Tax records indicate that Henry Yockey built a modest structure ($25) on Lot 31 in 1848 and that Lawrence Yockey built a frame house ($275) in 1849. By 1855 the lot value increased to $343, suggesting an improvement by Lawrence Yockey or Adam Steel. By 1910 the value was reduced to $110, and by 1915 it appears that all structures had been removed.

Lot 31 and Lot 32 are located along the steepest side of the ridge on which Miltonsburg was laid out and therefore they are the most difficult building sites.

Henry Yockey

Henry Yockey was the son of Lawrence Sr. and Elizabeth Yockey and the brother of Lawrence Yockey Jr.

Lawrence Yockey

According to an article written by Catherine Foreaker Fedorchak in The Spirit of Democracy, Lawrence Yockey (1795-1874) and his wife Elizabeth (1797-1877) are buried in the Miltonsburg Cemetery. They were both probably born in Rumbach, Germany, and were married when she was about 16 or 17, in 1813/14.

Lawrence Yockey’s will is on file in the Probate Court at Woodsfield, Book 1, page 272. He left the bulk of his property, real and personal, to his wife, Elizabeth and at her death was to go to his 12 sons and daughters in equal portions as follows: Catharine (Yockey) Klouse; heirs of Frederick Yockey; heirs of Henry Yockey; Lawrence Yockey Jr.; Elizabeth (Yockey) Lang (1821-1896); Christian Yockey; Lewis Yockey; Charlotte (Yockey) Gambs (1833-1916); Charles Yockey; John Caper Yockey (born in Miltonsburg in 1838; and Edward Yockey.

According to stories handed down by the family, Lawrence Yockey decided to emigrate to America to avoid conscription in the Prussian Army. His son Lewis was born March 10, 1831, in Rumbach, Germany and when he was six weeks old, the family embarked for the New World, arriving in America when his child was 6 months old. Their journey was made in a sailing vessel. While Lawrence avoided German military service, five of his sons served in the Union Army during the Civil War. They were:
* Charles Yockey, who was married to Melinda Okey
* Phillip Yockey, born in Ohio, who died on the battlefield. His brother Lewis went to bring the body back to Ohio. (Neither Phillip nor his heirs is listed in his father’s will.)
* Henry Yockey, born in Ohio, who died of yellow fever in Florida during the Civil War
* John Yockey, born in 1839 in Miltonsburg, who served in Company G. 22 Regiment, Iowa for three years, including the siege of Vicksburg.
* Edward Yockey, born in 1841 at Miltonsburg, was wounded in the Battle of Antietam and taken prisoner and interred at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. He survived the incarceration and died in 1919 in Smithland, Iowa.

Records show that on March 18, 1833 Lawrence Yockey and John Jacob Dorr came to court and made oath of their intention to become citizens of the United States (Journal 1, page 291) and Lawrence was officially naturalized at the April term of court in 1837 (Journal 2, Page 208). Lawrence Yockey, Jr. is listed in the 1880 census of Wayne County Illinois in Indian Prairie Township.

According to an account by Catherine Foreaker Fedorchak, Elizabeth Yockey, daughter of Lawrence and Elizabeth Yockey, lived near Miltonsburg and, wanting a change of scenery from rural to urban (likely she became tired of milking cows), walked to the river and took a boat for Pittsburgh, probably to visit some friends or relatives. It was there that she met and married Michael Lang (1818-1896). After living in Pittsburgh for a few years they moved to Monroe County and both are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Woodsfield. Elizabeth died when the horse she was driving down the Reservoir Hill became frightened at something and upset the carriage, breaking her neck and killing her.

Oral History

The house on this site burned while Chancey Ankrom had wool sorted in it (probably about 1915). No doubt in part because of the steepness of the lot, it remains empty in 2007.

An alley was supposed to go down over the hill between Lot 31 and Lot 32. The steepness of the site probably contributed to fact that it was apparently never used.