Joseph Milton Yeazell

As printed in 1908

JOSEPH MILTON YEAZELL, who is well known throughout Clark County as a prosperous retired citizen, and formerly as an extensive breeder of and dealer in fine sheep and other stock, was born in this county October 5, 1847, son of George and Nancy Ann (Wilkinson) Yeazell.

He traces his ancestry in the direct paternal line back to Abraham Yeazell, and then, indirectly, through the Brown and Ball families," to William Ball, of Berks, or Berkshire, England, the name of whose wife is not known, but who died in the year 1480. in the reign of Henry VII., the first of the Tudors. The line from this William Ball to Abraham Yeazell is as follows:

Robert Ball, son of William, of Berkham, died in 1543. The name of his wife is not knoTi. He was father of William

Ball (wife unknown), who died in 1550.

John Ball, son of the second William, died in 1599. He was twice married, first to Alice Haynes, by whom he had four children, and secondly to Agnes Holloway, of which union also there were four children.

John Ball, son of John and Agnes (Holloway) Ball, died in 1628. He married Elizabeth Webb, who bore him ten children, among them William, better known as Colonel William Ball, who died in 1680. Colonel William Ball married Hannah Atheral, of which union there were three children, the one to continue this line of descent being William, or Captain William Ball, who married Margaret DoSTiman and died in 1699.

The next progenitor in the Ball line was William, who died in 174-0 and who by wife Mary, had, besides other children, AVilliam, who died in 1809. It is in this generation that we find the Ball family intermarrying with the Browns, and the line to the subject of this sketch is now continued through the latter family. It is thus traced:

The brothers and sisters of the William Ball last mentioned were: Samuel, Joseph (died 1821), Mary (died 1816, married Thomas Brown) and Ann (married John Gibson).

Thomas and Maiw (Ball) Brown had a large family, consisting of ten children, and including Sarah (born 1758; died 1828), who married William Curl. The family of William and Sarah (Brown) Curl was also large and included Mary, who married Abraham Yeazell, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch.

Abraham Yeazell (or Yeazel, as the name was sometimes spelled) came to this country from Germany and settled at an early date in Moorefield Township, Clark County, Ohio. By his wife Mary, above mentioned, he had thirteen children — Mary Ann, Sarah, George, William, Caroline, David, Jeremiah, Adam, Jacob, Elizabeth, Abraham, Sidney, James and Isaac.

George Yeazell, of the above-mentioned family, married Elizabeth Jones, and their children were George, Mary Ann, Jeremiah, John W., Eliza, Caroline M., Isaac, Angeline and Frances M.

George Yeazell, son of George and Elizabeth (Jones) Yeazell, and father of J. Milton Yeazell, married Mary Ann Wilkinson, and their family was as follows: Joseph Milton, James W., Retta, Anne Belle, Mary, Ellen, Thomas, Elizabeth, Angle and Mabel Estella. James W., the second child, married Amanda Neei, and he and his wife are the parents of four children, all sons — George, Clayton, Fred and Lawrence, all of whom are living. Retta is the wife of John Conley, and has three children — Blanche, Harry and Robert. Anne Belle married Nathan Baumgartner, and has two children, Agnes and Wilmette, of whom Agnes became the wife of Dr. Deman and resides in Mechanicsburg, and Wilmette married M. C. Houston.

Mary, fifth child of George and Nancy Ann Yeazell, married Samuel Prugh, who is now deceased. She has one child — Earl. Ellen Yeazell married Jacob Baumgartner and has two children — Alice, who is the wife of Forest Tavemer and Nathan, all living. Thomas Yeazell, of the abovementioned family, and seventh in order of birth, was killed on the railroad. Elizabeth died at the age of two years.

Angle, the ninth child, married Newtou Jones and is now deceased. Her children are Walter and Thomas, both of whom ai'e living. ]Mabel Estella, the tenth child, married Arthur Taverner; she has no children.

Josei>h Milton Yeazell, whose nativity has been already given, has resided in Clark County all his life, unless we except the period of his service in the Civil War. He enlisted at Columbus, Ohio, September 16, 1864, in the Sixteenth Ohio Light Artillery, and was stationed for a while at New Orleans. On the close of the war he returned to Clark County, and settled on his father's farm, and was for some years engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1874 he entered into mercantile business at Catawba Station, Champaign County, Ohio. He continued thus occupied, however, but for a short time.

On February 15, 1875, he married, and in the same year bought a farm of 345 acres in Pleasant Township. Here he went into the business of raising grain and live stock, giving special attention to the breeding of sheep. It was also his practice to buy trainloads of sheep in Montana, ship them to his farm and here fatten them for the Buffalo market, selling them there at a good profit. Though now retired from active pursuits, he frequently contributes valuable articles to agricultural papers, among them the American Afjriciiliurisf, the Ohio Fanner, the Pittsburg Stockman, the Breeders' Gazette and the Chicago Drovers Journal. He is regarded as an authority of stock matters, especially on sheep, and has received many offers to become a salesman at the Buffalo and Chicago sheep markets, Imt prefers to remain on his farm. He has served the town as trustee, being elected on the Republican ticket, and held that office for six years. A member of the

As printed in 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.