Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Finding Aid Prepared by Shane Jackson, Class of 2011 Emma Buell, Class of 2001 Jennie Thomas, Archivist
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Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Finding aid prepared by Shane Jackson, Class of 2011 Emma Buell, Class of 2001 Jennie Thomas, Archivist This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit August 13, 2019 Describing Archives: A Content Standard Albion College Archives and Special Collections 2001 611 E. Porter St. Albion, MI, 49224 517-629-0487 [email protected] Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Table of Contents Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3 Biographical/Historical note.......................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Contents note............................................................................................................................. 11 Administrative Information .......................................................................................................................13 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................13 Collection Inventory.................................................................................................................................... 15 George Daniel and Emma Bancroft Yinger..........................................................................................15 Elmer and Hattie Mae Brown Bancroft................................................................................................ 46 The Clement Bancroft and Aileen Yinger Family................................................................................51 The George Dempster and Ruth Mastin Yinger Family.......................................................................53 Edgar and Eleanor Eunice Yinger Walton............................................................................................58 The Homer Vincent and Alberta Porter Yinger Family....................................................................... 61 The Floyd Wendell and Madelon Haring Yinger Family.....................................................................70 The Paul Wesley and Harriet Knapp Yinger Family............................................................................71 The John Milton and Winnie MacHenry Yinger Family......................................................................78 The Charles and Marian Virginia Yinger Copenhaver Family.............................................................79 Other Family.......................................................................................................................................... 79 Yinger Family Lecture Series............................................................................................................... 84 Yinger Singers....................................................................................................................................... 84 “Yinger Yarner”.....................................................................................................................................86 - Page 2 - Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Summary Information Repository Albion College Archives and Special Collections Title Yinger family papers Date [inclusive] 1870-1994 Extent 10.25 Linear feet 11 boxes Language English Preferred Citation [item], folder, box, [Title], Archives and Special Collections,Stockwell-Mudd Library, Albion College. Albion, MI. - Page 3 - Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Biographical/Historical note Revs. George Daniel (1875-1934) and Emma Bancroft Yinger (1875-1960) The daughter of Elmer and Harriet (“Hattie”) May Brown Bancroft, Emma (“Emza”) Bancroft was born 1875 May 9 in Lenawee County, MI. She had four brothers: Edward, Pearl J., James, and Donald; two sisters: Elinor Snyder and Hattie Mae Day; two half-brothers: Emory and Archie (mother, Hattie Lamont). Her aunts and uncles included Clara Ganun [Clark?], Jennifer DeMiller, Flora Pope, George, and Martin. Emma was educated in the public schools, at Raisin Valley Seminary and Defiance College. She graduated from Albion in 1904. While at Defiance, she was a student minister in a nearby country church, making the eight-mile trip in a horse and buggy. She married the Rev. George D. Yinger in 1903 and with him served Methodist churches in Hanover, Horton, Concord, Bellevue, Union City, Quincy, Nashville, St. Louis, Greenville, Grand Rapids Plainfield Avenue, South Haven, and Three Rivers. Both Rev. Mr. and Rev. Mrs. Yinger were known as gifted preachers. George Daniel Yinger was born to Daniel and Helen Yinger, near Homer, MI in 1875. He had two brothers: Floyd E. (d. 1932) and