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Including:
----NC Yoder Reunion- "YNC in Y2K"
----Yoder Immigrants to America
----David Yoder of North Carolina
----Yoder Video Available
NORTH CAROLINA YODERS HOST WONDERFUL GATHERING - "YNC IN Y2K"
Family Gathers Around Conrad Yoder Marker
From Aug. 11-13, the "Yoder Family in North Carolina"
(YNC) hosted their second National Reunion of the Yoder family.
This event coincided with their own 50th annual reunion, and the
beginning of the new millennium (Y2K-Year 2000). Yoder family
members came from 22 states to attend, and represented not only
the Conrad line, but also the Oley Valley Yoders, the Mennonite
Yoders descended from "Hans of Great Swamp", the Melchior
Yoder line, and the Amish Yoder lines.
For a memorable array of photographs from the events, see the
"centerfold" on pages 4-5, and for an overview of the
activities see the press release as follows:
YODER REUNION TO FEATURE MEETING OF NOTED RESEARCHERS- 50TH ANNUAL EVENT TO BE HELD IN CATAWBA COUNTY AUG. 11-13
OBSERVER-NEWS-ENTERPRISE, AUGUST 9, 2000
The Yoder Family in North Carolina, in conjunction with their
50th Annual Reunion, will host a gathering of the entire Yoder
Clan on Aug. 11-13 in Hickory and Newton.
Similar events occurred in Catawba County in 1995 and in Reading
and Pleasantville, Pa. in 1996. Yoders from a number of family
lines representing at least 22 states will come together to celebrate
their common heritage. "The Yoder Newsletter" based
in Goshen, Ind. is again sponsoring this event, and editor Chris
K. Yoder of Battle Creek, Mich., and co-founder and noted Amish
genealogist Rachel Kreider of Goshen will be in attendance.
Dr. Don Yoder of Devon, Pa, will be the featured speaker for the
event. He is perhaps the world's foremost authority on German
and Swiss immigration to the New World. Also making presentations
or in attendance will be Amish Mennonite Yoder researcher Virgil
Yoder of Pittsburgh, Oley Valley researcher Dick Yoder of Bechtelsville,
Pa. and Neal Wilfong and, Hubert Yoder, historians and researchers
for the North Carolina branch. These participants will make up
the first and largest personal meeting ever of these noted researchers.
Other special guests this year include Greensboro native Edwin
M. Yoder, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from The Washington
Post, and the children and grandchildren of the late Fred Roy
Yoder, professor of sociology at Washington State University and
author of "History of the Yoder Family in North Carolina.'
The weekend will begin Friday night at 7 p.m,, at the Quality
Inn with a get-acquainted and orientation session. On Saturday
morning beginning at 8a.m., buses will transport participants
on a guided tour of the City of Hickory and Lenoir-Rhyne College,
founded by Dr. Robert Anderson Yoder, where his portrait, his
1886 map of Catawba County, his diaries. and other items will
be displayed in the Belk Centrum, which features a memorial to
Dr, Yoder at its entrance. Virgil Yoder of Pittsburgh, Pa, will
present his slide show "Pilgrimage of Faith: The Yoders in
Switzerland and America from St. Joder to Yost Yoder and Beyond"
in the Centrum auditorium beginning at 9:15 am. Local family members
and friends are urged to attend this session.
The group will then proceed through the old "Yodertown"
area (including the home site and final resting place of North
Carolina progenitor Conrad Yoder); Grace Union Church (founded
1795 by Yoders and the burial ground of many Yoders, including
Conrad's sons John and David, and Col, George M. Yoder, Catawba's
19th- century historian); and Old St. Paul's Church (founded 1760,
first church in Western NC.).
