JOHN HURST TAYLOR YOST (1833-1912)

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By Susan Jezak Ford 

John Hurst Taylor Yost came from pioneer roots but found a home in Kansas City, where his work is still seen. Yost was born in 1833 in Madison, Ind., the son of a brick and stone mason who emigrated from Germany to Philadelphia. The Yost family and their six children moved to Madison in 1816, while Indiana was still a territory, and then to Galena, Ill. They followed the gold rush to California, where Yost’s father prospected for seven years before returning to a large acreage in Indiana.

John H.T. Yost’s early education was in a log schoolhouse and the wilderness, helping his father convert wooded lands to cultivated fields. John married in 1858 and moved to Indianapolis, where he completed training as a stonemason. He served in the Union Army for three years as part of Company F, 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The regiment earned the moniker “The Old Bloody Sixth” for its superb record for valor, loyalty and fearlessness.

After the war, Yost moved to Fort Scott, Kan., and, in 1872, to Kansas City. Here he worked as a mason and contractor, helping to build the Savoy Hotel and the Jefferson and Karnes schools.

John Yost and his wife, Roxana (1839-1913), had 12 children, only two of whom survived infancy, a son and a daughter. Their son, Charles C. Yost (1861-1909), formed the Yost Pie Company. Charles was a fervent Republican. He served as Kansas City’s deputy assessor and was chairman of the Republican County committee for several years. He and his wife, Hattie, had six children. Charles and Hattie are also buried at Mount Washington.