My Genealogy Hound

MRS. DANIEL YEAKEL. Mrs. Amanda (Bush) Yeakel, widow of ex-county commissioner Daniel Yeakel, is a native of Northampton county. Her husband was one of the best known residents of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

The Yeakels are an old Schwenkfelder family whose ancestor, Christopher Yeakel, came to Pennsylvania with the great body of that denomination in 1734, accompanied by his mother, Regina Yeakel, who was the widow of Christopher Yeakel, and a sister of David and Christopher Heebner, also prominent Schwenkfelders. Her husband had died in Germany previous to the coming of the Schwenkfelders to Pennsylvania. Regina Yeakel died April 4, 1753, aged sixty-five years and seven months.

Christopher Yeakel (great-grandfather) married Maria, daughter of Susanna and Balthasar Schultz, August 9, 1743. Their children were: Susanna, born 1744; Maria, 1747; Regina, 1749; Abraham (grandfather), March 14, 1752; Anna, 1755; Christopher, 1757. Maria, wife of Christopher, died March 4, 1807, aged eighty-nine years; Christopher died January 3, 1810, aged ninety-one years and nine months. Christopher Yeakel was about eighteen years of age when he came to Pennsylvania with his mother in 1734. He apprenticed himself to a cooper, and continued during his life to follow that occupation. He purchased a tract of land in Springfield township, near Chestnut Hill, and lived there all his life, the land remaining in the family ever since. He built the log house still-standing at Cresheim, Germantown, which was his dwelling until nearly the time of the Revolutionary war, when he purchased the property on the summit of Chestnut Hill, and died there. His descendants are very numerous.

Abraham Yeakel (grandfather) married Sarah, daughter of Christopher Wagner, October 10, 1776. They had six children, as follows: Isaac (father) born November 9, 1777; Samuel, born in 1779, died in infancy; Jacob, 1780; Susanna, 1782; Maria, 1784; Christopher, 1787, died in 1813. Sarah Yeakel died May 28, 1833. Abraham died June 17, 1841. He lived in Springfield township, and occupied the homestead which has been for several generations in the family, having been the home of Daniel Yeakel, and now that of his widow, Mrs. Amanda Yeakel.

Isaac Yeakel (father), son of Abraham and Sarah Yeakel, married Regina, daughter of Andrew Schultz, November 4, 1800. Their children: Jacob S., born October 16, 1802; Sarah, born May 19, 1805; Samuel, June 10, 1807; John, June 10, 1809; Charlotte, November 15, 1811, died June 1, 1854; Emeline, August 25, 1814; Daniel, husband of the subject of this sketch; Mary, November 7, 1818; David W., December 30, 1821. Isaac Yeakel died October 23, 1847. He resided where his son Daniel lived, in Springfield township, and where Daniel’s widow now resides. Regina, his widow, died January 16, 1860. Isaac Yeakel was one of the most highly esteemed residents of the community in which he lived. Born on the family homestead, he acquired an education in the schools of the neighborhood, all of them pay schools in his day. He was all his adult life engaged in the occupation of farming. His wife, Regina Schultz, belonged to a family that resided in the same vicinity.

Daniel Yeakel, husband of Mrs. Amanda Yeakel, was born on the homestead in Springfield township, March 27, 1816. He was educated in the neighborhood schools and in a select school at Chestnut Hill, and then engaged in farming on the homestead and so continued until he retired from active labor some years prior to his death. He was a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and ranked among the party leaders for many years in Montgomery county Republicanism. He was elected to the office of county commissioner, serving very acceptably, and being re-elected at the end of his term. His strict integrity and devotion to principle gained for him the respect of the entire community. He was treasurer of the old Bethlehem turnpike company for many years. He was a member of the Masonic Order, and took an active interest in everything that related to the welfare of those around him. He and his family attended St. Peter’s Lutheran church, at Barren Hill. Mr. Yeakel died in May, 1903.

Daniel Yeakel was twice married. His first wife was Amanda, daughter of Adam Heilig. They were married in 1845, and Mrs. Yeakel died in 1849. He married (second wife), June 2, 1868, Amanda, daughter of John Bush. She was a native of Northampton county, but lived at Lansdale at the time of their marriage. Their children: Emma B., born December 8, 1869; D. Dawson, born March, 1871. Emma B. Yeakel married John Faber Miller, son of William (deceased) and Caroline R. Miller, now a prominent member of the Norristown bar. They have three children, Yeakel, Caroline and John F., Jr. D. Daivson Yeakel married Mary Larzelere.