At 1:30 p.m. the session will begin at the Catawba County Museum
of History in the 1924 Courthouse on the square n Newton. Many
Yoder artifacts, including the Conrad Yoder family Bible and a
remnant of Henry Weidner's deed to Conrad Yoder, are in the museum's
permanent collection. Dick Yoder of Bechtelsville, Pa. will present
a slide show on the earliest Yoder settlers in America, brothers
Hans and Yost, who came to the Oley Valley of Pennsylvania in
1710. Also at the Museum on Saturday, the children and grandchildren
of Fred R. Yoder, Ph.D., who have generously returned many Yoder
artifacts to North Carolina and funded the history's reprinting
in memory of Dr. Yoder and his work, will be present to help dedicate
both the Yoder collection and his book. All local family members,
friends and interested persons are cordially invited to this session.
The-banquet Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. will be held in the Zion
Lutheran Church Parish Center, located on Zion Church Road off
of N.C. 127, south of Hickory in the Mountain View community.
The Sigmon Stringers bluegrass band from Newton will open the
session. Don Yoder, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University
of Pennsylvania, will be the featured speaker Dr Yoder is a contributor
to the Yoder Newsletter and one of the world's foremost scholars
on Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and the immigration of Germanic-
speaking people to the New World. He has authored and edited many
books and articles and has traveled and researched extensively
in both Germany and Switzerland. He is a co-founder of the Kutztown
Folk Festival and of "Pennsylvania Folklife" magazine.
He is descended from the earliest Oley Valley Yoder immigrants,
and counts at least three separate lines of Yoder descent in his
genealogy. Only a few tickets remain for the meal, but interested
persons are invited to hear the music and Dr Yoder's talk.
On Sunday morning at 10 a.m., an ecumenical Yoder clan worship
service will be held in the 1886 chapel of Zion Church. The Rev.
Dr. J. Larry Yoder, professor of Religion at Lenoir Rhyne College
and pastor of Grace Church, will lead the service. Marcus Yoder
(first mayor of Hickory) provided some of the original funds to
build this chapel, and its bricks were hand-molded at the Conrad
Yoder home site and at the near-by Reuben Yoder mills.
After the service in the Zion Parish Center there will be a picnic
lunch for the 50th Annual Yoder Reunion and a chance to view the
many Yoder displays brought for the reunion, including Conrad
Yoder is original Bible (ca. early 1700s). The Yoder Store will
feature commemorative T-shirts illustrating many variations of
the spelling of the Yoder name superimposed with a map showing
Yoder immigration routes. Knit golf shirts featuring an authentic
Yoder coat-of-arms will also be available,
The North Carolina Yoder Reunion traces its origins to birthday
dinners held in August for Catawba County's first historian Col.
George M. Yoder of the Blackburn community during the early part
of the 20th century.
Yoders in the United States are of Swiss origin. The name Yoder
(Joder in Swiss German) is derived from Saint Theodore (later
abbreviated to Saint Joder), one of the Christian missionaries
who brought the Christian message into the Swiss Alps in the Middle
Ages. August 16 is still celebrated as St. Joder's Day in the
Swiss Reformed Church.
Only Conrad Yoder migrated to the southern colonies (North Carolina),
bringing a Mennonite hymnal with him. His children later joined
Lutheran and Reformed Churches.
North Carolina Yoders are descendants of Conrad Yoder, who came
to America around 1746 and probably lived in the Oley Valley region
of Pennsylvania. He followed Henry Weidner (Whitener), Catawba
County pioneer, to this area around 1747. In 1762, he purchased
200 acres of land from Weidner and married Christina Klein (Cline),
daughter of Sebastian Klein, whom he probably met while attending
services at the Dutch Meeting House, later known as Old Saint
Paul's Church. They had three children. After her death, he married
a Miss Seitz from Germany, and then Catherine Huffman, with whom
he had five other children.
Three of those children, John, David and Catherine (who married
John Baker) remained in the area. Three other brothers, Jacob,
Elias and Daniel, moved in 1815. to. the new state of Indiana,
and Adam went to Georgia. Elizabeth died in infancy. John and
David married sisters of the Reep family.
