My Genealogy Hound

ADAMS YUND, the owner of one of St. Joseph Township’s fine fruit farms, and a prominent citizen of Berrien County, was born in Yates County, N. Y., on the 19th of December, 1847. He is the son of Samuel Yund, a native of Pennsylvania, who removed to New York State in his childhood, and grew to manhood in Yates County, his youth being devoted mainly to farm work. In the Empire State he married Miss Deborah, the daughter of Aaron Putney, and the young couple, locating in Yates County, made it their home until 1853. During that year they removed to Michigan and made settlement in Bainbridge Township, Berrien County, where Mr. Yund purchased a tract of land. This he cleared and improved and devoted to agricultural purposes, and at the present time (1893) he still makes it his home, having now attained to the advanced age of seventy-six years.

In the parental family there were four children: Adams; Eleanor J., the wife of W. Peters, a resident of St. Joseph Township; Philip James, who is a farmer of Bainbridge Township; and Charles Aaron, .who is a railroad employe. At the age of six years, our subject accompanied his parents to Michigan, and grew to manhood upon his father’s farm in Bainbridge Township. In his youth he was the recipient of common-school advantages, and the knowledge acquired under the supervision of his instructors has been supplemented by a general course of reading and close observation, so that he is now a well-informed man.

The marriage of Mr. Yund occurred October 7, 1868, and united him with Miss Clara, daughter of Harvey Austin, a prominent resident of Calhoun County, Mich. Mrs. Yund was born in the same county, where, with the aid of fair educational advantages and wise training on the part of her parents, she grew to a noble womanhood, well fitted to become the efficient helpmate of her husband. For five years following his marriage, Mr. Yund resided in Keeler Township, Van Buren County, where he operated land which he had purchased. Upon coming to Berrien County, he bought his present property, in 1873, and through the improvements which he has added, has materially increased the value of the place.

The deepest bereavement of Mr. Yund’s married life was the loss of his son, Irving H., his only child, a bright and promising young man twenty-two years of age, who was killed at Minneapolis, Minn., on the 5th of September, 1892. Just prior to his death he had been appointed conductor on the Great Northern Railroad, and while his car was passing through a covered bridge he was struck by the bridge and almost instantaneously killed. Mr. and Mrs. Yund occupy a high position socially, and are held in the highest regard by their neighbors and acquaintances. They are people possessing genuine worth of character and high nobility.

The farm belonging to Mr. Yund consists of ten acres in a high state of cultivation, and is devoted to the raising of all varieties of small fruits. A Republican politically, he has served as Highway Commissioner, and filled other local positions of trust. He, however, is not solicitous of public office, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his business. In his social relations, he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Bennett Lodge at St. Joseph, and is also a member of the encampment.