YODER NEWSLETTER

06/10/2026

A 2025 visit to the Forks Cemetery, Newbury Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, by Verna Miller, Lititz PA to visit the graves of her g-g grandparents. ancestress Barbara Yoder (YR23371) wife of Joseph “Sep” Bontrager, among the first Amish settlers of northern Indiana. Barbara was the oldest child of Bishop Christian Yoder Jr of Somerset Co, PA. Verna is the person with the lavender sweater on.

06/06/2026

Looking for a Yotter from the Eppstein line of the family...

In YNL10 we introduced the descendants of the Yotter group from Eppstein, Germany.. per the German research of Karl Joder and Ottma Jotter supposed from a particular Steffisburg Joder connected to the Amish forebear Jost (b 1607). (seehttps://yodernewsletter.org/ynlpdf/YNL10.pdf )

However early DNA testing (for folks now deceased or not available) in this line shows it was not linked to the Amish profile. (a value at marker 19 of "15" vs the Amish "16". The new Big Y 700 marker tests provides an opportunity to find more hints to the lineage of this family. Contact Chris Yoder at [email protected] if interested in volunteering for such testing.

05/30/2026

An update for subscribers of the Yoder Newsletter is shown below!.. we noticed that the April 2026 Yoder Newsletter YNL87, as published, did not have the Yoder ID numbers inserted on many of the folks whose passing was noted on page 8. We have updated the master for this page and share it below. When, in a year or so, the YNL87 is posted for public access at www.yodernewsletter.org it will include the updated information for that page, and this master will be used when (after reaching YNL100- God willing) we produce a consolidated version with YNL76-100 with index.

05/20/2026

Production Schedule finalized- on Limited Edition Yoder T Shirts,

Collectable Capt Jacob Yoder America250 Shirts, – Orders must be placed by Jun 8, 2026!
Mailing date of 25 June to allow receipt before the 4th.

Jacob (OH113) Yoder enlisted at 18 and spent the next two years in the service of his country. When British General William Howe brought 15,000 troops to Pennsylvania, Yoder was with Washington at the battle of Brandywine Creek, a British victory, but one where 20 year old Frenchman the Marquis de Lafayette first won recognition. Jacob went on to fight at the battle at Germantown. Then Jacob shared the long, cold winter with Washington at Valley Forge, which suddenly became, on the barefooted arrival of 11 to 14,000 troops, the “third largest city in America”. Starvation and disease would kill nearly 2,000 soldiers, and perhaps as many as 1,500 horses. Jacob survived. He later was to become famous as the first man to take a flatboat of goods from Pittsburgh down the Ohio and Mississippi River to New Orleans.
For more biographical details see:
https://yodernewsletter.org/ynlpdf/YNL72.pdf
to place order, mail in the form on the FACEBOOK post below. Thanks.

05/05/2026

Act soon! Once in a lifetime Yoder Event!
Chance to get a Limited Edition Collectible T Shirt.
Be welcomed by members of the Capt Jacob Yoder (OH113) family for a private tour of the newly renovated 1806 Homestead of this Revolutionary War patriot. Print off an send in the registration/shirt order form attached.

Jacob Yoder enlisted at 18 and spent the next two years in the service of his country. When British General Willian Howe brought 15,000 troops to Pennsylvania, Yoder was with Washington at the battle of Brandywine Creek, a British victory, but one where 20 year old Frenchman the Marquis de Lafayette first won recognition. Jacob went on to fight at the battle at Germantown. There the American forces held up much better. Then Jacob shared the long, cold winter with Washington at Valley Forge, which suddenly became, on the barefooted arrival of 11 to 14,000 troops, the “third largest city in America”. Starvation and disease would kill nearly 2,000 soldiers, and perhaps as many as 1,500 horses. Jacob survived. He later was to become famous as the first man to take a flatboat of goods from Pittsburgh down the Ohio and Mississippi River to New Orleans.

04/29/2026

Are you a descendant of Andrew Yoder of Lycoming Co, PA (1776-c1831)? We'd like to arrange a "Big Y' DNA test for you to further support our hypothesis about his paternal line. (we have two 20 year old tests and both individuals have passed on- so an upgrade to their existing sample does not appear possible), Subscribers to the newsletter will have seen in the April YNL the results of two groups of tests which present interesting results from the Samuel Yoder (OH13), Yost Yoder (OY), and Hans Yoder of Great Swamp (YB) lines.

New Big Y tests have just been started for descendants of Michel Yoder (YRC line) and Joseph Ioder.

For more info on Andrew Yoder see YNL53 at
https://yodernewsletter.org/ynlpdf/YNL53.pdf

Interested Andrew male descendants please contact Chris Yoder at [email protected] or call 616-212-3443. Thanks.

04/21/2026

The Library of Congress Blog writes in 2015 about the late Dr Don Yoder- frequent contributor of articles for the Yoder Newsletter and "discoverer" of several major Yoder family mysteries, see YNLs 5, 14, 57, 58 .

Did you ever wonder why U.S. government institutions like the Library of Congress use the word “folklife” rather than the more common “folklore?” Largely, we can thank the influence of Don Yoder, the eminent Pennsylvania folklorist, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 93. Long before the f...

04/20/2026

Hosting opportunities still available for 2026 House of Yoder season:

Be a Host at The House of Yoder

Would you like to spend a week or two in the beautiful hills of Garrett Co. MD? Volunteer hosts needed May to mid-October.

Live in apartment (at no cost to the host) that includes a full kitchenette, living area, sleeping area, and bath.
Open Yoder House for visitors from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Saturday. Penn Alps restaurant provides
a 25% discount for one meal each day. Your hosting services provide you free living quarters in the cozy apartment.

Application forms and hosting information may be obtained by contacting Mayla Yoder at 814-267-3383 ET

In the Spruce Forest Artisan Village. Our physical (GPS) address is 10411 National Pike, Grantsville, MD 21536

04/20/2026

To see videos from
-The 2013 Reuben Yoder Reunion in Shirpshewana. IN (YR2337a)
-The 2017 National Yoder Reunion in Shipshewana, IN
visit and subscribe to the Youtube page at

https://www.youtube.com/

(some of these were once on the Yoder Newsletter FACEBOOK page but have now vanished- may have to reload them at some point)

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

04/17/2026

ATTENTION NON-SUBSCRIBERS- You can now read YNL issues 84 and 85 on-line at https://yodernewsletter.org/issues.html

YNL84 features-
-The Voyages of the Francis and Eliazabeth (1742 Amish came on it)
-The House of Yoder -25 Years and Counting
-Conrad Yoder 150th Birthday Celebration Anounced

YNL85 features
-America Revolution in NC- Conrad Yoder and his Neighbors
-A year celebrating Conrad Yoder
-Jacob Yoder (OH146) Bible Records Discovered