Conrad Yoder and his close neighbors, Henry Weidner, George Wilfong,
John Hahn, and others were patriots during the Revolutionary War,
supporting the American cause for independence by making a covenant
under the oak, an event which influenced Lincoln and Catawba County
society and politics for over a century. Through family marriages,
Conrad Yoder is the direct ancestor to the Yoder, Baker, and Blackburn
families and many members of other Catawba County families including
the Blackweider, Deitz, Hahn, Huffmam, Reep, and Shuford families,
and have long standing close family ties to the Ramseur, Whitener,
Jarrett, Wilfong, Seitz and other local families. In addition
to those mentioned above, other Conrad Yoder family members earned
distinction: Hyrle Yoder, city manager; Monroe Craig Yoder, professor
of biology at LR; Julian Clifton Yoder, professor of geography
at Appalation State University; Colin M. Yoder, teacher and political
leader; Frank Yoder, dermatologist and cancer researcher; and
Paul van Buskirk Yoder, band music composer.
All Yoder family and friends are urged to attend the reunion events
and encouraged to bring to mementos, photographs or artifacts
to share on display either at the Catawba County Museum on Saturday
or at Zion Lutheran Church on Sunday. Designated family staff
members will be to secure and protect the historic items while
on display. Everyone is asked to bring a large picnic to share
with the out-of-town guests on Sunday.
The descendants of Hans and Yost Yoder of the Oley Valley are
planning another national reunion next July in Reading, Pa.
YODER IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA
Over the last 17 years, the YNL has presented detailed articles
on different lines of our family. Not since our first issue (YNL1)
have we provided an overview of ALL the major lines. We've learned
quite a bit since that initial issue and decided that it's about
time to do so again. During a session at the Yoder Reunion, editor
Chris Yoder handed out and discussed a graphic overview of the
various Yoder immigrants. A copy of this chart is included with
this article. This summary was subtitled "A Rose by Any Other
Name" and went on to list of the different spellings which
apply to living Yoders in the United States today. These include:
Yoder. Yoders, Yother, Yothers, Youther, Yotter, Jotter, Joder,
Ioder, Yetter.
We break the Yoder family into eight major groups, roughly listed
in the sequence of their arrival. These begin with the Yoders
of the Oley Valley (Berks Co., Pa.), followed by the Mennonite
Yoders led by Hans Joder of Great Swamp (Bucks/Lehigh Co, Pa),
then the Amish Yoders of the 18th and early 19th century, then
Conrad Yoder (founder of the North Carolina clan); the family
of Melchior Yoder (naturalized in 1765), a variety of Alsatian
immigrants (also often Amish) who arrived from the 1820s up to
the civil War, German Yoder/Yotters who arrived from the 1820s
through the end of that century, and several miscellaneous folk.
An asterisk (*) appears beside those immigrants whose ancestry
can be traced to the Joders of Steffisburg, Switzerland. The Old
World links on the rest remain to be figured out. Under each column
are some dates and major events for the line, major states in
which descendants live today, and the spellings of the surname
which are represented today. The code for the family as it is
appears in the files of the Yoder Homepage is also shown in parentheses
(e.g. "AL"). Major YNL articles on each line are also
identified.
It is interesting to speculate on the relationships between the
different families. As described in YNL16, letters were written
from the Melchior Yoder family in Pa. to Conrad Yoder in North
Carolina. Melchior lived in a Mennonite community during his initial
years in Pa. The History of the Yoder Family in North Carolina
reports that Conrad "brought a Mennonite Hymnbook" with
him when he came from Pennsylvania. Were these lines interrelated
and connected to the Mennonite Hans Joder of Great Swamp? Will
the origins for all three families in the Old World be found together
someday?
The Oley Valley (Reformed) Yoders are connected through European
records back to the family of Adam Yoder of Steffisburg. This
line was the first to be so identified, due in large part to the
efforts of Dr. Don Yoder of Devon, Pa.
Samuel Joder, the father of the last of the immigrants in the
Amish column (Michael Yoder-YRC), wrote two letters to his "dear
cousin" Schweitzer Christian" Yoder (YR23) in Somerset
Co, Pa. The Samuel Joder link to Steffisburg is known. That of
his "cousins" remain speculative.
