
the time when we get to meet one or our cousins, and for April, please
help me to welcome Charles Francis Yarnall, as"The Family Circle Person of
the Month"...... Charles Francis Yarnall comes to us through the Francis
line - as his name would suggest, as follows: Charles Francis Yarnall (10),
son of John Yarnall (9), son of Francis De Sales Yarnall (8), son of James
Mordecai Sprigg (7), s/o Peter (6), s/o Mordecai (5), s/o Peter (4), s/o
Mordecai Jr. (3), s/o Mordecai Sr. (2), son of Francis Yarnall (1). Charles
Francis Yarnall reports that....... "I grew up at 100 W. 2nd Street in
Cumberland MD where my parents still live, and I attended Virginia Ave.
Elementary School, Washington Jr. High and Fort Hill High School all in
Cumberland MD. I have a BS degree from Frostburg State University (Md) and
attended music graduate school at the following Universities, Towson State
University (Md), Westchester State University (Pa) -- (Where an incredible
amount of Yarnall's still live- Though I never have met any from there),
Frostburg State, The University of Kentucky, and finished my Masters
equivalency at the Vandercook College of Music in Chicago. I've been
teaching in the public schools of Md for 20 yrs., and also teach privately
one evening per week. I play on an ON CALL basis throughout my community
whenever anyone needs a trumpet player or brass group and I even still play
occasionally with a local big band (but we only get together a few times
each year) I used to play with a few rock & roll groups during the 70's,
but big band or jazz is my preference. I taught HS Band at Allegany High
School in Cumberland, Md where we were consistently ranked as one of the
top HS bands in our state and region. Three years ago I transferred into an
elementary resource Instrumental music job which sends me to four different
schools where I teach a total of 260 instrumentalists each week. I made the
move to elementary schools in order to spend more time with my family. My
life was almost out of control before with performances, rehearsals and
road trips. I spent a lot of time touring on the road. Things are slower
now and much more enjoyable. I teach: Flute, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass
clarinet, oboe, bassoon, Alto, Tenor and Bari Sax. Trumpet, French Horn,
Trombone, Baritone, Tuba and Percussion. I play a little of all the above
in addition to being a dirt ball piano player(What I mean by this is my
skills are more geared towards playing by ear or improvisation on the piano
as opposed to legit style playing). Obviously I'm better at some than
others. I was a trumpet major in college and consider myself best on the
trumpet. During the summers I work at Frostburg State University as the
"Projects Director" for a summer camp entitled "Camp Hope." This is a camp
which runs for four weeks every summer where we rehab and do emergency
repairs for over 50 low income homeowners each year. Similar in nature to
the Habitat for Humanity(We rehab for current owners, they build from the
ground up then sell to a new owner) During
the past 9 summers I have drawn up and supervised the repairs of over 450
low income homes in Allegany County, Md. I survey the home applicants and
make determinations if we can handle
the job, then I assign it to a team, buy the materials and get a crew
humming on the repairs. It keeps me busy and gives me a much needed break
every summer from the music education business. I currently live - and in
all probability will never move from, Frostburg MD. Frostburg is a small
town of about 9,000 located 10 miles west of Cumberland. This section of
Maryland is mountainous, and I live near the top of a ridge with the woods
as my back yard, yet right near the heart of town. Lots of wildlife in the
area, in fact we had a Black bear rummaging around our backyard one day
last summer. It scared my wife and children to death." Charles reports that
he enjoys camping with his family and that they have a travel trailer which
they use to spend a few weeks at the shore every summer. He also enjoys
Motorcycles and Dirt Bikes - He has a few in his basement, but nothing that
runs at the moment. He and the family go to a few pro races as spectators
every summer for the fun of it, and his oldest brother John, raced
professionally during the 70's and was nationally ranked. Charles also
enjoys snow skiing, boating, bicycling and fishing. His parents have a
summer home at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland where they also spend a
good deal of time, but mostly he enjoys spending time with his wife Patty
Ann (Byers) Yarnall and three children; Julia Christina Yarnall, Justin
Charles Yarnall, and Joseph William Yarnall.
?
Last month we talked about the need for us to be aware and
concerned with out children's environment, and while we were not able to
control most of their surroundings, we could control their immediate
environment. All we need to do is to look at the headlines in the local
papers to see what we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. A
recent article from the Philadelphia Inquirer headlined "Experts split over
the reasons for rise in teenage drug use".......and goes on to state.....
WASHINGTON -- America's war on teenage drug use is faltering, and the
villains in the struggle may be parents and the media, some experts say.
