Second Generation

Family of Variant spellings include: Yoakum, Yokum, Yocum, Yocom, Jochem, Yocumb, Yochum, Yochumb, Yokem, etc. (1)

2. Mathias Yoakum.1 Born abt 1698. Mathias died in Botetourt, VA on 18 Feb 1783, he was 85.

2Last Friday, I spent a VERY productive day in the Bedford County [VA]
Courthouse going through original land deeds, wills, marriage and court
records to follow up on two clues I had for the whereabout of the Yoakums
and possibly Frederick See during and shortly after the French and Indian
War. Previously I had found a couple of references in the Augusta Co, VA
court records referring to Felty Yoakum as a "witness from Bedford", and had
proved conclusively that the appraisers and administrator for both Felty
Yoakum and Frederick See were all landowners and residents of Bedford Co.

Now I think I may have found a NEW document (at least I can't find any
mention of the document in other Yoakum histories--but I could be wrong!),
that proves Matthias birth year (the only document I've ever seen with his
age). I also found documents showing he was licensed to operate an ordinary
(inn or tavern) in Bedford in 1761, was exempted from paying levies in 1765
(probably due to his age) and that in 1766, his son Michael was granted
permission to build a mill on the north fork of Otter River. I am fairly
certain now as to their approximate location but need to do a bit more
analysis.

I also found records showing that son Michael married two wives, Ann Boyles
and Mary Downing prior to 1777. Consequently it was Mary Downing Yoakum who charge Michael with bad behavior and "absc'nded" with the dowry as recorded
in numerous court and land transactions.

I am working to transcribe and analyze all of this material which I should
finish in the next week or so. At that point, I'll post it to the list so
that anyone wanting the info can let me know. (Don't tell me now or I'll
forget!!)

But I was just too excited not to share the following immediately! As you
can see, by Matthias's own depostion, he states his age as 66 in 1765. On
another document, I have both his and wife "Helena" "marks", his "MY" and
hers looks like a "3" or reversed "E". Hope you get as much of a kick out
of this as I did!


Sara Patton

Aug 3, 1765: "Cooper's Tryal....The prisoner being Led to the Bar in Costady
[sic] of the Sheriff of this County & being Charged with the Felonisly [sic]
Stealing a horse the propity [sic] of Mathias Yoakum being asked whether he
is guilty or not Saith he is in no wise Guilty there of when upon the Court
Proceeded to the Examination of the Severally Witnesses & the prisoner in
his own Defence where upon it is Considered by the Court that the Prisoner
ought be further Tryed before the Gen'd Court therefore He is remanded to
Prison.

"James Boyd. Aged 24 years being first Sworn'd Desposeth and Saith that some
time last fall he saw Simeon Cooper in Company of Silas Cooper ^ his
Brother^ who was riding a Sorrel Horse which he knew to be the Property of
Matthias Yoakum which he has since been Informed the said Silas & Simeon
Cooper had Stolen from the said Yoakim & further Saith not.
Jas Boyd

"James Richey aged 23 years Deposeth & Saith about 15 Days ago that Simeon
Cooper came to Jno Rickey & this Dept [deponent] asked the -?- sd [said]
Cooper if he was not the man that Stole Yoakums horse which he Denied & said
his Brother Silas Cooper had Swaped [swapped] for the -?- Horse from Conrod
Yoakum and on the Deponant asking him if there was any Witness's of the
bargain said that Peter Keny & Jno Keeny were Present & further Saith not.
James Ritchey

"Peter Keney aged 22 years Deposeth & Saith that sometime lass fall he
happen'd at Conrod Yoakums and he saw Simion Cooper & Silus Cooper
sitting[sic] off a Jorney[sic] as he believes to Pensylvinia [sic] that they
had a Black Mare & a Gray Horse & no Other & that he never hear'd the said
Simeon or Silas Cooper Swapping for sd Sorrel Horse. Further saith not.
Peter Keeney

"Mathias Yoakum aged 66 years Deposeth & saith that some time before last
Christmas he Lost a Sorrel horse with a blaze in his face which he Verely
[sic] believes - Simeon Cooper & Silus Cooper had Stole from him & further
Saith not.
his Mark
Mathias M Yoakum

"This day came James Boyd James Richey, Peter Keeny & Mathias Yoakum &
Severall appeared & acknowledge themselves in debted to our Sovern Lord the
King each in the sum of fifty Pounds of their Goods Chattles lands &
Tenement to levied? & to the King his heirs & -?- Rendered. But Pr
Condition that if the said Boyd Richey, Keny & Yoakum shall Appear before
the Honbl Gen'd Court in October next on the 6th day of the Court & not
Depart without Leave of the Court then...." [unfortunately I did not copy
the next page as I was so excited in finding Matthias's age, I did not read
text to realize it continued on.] Bedford Co, VA Order Bk3:220-221

NOTE: Peter Keeney is one of the witnesses to Mathias Yoakum's will and one
who proved it upon his death.


