Whatcom County Obituaries

Surnames Beginning with "Y"


YAW, Vida V. (d. 1925)

Mrs. Vida Viola Yaw, aged 26 years, beloved wife of Torrey Yaw, Lakeway Drive, passed away at a local hospital early Monday morning, May 11, after a short illness. Mrs. Yaw had been a Bellingham resident for the past seven years, and besides her husband is survived by an infant son, Donald Richard Yaw; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Sears, Mayfield, Wash.; six sisters, Mrs. Ella Severns, Mrs. Maud Plant, Mrs. Grace Finstead, Silver Creek, Wash.; Mrs. James Clampitt, Chehalis; Mrs. Belle Cassidy, Adna, Wash; and Mrs. Lottie Stillner, Mayfield, Wash.; and three brothers, John Edward Sears, Walter R. Sears and Kenneth Sears, all of Mayfield, Wash. The body is resting at the Harlow mortuary home, Holly and Forest streets, and funeral announcements will be made later.
(From The Bellingham Herald, May 11, 1925)

YEAGER, George W. (d. 1902)

YELDEN, John (d. 1903)

John Yelden, a member of the Chickasaw tribe of Indians, was struck by northbound freight No. 47 on the Northern Pacific between Lawrence and Nooksack Sunday night at about 8 o'clock and instantly killed. The body was cut in twain and the two section also badly cut and mutilated. The engineer of the freight saw an object on the track but did not know what it was, and when he discovered it was a man it was too late to slow up in time to prevent running him down. The pieces of the body were found scattered in every direction. Yelden had been drinking. He had been working at different mills in the county for some time and had of late been employed at the Griffen shingle mill. He has lived on the coast for about twelve years, and was of a peaceable disposition. He was probably thirty years old. He had not been working for some time. Nothing is known of his relatives.

The body was brought to Whatcom last evening by Acting Coroner Gifford. The latter arrived in Whatcom from a business trip to Seattle on the Geo. E. Starr yesterday morning and at once took the 7:10 train on the Northern Pacific for Wickersham. Arriving at the scene of the accident he put the body in two boxes, which were taken on a hand car by section hands, Mr. Gifford proceeding to Nooksack on a passenger train, which slowed down for him. From Nooksack he went by carriage to Everson, there catching the B. B. & B. C. train due in Whatcom at 5:40. No funeral arrangements have been made.
(From The Weekly Blade, September 30, 1903) Submitted by site coordinator.

YELOKANIM, Chief Jim (d. 1911)

Old Jim is dead! Probably the last head man of the vanishing remnant of the peace loving Nooksacks, has gone to the home of his ancestors. The oldest resident of Whatcom county, whose years covered nearly a half century when Peabody first saw the shores of Bellingham Bay. A middle aged man when general Winfield Scott visited Semiahmoo; when captain George Pickett, after the the hero of that famous charge on the "bloody angle" at Gettysburg shook the starry flag in the face of the British on San Juan island, he yet outlived all of the pioneers who came to this vicinity in their young manhood and womanhood except his lifelong friend Mrs. P. N. Judson of Lynden. In all his five score years he had no real enemy. Friends of the white, Mentor of the redmen; all honored and respected Jim Yelokanim. The writer knew him twenty-seven years, was glad for his friendship, and always found him a man. Gentle, kind and courteous beyond what is expected of one without culture, was Old Jim. He was a man of far more than ordinary sagacity and with education would have taken a front rank among the citizens of the county. Jim was of a deeply religious nature and early in life came to believe in the God of the white man and to oppose the pagan practices of some of his people. Some wise white man in his middle age told him of the evils to his race of whiskey and he became its bitter enemy, making many talks against its use to his own people and took fully as much interest in the campaign against it in Lynden and Bellingham as many another who boast of better information. No one knows just how old he was but the writer is of the opinion after many talks with him that he was nearing his hundredth year. He died quietly after a long illness at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. Emily Williams, Tuesday April 25th, 1911, near Lynden. His funeral will be held Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock.
(From The Lynden Tribune, April 27, 1911) Submitted by site coordinator.

YEOMAN, Caroline H. (d. 1920)

Mrs. Caroline H. Yoeman (sic), for thirteen years a resident of Bellingham, died Saturday, after four weeks’ illness, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. M. O. Millspaugh, 1433 Iron street, at the age of 82 years. The survivors are four daughters and two sons, Mrs. C. D. Lightburn, Yakima; Mrs. A. A. Houck, Los Angeles; Mrs. T. F. Allen, Burbank, Cal.; Mrs. T. F. Edwards, Bloomfield, N.J.; A. E. Yeoman, Los Angeles, and T. P. Yeoman, Rocklin, Cal. Funeral services were held yesterday afternoon at Harry O. Bingham’s parlors, with the Rev. J. C. Harrison, pastor of the Garden Street M. E. church, officiating.
(From The American Reveille, September 19, 1920) Submitted by Merrily Lawson.

