The Yost Family WEB Pages
© Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
INTRODUCTION
THE YOST GENEALOGY
  1. JACOB JOST
  2. JACOB JOST
  3. CHRISTIAN JOST
  4. NICKLAUS JOST
  5. HANS CASPER YOST
  6. JOHN YOST
  7. HENRY WAGGONER YOST
  8. BENEDICT YOST
  9. WILLIAM HENRY YOST
NINE GENERATIONS OF YOSTS
YOST FAMILY ALBUM

APPENDIX

Dedicated to the 
memory of 
Grace Adele Yost
February 20, 1886 - September 30, 1919


INTRODUCTION

The Yost family’s European origins are from Germany and Switzerland. The earliest known origins of the family are in the Franconia region of Germany in the 17th century, then the Duchy of Franconia. The Franconia region is found in central Germany in the area around current day Frankfurt, Würzburg, Nürnburg and Bayreuth. They later migrated to the Kingdom of Wurtemberg and Emmen Valley Switzerland, near Langnau. Following the death’s of Christian and Barbara Jost as a result of religious persecutions, their four sons immigrated to Pennsylvania by way of Holland and England at the invitation of William Penn who was seeking settlers for the colony granted him. The remaining children of Christian and Barbara apparently remained in England.

The name was originally Jost or Joust which become Yost when family members immigrated to America (see Hans Casper Yost). There exists several possible sources of origin for the name any or all of which may be true. Evidence exists the name may be of Frankish origin from the Frank’s goddess Ostara or Eastara and/or from the word "joust" meaning "friendly combat. Evidence also exists the name may derive from the word for the virtue "Just" which has Persian, Monravian, Roman and Teutonic origins. For more on the origins of the name see the "Birdeen Yost" document in the Appendices.

The information on these pages comes primarily from the following sources.

As with my other "family" Web Pages, it is my hope these pages will grow either through contributions or by linking with similar efforts from other members of the Yost Family.

Patrick Daspit
Whitefish Bay, WI
September, 1999
 
 
 

THE YOST GENEALOGY


FIRST DEGREE

JACOB JOST

Born: Before 1634
Died: Before 1707
Married: Rachel _________ Children: 1. Jacob Jost
2. Peter Jost b. 1688
Records state Jacob Jost was a "Burgesse" in the Meintz district of the Duchy of Franconia.
(Source: Birdeen Yost)



SECOND DEGREE

JACOB JOST

Born: Date unknown, in Franconia
Died: 1728 in Switzerland
Married: Chartharine _________ Children: 1. Christian Jost b. 1687  (see below)
2. Nicklaus (Klaus) Jost b. 1694  (see below)
3. Jacob Jost
Jacob and his wife Chartharine are referred to in a record dated 1710 as being members of a Protestant colony in Franconia.
(Source: Birdeen Yost)



THIRD DEGREE

CHRISTIAN JOST

Born: 1687 in Franconia
Died: 1728 in Switzerland
Married: Barbara Bowarn in 1708 or 09. Children: 1. Jacob Jost b. 1710
2. Hans Casper Jost b. 1712
3. Chartharine Jost b. 1714
4. Heinrich Jost b. 1717
5. Barbara Jost b. 1720
6. Johan Jost b. 1724
In 1714, Christian and his brother Klaus are referred to as part of a Protestant migration to the Kingdom of Wurtemberg and in 1727-28 they are named in records of a "war on Protestants" in Emmen Valley, Switzerland. Christian was killed and his wife Barbara imprisoned in Berne where she died. In 1728, after Barbara’s death, the Jost property was confiscated and the destitute children become part a large group of religious "agitators" from the Rhine valley who were transported to England where they were granted refuge by Queen Anne.

Of Christian and Barbara's children, all four of the sons are known to have lived to settle in America. Jacob, the eldest son, arrived in Philadelphia pn August 24, 1728.  He settled in Limerick Township, Philadelphia County.  He died in 1755 of a "bone fever" and left two sons, Nicholas and Henry.  Hans Casper settled in Lancaster County, see below.  Heinrich (later Henry) landed in Philadelpia in 1738 and was bound out on a farm in Luzerne County, PA where he died in 1792.  John arrived in 1741 and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania but later moved to York  He died in Northumberland County 1780 or 81.  It is most likely that the four girls remained in England as servants as was the case with many of the female refugees from the religous strife.

