Three quotes below are excerpts
from one of his 1938 obituaries:
There were five errors and one big clue in this obituary.
1. "Mr. Grant Yarnall, 69, of 126 Berkley Street Clifton Heights
died of pneumonia at 7:30 PM Monday night in the Delaware County Hospital
following an illness of 10 days. He lived in Lenni most of his life
and had been a resident of Clifton Heights for the past 20 years."
ERROR 1: He lived in the Crozerville section of Aston, PA; not in the Lenni section of Middletown, PA.
ERROR 2: He came to Clifton Heights in the summer of 1920 and it was January
17, 1938 when he died - that is not quite 18 years! |
2. "His father William H. Yarnall of
Chester, PA was a Civil War veteran. He was a
nephew of Colonel Norris Yarnall, a Civil War veteran, who was
well known in Chester and operated a textile mill at Front and Flower
Streets 60 years ago. Yarnall Street in Chester was named after the
textile official."
ERROR 3: The mill opened in 1868 - 70 years ago. The Auvergne Mills were makers of cotton jeans. N. L.
Yarnall & Sons were the proprietors. You can see where Yarnall
Street is by looking at a map that
shows where William H. Yarnall first lived in Chester. Yarnall
Street is two streets from and parallel to the road leading
to the Commodore Barry Bridge.
HUGE CLUE: The "nephew" comment was an eye opener. It is the clue to answering the question
about who the father of William H. was. Norris had two brothers
so they are the main suspects in this mystery. If it was one of
them, it happened before Norris' brothers (Eber and Mahlon) got
married. |
3. "G. Grant Yarnall, born shortly after the Civil War, was named
for the famous general. Also surviving is a brother,
William H. Yarnall (that was Wm H Jr), of Lenni
Mills and a sister, Mrs. Katherine Powers, of Reading. Funeral services
were held this morning from the home of his son, Thomas V. Yarnall,
126 Church Street, Clifton Heights with the celebration of a solemn
mass at St Charles of Borromeo's in Oakview followed by interment at
St Francis de Sales cemetery in Lenni."
ERROR 4: St Francis de Sales cemetery is actually in Aston Township - Crozerville section!
ERROR 5: He was born in the Crozerville section of Aston, PA. Grant was not born in Wawa section of Aston, PA. |
St Francis cemetery entrance
The upper entrance is shown above as you enter the cemetery from Drayton Road.
The cemetery was expanded into
the old Daniel Cook property.
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The old cemetery is on a very steep hill behind the St Francis de Sales church.
My father, grandfather, grandmother, and their daughter (aunt Marie) are buried in the old cemetery section. See white star.
My great grandfather is also buried in the old section. See blue star.
The newer part of the cemetery is less steep. My aunt Nell is buried in the new section of the cemetery. See yellow star.
My aunt Rose and my uncles (Bill and John) are buried in the new section also. See red star.
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Grant's gravestone
It was a combination gravestone. It listed Grant, his wife Bridget, and their
daughter Marie. There were some errors
on it so we replaced the gravestone in 2008 when we buried the cremains of
my dad with his parents and sister Marie.
His wife's obituaries
 |
She died 1/24/1941. |
News about Grant's and Bridget's deaths was found on the Internet. |
