Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Rebecca Safford (Mrs. W.H.) Yeandle, 1850-1915
By Daphne Stanley, Freelance researcher and Writer, Intern at Salem Museum, Salem, Virginia
Rebecca Safford was born in 1850 in Mississippi and in October 1870 she married William H. Yeandle in Amite County, MS. In 1880 the couple and 2-year old William H. lived in McComb City, Mississippi, where William H (the elder) worked as a bookkeeper. By 1900 the family had moved to ward 3 in Atlanta with two sons, now 22 and 11 years old. William worked as a mail clerk and Rebecca was "at home." Their census entries trail out at that date.
William H. is noted as Captain Yeandle in some news accounts and by 1909, the couple's younger son, Stephen, was recorded as a cadet stationed on the U.S. ship Itasca in the Mediterranean. By 1913 their older son, William H., was working as a mining expert in Mexico City and in his correspondence (quote in the Atlanta Constitution) wrote his parents about the impact of the Mexican Revolution on his work.
Rebecca served as Regent of the Piedmont Continental chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1902 and 1904 she attended the annual meetings of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C. In 1908 she represented her chapter at the state D.A.R. meeting.
She served as corresponding secretary of the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association until her death in 1915, though the length of her suffrage activity is unclear.
Sources:
Knight, Lucian Lamar: Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends. Vol 1, pg. 164
Harper, Ida Husted, et al., eds. History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920, vol. 6,. Chapter: "Georgia" [LINK]
Atlanta Constitution, numerous articles mention the Yeandle family between 1900 and 1915. Citations accessed through newspapers.com.
"W. H. Yeandle", https://www.archives.com/search/vital