Sunday, May 17, 2015

Adventurous Ancestor: Archibald Colombat Yow Jr.

While researching one of my cousin lines today, I found a very interesting newspaper story.


Arch Yow is my 1st cousin twice removed. His full name is Archibald Colombat Yow Jr. and he is the grandson of my great-great-grandfather, John Henry Yow.

Archie Yow was born in 1916 in Henderson, North Carolina and he lived in North Carolina until at least 1953. He traveled to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) when he was 18.

Yearbook photo of Archie C. Yow at East Carolina Teachers College

He attended East Carolina Teachers College and University of North Carolina, with a stint in the army in between. In 1943 he was listed in a city directory as an engraver, and in 1944 he was listed as a student.

The sailboat incident happened in 1949. It must have been quite famous because besides this article that appeared in the Danville Bee on November 15, 1949, versions of this story also appeared in newspapers in Wisconsin, Indiana, and more.

The next record found of him is a document that has him traveling 1959 from Havana, Cuba, to England. The document said he planned to be in England for about 2 months to study and write.

After that, not much is known, except that in 1995 he was in Seguin, Texas, and in 2000, he was in Corpus Christie, Texas. I could find no evidence that he ever married or had children.

I could not find a death date for him, but I did find an obituary for his brother-in-law, Boyd Mack Stokes, that mentioned that Boyd's wife Ada had one remaining brother living, Alexander Jensen Yow. Boyd passed away in 2012, so Arch must have passed away between 2000 and 2012.

What an adventurous life he led!

6 comments:

  1. Arch Yow, Jr., was my paternal uncle. Older brother of my father, Ellard Melton Yow. Other siblings were Ada Rose Yow Stokes and A. Jensen Yow (perhaps still alive, but not sure...). Interesting story! Interesting and odd man! Catherine L. Yow, Galveston, Texas.

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  2. Arch Yow, Jr., was my paternal uncle. Older brother of my father, Ellard Melton Yow. Other siblings were Ada Rose Yow Stokes and A. Jensen Yow (perhaps still alive, but not sure...). Interesting story! Interesting and odd man! Catherine L. Yow, Galveston, Texas.

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  3. My husband is Arch Yow Stokes, son of Ada Rose Yow Stokes and nephew of Archibald C. Yow, Jr. Interestingly, given the name of the person that posted above, my name is Margaret Mead Stokes!! I go by Maggie. My hubby goes by Archie. Rose Yow Stokes died some years back, as did my father-in-law, Mack B. Stokes. They had a beautiful marriage. Cathy, you are John's sister, right?

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  4. I am trying to reach family members of Dr. Martha Dukes Yow and wonder if this is a connection. If so, please contact the American Medical Women's Association amwa-doc.org.

    Thank you!

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  5. Any chance this is Archibald Yow that sailed solo in boat Ventura for 18 months from Miami via the West Indes? I found a grainy news photo with a caption to that effect in files from my librarian aunt Mary Kilgore. Unfortunately no year or other identifiers on the photo. I am trying to plug these files in with our family history. We have Yow and Melton ancestors.

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