Theresa Malin Yost
( 1858 – 1917 )
A young woman found a job that suited her when she began working in a photograph gallery in West Chester. Theresa Malin Yost’s career in photography spanned at least ten years, beginning in West Chester in about 1870 and ending in Philadelphia sometime after 1880.
Theresa Mahlon/Malin was noted with the occupation “works in a photograph gallery” according to the 1870 United States Census taken in West Chester, PA[1]. This job title paints her work life with a broad brush, she could have been doing anything from greeting customers, keeping the books, taking photographs and developing negatives to printing and mounting photographs. It is possible that she worked for J. S. Beecher who advertised for a female assistant in the Village Record on January 19, 1869. (See the biography of J. S. Beecher)
Theresa Mahlon or Malin, was the youngest daughter of George Malin, Jr. and Elizabeth Taylor Malin, born in E. Goshen Township, Chester County on April 4, 1857. She was one of ten children. The family moved to West Chester, where her father was an edge tool maker.
According to an announcement in the Daily Local News, Theresa married R. Pierce Yost of Columbus, Ohio on June 18, 1875, in Philadelphia by Rev. A. Manship[2]. The couple lived in Philadelphia, listed in Gopsill’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1876 as living on Parrish Street, her husband is a carpenter[3].
According to the 1880 United States Census for Philadelphia, Theresa Yost is recorded as a 29-year-old photographer, her husband Pierce Yost, a carpenter[4]. The couple was living in a boarding house on North Ninth Street.
Sometime in 1908 the couple went their separate ways. Theresa Yost wrote her will on November 19, 1908, leaving her entire estate to her sister, Eliza Ann Taylor, or if she was deceased to her niece, Mary Malin Mitchell. Only in a codicil to her will does she mention her husband, Robert Pearson Yost, leaving him a token gift of $1.00[5]. 1908 was the last year that an R. Pierson Yost who was a cabinetmaker was listed in Boyd’s Philadelphia City Directory[6].
Theresa returned to West Chester in 1913 and took up residence at 22 W. Barnard Street[7]. Her occupation was recorded as “forelady.” This term is not used today but refers to a woman who manages a group of workers.
When Theresa died from a brain tumor at age 60 on August 17, 1917, in West Chester, PA[8], she was recorded on her death certificate as widow, with an occupation of nurse. She was buried at Greenmount cemetery in West Chester.
Her obituary published in the Daily Local News told a different story, that she had died as the result of heat prostration at the Homeopathic Hospital in West Chester[9]. The Local referred to a long period of hot weather which she was not able to endure. It also mentioned her devotion to her sister, Eliza A. Taylor of South Walnut Street.
Robert Pearson Yost (b. September 13, 1845) died on December 22, 1918, and was buried in the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio[10].
© Pamela C. Powell, 2020
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1870 United States Census; West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania; roll M593_1325; page 180B; Family History Library Film:552824. ↑
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Daily Local News, West Chester, PA 25 June 1875. ↑
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Gopsill’s Philadelphia City Directory for 1876. Philadelphia: James Gopsill, 1876. Page 1647. ↑
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1880 United States Census; Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; roll 1172; Page 168C Enumeration District 169. ↑
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Will #35989, Wills & Administrations, Chester County Archives, West Chester, Pennsylvania,. ↑
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Boyd’s Philadelphia City Directory 1908. Philadelphia: C.E. Howe Co., 1908. P. 2127. ↑
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Boyd’s Directory Company. Boyd’s West Chester Directory of 1913-1914. ↑
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Mrs. Theresa Yoast, Death Certificate, Pennsylvania: West Chester, 17 August 1917. ↑
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Obituary, Daily Local News, West Chester, PA, 18 August 1917. ↑
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Green Lawn Cemetery Burials, Columbus, Ohio. Joe and Dick Fleshman. http://greenlawn.delaohio.com/greenlawn/Greenlawn/index.htm. ↑