From: SwedeCraig@aol.com [mailto:SwedeCraig@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 6:26 AM
To: YOCUM-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: New Member on the List

Dear Geoff:
Your pedigree errs in the first three generations: The first three
entries (Heinrich through Francis) did not exist. They were created by the
fertile imagination of Dr. Smith and his correspondents. Your immigrant
ancestor was Matthias Yoakum, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1730s
with his first wife (name unknown) and two sons, Valentine (Felty) and Philip
Paul. His first wife died and he remarried Eleanor (her surname is unknown;
it was not Zeh or See) Your Jacob, who married Elizabeth See, was born by his
second wife.
Sincerely, Dr. Peter S. Craig, F.A.S.G.


From: Jack Ferstel [jwf3885@louisiana.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 7:17 AM
To: YOCUM-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: New Member on the List

This is the first time I have heard that Heinrich does not "exist"! Please
consult the article by the Holland Society Yearbook, which mentions Heinrich Jochems asan arrivee on the ship Der Bever.

It is one thing to say that Heinrich is not our ancestor; it is quite another to
say that there is no documentation of his existence. If Peter Craig can refute the
information in the Holland Society Yearbook article, I invite him to present
it. To be fair, there are some important gaps in the supposed line from Heinrich
to Mathias, but does not mean Heinrich never existed. I have been on this list
for several years and have read a considerable part of the evidence for the
supposed line from Heinrich to Mathias. The Pennsylvania period seems especially
murky, as to where are ancestors lived and worked there. Anyone who can provide this information would be of immense service to many of us researching this family.

Sincerely,

Jack Ferstel
Lafayette, Louisiana

3-----Original Message-----
From: SwedeCraig@aol.com [mailto:SwedeCraig@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 8:22 AM
To: YOCUM-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: New Member on the List

Dear Jack,
If you will read the passenger list of the ship "De Bever" (the Beaver),
dated 9 May 1661 (see pages 182-183 of Volume 1 of NEW WORLD IMMIGRANTS edited by Michael Tepper), you will note the names of two sisters thereon:
Hendrickje Jochems and Geertje Jochems. The "je" ending on both names proves
they were females. In the Dutch naming system, they were daughters of a man
with the first name of Jochem, a not uncommon first name in the Low
Countries. If either of these sisters later married and had children, such
children would bear their father's patronymic or surname, not the patronymic
of their mother.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter S. Craig, F.A.S.G.


3From: SwedeCraig@aol.com [mailto:SwedeCraig@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 1:26 PM
To: YOCUM-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: Matthias Yoakum

Dear Jack,
The information that Matthias Yoakum first settled in the Tulpehocken
region of Pennsylvania comes from narratives by his grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. I have not found him there under Yoakum (or Yocum,
Yocom, Yokem, etc.). Instead, it would appear that he lived there under the
name of Matthias or Matthew Young (or that is how others interpreted his name
to be). He was definitely of German origins. Records of the First Reformed
Church in Lancaster, PA, which began in 1736, show the baptism of Matthew
Young's son Conrad, born 20 June 1736. This corresponds with what is reported
in Virginia records for Matthias Yoakum's son Conrad. On 2 November 1736,
Matthias Young gave his recognizance to the Lancaster County court to appear
as a witness against Galbreath Disch.
After moving to old Augusta County, Virginia, Matthias seems to have
dropped the name Young in favor of his native German name. There already was
a Matthew Young in Augusta County, who married Agnes Lusk. (Chalkley, Augusta
County records, 1:31, 429, 520; 2:10, 235, 292, 510)
My interest in Matthias Yoakum and his descendants stems from the fact
that I am descended from the "Swedish" Yocum, Peter Jochimsson from Schleswig
in Holstein, who came to the New Sweden colony on the Delaware in 1643. I am
trying to track all of his Yocum descendants down to 1850. All of them
remained north of the Mason-Dixon line, but when one reaches the Northwest
Territory (Ohio and beyond), it becomes difficult to determine whether
particular Yocum families stem from him or from Matthias Yoakum. Indeed,
there was also a third colonial Yocum line, descended from Michael Jochim,
also German, who died in Frederick, Maryland, in 1761. He had two sons, Jacob
and Andrew Yocum, and many descendants.
In January 1995, I prepared a monograph entitled "Yoakums of Virginia,"
which I updated January 2000 (28 pages). This monograph concludes that all of
the Yoakums living in Virginia (including West Virginia) in the 18th century
were of the Matthias Yoakum line. This is the publication to which Greg Brown
referred. For a copy of this monograph, send me a check for $25.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter S. Craig, F.A.S.G.
3406 Macomb St., NW
Washington DC 20016-3160


Mathias first married Unknown4.

They had the following children:
3 i. Valentine (-1763)
ii. Phillip Paul.


