Henry Clay Yawn

Henry Clay Yawn was born on July 5, 1859, in Columbia, Alabama.[1][2] He was the son of Greenbury Yawn and Melinda (Yawn) Yawn.[1][3] He was the only son of five children.[3] Yawn attended the rural schools of Covington County.[1] He attended Mount Carmel and Columbia High Schools.[1] He took a commercial course and taught at high schools in Columbia, Lumberton, and Purvis.[1] In 1891, he became the assistant superintendent of the Lumberton schools.[4] He became the town treasurer of Lumberton.[1]

In November 1915, he was elected to represent Mississippi's 4th senatorial district as a Democrat in the Mississippi Senate from 1916 to 1920.[1] After the senate districts were redistricted in 1917, he was moved to the 40th district in the 1918 session.[1] He was a Prohibitionist.[1] He did not seek re-election until 1927, when he was elected to the Mississippi Senate again for the 40th district to serve from 1928 to 1932.[2][4] He died on August 3, 1936, in New Orleans, Louisiana.[4]

Yawn married art teacher Frances "Fannie" Lee Limbaugh, who he met while being the Lumberton assistant superintendent, on August 2, 1893.[3][4][1] They had five children: Gladys, born May 8, 1894; Frances Lois, born August 22, 1897; Henry Clay Junior, born December 5, 1899; Howard Hinton, born February 15, 1901; and Rosalind, born December 13, 1904.[1][3][4] All five children survived Henry Sr. when he died.[4]