California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


THOMAS YOST. During the colonial period of our country's history a young Bavarian bearing the name 
of Peter Yost crossed the ocean and settled in New Jersey, whence he afterward went to the front as 
a soldier in the Revolutionary war. When peace again reigned and the United States had become an 
independent power among other nations, he resumed the duties of private citizenship, and 
eventually moved to ( )hio, where his son, Robert Yost, was born. The latter followed general farming, 
making his home successively in Belmont county, Ohio, and directly across the Ohio river in Ohio 
county, W. Va. Noah Yost, son of Robert, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, January 30, 1813. The star 
of empire, which from the beginning of history has wended its slow course toward the west, led him 
from his eastern home into the then frontier regions of Illinois, where, in 1853, he became a farmer of 
Pike county. Somewhat later he removed to Piatt county, in the same state, and there his death 
occurred, February 24, 1892, at the age of seventy-nine years. While living in the east he had married 
Elizabeth Price, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, April 17, 181 7, and died in Illinois August 30, 
1858, having won many warm friends during her comparatively brief period of residence in Illinois. In 
her home she was a careful housekeeper, a devoted wife, and a loving mother to her large family, 
which comprised three sons and nine daughters, two sons and one daughter dying in infancy. 

The third member of the family circle was Thomas Yost. As his early home in West Virginia, where he 
was born on Christmas day of 1840, was exchanged in 1853 for the newer country of Illinois, he was 
obliged to aid his parents in the support of the large family and had no opportunities for obtaining an 
education. Notwithstanding this, he is a well-informed man, with a depth of knowledge not always 
equaled by those whose opportunities have been greater. After leaving the home farm he secured 
employment as clerk in a general store at Bement, Ill. The opening of the Civil war found him eager to 
aid the Union cause. May 7, 1861, he enlisted as a private in a regiment authorized by the state, from 
the Seventh Congressional District, which afterward became the famous Twentyfirst Illinois Infantry 
(General Grant's regiment), being assigned to Company A. Later he was made a corporal. With the 
army he engaged in service in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and other portions of the 
south where the Army of the Cumberland operated. From the ranks he was promoted to be sergeant 
and continued in that capacity until the expiration of his service. Among his acquaintances he is known 
as "Captain, 1 ' a title that clings to him in spite of his earnest protestations that in the war he held no 
rank higher than that of sergeant. However, it may be stated that many an officer who held higher 
rank than he suffered far less in the country's cause and gave to the Union neither greater fidelity nor 
more valiant service than the record of Thomas Yost shows. 

While be participated in all the engagements of his regiment, Mr. Yost escaped being wounded for a 
considerable period, but finally, at the battle of Chickamauga, both arms were broken by minie balls. 
For twenty-one days he lay on the battlefield, too ill to walk, and overlooked by those who were busy 
in removing the injured from the field. To protect him from the hot sun by day there was only a small 
peach tree, in the shadow of whose foliage he found a partial protection from the heat of a Georgia 
sun. At night the ground and air seemed cold, and this in contrast with the heat of the day increased 
his misery. Meanwhile his wounds, not being dressed, caused him the greatest agony. Hour after hour 
slowly dragged away in terrible suffering. By chance a Confederate found him there and with pity for 
his deplorable condition brought him food and water, but was unable to care for the wounds. Yet, the 
simple act of charity on the part of the southerner gave the wounded northern soldier a different 
feeling toward the boys in gray. When finally he was removed by the Confederates he was taken 
north by slow stages to Richmond, Va., and in Libby Prison it was found that the wounds were so 
eaten by vermin that recovery would be tedious, and further service being impossible in his crippled 
condition, he was sent to Annapolis, from there to Chicago and honorably discharged in Louisville, July 
5, 1864, after which he returned to his Illinois home with his arms in a sling. 

The first visit to California made by Mr. Yost was in 1866, but he soon returned to Illinois. After his 
marriage in the spring of 1869 he again came west, this time settling at Hollister, where he remained 
for seventeen years, and carried on business as a dealer in merchandise, stationery and jewelry. 
During fifteen years of that time he was postmaster at Hollister. After coming to Fresno in 1887 he 
carried on a jewelry and stationery store. In 1893 he bought thirty acres near Centerville and this he 
planted in oranges and lemons, later selling the property. In December of 1 901 he returned to his oM 
home in the east and remained there for some time, also visited twenty-two states of the Union. 
Finding no location so satisfactory as Fresno county, in 1903 he returned to California and purchased 
fifteen acres adjoining Centerville, where he has oranges, lemons, prunes and grapes. In the sunshine 
and peace of his little home he expects to spend his declining days. 

In Homer, Ill., Mr. Yost married Miss Emma Thomas, who was born in Champaign county, Ill., a 
daughter of Elias Thomas, a Kentuckian by birth, but during the greater part of his life a farmer in 
Illinois. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Yost was Howard L., who was born May 26, 1870, at Hollister, 
Cal., and received his education in that town, being a graduate of the high school. At an early age he 
showed ability as an artist and a number of his paintings are now among the most prized possessions 
of his parents. After having been in business with his father for some years, in 1894 he was appointed 
head bookkeeper for the First National Bank of Fresno, and continued in that position until his death, 
which occurred March 23, 1898. The death of their promising son was the deepest bereavement of his 
parents' lives, and the years that have since passed have not dimmed the realization of their loss ; yet 
it is their joy to remember that the only sorrow he ever caused them was in his death. 

Stanch in his allegiance to the Republican party, Mr. Yost has been active in local politics and has served 
as a member of the county central committee. In 1900 he was a forced candidate for the assembly and 
came within fifty votes of being successful. Old war days are kept in memory through the comradeship 
of other veterans. In Atlanta Post, G. A. R., at Fresno, he has been a prominent member and has been 
honored with the office of commander of the Post.