Biographical Souvenir of Delaware and Buchanan Counties Iowa 1890  pgs.
287-288

JOHN H. YOUKER is a native of Montgomery county, N. Y., and was born October 2, 1817. He is a son of Jacob Youker, who was also a native of the Empire State, born in 1785. He was a tailor by trade, although he owned a farm and carried on agricultural pursuits for many years. He enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, going in the place of another man, but the war closed before he got to the front. He was a man of strong individuality and bore an excellent character. He died in 1850.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was Jacob Youker, who emigrated from Germany. He located in New York State and was a gallant soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died about 1830.

The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Sopnable. She was a native of New York and was born in 1791 and died in 1875. She was a consistent Christian of the German Reform church. She was the mother of eleven children, five of whom are now living.

The early boyhood days of our subject were passed on his father's farm in New York. His educational advantages were confined to the common district school, which he attended principally during the winter months until he was fourteen years of age. At the age of twenty-one he served an
apprenticeship as a carpenter and worked steadily at his trade until about 1861. He then worked in a cabinet shop for six years. He was a skilled mechanic and competent to construct almost anything made of wood. In 1857 he came West on a prospecting tour and spent some time in Delaware county, Iowa. He returned to the East quite well pleased with the appearance of this section of the country, and in 1867 he moved his family to Sand Springs, then quite a thriving little town. He built the first two houses that were built there when he came to the county the first time. Mr. Youker married, December 24, 1843, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary J. Bowen, born in New York, October 11, 1819. She was a daughter of Stephen Bowen, a native of Rhode Island, and his wife of Connecticut.

Mr. Youker always opposed slavery in every shape and form and never voted for any man for office who favored slavery. He was a strong abolitionist, and never hesitated to speak his sentiments in public. He has always affiliated with the republican party since its organization, and is a firm believer in the principles as enunciated in its platform. He has never been an active politician and never cared for office. He owns a fine farm near Sand Springs, besides a comfortable residence in the village. He has never made any pretensions at farming, but has simply lived a quiet, retired life for the past quarter of a century.

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