Due to recent research in France and Germany, several of the Alsatian
and German Yoder immigrants (many of whom were Amish) can now
be linked back to the Steffisburg families. How do these lines
relate to those of the 18th century Amish immigrants? We don't
yet know. But it would appear certain that they do so---the original
Amish groups were rather small.
Under the "Other" heading, Jacob the immigrant of 1753
would appear likely to have been related to some of the Amish
lines, sue to some of the families he associated with (See YNL29).
--Contributed by Michael Billy Huffman
David Yoder (1799-1896)
David Yoder, son of David and Elizabeth Reep Yoder, was a grandson
of the North Carolina pioneer Conrad Yoder. He was born Sept.
22, 1799, one of 10 children. He married the former Ruth Wilson,
(Feb.26,1794-Aug.14,1871) daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret Wilson.
To this marriage were born five children: Elisha (1827-1858);
Franklin (1830-1840); Ruth Elizabeth (Betty) (1832- 1921); Letitia
(1835-1860); and Julian (Julie) Ann (1838-1926).
David died Sep.5, 1896. He, his wife and all five children are
buried at the Old Thessalonica Baptist Church Cemetery in the
Blackburn Section. The church no longer stands, but the cemetery
remains.
Ruth Wilson Yoder inherited land from her father's estate on Potts
Creek, and later she and her husband bought the shares of other
members of the Wilson family, who had moved to Tennessee. David
Yoder was a farmer and a cooper. He lived quietly with his family,
somewhat remote from the main highways, and "off the beaten
tracts". The fine oak woodland on his farm supplied him with
the timber for staves used in his cooperage shop.
The Yoder log homes, built by David himself were built in the
early 1820s. There were two separate buildings, one known as the
main house and sleeping quarters and the other was the kitchen.
Two of his daughters lived at the homestead until their deaths
in the 1920s. Ruth Elizabeth (Aunt Betty) and Julian Ann (Aunt
Julie) both lost their sweethearts in the Civil War, so they never
married.
YODER VIDEO IS NOW AVAILABLE!!! "PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH: THE YODERS IN SWITZERLAND AND AMERICA FROM ST. JODER TO YOST YODER AND BEYOND"
Rita Yoder Sells a Video to Richard Yoder of Bechtelsville, Pa.
Virgil Yoder's slide show and its inspiring story of our Yoder
Heritage have been a centerpiece at national Yoder gatherings
since 1994. We are pleased to announce that this approximately
45 minute long story has now been reproduced and is available
on video. Hold your own Yoder family reunion, large or small,
anyplace around the world and make the video the cornerstone for
your program.
Get your own copy of this family treasure for $25 (post paid).
Order from Virgil E. Yoder, 110 Northumberland Rd., Irwin, Pa.
15642. If you have any questions, write Virgil at: VEYoder@aol.com
.
The Yoder Newsletter- Founded 1983 by
Ben F Yoder (1913-1992); Chris Yoder & Rachel Kreider
FROM THE EDITORS
Chris Yoder, Editor, Battle Creek, MI; John W. Yoder, Circulation
Manager, Middlebury, IN; Rachel Kreider, Senior Contributing Editor,
Goshen, IN; Esther E. Yoder, Mail Manager, Goshen, IN; Donald
Kauffman, YNL Homepage Webmaster, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Other
Contributors: Richard H. Yoder, Bechtelsville, PA; Hubert A. Yoder,
Charlotte, NC; Dorothy Yoder Coffman, Malvern, PA; Dr. Don Yoder,
Devon, PA; Neal D. Wilfong, Cleveland, NC; and Dr. Delbert Gratz,
Bluffton, OH
I greatly enjoyed the recent article on the history of Yoder,
Oregon. I have much of that information in a hand written letter
sent to me by my "cousin Perry" (Orlando Perry) Yoder
when I was working on a family tree in the 5th grade (slightly
before the YNL!) Our last visit to Yoder for the annual reunion
at the Smyrna Church (1st Sunday in August) two years ago revealed
that the house of Levi D. Yoder, near the Yoder Store, where my
father, Joseph B., grew up, had finally succumbed to age and neglect
and is no longer there. But we do have photos from previous visits.
