Ephraim applied on Dec. 20, 1853 for legal title to 40 acres of land in the county, at a price of $2.50 per acre. It was issued to him on June 15, 1854, through the land office at Kaskaskia. The legal description of the acreage was the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 13, Township 8 South, Range 2 West. His deed was signed by agents of President Franklin Pierce.

Zion Lutheran Cemetery Courtesy "Kim R."

When the federal census enumeration again was made in 1880, the family was in Somerset Township, Jackson County. At that time, 16-year-old "hand" Sarah Shepherd and 11-year-old Frank Koontz lived in the household. Their homeplace was considered part of Township 8, Range 1 West.

In all, the Younkins owned several tracts of land totaling 234 acres in Township 8, Ranges 1 and 2 West. This included one in the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 13. Another was the north part of the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 24. A third was in the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 13. A fourth was on the west side of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 19, Township 8 South, Range 1 West.

Ephraim was stricken with a stroke of paralysis and was admitted to St. John's Hospital in St. Louis. There, he died on Aug. 18, 1889 at the age of 72. Burial was in the Zion Lutheran (Kimmel) Church Cemetery in Somerset Township, Jackson County. A notice of his burial permit issuance was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Son-in-law Daniel Will served as executor of the estate. He stated that the deceased owned money, notes, grain, household furniture and farming utensils worth $2,000. Among the produce were wheat, old corn and oats.

Malinda outlived her husband by seven-and-a-half years. She is said to have passed on Feb. 10, 1897, with interment beside her husband at Zion.

~ Son Alexander Clay Younkin ~

Son Alexander Clay Younkin (1847-1925) was born on Nov. 4, 1847 near Zion in northern Jackson County, IL.

He spent virtually his entire life in the county of his birth. A bachelor at the age of 33, in 1880, he lived at home with his parents and labored as a farmer.

On Feb. 21, 1888, at the age 40, he entered into marriage with Mary Elizabeth (Williams) Sanford (July 1, 1849- ? ), sometimes known as "Lizzie" and "Letha" and a native of Perry County, IL The couple exchanged their wedding vows in Jackson County.

Mary Elizabeth's first marriage, to Lawrence Sandford (1845-1945) ended in divorce. She brought a stepdaughter into the second union, Minnie L. McMullin.

Together Alexander and Mary Elizabeth bore an only daughter, Katherine "Kate" Younkin.

At his father's death in 1889, Alexander is known to have inherited $230.76 in cash. 

The Younkins' marriage also dissolved in divorce. Mary Elizabeth in about 1896 wed for a third time to Thomas F. Hord (Sept. 1840-1945). They made a residence in Murphysboro, with him serving as mayor and earning a living in 1900 as a landlord. Thomas was bilked out of $540 in the winter of 1900 at the hands of a newcomer to town, Will Godfrey, who was betting on foot races and claimed he was owed $100 from a third party. Reported the Carbondale Fine Press,

While waiting in Murphysboro to collect his $100 Godfrey learned of Mr. Hord selling his Commercial Hotel in Ava, for which he received $2,100. He suggested to Mr. Hord that $500 of the amount be placed on a foot race, which he could manipulate so as to insure Mr. Hord several times that amount. Mr. Hord did not like the idea but, as he needed money, he agreed to the arrangement. Godfrey showed a telegram supposed to be from a Mr. King at Louisville, Ky., which stated he would back Godfrey for any amount at any time if he was in any condition to run. Godfrey told Mr. Hord he would lose the race so as to make sure Mr. Hord would win, and Mr. Hord was to place his money on the opposing sprinter. This appeared dead easy, and Mr. Hord said: "You surely can lose a race, and I will put $500 on the other man. Monday afternoon at Brookfield the race was run, and Godfrey's opponent sprained his ankle (?) and Godfrey was forced to win. Mr. Hord then telegraphed his troubles to his wife and came home. She suggested that he return to Brookfield and try to recover the money, but he declined to go, and she went.  

Thus Mary Elizabeth traveled to Louisville, KY, accompanied by attorney J.H. Bain, in an attempt to recover the sum.

She eventually separated from Hord and moved to St. Louis with her daughter Kate. Mary Elizabeth made news of her own in the Muskogee Times-Democrat when spending the summer of 1914 with her married daughter Minerva McMullen in town, in company with her daughter Kate, and returning to St. Louis in September.

