George William Yeo was born in Plymouth, Devon on 26 April 1861 and was baptised the following month by his parents James and Elizabeth Yeo of 4 Guildford Street, near the centre of the city. The baptism was conducted at the Ebenezer Methodist chapel in Saltash Street.
The 1871 census for Plymouth shows the family at 4 Guildford Street. James is a 47-year-old labourer, his wife Elizabeth is the same age, and their four children include 9-year-old George, who is recorded without his second forename.
Did George emigrate to the United States? A George Yeo married Eda Anna Stocking in Ogle County, Illinois in 1885 and the 1900 census records them with five children in Lynnville, Ogle County. George’s occupation is recorded as ‘farmer and stock dealer’ an unlikely line of business for a city boy from Plymouth. Yet his parents are shown in the marriage record as James Yeo and Elizabeth Stanbury – were they the James and Elizabeth named in the 1861 baptism?
The 1930 probate record for George W. Yeo of Ogle County does not provide extra information other than the second initial. Alvin Eber and Ralph Cleveland, who had witnessed George’s will, were not apparently related to him.
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