Gabriel J. Yinger; and two sisters: Mrs. Norris G. Olney and Mrs. Peter Turner. His grandparents were John and Mary Yinger. George D. was a graduate of Albion College in 1903. George D. was known among members of the Methodist conference as a “church builder” for his work rehabilitating and remodeling churches in South Haven and Horton. His other charges included Grand Rapids, Greenville, St. Louis, Bellevue, and Union City. He taught music in the public schools in his youth, the love of which he carried with him and spread to his congregations and other family members. George D. died in 1934 while serving as pastor at Three Rivers. Mrs. Yinger lived in Greencastle, Indiana, after Mr. Yinger’s death, while three of her children were in school there. She then preached in Hanover and Horton, after which she served in the State School for the Blind in Lansing. During World War II Mrs. Yinger taught at the Houston School near Marshall. She continued her residence in Marshall until she retired. In 1947 the Rev. Mrs. Yinger was named “Mother of Michigan.” She was the first ordained woman Methodist minister in Marshall and one of the first in the Methodist ministry. Her eight children were all prominent in ministerial and educational circles. She was also well-known for her published poetry, including Life and Love, Complementary Mysteries (1949), The Key to Peace (1959). In January of 1960 she was recognized as a minister and poet in the first edition of Who’s Who of American Women, which named about 3,000 women as “outstanding.” Mrs. Yinger died at the age of 85 in November 1960 at Friendship Haven, Ft. Dodge, Iowa, where she had been a resident since she retired in April of 1960. She is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Albion, MI. - Page 4 - Yinger Family Papers C.MSS.0013 Hiram and Sarah Ann Brown Hiram and Sarah Ann Brown appear to have been Emma Bancroft Yinger’s maternal grandparents. Clifford and Hattie Mae Bancroft Day Hattie Mae was the youngest sister of Emma Bancroft Yinger. She married Clifford Day and was the mother of two. Her mother, Hattie Brown Bancroft, died when she was but a few hours old. Due to the age difference from her siblings, she was more like a daughter than a sister to her older brothers and sisters and for several years made her home with Rev. and Mrs. George D. Yinger. She was preceded three months earlier in death by her husband. Rev. James Henry (d. 1958) and Mrs. Cora Eddy Bancroft The Rev. James Henry Bancroft was born in Palmyra, Michigan. After a time, his family moved to Blissfield, where James met and married Cora Eddy. For a short time he taught, but he eventually resigned from his school and moved to Cedar Rapids, Michigan to preach. He was ordained in the Battle Creek First Methodist Church. James held appointments at Shepherdsville, Sheridan, Berrien Springs, Portland, Otsego, Mason, and Hillsdale. James and Cora had five children: Nolda (Mrs. Lloyd Hall), Leora (Mrs. Ernest Meade), Donna (Mrs. Robert Meyers), James, and Robert. After Cora’s death, James married Ms. Elsie Moncrieve of Otsego, Michigan. Elsie was a dear friend of Cora’s and a member of their church. Floyd Erwin (1905-1937) and Arlene Yinger Floyd Erwin was the son of Floyd E. Yinger, former Dearborn mayor and brother to George Daniel Yinger. Floyd Erwin was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 3, 1905 and was a resident of Detroit and Dearborn for most of his life. He married his wife Arlene in 1926. His sisters included Helen Y. Wright and Mrs. J. Edgar Bigelow; his brother was Wesley B. Floyd. Erwin was also a graduate of Albion College, 1926. While at Albion College, he belonged to the Zetalethian fraternity and the Albion College Glee Club. He died on 1937 May 2. Rev. Clement Bancroft (1905-1972) and Mrs. Aileen Humphrey Yinger Clement Bancroft Yinger was born in Concord, Michigan to Emma and George Daniel Yinger on 1905 August 30. He received a bachelor’s degree from Albion College in 1928; Master’s and S.T.D. at Boston University in 1932 and 1935 respectively; and an honorary D.D. from Albion in 1967. Clement married his wife Aileen Humphrey (b. 1909 December 1), married 1928 August 12. Aileen received a bachelor’s degree in religious education from Boston University and a Master’s in education from the New York State University College at Brockport. She was much in demand for original Bible dramatizations and wrote a book on them. While Clement was pastor at Albion First Methodist Church, she was president of the local Council of Church Women, a member of the board of directors of the YWCA, and a member of the Current Events Club. Clement served as pastor at two other churches in Michigan, aside from Albion First; as well as in Massachusetts (Grace Methodist Episcopal in Haverhill), New Hampshire (Federated