Keep up the good work!
----Doug Yoder, Florida
--- I had an opportunity last month to again visit Ohio and
have developed some new information and have other updates....
Perhaps the most important piece of info I found was the death
certificate for Homer E. Yoder (YR142238). In that document his
mother's maiden name is listed as Hannah Ridge. This confirms
that the Jacob H. Yoder was the same Jacob Yoder that you listed
as being married by the Rev. John Wallace in your General Courthouse
and Area Records from Lancaster, PA. Hopefully this helps confirm
that he was the son of John Yoder (YR1422). It appears that they
both moved from PA to OH about the same time and perhaps together.
Jacob H. moved sometime between 1847 - 1849 and John appears to
have moved between the time his wife died in Juniata Pa in 1846
and 1850. John's two brothers (Jacob and Nicholas) were already
there. I was always concerned about the information on Homer E.
Yoder--mainly because his name was so different ...and the fact
that census records have an NR in the relationship column (was
that Not Related or Not Recorded?). After I found his death certificate
and saw his full name (Homer Eddie), it dawned on me that minister
that married his brother John (my great great grandfather) in
the same year that he was born was named Homer Eddy. Perhaps a
close friend of the family? You had an article in the YNL on the
Jacob Yoder stone house near Berlin, OH. I visited it an met two
wonderful Amish people (Fanny and Noah Schlabach). They were very
cordial and gave my father and I fantastic tour of the house and
surroundings. Sure was nice to meet some unknown relations (their
g-g-grandfather and my probable g-g-g-g-grandfather were brothers)
even if somewhat distant. They were very interested in the lineage
that I could show them from your and AAMG efforts. They are both
in their 70's and still farm a 100 acre spread.
--Regards, Ed Yoder, Crossville, Tn
--- From a descendant of OH111325 Bartolette Y Yoder (1843 PA-1906
NM) .."I found out that Bartolette C Yoder 3rd was named
after his Grandfather in his middle name Coolidge (as in the president).
And I found out that his wife's Great Grandfather is Aaron Burr.)
(Note from: "vincent8274" <vincent8274@yahoo.com>
--- Hi ,-- Don't know how interested you are in racing but
I've been a big fan for many years. Following are 2 links to some
more prominent Yoder names in racing -- 1 a driver and 1 a team
owner. http://www.yoderracing.homestead.com/index.html ; http://www.shaneyoder.com/
Keith Yoder-- Centreville, VA
---
I was so happy to get this last copy with the story about the
Oregon Yoders. I was beginning to think you were ignoring us......I
was in Oregon two years ago and stopped at the Yoder store looking
for pictures of the store but they didn't have any. When I was
a young girl one of my uncles ran the store and I spent quite
a bit of time there. My father taught school at Neeley in the
1920's and then we moved to Washington. In 1947 I moved to Alaska
and have remained here ever since.
--Eileen Schneider, Anchorage, AK
--- Chris--It seems to me that you wanted names of people that
lived to 100+.Here's one: Emma E. Yoder (YR23b454) b. 11/1/1867
Waterford(?), Ind. m. Hiram Eugene Wiltfong 6/9/1892 Mitchell,
Ks d. 12/15/1967 Cordell, Ok (100-1-14) Note: Her oldest, daughter
Pearl Wiltfong, b. 9/7/1893 KS, d. 7/19/1995 KS (101-10-12)
----Jim Yoder
--- My grandfather was Charles Frances Yoder, and he came as
a missionary to Argentina in the year 1912. My Mother was Eleanor
May Yoder, married to Egydio Romanenghi. I was born in Argentina
and have recently retired from the National University of Tucumán,
where I taught Philosophy of History for 20 years.
