Y

Yates

Daniel Gordon Yates immigrated from England to Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1849. There, he met and married Jane Withington and together they had three sons: Albert, Lee and George. In the early 1880s, Daniel, Jane and their youngest son George headed west. In 1884, they arrived in Rosedale and established a 40-acre homestead. Son Albert came out from Philadelphia to join them. In 1895, Albert married Sarah L. Chapman. Sarah, her parents and her two brothers immigrated from Scotland. To Albert and Sarah were born the first twins on the Peninsula, Daniel and Christina (Chrissie). The family owned a horse-drawn carriage and a piano that came from London by ship. Daniel’s son George married Minnie Altenburg of Wisconsin. They met while Minnie was visiting her sister, Alice Schindler, who lived near the Yates in Rosedale. They had two children, Rex and Mollie Dee. Albert’s son Daniel was in the Army during WWI. During his service, he wrote letters to his twin sister Chrissie that were published in the community newspaper. Upon his return, Daniel opened a Shell gas station, and later went to work for Boeing. He married Alice Jones and had two children. After Albert’s death, his wife Sarah hired a young German named Peter Land to help around the homestead. Peter married the Yates’ daughter Chrissie and they had one daughter, Rosemary. Because he was of German birth, during WWII, Peter was sent to an internment camp in the Midwest for a year. Upon his return to Gig Harbor after the war, Peter started his own sewer-installation business in Bremerton. (source: Rosemary Ross, Rosedale) GHPHS

Young

Alfonso was Gig Harbor's first postmaster. He operated out of his home on the east side of the bay, which also served as a boarding house. He built the community's first steamboat landing – "Young's Landing" (also known as "Union Dock") – at the shore of his property, where the boat ramp is today.

Alfonso's son, Fennimore, followed his father from Minnesota to Gig Harbor in 1887 as an adult man with a family of his own. His wife, Ella Mae, bore him 12 children. The grandson of two Presbyterian preachers, Fennimore began preaching in his teens and served as Gig Harbor’s first minister. He led services aboard the steamer Isabel in the middle of the harbor. Sunday school was his strong suit. Records show that he had 57 students in Gig Harbor and 36 students in Rosedale, a significant percentage of a growing community of diverse Christian denominations. In 1891, he was selected to attend the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in Detroit – a unique honor and reflection of his success. Upon his return to Gig Harbor, however, he distanced himself from Presbyterianism and established a non-denominational Christian church. He took a public stand against the consumption of alcohol, began speaking in toungues and believed that he could cast out the devil. His popularity waned and eventually Fennimore and his family moved to California in search of a more receptive congregation. BK/55, GHPHS