Alexander dwelled by himself in 1900 on South 10th Street in Murphysboro and earned a living as a bartender. His residence that year was on South 10th Street, and he told the census-taker that he was widowed. He also continued to farm until retirement in about 1905. He was a member of the First Lutheran Church.

By 1910, with no occupation, he had moved in as a boarder with the family of James and Alice Reeder in Murphysboro. The census-taker recorded his marital status as "divorced." 

Alexander relocated by 1916 to Muskogee, OK, where he shared a residence at 313 Fredonia Street with his single daughter. In a very unusual move, his ex-wife joined them there as a cohabitant of their dwelling-place. The U.S. Census taker in 1920 shows the three together under one roof and recorded Alexander's marital status as divorced and the ex's name as "Mrs. Lizzie Hord" and that she was married. 

Adding to the complexity, Mary Elizabeth died in Muskogee on Jan. 6, 1920, in the home of her married daughter Minerva at 525 North C Street. An obituary in the Muskogee Times-Democrat said the cause was "an illness of one week. She is survived by one other daughter, Miss Kate Younkin of 309 Fredonia." The remains were laid to rest in Greenhill Cemetery in town, with Rev. John Brandt leading the obsequies.

The widowed Alexander moved back to Murphysboro and was in poor health for the last 15 years of his life. For some of that time, he occupied rooms in the second floor of the East Side Square building. He contracted cancer of the face and was admitted to St. Andrew's Hospital in Murphysboro in about 1923 and never left over the remaining two years. Adding to his ailments, in April 1925, he "was injured by a truck here and never recovered from the injury," said the Murphysboro Daily Independent. He "was hit and run down by a state truck in local relief service, driven by A.B. Fraley" while crossing Walnut Street. It was "reported by three witnesses [that he] walked directly into the path of the truck." Blessedly, he was gathered away in the harvest of death on the morning of April 20, 1925. His obituary was published in that afternoon's edition of the Daily Independent. 

His pastor Rev. William Boatman presided over the funeral rites. Interment of the remains was in Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Stepdaughter Minerva "Minnie" Sandford (1878- ? ) -- also spelled "Sanford" -- was born in Dec. 1878 in Illinois. Single at the age of 21, in 1900, she lived with her mother and stepfather in Murphysboro. In 1901, she entered into marriage with Joseph Mearse McMullin (Aug. 30, 1875-1956). Their wedding was held in Jackson County, IL. As of 1918-1920, the couple made a residence in Muskogee, OK at the address of 525 North C Street. At that time, Joseph earned a living as a locomotive engineer with the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. His employer later became the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. Just a month after she lost her mother Minnie contracted influenza and was admitted to the MO&G Hospital. There, at the age of 41, she surrendered to the angel of death on Feb. 25, 1920. An obituary was printed in the Muskogee Daily Phoenix. Eventually Joseph tied the knot again with Delta Stone (1892-1974). They lived at 2815 Columbus. He held a membership in the local lodge of the Masons and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and they belonged to the Central Church of Christ. He died in Muskogee at the age of 81, after a long illness, on Sept. 12, 1956. An obituary in the Daily Phoenix said he was "a retired KO&G Railroad engineer... [He] came to Muskogee about 47 years ago." Idus England presided over the funeral service. He was survived by a daughter, Mrs. John Evans of Tulsa.

Kate Younkin Courtesy Sue Wolff

Daughter Katherine "Kate" Younkin (1889- ? ) was born in about 1889 in Illinois, a year after her parents' marriage. When her father and mother divorced, and her mother subsequently married Thomas Hord, Kate resided in the Hord household in Murphysboro in 1900. The federal census enumeration of 1920 shows Kate in Muskogee, OK, unmarried with no occupation, and, in an extraordinary arrangement, sharing a home with her divorced father and mother. The mother sadly died in Muskogee in January 1920, with Katherine's address shown in the local news obituary as 309 Fredonia. She remained in Muskogee in 1923 and made news that year in the gossip columns of the Murphysboro Daily Independent when visiting with Mrs. Leo Busch. By October 1923, she had moved to Missouri and was employed in St. Louis. Then in 1925, at the death of her father, Katherine made her residence in Indianapolis. Research by others suggests that she may have tied the knot with Frank Pendergast (1885- ? ), but this is not confirmed. Nothing more about her is known.