One of the first American Brickers, Adam was born at Redstone Fort (now Brownsville, Fayette, Pennsylvania). Adam was a career soldier, farmer, and hunter. His parents and four siblings were killed in 1776 when Delaware Indians retaliated against settlers for an attack on their own people. Adam and a younger brother had been sent to the mill with a sack of corn, only to return home to find the charred remains of their home and family. Another brother was reportedly taken by the Indians and was never heard from again. Adam was only 13 at the time. A year later he joined the Army and fought in the American Revolution. He settled down in Clermont County, Ohio. Adam was an ancestor of Ethel BYRD-WHYTE.

A lawyer who settled in Eaton, Delaware, Indiana, William's autobiographical record provided a tremendous amount of genealogical information for the YOUNTS, MICKLE, McLAIN, and WHITE lines. Through William we know that the original family name was YOUNTZ and that they hailed from Germany and settled in the Carolinas. We also know that William's grandfather, Phillip, changed the spelling to YOUNCE, and that William changed it again to YOUNTS. We also know that the family were members of the Dunkard Church and settled in Miami County, Ohio, after leaving the Carolinas. William's daughter Josie May YOUNTS married Edward Grant WHITE. They were the parents of Cecil Earnest WHITE.

I was fortunate enough to inherit the family Bible of William Henry YOUNCE, through which I gleaned most of the YOUNCE family genealogy. In that Bible, I found a precious document, the history of the YOUNCE family written by William Henry. It gave a great deal of information that would have been lost to us otherwise. The pages of this document are fragile, but I have copied them into a word document that you may now view online or download. The sad thing about this document is part of it has obviously been lost since the last page ends with the start of a new adventure for William Henry.

For those of you who do not know, William Henry YOUNCE was the father of Josie May YOUNCE, Edward Grant's mother and Cecil's grandmother. William Henry was a prominent attorney in Eaton, Delware County, Indiana, and a contemporary (in-law, actually) of John D. WHITE.

John D. White: Born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1816, John D. WHITE migrated to Decatur County, Indiana, along with his parents John W. and Hannah MCDONALD (some records list her maiden name as MCDANIELS). John D. married Louisa EARLS and the couple had at least nine children. After her death, he married Anna EARLS (sometimes listed as EARL), and the couple moved to Delaware County, Indiana, where both John D. and John W. became prominent farmers around the Eaton and Royerton areas. John D. sired another eight children with Anna. The sixth child produced by their union was Edward Grant WHITE, father of Cecil EARNEST. John D. would have been a contemporary of William Henry YOUNCE. Anna and most of her children are buried in Union Cemetery outside Eaton in Delaware County, Indiana. John D. and his parents are also supposed to be buried there. John D.'s younger brother, Samuel Simpson WHITE, was the first postmaster general in Muncie, Delaware, Indiana.

"John D. White lived with his parents until his marriage, which occurred December 31, 1835, with Louisa Earl, daughter of James and Nancy (Ward) Earl, after which event he engaged in farming for himself in Decatur County, where he lived until his removal to the county of Delaware in 1869. He has given the best energies of his life to his chosen calling of agriculture, and financially has met with gratifying success, owning at this time a well improved farm in Hamilton township...Mr. White became the father of the following children: Thomas, deceased; Mary, deceased; Robert, Isaac; John N.; Mary J., wife of Charles Tingle; Nancy L., wife of Joseph Campbell, and Thomas R. In the year 1853, death invaded the home of Mr. White, and took thence his companion, and later he was united in marriage to Anna Earl, of Indiana. Mrs. White was born in Franklin County, Ind., and has born her husband the following children: Elizabeth, wife of John Turner; Hannah J., wife of Ephraim Colvin; America, wife of Joseph Shaffer; Hester, wife of George Rusler; Samuel D., Edda N., Joseph E., and James O., the named not living. Mr. and Mrs. White are well known and highly respected citizens, and have endeared themselves to their friends and neighbors by their many kindly acts and words of encouragement. For a number of years they have been members of the Christian Church, and their lives have indeed been exemplary." (page 577)

Note: This account does contain some inaccuracies. For one, John and Louisa had another son, William S. (He was listed in 1870 Delaware County Census with John D. and Anna as the eldest son, whose mother was born in Kentucky; however, he was too old to be the product of John's marriage to Anna, and she was born in Indiana. Louisa was born in Kentucky). Also, John and Anna's daughter Hester is listed as Esther on her headstone in the cemetery outside Eaton, Indiana. Edda N. was incorrect. This should have been Edward Grant, or "Eddie" as he was called as a child.

"After their marriage the couple [Hannah & John] moved to Butler County, Ohio, and in 1817 immigrated to Indiana, locating in Franklin County, where, in 1826, Mr. White purchased from the government 126 acres of land...John and Hanna white had a family of ten children, eight of whom lived to have families of their own, six of the number now living, namely: Thomas N. retired farmer of Decatur County, Indiana; Abigail, the wife of O. Reed; John D., Isaac, of Decatur County, this state; Hannah J., wife of William Eddings, and Samuel S., a resident of the state of Kansas." (pages 576-577)

Frances was Ethel BYRD-WHITE's grandfather. We have learned that he is a descendant, not of William BYRD of Virginia, but of Andrew BIRD, born in 1695 in Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey. This has completely debunked a family legend. However, we are grateful to have this new information provided to us by Jack L. BYRD, a new-found cousin who is related to Andrew through two lines of his family. He wrote:

It took over 20 years to find this out, so our many, many thanks, Jack. Since this information was provided, several other family groups have been found that have been submitted to various online ancestry sites that do link our Andrew to the line that William Byrd I came from in England. According to their info, Andrew's grandfather and William were brothers. Jack disputes this, so it will be interesting to see what we actually find to be true.

UPDATE: After joining onegreatfamily.com I have amassed considerable information on Francis' forefathers that takes us back into areas of the world I never dreamed possible...at least, not through this line. I am still sorting through data and confirming information. I now have some lines back over 100 generations. It is mind-boggling. However, it has proven one thing: our BYRD line and the Virginia BYRD line meet up a few generations back into England.