WI BIO - Kenosha Co - YONK, Clarence

History of Kenosha & Kenosha County Wisconsin. F. Lyman. Clarke Pub. Co., 
1916, vol II, pp 691-692

Clarence YONK, who is successfully engaged in general merchandising in 
Woodworth [Kenosha County, Wisconsin] and also owns land within the town 
limits, was born in Amsterdam, Holland on 13 December 1869, a son of Henry 
and Annie (DEXTER) YONK, who emigrated to the United States and located at 
Union Grove [Racine County] Wisconsin, when our subject was but three and a 
half years old. He entered the public schools at the usual age and devoted 
much of his time to the acquirement of an education until he was fifteen 
years old. For the following nine years he worked as a hired hand but at the 
end of that time rented 160 acres in Bristol Township [Kenosha County, 
Wisconsin], which he cultivated for three years. For a similar period of 
time he operated an eighty-acre farm belonging to a Mrs. JOSLYN and then 
rented 240 acres of L. P. DEVLIN. After farming that place for five years he 
purchased eight acres of land in Woodworth. In addition to cultivating this 
he ran a threshing machine for three years, [p 692] but at the end of that 
time disposed of his outfit and built a business block, in which he has since 
conducted a general store. His stock is selected with a view to the needs of 
his community, his business policy is liberal and reliable, and he has built 
up a good patronage.

Mr. [Clarence] YONK was married 23 November 1893 to Miss Anna LINDQUIST, a 
daughter of Victor and Johanna LINDQUIST, natives, respectively, of Sweden 
and Denmark. In 1869 they [Victor and Johanna LINDQUIST] came to the United 
States and located in Pleasant Prairie Township, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, 
but after farming for four years the father went to Truesdell [now extinct, 
but was in Kenosha County] and built a feed mill patterned after the mills of 
Holland. He operated this for many years and it became one of the landmarks 
of the locality. He [Victor LINDQUIST] died in 1905 and was survived by his 
wife [Johanna LINDQUIST] until 1912. Both [Victor and Johanna LINDQUIST] are 
buried in the cemetery at Kenosha. They were the parents of four children: 
(1) Victoria, now the wife of John CLAUSEN; (2) Sarah, deceased; (3) Anna 
[who married Clarence YONK, the subject]; and (4) Oscar, a resident of 
Laporte [LaPorte County], Indiana, who married Miss May BRONSON, a native of 
London, England.

Clarence and Anna (LINDQUIST) YONK have two children, Jessie and Grace 
Victoria. Mr. YONK is an advocate of Republican principles, but believes 
that the qualifications of a candidate are of greater importance than his 
political allegiance and accordingly votes independently. He is identified 
with the Masons at Bristol and belongs to the Modern Woodmen. He has 
demonstrated his enterprise and sound judgment, for he began his career 
empty-handed and has through his own unaided efforts gained a substantial 
measure of prosperity. 

Submitted by: Cathy Kubly