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Roots in Saginaw, Michigan
Mary Uletta Carpenter Yawkey (c. 1933–1919) and her late husband, Samuel
Yawkey (1830–1882), were natives of Vermont and
Ohio. They married in 1853 and settled in Saginaw,
Michigan, where Samuel purchased lumber for an Ohio
company and worked for a short time as an agent of a
Chicago distributor. In 1856 he founded his own
firm, S. W. Yawkey & Co., but by 1864 was back in
Saginaw, working with his younger brother, William
Clyman Yawkey. In 1868 Samuel served as mayor of
East Saginaw and on the Michigan state legislature.
By 1871 he was involved with mining in Elko, Nevada,
possibly connected with one of William's operations,
where he remained until his death in 1882.
William Clyman Yawkey began with lumber and expanded
his business interests to include iron mining, oil,
and knitting mills. He was sometimes described as
the richest man in Michigan. Samuel and Mary's
middle child, Cyrus, built a successful lumber and
paper mill business in Wisconsin with William's son,
Bill Hoover Yawkey.
When Samuel Yawkey died, all three of his and Mary's
children were still living. Mary Elizabeth was a
teenager, Cyrus worked for his uncle William, and
John, the oldest, worked for a Detroit auto gasket
manufacturer. John died in 1896 and was buried in
the family plot at Forest Cemetery in Saginaw,
Michigan. Samuel was buried there, Mary would follow
in 1919, and their daughter, Mary Yawkey White, in
1928.
Mary E. Yawkey marries Frederick M. White
Mary's daughter, thirty-seven-year-old Mary E. Yawkey White
(c1866–1928), had married Frederick Moir White
(c1866–1933) in 1889. Thus far, I have not found
evidence that Mary and Frederick White had children.
Fifteen years of Yawkey Upheaval
In 1903 two Yawkey family members survived a disaster, an heir was
born, two died, and a baseball team was acquired. In
1918 and 1919 came two more deaths, an adoption, and
a $40 million inheritance. Thomas Austin Yawkey
(1903–1976) was born in early 1903, his father,
Thomas Austin, died the following September and his
grandfather, William Clyman Yawkey, died in
November.
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William had been negotiating to purchase the Detroit Tigers at the time of his
death, and his son, William "Bill" Hoover Yawkey
completed the purchase and owned the Tigers until
his death. When Augusta Yawkey Austin died in 1918,
leaving Thomas orphaned, Bill Yawkey adopted him,
then died a year later. He bequeathed his large
estate to Thomas, available to him upon reaching his
thirtieth birthday. Thomas celebrated by buying the
Boston Red Sox.
Homage to Mary Carpenter Yawkey's children and granddaughter
At the time of the Iroquois Theater fire, Mary
Carpenter Yawkey's granddaughter, Leigh Yawkey
(1888–1963), was fifteen years old and may have
peppered her grandmother with questions about the
fire. Leigh later married Aytchmonde P. Woodson
(1881–1958), and the
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin,
was established in her honor.
Mary Yawkey White and her husband, Fred White, moved
to San Diego later in their lives, and Mary
Carpenter Yawkey joined them during the last years
of her life. She much enjoyed touring to the top of
Mt. Helix to enjoy the scenic view. At her death,
her children, Mary Yawkey White and Cyrus Yawkey,
purchased the acreage and established the funds to
create and maintain
Mount Helix Park and outdoor amphitheater in San
Diego as a memorial to their mother.*
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