Friday, February 24, 2012

Yore Genealogy... Is My Genealogy

Yore... one of my more unique family surnames, is my maternal Grandma's maiden name. Grandma knew very little of her Father's family, in fact she didn't even know the names of her Grandparents for certain... And sadly, after nearly 20 years of research, my progress has been very limited.

Yore is an Irish surname and seems to be located in only certain areas of Ireland. My Grandma's Great-Grandfather was John Yore, a cursedly common name in 'Yore' genealogy, he was born in approximately 1817 in Ireland, according to the 1850 census, which is the only census on which he appears. On April 27, 1843 he was married to Elizabeth (Bradley) Williams, in Lewis County, Missouri [Elizabeth had married John Williams in 1836, a marriage that apparently produced no children]. John Yore's arrival in Lewis County is unknown, but he arrived in time to marry Elizabeth; in 1850 they are living in Pettis County, Missouri... and by the mid-1850s John has land records in nearby Johnson County, Missouri. John & Elizabeth had 3 children: Ann (born ca 1850), William (born ca 1852), and John Lewis (born 1856)....  John Yore died sometime between 1856-1860... Family lore says it was a mining explosion... In 1850 he is listed as a well digger, so an accidental death is certainly possible. By 1860, Elizabeth is living back in Lewis County, Missouri, with a new husband- Fred Fifer and her 3 Yore children... they continued to reside there through 1870, though daughter Ann has either married or died as she is no longer living with them. It is also unknown what happened to Elizabeth & Fred after that point. William & John married women who happened to be first cousins to each other and the families would live near one another in Northern Missouri & Southern Iowa their whole lives. As John Lewis Yore's Great-Great Grandson, I've been able to create a pretty complete descendancy of that family... and a fair amont on William.

I'd love to know where in Ireland John Yore came from and who his family was! I haven't been able to connect him to any family there, even though it is a fairly uncommon surname. Early records often misspell it as Your or Youre, which adds to the struggle. And Elizabeth (Bradley) Williams Yore Fifer also remains a huge mystery, from whence she came and went?!

I'm always trying to find Yore researchers... Are you one?

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