| .MUTATIONS OF SPELLING SURNAMES In the mutation of the spelling of surnames, the descendants of the Patriarch of the Northern Neck families, Matthias Yoakum, are in the lead. One grandson spelled it Yokim; other families who still reside in or near the area of original settlement spell it Yokum, with only an occasional adherent to the Yoakum spelling. Another son who was one of the earliest settlers in Kentucky adhered to Yoakum and some of his older children did likewise, but very shortly every member of the family was married under the name of Yocum; occasionally, one of them returns to the Yocum spelling. The descendants of Valentine Yoakum, whose history follows, consistently continue not only to spell the name Yoakum, but insist that that is the only proper way to spell it. It seems unfortunate that Guy D. Yoakum did not consult "Rupp's Thirty Thousand Immigrants. When Matthias Yoakum, Michael Harness and George Stump were the first men to "bring wagons from Pennsylvania, over the mountains to the South Branch," and the two Jacobs, John, Phillip Poule and Valentine Yoakum followed soon after it seemed logical to assume that all were of the same family group. The first doubt arose when Phillip Poule Yoakum stated that he ws the second of the same name and a descendant of Peter Jachim or Joachim. As he was some 200 years nearer to his ancestor than anyone today, his statement must be taken into consideration. The question confronting us now is: What Peter ? ? ? As a cross-word puzzle addict, I find genealogy to be the greatest puzzle of all. G.D. Yoakum, Director YOAKUM FEATURES, 1252 Elmdale Ave., Chicago 40, Illinois, in a letter to Dr. Albert Yocom of Chariton, Iowa, in December 1948, enclosed the following manuscript. |
| THE YOAKUM FAMILY By G.D. Yoakum The Name On the authority of a Bible Record written by Franklin Yoakum,"son of George Yoakum and Mary Ann Maddy, and given to him by his father, George Yoakum I", this family is of Welsh extraction. (See Tennessee Records, v. 2 by Acklen) "The original name" he says, "was so uncouth and knotty that our fathers of three or four hundred years ago agreed to have it changed into "Iugum" or "Jagum", which is the Latin term for "Yoke". A short time later under the influence of the English neighbors, it was again changed into "Yocum, and finally Yoakum. If this was written about 1675, it means that the changes were made before crossing the Atlantic. But Franklin also says, "The Yoakum's emigrated to America with the first Dutch settlers on the Island of Manhattan, the present site of New York City." What ws the Dutch form of the name? Two men came from Holland early, certainly before 1650, bearing the name "Jochemszen", which sounds precisely like what the Dutch do to Yoakum", and since no other name approximating it occurs in the New Amsterdam records, one of these must be our first ancestor in the new world. David of Amsterdam married Christina Coppoens, the widow of Jacob Hay, and died without issue, so our hopes rests upon Andries, of whom more later. Among what English did Andries ancestors use the present spelling, and when did the American branch resume it after the Dutch Captivity? .... to be added to as time permits. If you have any specific questions, please contact Rajean at rajeang@yahoo.com |
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| To a list of Y family immigrants, click here |