George Yoakum was born in 1758 at Virginia.  George’s father, Valentine (Felty) Yoakum, settled at Greenbrier County in the 1740s with his father, and that is where George was born.  On 17 July 1763, the Muddy Creek Massacre occurred.  Shawnee Indians attacked the settlers of the area, and George lost his father in that attack.  Somehow, George, his mother, and siblings, managed to escape being killed in the Indian raid.  Some accounts state that they were taken prisoner by the Shawnee, and were not released until a treaty was signed in the winter of 1764-1765.

In 1777, George married Martha (Patty) Van Bibber, at Greenbrier County.  This union produced eight children:  Isaac Sr., Peter, George II, Valentine Felty, Jesse, Robert G., Nancy and Margaret Peggy.

Having lived in the Greenbrier County area his entire life, George became a scout for the Greenbrier Militia during the Revolution, and furnished supplies for the militia troops in the county.   

After the war, George moved with his wife and family to the Powell Valley area of Virginia.  There were many Indian skirmishes, and the settlers began building fortifications along the river valley, one of which was named Yoakum’s Station (or Fort Yoakum).  They stayed here until approximately 1795, when they moved further down the Powell River, to Speedwell, Tennessee, where they built another “Fort Yoakum,” in the Van Bebber Springs area.

George Yoakum was killed on a bear hunt in the Cumberland Mountains, 28 October 1800, aged 42 years, leaving his wife and eight children.