UPDATE: A few more pieces can be added to the extremely sad story of the family of William Yates. Thank you to Bandy genea-cousin Loraine for her contributions, which bring some closure to this family sketch.

Today’s family is one of the saddest I’ve come across in all my years of genealogy research.

William Yates was born c1849, Symmes Township, Lawrence, Ohio, the third child and second son born to Isaac Yates and Nancy Bandy of Lawrence County, Ohio. Nancy was the sister of my husband’s 2X great grandmother Mary (Bandy) (Sturgell) (Wade) (Cookman) Fouts. William Yates was her nephew.

William married Margaret Oney, 1 January 1870, Gallia County, Ohio. Margaret was born c1848, Gallia County, Ohio, the daughter of Richard and Mary Oney.

The 1870 census is the only census in which both William and Margaret appear. At the time, William was working in the coal mines and Margaret was keeping house and she was pregnant with twins when the census taker knocked on their door.

William and Margaret had four sons born to them in the 1870s.

On 3 September 1870, in Gallia County, Ohio, William and Margaret welcomed twin boys, Alfred Milton and Albert Delton, both of whom survived and lived to adulthood.

Soon after the birth of the twins, the family moved northwest to Greene County, Ohio, where the birth of their son, Samuel Robert Yates, was recorded on 1 August 1872.

William Edward Yates was born c1876 was the youngest son of William and Margaret.

The 1870s were extremely difficult for this family. Alfred, Albert and Samuel were admitted as paupers to the children’s home in Xenia, Greene, Ohio on 6 December 1877.

Margaret died on 8 February 1878, Greene County, Ohio with cause of death listed as edema and abuse of husband:

“Edward” Yates, aka William Edward, in the orphanage is listed one name away from Alfred, Albert and Samuel and it is noted that he entered the institution on 1 March 1878.

It is noted in the 1880 census institution records, though, that the mother of all four Yates children was deceased, but the father of all of them was living.

On the face of it, it would be easy to assume that William, with no wife and the occupation of a day laborer, was unable to care for four young children so placed them in the orphanage.

Later records, including census records and a multitude of newspaper articles tell a different story – that of a very troubled family.

At the time of the 1880 census, William was living in Montgomery County, Ohio, adjacent to Greene County, and there on 1 January 1880, he married (2) Mary A. Stauffer. Mary was born c1852, Pennsylvania. There is no evidence suggesting that William and Mary claimed his four children from the orphanage and newspaper reports would tend to suggest otherwise.

There are no living descendants of this family. If there were, I wouldn’t be sharing the details of their lives because it is one sad event after another for all of them.

Because I located online information about the two younger sons, Samuel and Edward, as he was known, having been incarcerated, I decided a look at newspaper articles might shed more light on this family.

First, I was shocked by the earliest news story I located about William’s family. I had hoped for a mention of Margaret’s sad death, given that she had twin boys and two other sons, all under 10 years old, when she died.

Instead, an article published on 25 October 1876 reported that William Yates of Harbine Station (today Beavercreek, Greene, Ohio) tried to kill his family. His wife was nearly beaten to death and he “caught one child by the heel and bashed his head.” I am assuming it means he hit the child’s head either against the floor or wall. The child, unnamed, was badly hurt but expected to live. William fled and escaped to Dayton.

Although it said the police were looking for him, there is no further mention as to whether he was caught and faced charges for his actions.

There are also no follow up articles mentioning Margaret’s death or if her death was related to the beating.

Fourteen months later, Alfred, Albert and Samuel were all admitted to the orphanage in Xenia, Greene, Ohio with Edward’s admittance following three months after that, aged 7, 5 and 4 years.

With this new information, There is a question in my mind as to whether William abandoned his children to the poorhouse or if they were taken away from him for their own safety. Online court records don’t show any entries for the Yates family.

What became of William Yates, Sr. ? It appears that William and his second wife, Mary, removed to Plattin, Jefferson, Missouri by 1900 as there is a William Yates, right age and born in Ohio, married to Mary, born in Pennsylvania, which fit the couple who married in 1880. The census enumeration recorded no children born to Mary. William was a day laborer.

The Dayton city directory provided two more details about William. In 1904, Mary A. Yates, widow of William, popped up, living at 49 S. Wallace Avenue.

William died on 28 March 1903 when he was shot to death by a night watchman.

William’s son, Edward, visited Farmington to learn more about his father’s death and tend to his grave:

Mary was again listed in the 1906 and 1907 directories, living at 45 ss w Kinnard Avenue and then Mary, too, disappears once again. However, that is because she married (2) Isaiah Allen, 23 August 1906, Montgomery County, Ohio. Mary died on 29 May 1909, so did not live to see the 1910 census.

What became of the four children? They undoubtedly suffered from their violent home life and then the years they spent classified as homeless paupers.

The first appearance of the children after 1880 is the 1889 Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio city directory.