Fresh statistics yesterday from the Department of Health and Human Services
confirmed the seriousness of the problem. A federally funded national
survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders found that more of them tried
cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol, as well as cocaine, heroin and LSD, in
1996 than in 1995. More students also were using the drugs regularly. Most
alarmingly, the largest rates of increase were among the youngest children,
the survey found. The new numbers prompted finger-pointing in every
direction. Federal officials called for increased prevention efforts -- on
the federal and local level. State and local officials say they need more
federal aid. But many experts said the problem is cultural -- parents and
the media sending dangerously mixed messages to young Americans. Others
said students no longer believed what school educators were telling them
about drugs. 'We all talk about what the federal government is or is not
doing when these reports come out, but the real change comes not from
depleted coca fields in Colombia, but in families and homes and parents,'
said Steve Distrian, senior vice president at the nonprofit Campaign for a
Drug Free America, in New York. The annual, authoritative Monitoring the
Future Study is a key resource for those shaping the nation's drug control
strategy. Conducted by the University of Michigan, the study polls 50,000
students at 424 public and private schools. Besides polling use of the
drugs, the study also looked at teens' attitudes toward drugs. 'More young
people are seeing them as not being dangerous and less disapproved by their
peers,' said Lloyd Johnston, the chief scientist who conducted the study,'
These are critical factors.' The experts agreed that the recent decision by
California and Arizona voters to legalize marijuana use for medicinal
purposes would increasingly lead to raised eyebrows when educators tell
children that the drug is harmful. America, they say, is deeply conflicted
about its history with drugs and sending terribly mixed messages about
lighting a joint or getting drunk. Baby boomers who reminisce about their
wild days of the 1960's cut an unimpressive figure when they tell Junior
that marijuana isn't for him. Films and TV sitcoms that fiercely fought
glamorization of drugs in the 1980's -- a decade that saw dramatic declines
in drug use across America -- now subtly celebrate them."....... And this
is coming from the experts, yes, the experts who are split. What does it
mean when EXPERTS are split? If they are experts, how can they be split? It
reminds me of the commercial that we should all be aware of by now where
the guy states the obvious to two apparently emaciated youths, "Come-on,
EAT SOMETHING." Well the answer for us should be as obvious, when we read
about atrocities from car jacking rapes to mass suicides, to concern over
the cloning of humans - concern I might add because of the very real
prospect of someone growing their own supply of body parts. Last month, we
also posed the questions, "Are we really better off than our ancestors",
and "Can we really close our hearts and our mind on what has truly made
this Nation Great? " These are important issues as we pursue our daily
occupations. What is the environment that you are being subjected to, is it
one in which your creator is acknowledged freely, openly, with pride and
with love? Or do you find the mention of Jesus almost an embarrassment;
because a society and a judicial system is attempting to legislate faith
from our daily lives, yet permit the use of drugs for health reasons; a
system that would try to make you feel like a radical if you would think to
tell someone of your faith, and God help you if you would dare to quote
Biblical support for your stance on a social issue. It was not always that
way in America, and again, lets take another look back to our roots with
the help of "The Rebirth of America" by the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation.
WITHOUT MICROPHONE OR TELEVISION
Like the children of Israel, Americans have been prone to forget their
spiritual heritage. In Israel's case, God sent prophets to forestall
judgment. In the nineteenth century and the early part of this century, God
sent to the American scene:
A LAWYER, A SHOE SALESMAN, AND A MAJOR LEAGUE
BALLPLAYER.
In 1830 lawyer Charles G. Finney preached for six months at
Rochester, New York, and saw one hundred thousand souls make a profession
of faith in Jesus Christ. It is estimated that the preaching of Finney, who
founded Oberlin college in Ohio and served as its first president,
influenced change in one half million lives. Finney did not inherit his
religious bent. In his home he never heard the name of God, except in
blasphemy. Though reared in the backwoods of New York state, he emerged to
study law and pursue in Adams, New York, what promised to be a brilliant
legal career. Since Finney's law books contained many references to the
Bible, he bought one for reference. But he always made sure it was hid
under other volumes when anyone else was around. Finney visited the
Presbyterian church in town and found the congregation praying for revival.
The young lawyer offered only scorn and ridicule until young people in the
church, led by the girl Finney would eventually marry, began to pray for
him. The Spirit began to convict of sin. Finney could not eat or sleep.
Finally one evening he fled to the woods on the edge of town,l poured out
his sins to God and found great release. He raced back into town to shout
out the news of his salvation--in offices, in homes, on the street. Within
twenty-four hours he had won twenty-four to the Lord, among them another
lawyer and a distiller! Finney dropped law and began to plead the cause of
Jesus Christ. he launched into evangelism and took onto his team a man
named Nash, who made prayer his sole and all-consuming role. When Finney
preached, Nash stayed behind and prayed. Wherever Finney conducted
campaigns--in London, New York, or elsewhere thousands responded. In
Boston, fifty thousand accepted the Lord in just one week. When Finney
preached in Philadelphia, "a number of lumberjacks who had floated their
logs down the river took in the meeting. Many were converted, and on
returning to their work eighty miles upstream, they took the story of
salvation with them. At home they organized prayer circles, held family
devotions, conducted simple services. On returning within a year's time
they asked for a minister. Five thousand, the lumbermen reported, had
turned to the Lord in their region--and they were without a preacher!"
