The Yaney Family

The Yaney family originated in Baden, Germany. George J. Yaney migrated to the United States with his family when it became apparent that war was imminent in Germany. This would have been early in the 1800's. George and his family moved to Pennsylvania where they lived for several years before moving on West and settling in Coldwater, Ohio, in Mercer County. A son John was born in Mercer County in 1829. He was one of several children. John was a carpenter and built several barns in this area, some of which are still standing. John married Isabella (Whitmer) and they had 10 children (4 boys and 6 girls). One of the boys was named George. In 1862, when George was 8 years old, his family moved to Fulton County via the Canal. George married Amanda (Segrist) and they eventually bought what is still the Yaney farm on the Henry- Fulton County line between Roads 10 and 11.

The portions of Section 16 in Liberty Twp. that are presently included in the Yaney farm are the N.W., the N.E., and the S.E. sections of the N.W. section of 16. Each of these sections consists of 40 A. for a total of 120 A. The 40 A. that comprise the N.W. portion had numerous owners and was frequently divided into two parcels of 20 A. each before finally being acquired by the Yaney family. The N.E. section where the house and barn sit and the S.E. section were originally a land grant to W. E. Hartman in 1869, but he later sold 10 A. of the S.E. corner of the S.E. portion to Andrew Hoffman in 1885. Mr. Hoffman apparently deeded it over to Elizabeth Reed as soon as he bought it. This 10 A. would have been on what is now called the Half Mile Road, and apparently a house was built there. Tiger lilies still bloom in the roadside ditch along here every year. She sold this 10 A. to George Yaney in 1897. W. E. Hartman sold the remaining 70 A. to J. S. Wise who sold it in portions of 30 A. (1881), 10 A. (1883), and 30 A. (1890), to George and Amanda. The ditch that runs through the farm is still known as 'Wise Run.' In the meantime John E. (George's brother) had purchased one of the 20 A. portions of the remaining N.W. section, from Jacob Minnick. George eventually purchased this portion from his brother. In 1913, George purchased the final 20 A. portion from Adolf Glanz and recorded the deed for the entire 120 A. which still comprises the Yaney farm. Plans had been made to build a house in the late 1890's but George's wife Amanda died at the age of 47, in 1899, and the house was postponed until the following year. George wanted to be able to see up or down the road from whatever room he was in, so there are many windows and doors in the house, including two closets with full windows. Descendants of George have never been able to understand why he didn't have a window facing the barn. It wasn't until nearly 10 years later when Frank and his wife Laura (Smith from Raker) moved in, that any of the windows even had curtains. Frank was George's eldest son. George and Amanda had five children: Frank, Florence, Harry, Lucy, and Arthur.

John (George's father) lived until 1910, when he died at the age of 81. John's wife Isabella had died in 1879 at the age of 47.

A few years after Frank and Laura came to live with George, the back barn blew down in the tornado of 1917 that leveled many barns in the area. The barns and corncrib were set on huge rocks that were brought from the quarry in Waterville via the canal to the nearest point south of the farm. From here they were transported via mudboat 51/2 miles to become the foundations. All of the buildings, including the new house were framed of native oak cut from the farm. George continued to live with Frank and Laura until his death at the age of 76, in 1930. Florence married William Pfaff and moved to a farm between Delta and Swanton. Harry never married and eventually retired to Lakeland, Florida, where he died in 1973. Lucy married Jay Silveus and they moved to California. Arthur graduated from Wauseon High School, and Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware as a chemist. He moved to New Jersey and is still living there with his wife Frances. Florence and Lucy are both deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Yaney and son, Dallas (1912), Liberty Township.

Frank and Laura had one child, Dallas L. who graduated from Liberty Center and attended the University of Cincinnati where he was a coop student with the Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company. He remained in their employ and retired in 1968, as Supervisor of the Western Hills District. He married a Cincinnati girl, Kathryn Strothman and they had two children, Harry L. and Nancy. Harry spent many of his childhood summers with his grandparents and planned for the time when he was grown up and would farm his grandfather's farm. Nancy married Robert J. Short of Cincinnati and they and their 5 children now live at Laguna Beach, California. Harry went to Ohio State University and earned his B.S. in agriculture in 1957, before returning to begin farming the home place in the summer of 1958. While at O.S.U. he met and married Julia Carson from Union County. Julia graduated from O.S.U. with a B.S. in nursing in 1958. Harry and Julie have three children: Kathryn, Gina, and Michael. Michael L. is the fifth generation Yaney with the middle initial of L. to live on the Yaney farm. The tradition of having the middle initial of L. started with George L. (who built the house), Frank L., Dallas L., and Harry L., who is the father of Michael L.

Frank didn't live long enough to see his grandson return to the farm. He died in 1956 at the age of 74 and willed his share of the farm to his wife Laura. Laura eventually sold the farm to her grandson Harry in 1966, one year before her death at the age of 82. Three generations of Yaneys are buried at Zion Cemetery in York Twp., Fulton County. They are John and Isabella, George L. and Amanda, and Frank and Laura.

Since purchasing the Yaney farm, Harry has cleared the two large wooded areas and preserved a corner of the west woods where many young walnut trees are growing. A pond and A-frame have been constructed in this area and his family enjoy many 'at home' vacations here. Harry L. purchased 40 A. of additional ground, Sect. 24 of Liberty Twp. in 1970 from Charles Crawford. He later sold 3 A. of wooded area from this plot to Ronald Smith who plans to build a pond and home there. At the present time Harry owns and farms the 120 A. home place and the 37 A. just mentioned. He rents numerous additional plots making a total of approximately 500 A. under cultivation. His major crops are corn, tomatoes, soybeans, and pickles. His wife Julie is employed as staff development coordinator at the Fulton County Health Center in Wauseon. His daughter Kathy is also employed there part time in the housekeeping dept. Kathy will be a senior at Liberty Center High School and a member of the first class to graduate from the new building, 50 years after her grandfather's graduation. This class will be celebrating the Centennial year. Gina will be a sophomore, and Mike an eighth grader. All of the children are active in school activities and 4-H.

Submitted by The Family