1889 – Alfred, res William Yates, Mad River Twp., Nancy (widow of Isaac), 1335 W. Germantown, WS, William, laborer, res ss E. Wyoming, WS

This was a double surprise. Only Alfred is in directory with no mention of his twin brother, Albert. He is living with William Yates! Because his brother, William Edward, would have only been about 13 years old, this William Yates is likely Alfred’s father. So, William must have had some contact with his children by the 1890s. However, that is the only year that William appears in the Dayton city directories. He may have removed to Missouri about that time.

The second surprise is that his grandmother, Nancy, is also living in Dayton (with daughter Martha Haines’ family).

Family members continue to appear in Dayton through the 1890s:

1890 – Albert, bds swc Wayne Ave. & Steffen, Alfred, bds Fred Youngerman

1891 – Alfred and Albert both bd 1903 S. Wayne Ave, Nancy (widow of Isaac), res Alfred Haines, WS, William E., laborer, res 331 S. King WS

1892 – Albert, bartender, bds Enterprise Hotel, Alfred, clerk, bds 33 S. Main, Nancy bds 721 S. King WS, William E., laborer, res es Moore Ave. n of E. 3rd

1893 – Albert, gardener, bds Walter C. Beck, Patterson, Alfred, clerk, bds 33 S. Main

1894 – Albert, gardener, bds with Walter C. Beck, Patterson, Alfred, clerk, 33 S. Main, Edward, gardener, bds with Walter C. Beck, Patterson

1895 & 1896 – only Albert and Alfred are listed

1897 – Alfred, waiter, bds 114 S. Miami (Mrs. Minnie), William, laborer, res 518 S. Western Ave. (Mrs. Mollie)

1898 – Albert, trimmer,1312 W. 2nd (Bertha), Alfred, porter, 55 S. Miami (Minnie), Edward, bds 1124 W. 4th

1899 – Albert, tinner, 16 S. Harbart Lane (Bertha), Alfred, porter, 568 E. Herman (Minnie), Edward bds Jose Bittner S. Broadway, Samuel, laborer, bds 323 S. Broadway

1900 – Albert, Alfred, Samuel and William E. are all listed.

1901 – Only Albert and Alfred are listed.

Samuel Yates is noticeably absent all these years, except for 1900, when he was 28 years old. Samuel Yates was found in two more records. In 1897, he was convicted of a crime in Greene County, Ohio and sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary. His admittance card notes that he previously had been an inmate at the Lancaster, Ohio Reformatory.

Samuel had turned to a life of crime. No information has been found regarding his stay in the Lancaster Reformatory, but articles about others incarcerated there indicated sentences of 3-4 years, which accounts for most of the early 1890s.

On 6 August 1900, he was run down by a car in Miami City, Ohio and had a badly bruised hip. In early 1901, he was sentenced to four years in the state penitentiary for robbing Miller’s Drug Store on East First Street in the fall of 1900. Was he looking for pain medication when he robbed the drug store? The records are silent.

By April 1909, Samuel was living with the Salvation Army, looking for work as a polisher, when it was reported that the police wanted to question him in connection with the arrest of one Elmer Garr, regarding the murder of Lizzie Fulhart.

In April 1919, Samuel and two other men were arrested for stealing $500 worth of meat from a freight car and then selling it for profit. $500 is equivalent to $8900 today. That is a lot of meat! He was convicted of grand larceny.

There was a legal notice of application for parole for Samuel published on 23 December 1922.

He was again an inmate in the Ohio State Penitentiary in the 1930 census.

He reappears in the Dayton city directories in 1937, 1938, 1940 and 1944.

On 6 November 1940, his brother Alfred’s obituary was published, naming Samuel and Alfred’s daughter, Bonita James, as the only relatives.

On 17 June 1945, Samuel Yates was hit and killed by a car. He was buried at Greencastle Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, where his grandmother, Nancy (Bandy) Yates was also buried.

There is no evidence that Samuel ever married or had any children.

Suspecting that Edward Yates in the children’s home was the younger brother of the other three proven Yates siblings (and now confirmed with the article about Edward visiting Farmington and his father’s grave), my eyes perked up when I came across a World War I draft registration card.

One William E. Yates was a patient at the Lima State Hospital in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio when his World War I draft registration card was completed. He is described as having blue eyes, medium build, short in height, bald and unfit for service due to insanity. His closest relative is Alfred Yates, brother, living at the Crystal Hotel, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio. The card is dated 7 September 1918, placing his birth year c1877.

I believe that William E. Yates is actually William Edward Yates, perhaps called Edward to distinguish him from his father, William, and this is the Edward in the orphanage with Alfred, Albert and Samuel. In fact, I’d say I feel quite confident that Edward and William E. are the same person, since both were born c1876/77.

This younger William Edward Yates, born c1876, married Barbara Underberger, 2 June 1898, Montgomery County, Ohio. This couple hasn’t been found in 1900 and, a few years later, Barbara married (2) Charlie Cline, 23 November 1904, also in Montgomery County, Ohio.

Again, newspapers filled in many of the blanks in Edward’s life.

On 23 December 1894, Edward was sentenced three years for the manslaughter of his friend, Andrew Van Horne, in July 1894.