Finney always demanded a verdict on this all--important issue. Many of
those converted went on to exert a profound social impact in their day.
Finney continued as educator and evangelist until his death in 1875.
Chicago can never erase the memory of the great disaster that
befell her little more than one hundred years ago. On an October Sunday
evening in 1871, ominous flames erupted on the city's south side. By
midnight the entire populace was fleeing in panic as the inferno swept
northward block by block, reducing the city to ashes. The great Chicago
fire destroyed both the home and the church of an evangelist named Dwight
L. Moody, along with the impressive Chicago YMCA, which he had founded. But
in Moody's eyes it was not the worst catastrophe that could happen to man.
Far worse that anyone should not hear clearly the gospel. Moody quickly
rebuilt his church and pressed forward. By the time of his death more than
a quarter century later some would estimate his total audience in the tens
of millions. Moody's spiritual life started in the back of a shoe store in
Boston in 1855 when a dry-goods salesman led Moody to Jesus Christ. Moody
soon went west to Chicago and established himself as a first rate shoe
salesman. Moody also began rounding up street urchins from poor section of
Chicago's north side and before long his burgeoning mission Sunday school
hosted hundreds weekly. In 1860 even President-elect Abraham Lincoln
dropped in on Moody's class. In 1873 the rising Moody, with his song leader
Ira Sankey, launched a campaign in the British Isles. Things started
slowly, but they picked up momentum. Crowds grew. The campaign extended
into weeks, then months--first Edinburgh, later Glasgow, finally London.
Thousands were converted, homes were transformed, lives changed--genuinely,
permanently--an impact that would be felt throughout England for decades.
When the campaign closed two years later, all Great Britain was talking
about Moody and Sankey. he later returned for two more highly successful
campaigns. Moody's preaching mission at England's erudite Cambridge
University touched off a spiritual revival that ultimately sent hundreds of
students around the world as missionaries. But back home, America, too,
needed Moody's message, perhaps as never before. The Civil War, like all
wars, had disrupted general morality. People chased after easy wealth.
Corruption penetrated high political office. Before launching a campaign in
Philadelphia, Moody touched off a small revival at Princeton University. At
Philadelphia one evening President Ulysses S. Grant and several of his
Cabinet sat on the Platform. There was the New York campaign of 1876--and
many more to follow in the cities and towns across America, spanning at
least a quarter century until his death during a Kansas City campaign in
1899, just a few days before the turn of the Twentieth Century.
Flash now to the early twentieth century and the impact of a one
time major league ball player named Billy Sunday, who played with the then
Chicago White Stockings. Fans labeled him the only man who could round the
diamond touching every base in fourteen seconds. Billy Sunday received
Christ at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago around the time Dwight L.
Moody founded his Bible Institute two miles away. Sunday continued in pro
ball four more years, until resigning for full time evangelism. his great
physical stamina as a ball player carried over well into his new career,
during which he would preach twenty thousand times! In 1917, in New York,
a million and a half people heard Sunday during a ten week campaign. Some
two million, it is said, gave their hearts to God during the Sunday
campaigns, which spanned a quarter of a century. Sunday would roll up his
sleeves and deliver his sermons macine-gun style, roaming vigorously about
the platform. no one denied his color and showmanship, but there was much
more--the historic gospel that transformed the lives of millions. Three men
out of the nineteenth century helped set great spiritual forces in motion.
There were millions across America whose lives, homes and careers were
salvaged, redirected, transformed, as a direct result. Had not God singled
out a handful of individuals in each century who could help reverse the
inevitable degeneracy in the hearts of men, America by now might have died
as a major nation.......
And now today the warnings and danger signs are evident, and
nowhere more evident than in the statements and actions of our youth; but
where is America in our relationship with the Lord? Where are we in
fulfillment of the commandment to love your brother as ye love yourself?
There are wonderful evangelists - even today, willing to bring the message
and fire to this land, but is America still listening? Have the experts
convinced us that the Bible has no place in the schools, or in the work
place, or in public, but should be hidden in our homes? I believe that
there is still hope, but it will have to begin one family at a time:
Willing to say HERE, EAT SOMETHING, TASTE OF THE WORD. Lets make our family
first.
Much love,
Fred
2Cor. 7:9,10 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that
ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world
worketh death.
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