The U.S. and a collection of family obituaries can be used to establish the identities of most of the children of Sarah Blevins and her husband John Newton Yarberry.
John Yarberry and Sarah Blevins married on 13 January 1870 in Hempstead County, Arkansas:
This would indicate that no children were born of this marriage prior to 13 January 1870.
In 1880, John and Sarah Yarberry were still living in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Their children were Charles Yarberry, age 4; George Yarberry, age 7; and the twins, Lilian Yarberry and Lela Yarberry, age 1. That is a roughly three-year gap between births, which is a reasonable birth pattern.
In 1900, the Yarberrys were living in Cleveland County in the Oklahoma Territory. John Newton Yarberry, born in Tennessee, was 46 years old. Sarah (Blevins) Yarberry, born in Alabama, was 41 years old. The census notes that they had been married for thirty years. Significantly, it notes that Sarah had given birth to nine children with six of them still living in 1900.
The children listed in the household with them were George Yarberry, born in 1873; Charles Yarberry, born in 1876; and Lizzie Yarberry, born in 1881. The other children were continued on the next page with Lula Yarberry, born in 1883; and Alve [Alex] Yarberry, born in 1886. Living next door to them was their married daughter Lelar (Yarberry) Warner, born in 1879. That accounts for their six children who were living in 1900.
The known child missing from this list is one of the twins, Lillian (Yarberry) Lowe, who died 3 March 1899, shortly after giving birth to her second child.
That leaves two unidentified children of John Newton and Sarah (Blevins) Yarberry who must have either been born and died between the 1870 and 1880 censuses or between the 1880 and 1900 censuses. It is possible for an unidentified child to have been born on or after 1880, to have lived long enough to marry and to have a child or two. If that is the case, that child is still unidentified. There also do not seem to be any tombstone inscriptions of possible candidates in Hempstead County, Arkansas or Cleaveland County, Oklahoma, but as a poor, farm family, they probably could not afford to purchase tombstones for these children.
John Newton Yarberry died on 30 March 1908 in Quay County, New Mexico and was buried in the Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery. I have visited his gravesite myself, and he has an unmarked grave. His death notice does not include two children who were still living at the time. This miss count might not be taking into consideration any children who did not remove to New Mexico.
Sarah (Blevins) Yarberry died on 21 May 1914 at the home of her in Aransas Pass, Texas. It reinforces the information on the 1900 census, which stated she was the mother of nine children with six surviving.
The following obituaries for the Yarberry children are in the order of their deaths.
1. Lillian Dell (Yarberry) Lowe, wife of William Jacob Lowe, died on 3 March 1899 in Pike County, Arkansas. No death notice for her has been found yet. She was deceased before the 1900 census, and she predeceased her parents.
2. Charles Luther Yarberry died 9 June 1947. No obituary with family information has been found for him.
3. Lela Bell (Yarberry) Warner, wife of Charles O Warner, died 11 April 1953 in Houston, Texas.
Her surviving siblings were Alec Yarberry, George Yarberry, Lula (Yarberry) Dooley, and Lizzie (Yarberry) Lewelling. Those who predeceased her are not mentioned.
4. Lula Malinda (Yarberry) Dooley, wife of Henry E. Dooley, died 24 May 1955 in San Patricio, Texas.
Her surviving siblings were Alex Yarberry, George Yarberry, and Lizzie (Yarberry) Lewelling.
5. Alexander Campbell Yarberry died on 1 August 1955 in Aransas Pass, Texas.
His surviving sibling was listed as George Yarberry. His sister Lizzie (Yarberry) Lewelling is omitted from his obituary.
6. George W. Yarberry died 29 June 1956 in Grayson County, Texas. So far, no obituary has been found for him.
7. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Florence (Yarberry) Lewelling died on 9 October 1964. So far, no obituary has been found for her.
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