The 19 February 1901 newspaper carried the story about Edward threatening Mrs. A.H. Warner with a razor for withholding his clothing as payment for rent owed. She shot him, hitting him in the hip. The reporter noted that Yates “had a bad reputation and the police have his record.” On 22 April 1903, his wife Barbara sued for divorce on the grounds of being absent for more than three years, gross negligence and extreme cruelty. The divorce was granted. His whereabouts at the time were unknown.

He is listed in the 1903 Dayton city directory.

In 1910, Edward was enumerated in Dayton, single, and working as a car inspector.

Edward is last mentioned on 19 November 1928 when he was fined $50 for malicious destruction of property and sentenced to 30 days in the workhouse.

William Edward Yates died at Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane on 22 June 1929, divorced and ill with empyema of the gall bladder (severe and dangerous condition where the gallbladder fills with pus and infected fluid and early onset schizophrenia, which afflicted him for 22 years, or from the age of 30years old :

William Edward Yates has no known descendants.

First, Lima State Hospital had a reputation for brutal conditions, described as a “chamber of horrors” – Throughout the mid-20th century, the facility gained a notorious reputation for severe overcrowding, inmate violence, and harsh conditions. Reports detailed brutal practices, including electric shock used as punishment and physical beatings.

Secondly, William Edward Yates, and perhaps his father and other family members, was diagnosed as a “disorganized schizophrenic,” and may have already been suffering its effects by the time he visited is father’s grave in 1903.

The twins seemed to live a more stable life than their younger brothers, at least in terms of staying out of jail.

Although Albert Delton Yates married and was the father of two daughters. One daughter died in childhood and Albert himself died in 1905. He was only 34 years old and, although his name is found in the death register and others have cause of death included, there is none for Albert. Nor could I find anything in the newspaper except for a notice of his funeral.

Alfred married once, had one daughter, but divorced soon after. He remarried, but had no more children.

The four Yates brothers were all greatly affected by their unstable childhoods.

William and Margaret (Oney) Yates were the parents of four sons:

1. Alfred Milton Yates, born 3 September 1870, Gallia County, Ohio; died 5 November 1940, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio; married (1) Minnie M. Jones, c1896. They were the parents of one daughter, Naomi Bonita. Naomi was born 26 November 1896/97, Ohio; died after 1940; married (1) David Eisenburger, 29 March 1916, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan (2) Mr. Slack, divorced 1928, Chicago, Cook, Illlinois (3) Charles C. James, 6 August 1930, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (4) Ralph C. West, before 1940. Bonita, as she was known, has no known children. Alfred married (2) Martha M. Wanagot, 30 September 1908, Montgomery County, Ohio and (3) Frances (MNU), before 1920. He has no other known children besides Naomi Bonita. No living descendants.
2. Albert Delton Yates, born 3 September 1870, Gallia County, Ohio; died 21 February 1905, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, but buried at Ellerton Cemetery, Moraine, Montgomery, Ohio; married Bertha Ellen Grossnickle, 25 May 1897, Montgomery County, Ohio. They were the parents of two daughters. Marguerite was born 1902, Ohio; died 16 April 1959, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio. She never married and had no children. Dorothy Marie was born 23 May 1903; died 11 October 1918 of pneumonia, both in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio. No living descendants.
3. Samuel Robert Yates, born 1 August 1872, Greene County, Ohio; died 17 June 1945, Miami City, Miami, Ohio; never married and had no known children.
4. William Edward Yates, born c1876, probably Greene County, Ohio; died after 1930 census; married Barbara Underberger, 2 June 1898, Montgomery County, Ohio. However, they had no children and divorced in 1903.

Therefore, William Yates had but two grandchildren who lived to adulthood. Bonita married four times, had no children of her own and disappears after the 1940 census. The SSDI has a February 1944 note, but no further information. Did she marry again or pass away?

Marguerite Yates, Albert’s daughter, is consistently found in Dayton city directories from 1917-1931, living at 1528 W. Dakota Street with her occupation being stenographer. However, while the 1910 and 1920 censuses show Marguerite at home with her mother Bertha’s second family, in 1930 and 1940, she was enumerated in the Dayton State Hospital. By 1950, she was living at the Twin Valley Hospital, where she died.

Marguerite never married and has no known children.

So, the sad life stories of the family of William Yates comes to a close. We have a man who tried to kill his wife and at least one child, a son who died aged 34 and who had one daughter that married 4 times and left no descendants. We have a second son who married, lost a teenage daughter and had a second daughter who lived in state institutions for at least 29 years. A third son killed a friend, spent many more years locked up in jail, married once, but was sued for divorce for extremely cruelty and had no children. The fourth son, who never married and has no known children, spent many years in and out of prison before being struck and killed by a car.

There is no one left to shed more light on this family. William and his children were unlike any of his siblings and their own families. I can’t help but think that the violence and childhood abandonment of the four Yates brothers contributed to their unstable lives in adulthood.

There are still so many unanswered questions, but it’s probably a good thing that there are no living descendants today.