Yarnall Genealogy

William H. Yarnall - Before the Civil War

Life in 1860

Here we have a 20 or 21 year-old that I could not find in any 1860 census. There was a farm hand (age 21) listed in the household of Norris L. Yarnall (possible uncle of William) whose name was misspelled with an "e". I think this was a cousin of his that was about the same age.	He was no longer in the Webster household in Middletown as you can seebelow.Caleb had a wife named Hannah and they had three children. Agnes was still at the Middletown household. Phoebe (John's widow) has moved in with John's sister, Agnes.

	Notice how few houses are marked on the 1862 map on the left. Most are in Aston, PA. Hardly any are marked in Middletown, PA. Chester Creek is the boundary of Aston and Middletown. The yellow lines are locations of cotton mills (cotton factories). William later worked at the one in the Glen Riddle section of Middletown. The yellow dot is where the Crozerville Mill was. His son Grant worked there and lived in the mill housing. Notice how the railroad went near their church (see red circle) in Ivy Mill section of Aston. I wonder if they rode it to and from church.

The political scene was very much in turmoil. Republicans nominated a presidential candidate who outraged slaveholders in the south. Abraham Lincoln wanted to emancipate the slaves. The southerners looked to the Democrats to continue slavery.

They went to Charleston, SC to select a nominee who would represent their interests. After Stephen A. Douglas was named, there was a decision by the southern delegates to hold a separate convention in Baltimore to select a different nominee. John Breckenridge from Kentucky was chosen.

Then the Constitution Union Party created more turmoil. They named John Bell of Tennessee to run for the presidency. We thought our election in 2000 was unique with Republicans, Democrats, Greens, and Libertarians, but it was just as bizarre back in 1860 when they had Republicans, Northern Democrats, Southern Democrats, and the Constitution Unionists.
Voting Results
A map at that time showed 11 slave states. The 1860 popular vote counts were Lincoln 1,866,462, Douglas 1,375,157, Breckenridge 847,953, and Bell 589,581. Lincoln got just shy of 40% of the popular vote that November.
Turmoil and Unrest
There were raids being conducted by militant groups in the South. There were requests for volunteers to help put down these raids. It was a pretty wild time to be a guy just turning 20. Delaware County had a little over 30,000 people and Chester County had over 74,000 in 1860. Those numbers will take on a special significance after you see what casualties there were in various battles during the Civil War.
1863 Was Big
My great grandfather got married on June 2nd. He volunteered for the Civil War on August 3rd. His new bride must have been stunned with that decision.

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