YORK, Johanna (d. 1922)

MRS. JOHANNA YORK, PIONEER RESIDENT, IS SUMMONED BEYOND
Mrs. Johanna York, for thirty-three years a Bellingham resident, died Saturday evening at the home of her son, Frank York, 2208 A street, at the age of 73 years, after a long illness. She was a member of the Church of the Assumption, where funeral services will be held Tuesday at 9 a. m., with the Rev. father James F. Barrett officiating. Mrs. York is survived by two sons, Frank York, Bellingham, and Henry York, Seattle, and two daughters, Mrs. William Crapper, Hood River, Ore., and Mrs. Flora Hennes, Bellingham. Her husband, Fred L. York, died in this city thirteen years ago. Interment will occur at Bay View cemetery, under Arthur C. Harlow's direction.
(From The Bellingham Herald, November 6, 1922) Submitted by site coordinator.

YORKSTON, Thomas F. (d. 1917)

Thomas F. Yorkston, aged 45 years, passed away at the family home, 924 Jersey street, on the evening of Wednesday, September 18, after an illness of about three years. Mr. Yorkston had resided in Whatcom county and Bellingham for the past twenty-eight years, and has a large circle of friends who will deeply mourn his loss. Those who survive are Mrs. Yorkston and two sons, Adrian and Herbert Yorkston, of this city; one brother, Mr. J. A. Yorkston, Snohomish, and one sister, Mrs. Mark Owen, of this city. Funeral service will be held Thursday, September 20, at 2 o'clock p. m., from the funeral parlors of Harry O. Bingham, 1319 Dock street, with Rev. W. E. Reagor, pastor of the First Christian church, officiating. Interment will be made in Bay View cemetery.
(From The Bellingham Herald, September 19, 1917) Submitted by site coordinator.

YOUNG, Myron (d. 1896)

Myron Young, one of the oldest settlers in the county, living four miles northeast of Custer, died on Wednesday at ten o'clock. He was one of the prominent farmers of that section and had a good home. Two years ago his left side became paralyzed and from that he never fully recovered although he was able to be around and look after his business. He was buried at Enterprise cemetery on Friday by his Masonic brethren. His family consisted of Mrs. Young, one son and a daughter, the latter being Mrs. Samuel Thompson of Haynie. The death of Mr. Young is the second in the ranks of the old settlers of that neighborhood in a short time, Mr. Milsapp having died only a short time ago.
(From The Daily Reveille, June 21, 1896) Submitted by site coordinator.

YOUNG, Thomas W. (d. 1923)

Thomas W. Young, veteran civil engineer of Whatcom county, where he lived for 33 years, died at his residence in North Bellingham Saturday at the age of 67 years, after a lingering illness. Mr. Young was a familiar character in Bellingham, and it was after him that Young street was named. For a time Mr. Young occupied a house on that street about where Halleck street crosses it. In his younger days was a world-wide traveler. Funeral services will be held at O. R. Hollingsworth's chapel at 2 p. m. Tuesday, with the Rev. James M. Wilson, minister of the First Presbyterian church, officiating.
(From The Bellingham Herald, November 5, 1923) Submitted by site coordinator.

YOUNGS, Fred E. (d. 1944)

YOUNT, Francis M. (d. 1931)

DEATH SUMMONS LYNDEN PIONEER
Death claimed one of Lynden's honored and respected pioneer citizens Sunday when Francis M. Yount, 73, passed away at the family home two and a half miles west of the city. Mr. Yount had been in poor health for several years and had been seriously ill several times during the past twelve months. His final illness was of several weeks' duration. Many friends crowded Knapp and Knapp's Parlors yesterday afternoon for the funeral services. The Rev. Walter Laetsch, pastor of the Lynden Baptist Church, officiated. Burial was made in the Lynden cemetery.

Mr. Yount spent the greater part of his long life in Lynden and the adjoining rural districts. He was born in Iowa on June 1, 1857. Twenty years later, he came to the territory of Washington, and in 1888, he moved to the far northwestern corner of the United States, settling in Lynden. He had made his home in this district since that time. For a number of years, he followed the carpenter's trade in the Lynden district. About twenty years ago, he bought a farm and had been engaged in agriculture since that time. At one time, he was prominently identified with several Lynden lodges. Mr. Yount had a great many friends in Whatcom County and he was loved and honored by all of the early settlers of this community.

A tragic incident connected with the last few weeks of his life occurred in February when his brother-in-law, William Brigham of Mount Vernon lost his life in an automobile accident in the Lynden district while on his way to visit the Lynden pioneer. Mr. Yount was united in marriage in 1894 to Miss Lizzie Gossink, who survives him. In addition to his widow, he leaves two sisters, Mrs. Clara Brigham of Mount Vernon, and Mrs. Martha Winland of Danville, Illinois, and eleven nieces and nephews.
(From The Lynden Tribune, March 12, 1931) Submitted by site coordinator.


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