(Source: Birdeen Yost)


NICKLAUS JOST

Born: 1694 in Franconia
Died: in France
Married: Rebecca Welland Children: 1. Peter Jost
2. Phillip Jost
3. Johan George Jost
4. Nicklaus Jost
5. Rachel Jost
6. Magdalen Jost
7. Christian Jost
8. Rebecca Jost


FOURTH DEGREE

HANS CASPER YOST

Born: 1712, Emmen Valley, Switzerland
Died: 1777 or 1782, Frederick Co. MD
Married: Eleanor Marshall Children: 1. John Yost b. 1743  (see below)
2. Henry Yost b. 1749
3. Tobias Yost b. c. 1755
4. Susannah Yost b. c. 1759
5. Philip Yost b. c. 1762
Hans Casper Yost was born Hans Casper (or Gasper) Jost in 1712 in Emmen Valley, Switzerland, the son of Christian and Barbara Jost. He immigrated to the American colony of Pennsylvania, as did his three brothers and many other Palatines seeking to escape religious persecution. Upon arrival in Philadelphia, the name Jost was changed to Yost as a result of the English official’s not understanding the German pronunciation of Jost and the apparent illiteracy of Hans and many of the other immigrants. He is listed as Gasper Joust, age 21, on a list of Palatine passengers who arrived in Philadelphia August 17, 1733 on the ship Samuel. Clearance qualified as Hans Casper Joost, August 1733 (see Appendix __).  He was bound out to William Moerschel (Marshall) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for two years after which he married William's daughter, Eleanor. He eventually settled in Lancasterboro, Pennsylvania.  See Casper Yost History.

Henry Yost married Mary Waggoner, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Waggoner.  He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Continental Army in 1778 and commanded the armory near Harper's Ferry in 1780.



FIFTH DEGREE

JOHN YOST

Born: 1743, Lancasterboro, PA
Died: 1806
Married: Rebecca Waggoner, 1767

Children: 1. Katherine Yost, b. 1769
2. John Yost, b 1771
3. Martha (or Martha) Yost, b. 1772
4. Elisabeth Yost, b. 1774
5. Henry Waggoner Yost, b. 1782 (see below)
John Yost was a gunsmith with a shop at First & High streets in George Town, now Wisconsin Ave. and N Street in Washington D.C. During the revolutionary War he took the Patriot's oath in Maryland and made "guns, musquettes (muskets), cannon and armorial accessories" for the militia. In 1783, he and Rebecca moved to Alexandria, VA.



SIXTH DEGREE

HENRY WAGGONER YOST

Born: 1782, George Town, MD
Died: 1836
Married: Rachael Sheriff (b.1786, d. 1852) March 18, 1804, Bladensburg, MD.

Children: 1. Benedict Yost, b. September 29, 1811 Henry Waggoner Yost moved to Bladensburg Md. where he married Rachael Sherriff, whose parents had moved to Prince George County, MD from Fairfax Co. VA. His estate was inventoried and appraised on December 5, 1836.



SEVENTH DEGREE

BENEDICT YOST

Born: September 29, 1811
Died: September 04, 1883
Married: Elizabeth Cloud Benson (b. August 13, 1817, d. 1880)

Children: 1. William Henry Yost, b. September 06, 1854
2. Robert Vincent Yost
3. John C. Yost
4. Benjamin Dallas Yost
5. Elizabeth Yost
6. Rachael Amelia Yost, b. January 28, 1843
Mary Elizabeth Benson is the daughter of Cephus W. Benson who is buried at the door of Addison’s Chapel.
 


EIGHTH DEGREE


WILLIAM HENRY YOST

Born: September 06, 1854
Died: February 02, 1943, Bladensberg, MD
Married: Mary Elizabeth McDonald (d. October 07, 1909, Washington D.C.)

Children: 1. Grace Adele Yost, b, February 20, 1886
2. Elsie Mae Yost, b. 1890
3. Emma Blanche Yost, b. 1898
4. Mary Elizabeth Yost
5. Mary Selena Yost
6. Myrtle Estelle Yost
7. William Edward Yost, b. May 10, 1892
8. Dorothy Anita Yost
William Henry Yost owned a lumber company and was a prominent builder of numerous homes in the Capitol Hill area of Washington during the Late 1800's and early 1900's.    Mary Elizabeth McDonald was the daughter of James McDonald and Mary Selena Chambers.  Mary Selena Chambers was born in Dublin, Maryland, the daughter of Frank Chambre', who came from Bordeaux, Framce, and Anna Marie Riddlemoser.
 

William Henry Yost
(at his daughter, Dorothy's wedding)

Mary Elizabeth McDonald
(at the time of her marriage to 
William Henry Yost)


Updates and Revisions

May, 2000

Included additional information about the other children of Christian & Barbara Jost.  Added information on Mary Elizabeth McDonald (wife of William Henry Yost) genealogy.
 
 
 


Copyright Notice

The material contained on these pages is my work and that of other members of the Yost family who have contributed to the family history and archives over the years.  It is intended solely for the use of members of the Yost Family and other researchers.  It may be copied for private use and research, but may not be published or sold for profit without permission.

Patrick Daspit

© Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
by Patrick Daspit & various members of the Daspit & Yost Families
Almond Press