Yakey was born on May 31, 1830, in Loudoun County, Virginia, but at age 2 moved with his parents to Ohio.
The 25th Wisconsin mustered into service September 14, 1862, and were ordered to proceed west and report to General John Pope in Minnesota to assist in the ongoing Sioux uprising.
They joined the Siege of Vicksburg from June through July 1863, and were then assigned to guard duty in eastern Kansas.
[2]: 736 The regiment suffered from a severe wave of disease during this summer, and ultimately lost over 400 men to illness.
[3] After the war, in 1866, Yakey settled on a farm in the town of Clinton, in Vernon County, where he lived until his death.