Men of Progress. Wisconsin. (pages 451-486) A selected list ofbiographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business,professional and official life. Together with short notes on thehistory and character of Wisconsin.

YOUMANS, Clarion Augustine, a lawyer, farmer and public man ofNeillsville, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Kenosha,October 14th, 1847. He is the son of Jonas Hamilton Youmans, a cousinof the late Prof. E. L. Youmans, who established the Popular ScienceMonthly, and of Win. Jay Youmans, its present editor. The familyprepared a history of the Youmans family, but it is not at hand, andits facts are not, therefore, available for this sketch. C. A. Youmans'father was born in Coeymans, Albany county, N. Y., June 17th, 1817, andis by occupation a carpenter and farmer. Mr. Youmans' mother, whosemaiden name was Adeline Sill, was born in Bethany, Genesee county, N.Y. August 10th, 1821, and died in 1888. There is a genealogical historyof the Sill family in the library of the State Historical society, atMadison. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Youmans removed from Buffalo, N. Y., toKenosha, in 1847, thence, in 1852, to Arlington Columbia county, wherethey experienced the privations and hardships of pioneer settlers, butwhere they did their share in the development of the new country.

C. A. Youmans' early education was such as the ordinary farmer's boygets at the district school--which he attends in winters only after hehas reached an age when his work is of value on the farm. Afterattendance at the district school he had the opportunity ofsupplementing his acquirements there by attendance at the villageschool of Poynette. Leaving school he went to work in a general store in Poynette, and afterwardwas engaged in farming in Iowa for a year. At the end of that time hereturned to Poynette and re-entered the store where he had formerlybeen employed, remaining there until 1872, when he went to Neillsvilleto accept a position in a store there, which he held until he enteredthe law school in 1875. Returning to Neillsville in 1876, he began thepractice of law in partnership with M. C. Ring, which partnershipcontinued until January, 1891. The practice of the firm of Ring &Youmans was a general law practice but during its continuance the firmbecame largely interested in other matters, mainly pine land andlumbering.

Mr. Youmans is a Republican, and has never voted any other ticket. Heheld the office of county judge in 1877, by appointment of the governorto fill a vacancy. He was elected district attorney of Clark county in1881, and held that office for one term. In 1894 he was elected to thestate senate from the Twenty-fifth district, composed of the countiesof Clark and Eau Claire. In the session of 1895 he was a member of thejudiciary and railroad committees and was chairman of the committee onroads and bridges, and in the session of 1897 he was on the followingcommittees: Judiciary, manufacturers, roads and bridges, and chairmanof the committee on town and county organizations. Mr. Youmans hasowned and operated one of the largest farms in Clark county for thepast ten years; and, as it is only two and a half miles fromNeillsville, he lived thereon for seven years, and drove to his officedaily. In 1892 he again made his home in Neillsville for the bettereducation of his children. His interest in farming made him a very capable president of the Clark County Agricultural society, and thatoffice he held from 1890 to 1893.

He is a member of the Masonic lodge-- is a Knight Templar, has heldseveral offices in the Blue Lodge and was master of Neillsville Lodgein 1884. He is not a member of anychurch, but attends the Unitarian, and is in hearty sympathy withUnitarian thought.

Mr. Youmans was married January 10th, 1877, to Miss Nettie French,eldest daughter of B. F. French, who at that time was one of the oldestresidents of Clark county. Mr. and Mrs. Youmans have three children:Guy Clarion, Viola French and Adda Beth.