X-Y-Z - Biographies of Miller County Persons

Surnames Beginning With 'X, Y & Z'

WILLIAM HARDING YARGER

William Harding Yarger was born April 16, 1843, in Jacksonville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. He was a son of Joseph Yarger and Mary Emma Harding, both natives of Pennsylvania. His father died in 1856 and shortly thereafter William's mother and her children moved to a farm near Madison, Wisc.

William enlisted in the Civil War on Jan. 23, 1864, into Company G of the 31st Wisconsin infantry. He served until July 8, 1865, when he received his discharge. William marched with General Sherman across Georgia to the sea...the military campaign which has gone down in the annals of history as the greatest stroke made by the Northern army during the four-year conflict.

After the war William returned to Wisconsin and stayed for a while. He moved west to Grenola, Elk County, Kansas, which was located about 60 miles southeast of Wichita. There he married Mary Emma Reid, a native of the state of New Jersey. Her father was an immigrant from Scotland and her mother was born in New Jersey.

William and Mary became parents of three sons, all born in Kansas:

1. Wallace Yarger b. July 1875 m. no record found

2. Clifton R. Yarger b. Jan. 1878 m. Anna E. ___

3. Frank L. Yarger b. June 1880 m. Josephine Haynes 1904.

NOTE: There is the possibility they may have also lived in Colorado before coming to Central Missouri. According to the 1900 census of Miller County, the birthplace of the youngest son, Frank L. Yarger (born in 1880), was given as Colorado.

About 1895, William, Mary, and their three sons moved to a farm west of Eldon in Saline Township. They settled near the families of Hickok, Tracy, Barlow, Patterson, Harrison, Dooley and Haynes. They continued to live in the Eldon area until their deaths. Mary Reid Yarger died May 16, 1936, and William died in November 1938 at age 95 years. Both were buried at the Eldon Cemetery.