An American Family History

John Yerkes was born on February 21, 1714 in the Manor of Moreland. His parents were Herman Yerkes and Elizabeth Watts. He was a farmer and owned 95 acres in Moreland.

He married Alice McVaugh about 1714. Alice was born on April 5, 1717 and was the daughter of John McVaugh (McVey or McVeigh).

John and Alice's children were all born in the Manor of Moreland:
Rachel Yerkes (1742),
John Yerkes (1743, married Ann Coffing, daugher of Abraham Coffing),
Catherine Yerkes (1746),
Elizabeth Yerkes (1748),
Harman Yerkes (1750, married Margaret Scott),
Silas Yerkes (1752, married Hannah Craft),
Sarah Yerkes Watson (1755, married John Watson),
Benjamin Yerkes (1758), and
Alice Yerkes Worrell (1763, Demas Worrell). 

He died in 1790 in Moreland.

Children of Herman Yerkes & Elizabeth Watts: Anthony Yerkes John Yerkes Sarah Yerkes Hufty Josiah Yerkes Herman Yerkes Silas Yerkes Elizabeth Yerkes Howell Stephen Yerkes Elias Yerkes Titus Yerkes

The Manor of Moreland was composed of a tract of ten thousand acres, and was created, in 1682, by a grant from William Penn to Dr. Nicholas More. Most of the Manor was in Philadelphia County, but is now Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Chronicle of the Yerkes Family: With Notes on the Leech and Rutter Families, by Josiah Granville Leach, J. B. Lippincott, 1904

John Yerkes (Herman2, Anthony1), second son of Herman Yerkes by his wife Elizabeth Watts, was born in the Manor of Moreland, Montgomery (formerly Philadelphia) County, Pennsylvania, 21 February, 1714, and died there in 1790.

He was a farmer, and probably resided throughout his life in said Manor, where he owned a plantation of ninety-five acres, upon which he and his wife Alice executed a mortgage to Joseph Spangenburg, 2 September, 1774. It is, however, possible that he may have resided for a few years upon a plantation of two hundred acres in Plymouth Township, same county, which he purchased on 24 May, 1873, one hundred and thirty-seven and one-half acres of which he sold to his brother, Herman Yerkes, 18 May, 1747, the latter paying therefor £297.

He married, circa 1741, Alice McVaugh, born 5 April, 1717; daughter of John McVaugh, of the said Manor, and granddaughter of Edmond McVaugh, of Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County, by his wife Alice Dickinson.

Children of John and Alice (McVaugh) Yerkes; born in the Manor of Moreland:
Rachel Yerkes, born 1 February, 1742.
John Yerkes, born 6 October, 1743; died in 1803 or 1806; married Ann Coffing.
Catharine Yerkes, born 15 April, 1746.
Elizabeth Yerkes, born 1 September, 1748.
Harman Yerkes, born 22 November, 1750; died 16 June, 1821; married Margaret Scott.
Silas Yerkes, born 20 December, 1752; died in 1779; married Hannah Craft.
Sarah Yerkes born 26 May, 1755; married John Watson.
Benjamin Yerkes, born 28 April, 1758; died 11 August, 1841; married Margaret Jones.
Alice Yerkes, born 18 January, 1763; married, 10 April, 1798, Demas Worrell, and is said to have had issue, but no record of her family has been obtained

In compiling the Memorials of the Reading, Howell, Yerkes, Watts, Latham, and Elkins Families (Philadelphia, 1898), I supposed that Sarah Yerkes above was the one of that name who married, 6 March, 1747, Daniel Evans, as stated in that work (page 192). Later information shows that I was then in error.