- DAVID YOUMANS, one of the old settlers of Rock County, and
a highly esteemed farmer-
- citizen of Janesville township, resides in Section 30, upon
a well-cultivated farm.
- David YOUMANS was born in Orange County, N.Y., Dec. 6, 1839,
son of Nehemiah and
- Margaret (KELLEY) YOUMANS, natives of New York. The paternal
grandfather of our subject, David YOUMANS, died in middle life;
he had a large family. The grandfather on the mother's side was
a native of Ireland, but came to American, settling at Newburgh,
N.Y. The family of this gentleman was a very large one, and he
lived to see his children and their children grow up about him,
and died at the age of eighty years. Nehemiah YOUMANS was a blacksmith
by trade. He died in Orange County, N.Y., in 1852, aged about
forty years. In 1849 his wife died, aged thirty-six years; both
attended the Presbyterian Church. To this couple were born six
children, four now living: Annie, wife of Peter COLGAN, of New
Haven, Conn.; David; and Mary and Sarah, both unmarried, and
residents of New Haven, Conn.; George, who was a soldier in the
Civil war, died in Andersonville prison.
- David YOUMANS, our subject, lived in Orange County, N.Y.,
until ten years of age, attending
- the district school at Searsburg. In 1850 he came West to
Wisconsin, in company with George CLELAND and wife, via the great
lakes to Milwaukee, and thence to Center township, Rock County,
by wagon. Here they took up government land, and David YOUMANS
lived with Mr. and Mrs. CLELAND until he grew to mature years.
Later he supplemented his early education by a course at a commercial
college at Madison. In 1875 Mr. YOUMANS purchased his present
farm of about seventy-five acres, which he has brought into a
high state of cultivation.
- On Jan. 21, 1874, David YOUMANS married Miss Nancy THORBURN,
who was born Dec.
- 28, 1843, in Delaware County, N.Y., daughter of George and
Margaret (GLENDENNING) THORBURN and two children were born to
this union: George C., who lives at home, and Ella, who died
in 1888, when a little over eleven years of age. Mrs. YOUMANS
passed away Dec. 11, 1883; she was a consistent member of and
worker in the Congregational Church. Mr. YOUMANS belongs to Footville
Lodge, No. 137, F. & A.M. Politically his affiliations are
with the Democratic party, and he has held the office of district
trustee for twenty-two years. There is no man in Janesville township
who is more representative of the best agricultural interests
of the State than is Mr. YOUMANS, understanding, as he does,
so thoroughly, farming upon modern methods, with latest improved
appliances.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c) 1901, pp. 230-231.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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