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JOHN C. YOUNGKEN, merchant, Fairfield. Space will not permit an extended review of the lives of the many noble men and women whose acts constitute the brightest pages in the history of Wayne County; yet a history which does not transmit to the rising and future generations some personal points relative to this claim would certainly fail in the most essential object for which it
was written. Conspicuous in this rank is the man whose name heads this sketch. Mr. Youngken was born August 4, 1839, in Friendsville, Wabash Co., Ill. His father, John F. Youngken, was a native of Bucks County, Penn., born in 1806, and was a descendant from German ancestry.  He came to Illinois in an early and settled in Wabash County, where he soon made his influence felt by his public spirit and enterprise. He represented his district in the State Legislature and there characterized himself by introducing into that body a bill to restrict the liquor traffic. He was an earnest temperance worker, a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, and the impress of his molding hand in the community in which he lived so long will never cease to be felt. He was married, about 1837, in Wabash County, to Harriet Danforth, who was born in New England in 1802. She also was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and both are now deceased. They had a family of three children, John C. being the only one living.  He grew to maturity in his native county, meantime attending the public schools, and when nineteen years old entered the Hanover College, from which he graduated in 1862.  Immediately after his graduation, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for the term of three years. After returning home, he began an extended and successful career as a teacher. For five years he was in charge of the public school of Friendsville, meantime superintending the interests of his father's farm, after which, for some years, he was Superintendent of the Mount Carmel public School. He took charge of the Fairfield School in 1873, and continued at its head for four years. He gave up the profession to engage in mercantile pursuits and is now engaged in a general grocery and provision store in Fairfield.  He is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, of which his entire family are members;  also a member of the A. O. U. W. and the G. A. R.  He was married, August 16, 1866, to Julia B. Vanausdel.  She was born in Lawrence county, Ill., May 24, 1848.  Their family consists of Harry H.,  Annie K., Bennie N., and Charles T. Youngken.