Determining the Dash

Gertrude Vef (l) and Catharine Younker (r), circa 1900.

Living the dash, the idea that the most important details of the story of someone's life are encompassed in the dash between their birth and death dates, e.g. 1850-1936, is an important part of what motivates family historians. (Read Linda Ellis' The Dash, if you're not familiar with it!)

But sometimes determining those anchoring dates for our ancestors can be challenging! Catharine "Katie" Thomas Kibel Younker's headstone includes her date of birth, 18 September 1834, but no death date and trying to narrow it down to a range of years was a project that took years!¹

At the turn of the 20th century, twice-widowed Katie can be found living with her younger sister, Gertrude, also widowed, in Logan County, Illinois, where Catharine moved with her first husband, John Kibel, about 1864.² Kibel died in 1868 and two years later she married my great-great-great grandfather John Hubertus Younker in Logan County on September 8, 1870 and they were enumerated there in the 1880 census.³

Atlanta Argus (Atlanta, Illinois), 
31 May 1912, pg. 1.

Katie and John moved to Nebraska in the mid-1880's and John died there in 1886.⁴ Eventually Katie moved back to Illinois but the loss of the 1890 census makes determining exactly when difficult. John Younker was a veteran of the Civil War (Co. B, 5th Illinois Cavalry), but Katie does not appear in Nebraska's veterans census and the corresponding Illinois schedule was lost. As mentioned, by 1900 Katie is living in Illinois again with her younger sister Gertrude. A decade later 75-year-old Katie is living with a married daughter in Oklahoma.⁵ The discovery of "deceased" written on a returned pension check postmarked in 1912 in Katie's widow's pension file finally helped pinpoint an approximate date of death since pension checks were mailed quarterly.⁶

A distant cousin posted a transcription of Katie's obituary which appeared in an Illinois newspaper but it didn't include a date or the name of the newspaper. On a hunch, I borrowed the Atlanta Argus through interlibrary loan and began a page-by-page search beginning in January of 1912. Finally an obituary exactly matching the transcript was located at the end of May.

Despite several requests, an Oklahoma death certificate has not been located nor has searching available Oklahoma newspapers added any clues. But after years of not knowing when Katie died finally knowing mid-May 1912, feels like a major accomplishment!

                                                     

1. Catharine Thomas Kibel Younker. Find A Grave Memorial 7525363.
2. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Eminence, Logan, Illinois; NARA T623- 311; Enumeration District: 32, Page: 2A, Line: 10; ---- Junker, sister.
3. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. Eminence, Logan, Illinois; NARA T9- 227; Enumeration District: 48, Page: 240C, Line: 35; John H. Yonker.
4. John Hubertus Younker. Find A Grave Memorial 40315565.
5. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. Earlsboro, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma; NARA T624-1271; Enumeration District: 209, Page: 10A, Line: 20; Catharine Junker, mother-in-law.
6. Catharine Younker, widow's pension application no. 468,000; service of John H. Younker (Blacksmith., Co. B, 5th Illinois Cavalry, Civil War); Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934. Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington D.C.