----Elsie Romanenghi Yoder, edpowell@punillanet.com.ar
NEW FILES AT THE YODER HOMEPAGE: YODER CENSUS RECORDS: IL-1920;WVA-1900;WY-1910;WY-
1920;WI-1900; NE-1880; NE-1900; KS-1880; MI-1900. GENERAL FILES-BERNCENS-
1790 Joder Census of Bern Switzerland; GA- MISC- misc records
of Georgia; and Excerpts from the CALIFORNIA DEATH INDEX (1905
- 1994) (YODER and like family names) contributed by Jim Yoder
(see file named cal-recs.doc)
Lucy of the Trail of Tears- Latest novel by James D. Yoder, is now available. Dr. Yoder, a graduate of Goshen College, Cent. Mo. State, and U of Mo-KC, and resides in Hesston, Ks. This gripping 347 page novel is based on the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and tells the story of Cherokee Lucy Drake. It can be ordered from Xlibris Toll-Free 1-888- 795-4274 or Books@Xlibris.com . paperback $18, hardback $25. For more information contact the author at email: JNLY@Southwind.net
(Photo)
Thanks to Clyde Nafzinger of Wilmington,Delaware for this photograph of Eli M. Yoder (1844-1905) (YR12868) founder of the town of Yoder, Kansas. We featured this town in a YNL3 article by David Luthy. Eli was the son of Bishop Solomon Yoder of the Long Green, Maryland Amish congregation- who was covered in a sketch by H. Harold Hartzler in YNL8. Eli left the Amish, and went to Kansas where he met and married a non-Amish girl named Mary Young. Among the young men who followed him there was his nephew, John Nafzinger, who met and married Mary's sister Emma. Yoder, Kansas is located in Reno County, a few miles southeast of Hutchinson. A small park in Yoder's main square contains a granite marker that gives some of the history of the town.
Nancy Yoder Yoder Suddeth (Con533) (12/22/1834 IN-4/18/1905IL)
Thanks to Lynne Melchior Blanscet (Little Rock, Ark. <lmblanscet@earthlink.net>) for providing this wonderful photograph of her ancestress Nancy Yoder Yoder Suddeth. (Con533). Nancy was the granddaughter of Elias Yoder who died in 1817 in Clark Co., Indiana. Elias was the fifth child of Conrad Yoder of NC. Nancy's father John Yoder married Nancy Jane Suddeth in 1851 as his second wife. Nancy then, in 1852, married Wm. James Suddeth, her step brother by this marriage. She died at the County Home in Marion County, IL and is buried in "county Home Cemetery".
WISCONSIN vs YODER-For a research project, I'm hoping to make contact with the Jonas Yoder who lived in New Glarus, Wisconsin (late 1960's-1970's). Was involved in the Historic Supreme Court decission "Wisconsin vs Yoder". Anyone having information regarding Jonas and his family can contact me at: Shawn F. Peters" <sfpeters@facstaff.wisc.edu> 1306 Eberhardt Ct. Madison, WI 53715
CHRISTMAS GIFT subcriptions to your favorite non-subscribing Yoders? Order now and ask to start with the current printed issue!
!!THANKS TO THE NC YODERS FOR THEIR HOSPITALITY!!
IF YOU HAVE A FAMILY QUESTION, OR DATA TO SHARE, WRITE: CHRIS YODER AT: 75757.3371@COMPUSERVE.COM
OLEY YODER UPDATES
Our annual Yoder reunion was held on July 15, 2000, at the Oley Fire Company and it was a huge success. We had seventy people in attendance. The lunch was delicious and enjoyed by all. We followed lunch with a talk on "Indian Lore of the Oley Valley" which was very interesting. We also had a short course on "How to Get Started in Genealogy" followed by an auction of donated items.Our next big project is planning the National Reunion to be held July 20-21, 2001. Some of the highlights will be an Amish tour of Berks County, an Oley Valley tour, a Revolutionary militia encampment depicting Yoder involvement, Pennsylvania Dutch food and more. We will have available for sale: golf shirts, T-shirts, hats and memory books. Watch for more information in the next YNL and on the Yoder web page.
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