How the Minister Gave Answers: Amy Skinner (52 Ancestors #12)

It’s easy to focus solely on our relatives. After all, they’re the ones we’re trying to learn more about. However, sometimes we need to take a look at the others they associated with to get a better idea of their lives.

Amy Skinner was a daughter of my 4th-great-grandparents Robert and Elizabeth (Spencer) Skinner. She married William Yost in Perry County, Ohio on 18 January 1838.1)William Yost and Amy Skinner marriage, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013, FamilySearch.org; digitized image of Perry County, Ohio marriage volume 1, page 246. Amy died in Perry County on 29 December 18862)Perry County, Ohio Death Records, Volume 1 (Junction City, OH: Perry County Chapter, OGS, 1986), p. 423. Note: her FindAGrave memorial lists the year as 1888; I’m inclined to believe the death record. and is buried in the Lutheran Reformed Cemetery in Thornville.3)Amy Skinner Yost, memorial 127790110, FindAGrave.com.

Her burial in the Lutheran Reformed Cemetery caught my eye. The Skinners were from a long line of Baptists. Amy’s parents, Robert and Elizabeth, are both buried in the Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery. Amy’s brother William married Matilda Debolt, the daughter of Baptist minister George Debolt. So where does this tie to the Lutheran Church come in?

I re-examined her marriage record. Amy and William were married by Charles Hinkel, Minister of the Gospel. Time to do a little digging on Charles.

William Yost and Amy Skinner marriage record, Perry County, Ohio marriage volume 1, page 246.

William Yost and Amy Skinner marriage record, Perry County, Ohio marriage volume 1, page 246.

History of Perry County, Ohio by Clement L. Martzolff states, “This church [the Lutheran Church at Somerset] and most of the other Lutheran Churches in the county was served by Rev. Chas. Hinkle who is buried in the old cemetery.”4)Clement L. Martzolff, History of Perry County, Ohio (by the author, 1902), p. 100. Available on Internet Archive. So Amy’s connection to the Lutheran Church goes back at least to her marriage to William Yost.

This split with her parents’ religion didn’t seem to alienate her from the family, at least not officially. Amy was mentioned in her father’s will with the bequest that the daughters “share and share alike.”5)FamilySearch.org, Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996, Robert Skinner will, Perry County probate case 559; Perry County Probate Court, New Lexington, Ohio. We’ll likely never know if there was tension in the family because she married a Lutheran. But taking a look at the minister who married Amy and William gives a little bit of insight into Amy’s life.

References   [ + ]

1. William Yost and Amy Skinner marriage, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013, FamilySearch.org; digitized image of Perry County, Ohio marriage volume 1, page 246.
2. Perry County, Ohio Death Records, Volume 1 (Junction City, OH: Perry County Chapter, OGS, 1986), p. 423. Note: her FindAGrave memorial lists the year as 1888; I’m inclined to believe the death record.
3. Amy Skinner Yost, memorial 127790110, FindAGrave.com.
4. Clement L. Martzolff, History of Perry County, Ohio (by the author, 1902), p. 100. Available on Internet Archive.
5. FamilySearch.org, Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996, Robert Skinner will, Perry County probate case 559; Perry County Probate Court, New Lexington, Ohio.

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