Mathias second married Eleanor Unknown5. Born abt 1710 in Silesia, Germany. Eleanor died in 1782, she was 72.

They had the following children:
i. Francis1. Born abt 1729 in Frederick, VA. Francis died in Frederick, VA in 1751, he was 22.

4 ii. Jacob (~1732-1780)
5 iii. Mathias M (~1736-1837)
6 iv. Jesse (~1738-1773)
v. Michael1. Born abt 1740 in VA. Michael died in 1768, he was 28.

On 8 Feb 1762 when Michael was 22, he married Ann Boyles1, daughter of Alexander Boyles (-1881), in Bedford, VA. Born in <, Bedford, VA>. Ann died on 20 Sep 1881.

7 vi. John (1747-1839)
vii. William1. Born in 1750 in VA. William died in KY on 4 Sep 1839, he was 89.

8 viii. Henry (~1753-1839)
9 ix. George (1755-1839)
x. Conrad (Conrood)1. Born on 20 Jun 1736 in Lancaster, PA.

From: Sara Patton [mailto:sarap@widomaker.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 08, 2003 1:18 PM
To: YOCUM-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: Conrad Yoakum

At 09:03 AM 2/8/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Sara,
>
>Who is Conrad Yocum? Is he a son of Matthais?
>
>Rick Brown, Chillicothe, Ohio



Hey Rick,

Good to hear from you, again. Yes, Conrad appears to be son of Matthias
Yoakum, Sr. -- based on one of the Draper Mss. interviews (see below.) He
was definitely an adult living in the Greenbrier region along with Felty in
1763, and has been described in various accounts of the 1763 Shawnee attack
on Muddy Creek and the Big Levels (or so-called "Clendenin Massacre.")

Draper MSS. 12CC #4, Mrs. Sarah Spillman Graham
(Sarah Spillman Graham was the daughter of Charles Spillman. Mrs. Graham
was age 7 in 1780 when her family moved to KY. At one time they were
neighbors of MATTHIAS YOAKUM (#2) family and she relates various incidents
relating to the YOAKUMS. A notation at the top of the page reads "Printed
Filson History Quarterly 9:225-241 (Oct. 1935). Draper Manuscripts in
Wisconsin State Historical Society on microfilm at Swem Library, College of
Wm & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. [The "old Matthias" referred to here is
Matthias, Jr.]

p. 48/36
"Old MATTHIAS YOCUM's f[ather] had 12 sons. Felty, Coonrod, Philip Powell,
Matthias, John (youngest; died here by Esqr: Crook's; was a Pbyn:
[Presbyterian?] He lived on Roanoke, in Va. Had a 2d w[wife] and raised 12
sons & 4 daus: Every one of them when I knew them, had farms: but Felty:
who was killed, while they lived on Roanoke, then the indn: frontier, in
Va. The indns: killed him & all the children (in thr. own house) but 2:
She got away: but went back that night & laid in her husband's bosom, all
in a gore of blood. The old people came out with Matthias. The Yoacums
were clever neighbours: great for log rolling: but quarrelsome among
themselves."


The most contemporary account of the 1763 Greenbrier attack was written by
John Stuart in 1798. He states that a party of some 60 Shawnee stopped
first at the Muddy Creek settlements and killed Felty Yoakum and Frederick
See and took their families hostage. Then the Indians proceeded to
Archibald Clendinen's on the Big Levels where they repeated killing or
capturing all ... "not any one escapeing [sic] except Conrod Yolkcom, who
doubting the design of the Indians when they came to Clendinen's took his
horse out under the pretence of hobbleing him at some distance from the
house, soon after some guns were fired at the house and a loud cry raised
by the people, whereupon Yolkcom taking the alarm mounted his Horse and
rode off as far as where the Court House now stands and there beginning to
ruminate whither he might not be mistaken in his apprehention, concluded to
return and know the truth, but just as he came to the corner of Clendinens
fence some indians [sic] placed there presented their guns and attempted to
shoot him, but their gunns all missing fire (he thinks at least ten) he
immediately fled to Jacksons river alarming the people as he went, but few
were willing to believe him, the Indians pursued after him and all that
fell in their way were slain..." (Original written in Stuart's own hand on
the first page of the Greenbrier County Deed Book 1. It was reprinted in
the Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society in 1971, Vol 2- #2 p. 5)

Later accounts, probably based on this one, get more expansive but without
evidence. Henry Handley, writing some 200 years after the event in 1970,
claims Conrad was a teenager working for the Clendenins and that he rode to
Fort Young, now Covington, VA, "where he reported that a hundred Indians
had ambushed the Clendenins and all were killed, and only he had
escaped." How Handley knew Conrad's age, exactly where he rode, or what he
reported, he doesn't say.

In addition to what I've already sent regarding Conrad in Greenbrier Co,
that's all I know about him.

2Sara Patton




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